Table of Contents
Surface Duo
First time since the demise of Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft will launch a new smartphone. It’s called the Surface Duo.
And it has an iconic dual-screen design. The phone’s original launch was scheduled for the end of 2020, but rumors now indicate that it could arrive in the middle of the year.
With unique dual-screen functionality and Google’s Android operating system under the hood, there’s plenty to enjoy. Here is everything we know so far.
How does it compare to the Surface Neo?
Surface Duo isn’t Microsoft’s only dual-screen device to arrive in 2020. The company also plans to presentation the Surface Neo, a larger dual-screen laptop.
Compared to the Surface Neo, it is quite different. The latter will be much more powerful for a couple of reasons.
First, the SurfaceNeo runs a full version of Windows designed for dual-screen devices, Windows 10X.
It allows you to run the full range of Windows applications, including Win32, Microsoft Store, Progressive Web Apps, and Universal Windows Apps. At heart, it replaces a laptop.
Design and camera:
- Microsoft hasn’t come up with many aspects of design, battery life, or portability yet. However, what we do know is that the Surface Duo is different than a traditional folding smartphone.
- The Surface Duo screen doesn’t fold like the Galaxy Fold. Instead, it has two separate screens, connected by a 360-degree hinge designed to stay out of sight, tucked inside a polished metal seam below the screen.
- Either way, the device is also equipped with the same magnesium material as the rest of the Surface line.
- In our opinion, it will be a reliable and elegant device, with no notches or buttons that get in the way when holding it in your hands.
- In technical terms, the Surface Duo has two 5.6-inch screens, which unfold to 11.2 inches. The resolution was rumored to be 1,350 x 1,800 pixels on each of the two displays.
- If true, it would give a density of around 401 pixels per inch to each screen.
- It all comes without sacrifice to balance, as Microsoft also mentioned that Duo is only 0.19 inches thick.
- However, there are thick bezels around the top of the device, so don’t expect it to be like bezel-less Samsung Galaxy phones.
Price and release date:
- At its October 2019 Surface event in New York City, Microsoft mentioned that the Surface Duo would launch for the holidays of 2020.
- Usually, that means November or December. But in the calendar month, since things have changed, the phone could arrive much earlier.
- As Microsoft redoubled its development efforts for the device, a working version of the Surface Duo was recently discovered on public transportation in a Microsoft employee’s hands.
- The Central Windows blog also reports that the Surface Duo could arrive this summer, which means you could get your hands on one anytime between July and August.
- It would also make sense, as we heard that the brand was planning Microsoft’s Spring Hardware Event for its other family products, like the Surface Book 3 and Surface Go 2.
- If not, we hope to learn more about the Surface Duo, as long as the coronavirus does not delay its release.
- As for pricing, not much is knowning yet about how much the Surface Duo could cost. Microsoft’s latest high-end smartphone, the Lumia 950XL, fetched $ 650 when it launched in 2015.
Applications and software experience:
- The Duo uses Google’s Android 10 operating system, with a custom lock or dock screen provided by the Microsoft Launcher app.
- It is where the two screens and the hinge come into play. Microsoft touts that this functionality has many benefits in portability and work on the go.
- You will be able to accumulate applications next to each other, drag applications from one screen to the other, and spread them between the two. The hinge lets you fold in four different modes, just like a modern 2-in-1 Windows.
- The first format is the “stretched canvas,” where the applications are stretching across the hinge. The second is “two pages,” where applications can be opened side by side.
- There are also “dual” and “complementary panel” modes, where you can open the Android home screen and the applications panel side by side to choose the applications.
Performance:
- Similar to everything else about the Surface Duo, Microsoft has been mum on the device’s specifications.
- Judging by a report from Windows Central’s Zac Bowden, the Surface Duo could come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor inside.
- It will be balancing with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of base storage.
