Finally, Microsoft has announced a launch date for its new smartphone, Surface Duo. After months of teasing the public through social media, the multinational tech company will release it on September 10.
Marked at $1,399.99, it will hit the U.S. market right in the middle of the iPhone season. Pre-orders are available now at AT&T, Best Buy, and Microsoft’s online store.
The Duo is the company’s fresh take on smartphones, as their past attempts failed due to their mobile operating system. This time around, they’re using Android as the operating system of their newest venture, mainly due to the mobile apps.
Although the company revealed the phone design last October, the specs remained a secret up until now. Thought by some as bulky and heavy, Surface Duo is only 9.9mm when closed and only weighs 250 grams. With the 360-degree hinge, you can either fold it, use it as a book, or prop it like a television.
The screen is composed of two 5.6-inch AMOLED displays and, when combined, forms an 8.1-inch screen. The Duo runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 with a RAM of 6GB and 125GB storage.
On top of that, this device has two batteries, each for the two displays, with a total capacity of 3577mAh. Although small compared to other smartphones, it’ll last 15.5 hours of video playback or ten days of standby time.
As for the camera, Microsoft will not inherit the multi-camera system trend seen on most smartphones today. The Duo will only have a single 11-pixel camera located at the top of the right screen. It can take multi-frame HDR shots and has a ‘super zoom’ of 7x.
It’s true that with a pandemic, marketing a pricey smartphone is a bit risky. However, Microsoft is banking on the fact that more people are relocating their jobs to their homes. This shift can cause people to look for new devices that can support their remote work.
“Open two screens and open new possibilities” is what they wrote on their new smartphone’s landing page. This device’s concept is to have two apps run simultaneously and beside each other without any hiccups. They’re creating this new idea that people can do more or improve their productivity with two screens instead of one.
2019’s theme for mobile hardware was two-screen foldable smartphones with the unveiling of Galaxy Fold and Razr. This theme has rolled into 2020 and foldable smartphones marking their comeback but with some upgrades.
However, will Microsoft’s take on a two-screen foldable smartphone ‘surface’ to the top or flop like the rest.
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