Last October, Microsoft unveiled its dual-screen phone named Surface Duo. Well, back then the company was pretty adamant about this being a new Surface product and not a phone. It was also tight-lipped about most of the device’s specs, price, and availability details. Anyhoo, here we are about a year later, and the company has finally revealed the deets.
— Panos Panay (@panos_panay) August 11, 2020
Surface Duo Features
As you can see the device has two displays and prolly why the name. The screens stretch 5.6-inches and are OLED with 1800 x 1350 pixel resolution, and 4:3 aspect ratio each. This totals for an 8.1-inch 2700 x 1800 canvas with a 3:2 aspect ratio.
There is Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the screens, which is more assuring than what you get on foldables from Sammy and Huawei. Well, on that note, we have a dedicated article detailing the design differences between the three devices.
Moving on, Surface Duo sports one camera. Mm…ya! Just an 11MP f/2.0 sensor for every intents and purpose. It features auto modes for low light, HDR multi-frame captures, up to 7x “super zoom”, FHD and 4K video recording at 30/60fps, with EIS.
The temporal distance can be seen in the internals, starting off with last year’s flagship Snapdragon 855 silicon. This is coupled with 6GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and a 3577mAh battery. Microsoft claims an all-day battery life” out of it. Now, how it all pans out, we will know once it reaches the reviewers.
ALSO READ: Best Dual Display Laptops and Foldable Screens Laptop Announced
All said and done, the real-world performance matter over on-paper specs. And Microsoft Chief Product Officer, Mr. Panos Panay is very much stoked about the Duo’s design and what it promises.
In a press briefing prior to today’s announcement, he has spilled some more tidbits about the device:
• Microsoft has worked closely with Google to ensure Android runs smoothly on this new hardware format. He says, “any app has to run,” which is reassuring.
• The Windows-maker has also cooked APIs for dual-screen apps and added them to Android codebase so that 3rd party manufacturers and devs can benefit.
• Speaking of which, Developers will be free to optimize the app framework and leverage the dual displays.
• Microsoft leads with its own apps and has also contrived an algorithm that predicts the app opening behaviors. For instance, if you click a link within an email, the device will auto open the new site/page on the other screen (the one you are currently not on). Similarly, you can read Amazon Kindle books like an actual book; Open Teams on one screen, and PowerPoint slides on the other.
So, Microsoft isn’t just proposing a new Surface product but also anchoring the broader growth of dual-screens and foldable devices.
Surface Duo Price and Availability
As of now, Microsoft is launching the Surface Duo in the US. It will be available from September at $1399, which is around ₹1,04,628.
ALSO READ: Best Foldable Phones to look out for in 2020
We would love to see it arriving in India. However, no word on that at the moment.
Surface Duo Specs
| Model | Surface Duo |
| Display | Each screen: 5.6-inch, OLED, 1800 x 1350 pixel resolution, 4:3 aspect ratio Combined: 8.1-inch, 2700 x 1800 resolution, a 3:2 aspect ratio Gorilla Glass 5 |
| Processor | Snapdragon 855 |
| Memory | 6GB RAM+ 256GB Storage |
| Battery | 3577mAh |
| Camera | 11MP f/2.0, HDR, 7x super zoom, 4K 60fps with EIS |
| Price | $1399 (~₹1,04,628) |
