I’ve been living with the the $2,000 iPhone Duo for a month — here are 7 features that actually make it worth the premium

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I've been pretty vocal about what I don't like about the iPhone Duo so far, from the lack of a telephoto zoom and missing Face ID to the unoptimized apps and hefty weight. (Why can't this thing be as light as the Galaxy Fold 8?)

But now that I've been living with and testing the iPhone Duo for about a month, there's some things that I really like about this device that I think puts it at the top of our best foldable phone list. Here are 7 reasons why I think it's worth the $2,000 price tag.

Slack the way it was meant to be

To say that I'm a Slack power user would be an understatement. As editor in chief of Tom's Guide, I'm constantly jumping between multiple threads, weighing in on everything from photos and production, to collaborating with other departments. And it's really nice to be able to quickly scroll through rooms and contacts, while still seeing message content on the right.

The iPhone Duo is even smart enough to adapt the layout as you fold the device. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 app isn't even two columns.

Slack looks pretty slick on the front screen, too, even though the menu items take up a lot of real estate on the right side. You can quickly respond with the wide keyboard without a problem.

I'm multitasking more than I thought I would

Yup, it's overdue, but I really appreciate being able to run two apps side by side on the iPhone Duo. For example, I can look up what to order in DoorDash while having a chat with the family in Messages.

I also like being able to easily drag and drop images from the Photos app into Google Drive without having to start all over again each time by looking up the folder name. It's a huge time saver. To be fair, the Galaxy Fold 8 can do three apps at once, plus floating windows on top. But I'm fine with two apps for now.

Watching 4 shows at once with YouTube TV

You might not be able to run four apps at once, but the Multiview feature in YouTube TV on the iPhone Duo lets you watch four of your favorite shows at the same time in a grid — just like Android foldables. You can tune into the audio on any of the four windows just by taping your finger on the live video thumbnail. And you tap again to watch the show in full-screen mode. It's one of those things you just can't do on a regular iPhone.

For me, I like being able to toggle between multiple NFL or NCAA football games on the weekend or ESPN's First Take and CNN during the week.

FaceTime calls are much easier now

Part of the reason why I don't make many FaceTime calls is that I don't really feel like holding up my phone the whole time. That complaint goes away with the iPhone Duo, which lets you fold the phone in half and prop it up like a laptop. When you're in this view, you can make FaceTime calls hands free, which is nice because I like to talk with my hands anyway.

The 4MP FaceTime camera isn't the sharpest, but it gets the job done.

Netflix is the perfect long haul flight companion

If there's one app that I would show people if I had 30 seconds to explain why the iPhone Duo is cool, it would be Netflix. The app has been developed from the ground up for this foldable, and it shows.

For example, on the cover display you can skim through mobile-friendly shorts that fill the screen, like Instagram or TikTok. As you'd expect, shows and movies look great on the large 7.6-inch display, as I discovered when watching "The Diplomat" on a long flight. But if you want to snack while you're watching, you can put the Duo in tabletop mode so your video is up top and controls down below. Or, if you prefer, you can watch in tent mode.

It's useful even when I'm not actively using it

Standby is one of my favorite iPhone features from the past few years, because you can turn your device into an alarm clock when you're ready to go to bed. But the iPhone Duo takes that to the next level. You get a clock when you put the Duo in tent mode, and when it's time to get up a soft glow emanates from the inside of the foldable to help wake you up.

Plus, there's another Standby mode. When you put the Duo in portrait mode and fold it half-way standing up on a table or desk, you'll see a clock and calendar on the left and some of your favorite photos on the right. It's like a digital photo frame. Plus, you can still easily access Spotify in this mode via the Dynamic Island.

It's more durable than I thought it would be

Because the iPhone Duo weighs down my front pocket when walking around, I've mostly defaulted to carrying it in my back pocket. And lots of times I've sat on this foldable phone — forgetting to take it out first, whether I'm sitting at my desk at the office or just plopping down to watch TV at night.

At least so far, the iPhone Duo has survived my daily use without a scratch or crack. The titanium frame feels super durable to me, and even after a few weeks the crease is not prominent at all when using this device.