This is Surface Duo, and it runs Android. That's right. Microsoft is making a Surface phone with Android. If that sounds surprising, it's because it really is. But we'll get back into the Android side. Duo is part of two new futuristic dual-screen devices that Microsoft announced. And they're coming in Holiday 2020. Surface Duo has two 5.6-inch amoled displays with 1800*2700 resolution that fold out into an 8.1-inch device overall. The device will run with Android 10 but soon will be updating in Android 11 soon with Surface Pen support is built in. The chipset is Qualcomm’s SM8150 Snapdragon 855, the device has 6GB of RAM with 128 GB & 256GB of storage too and its not expandable. The camera (single) will be an 11 MP f/2.0 snapper with 1.12um pixel size with 4K video recording. A fingerprint scanner will take care of biometric authentication and battery is 3577 mAh. There is no NFC and wireless charging but has fast charging and it's just 4.8 millimetres thin. Price is around 1200 EUR which is around 1 lacs in Indian rupees. It folds like many two-in-one laptops thanks to a 360 degrees hinge. And it's designed to get more done on the go. It comes up with Microsoft’s pre-installed apps that will support working across both screens. The difference between this and any other Android phone, except maybe the Galaxy Fold, is visually obvious.
But Microsoft thinks this is part of a new category of devices that allow people to do a lot more with tablets and phones than they do today. As part of this idea, Microsoft also announced a Surface Neo device. Which has two larger 9-inch displays. The Duo and the Neo share a very similar design, but they don't share a common operating system. Neo, the larger dual-screen device, runs Windows 10 X, and has all your familiar desktop and tablet apps. The reason this isn't running Windows Phone is because Microsoft gave up on that operating system years ago, when it couldn't convince developers to create apps for its devices. And the main idea is making use of these two displays in ways we're only starting to see other Android phone makers explore. You could run a game on one side, and a game pad on the other, or multi-task by dragging and dropping content between apps. Microsoft hasn't thought of everything you'd do with the Surface Duo just yet, but that's why it's announcing it now so developers can fill in the gaps. They're really aiming to introduce a new form factor here, and a way for a device to adjust itself on the go, no matter the task. We've seen foldable devices from Huawei and Samsung, but the Duo has two separate displays that are made of glass, rather than foldable plastic.
Which given the issues with Samsung's Galaxy Fold, that might be a good choice right now. Microsoft has been working on this hardware for three years, the real key question will be whether Android app developers create the apps and experiences that really take advantage of this dual-screen device. And whether consumers want this type of hardware in a phone form factor in the first place. That's why Microsoft also has its largest Surface Neo device running Windows. And it really feels like the company wants to offer a Surface at every shape and size. Microsoft also seems to be implying that the operating system really doesn't matter for Surface devices anymore. And it's willing to partner with Google and others to offer what makes sense.
So, will the Surface Duo and the Surface Neo combine in the future? Will there be a smartphone that turns into a tablet, that then turns into a laptop, then you dock and turns into a real PC? We're years away from anything even getting close to that. But it opens up the questions about where this dual-screen and fold-able hardware is going exactly.
And they're really hard questions to answer right now. Microsoft will now need to convince app developers and consumers that these dual-screen devices are truly the new device category that we’ve all been waiting for. Wherever things end up, it looks like Microsoft want to be ready at every point with Surface. You want a phone that's a little bit more than a phone that has an extra display, Surface Duo. You want a tablet that transforms into a laptop? Surface Neo or Surface Pro. Microsoft is covering every hardware base here, and it's leaving it up to you to decide what device you actually need. It will be very useful for tablet users to use.
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