On Thursday Microsoft finally announced a release date for its long-awaited Microsoft Surface Duo. It was officially announced last year and we were half-expecting COVID-19 to blow out the release. But even though it hasn’t, Australia will still have to wait for it.
What is the Microsoft Surface Duo?
The Microsoft Surface Duo is a dual-screen phone that we sure are hoping is better than LG’s attempts. Please.
On the Surface (Sorry) it looks like there are some differences.. For one, the Surface Duo is actually connected so it looks a lot sleeker. And as images have revealed, when you turn it on its side it looks and works like a mini laptop. Multi-tasking is key.
It’s also optimised to run apps and developers will be able to play with their layouts and decide how they want their app to display on the Duo.
It algorithm is also designed to predict how apps will run and open. For example, if you’re on Twitter on one screen and click a a news link it should open on the second screen.
“It’s probably one of the sexiest devices we’ve ever built,” Windows and devices chief, Panos Panay, said in a media briefing.
You can read more about it here.
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Surface Duo Specs
If you’re just after the spec dump, here it is. The only real concerns here are the single 11MP camera and the dual battery which combined comes in at 3,577mAh. There will also be no NFC functionality. On paper these aren’t ideal specs for a dual screen phone with that price tag attached.
I guess we’ll have to just wait to see how they perform in practice.
- Display: Dual 5.6-inch AMOLED displays (1800 x 1350); Combined: 8.1-inch AMOLED display (2700 x 1800)
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
- OS: Android 10
- RAM: 6GB
- Storage: 128GB – 256GB
- Battery: 3,577 mAh (split across two batteries)
- Camera: 11MP with 4K video capture
- SIM: Dual SIM (nano and eSIM)
- LTE: 4G
- Weight: 250g
- Dimesions: 5.72×3.67×0.399 inches (folded) and 5.72×7.36×0.19 inches (folded)
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Surface Duo Australian Price
In the U.S. the Microsoft Surface Duo will retail for $US1,400. That comes to about $1,955.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on what the actual price in Australia will be yet.
Availability
Unfortunately, we have no idea when the Microsoft Surface Duo will come to Australia, either. But at least we’re not the only ones. Microsoft has told us that it will release in the U.S. exclusively on September 11.
“Initially, Surface Duo will be available in the U.S.,” a Microsoft spokesperson said to Gizmodo Australia in an email.
“We continue to take a measured and phased approach to availability to meet customer demand and partner expectations. We’ll share more information about market expansion at a later date.”