It appears that the Microsoft Surface Duo dual-screen Android device is set to launch as it is listed on the FCC and has appeared on the Bluetooth SIG certification page.
While Microsoft has scheduled the launch of the Surface Duo later this year, recent rumors indicate that it will launch in the summer. And 9to5Google reported that the new listings mean the Surface Duo might be launching soon in the US, and those listings appear regularly just before the launch of electronic devices.
If it really launches this summer, the Surface Duo will bring a rather strange foldable dual-screen device to the market. Microsoft hasn’t called it a phone, despite preview videos showing that it can accept calls and will run on a modified version of Android.
Microsoft seems to envision it as a form of companion device for Windows 10 laptops and PCs. Its heavily modified version of Android has been designed to deliver a pseudo-mobile dual-screen experience with Windows 10, with a host of productivity applications from Microsoft shown in videos and images of Surface Duo.
Microsoft has Windows 10X in the works, which is a version of Windows 10 that is being reset to work on dual-screen devices. But that will be the operating system to back up the Surface Neo, a device that’s basically a larger Surface Duo that runs Windows natively with an Intel processor; Surface Duo is expected to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 series chip.
Unlike the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Fold 2, the Surface Duo will not have a folding screen, but will instead use two separate screens connected to each other by a slim and neat-looking hinge. That should make it much more durable than folding screen phones so far.
Other specs and features have yet to be revealed. But the Surface Duo will have a selfie camera that can be effectively rotated using the hinge to point the camera away from the user. And a new slim Surface Pen will also be introduced for people who want to take notes and scribble more accurately on phone screens.
With the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, Pixel 4a, and iPhone 12 set to launch in the coming months, the Surface Duo will have plenty of competition to get attention. But it’s quite different from those devices, so it could stand on its own. We just hope that Microsoft has gained the software expertise to make such a foldable device look like a worthy purchase.
