Microsoft has announced that it’s launching its Surface Duo dual-screen Android phone on September 10, 2020. After a few months of leaking the announcement on Twitter, the company officially announced that anyone could pre-order the mobile phone through online e-commerce platforms. In the initial phase of the mobile will be made available through AT&T, Microsoft’s online store, and Best Buy. For those living in the US can get the mobile through the available stores. It’s expected that mobile might reach other parts of the globe within this year. As we knew that Samsung has recently launched the Galaxy Z Fold 2 phone, which can be used as a mobile phone along with that it can also be used as a smartphone.
Microsoft has knowingly leaked the images about the design of the Surface Duo with an intention to engage the smartphone enthusiasts towards the upcoming foldable device. Surface Duo has two separate 5.6-inch OLED displays (1800 x 1350) with a 4:3 aspect ratio where the other part of the mobile has an 8.1-inch overall workspace (2700 x 1800) with a 3:2 aspect ratio. Surface Dup differs from the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, which lacks real Gorilla Glass. This feature adds an extra advantage for the mobile in the foldable device segment. The camera of the device comes into the limelight when deciding the clarity of the image.
The camera of the mobile has an 11-megapixel f/2.0 camera. To enhance the photographic experience, the camera comes with the auto modes for low light, HDR multi-frame captures, and a “superzoom” up to 7x. It also has the capacity to record 4K, and 1080p video recording will be supported at 30fps and 60fps. Electronic image stabilization is used to make a stable image. The device has a single camera which is used for both video calls and as the main camera. Microsoft has a long experience in developing hardware devices has used its knowledge in designing the hardware specification. Surface Duo consists of Qualcomm Snapdragon 855, 6GB of RAM, and up to 256GB of storage. Even though the LTE (5G) is provided by leading mobile network companies like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon in the US, mobile doesn’t support 5G technology.
Along with the foldable device comes bumper cover in the box specially designed for protection. The device holds a dual battery that is placed beneath each display. These two batteries have the capacity to store 3577mAh, which is much less when compared with the recently launched smartphone by its competitor, Samsung. The company promises to provide “all-day battery life,” which states that 15.5 hours of local video playback, up to 10 days of standby time, and up to 27 hours of talk time. Windows and devices chief Panos Panay said that this device is the “It’s probably one of the sexiest devices we’ve ever built”.
Panay has also assured that any android application will run in the device without any modification. During one of the press releases that happened recently, Panay said that “We had a conversation with Google… the partnership has been crazy fun. I think at first there’s a little bit of getting to know each other, but then very quickly we saw what’s right for our customers and what can be possible. I think it’s great for Google and Android, and I think it’s great for Microsoft.”. Microsoft has created APIs for dual-screen apps which primarily works on the Android codebase
