Microsoft Debuts Surface Duo 2 Dual-Screen Android Phone With Larger Displays and 5G

At Microsoft's Surface event today, the company announced its Surface Duo 2 dual-screen Android smartphone, featuring a trio of new cameras, a faster processor, larger displays, and support for 5G. The company also unveiled a successor to the Surface Book line of laptops, the Surface Laptop Studio, as well as the Surface Pro 8. From a report: The first-generation of the Duo made a splash thanks to its unique design. While the original Duo had no exterior screen at all, the Duo 2 now has a sliver of screen called the Glance Bar that peeks out from where its displays come together and provides you with the time and notifications when the Duo is closed. Microsoft has seemingly addressed a number of the original Duo's shortcomings with its Duo 2. One of the biggest issues with the first-generation version was its lack of any truly capable camera. [...] This time around, Microsoft has outfitted the Surface Duo 2 with a trio of external cameras. Like Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones, the Duo 2 gets a wide-angle camera, an ultra-wide angle camera, and a telephoto camera. There's also a dedicated night photography mode, 2x optical zoom with the telephoto lens, and the ability to record 4K video at 60 frames per second.

As for the occasionally sluggish performance, the Duo 2 should have that sorted out. This time around, Microsoft has dropped Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 888 processor into the Duo 2, which means the phone should run as smoothly and quickly as any of the leading smartphones on the market. What's more, the Duo 2 gets 8GB of RAM and 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB of storage. On top of that, the Surface Duo 2 gets 5G connectivity, something that was conspicuously absent from the first-generation Duo.

The Duo 2 also gets two larger displays this time around. Rather than two 5.1-inch panels, the Duo 2 gets two 5.3-inch screens that open up to an 8.3-inch display that you can use to move your apps across or as a single canvas for more expansive apps. [...] The gist of the Surface Duo 2 is that two screens are better than one. To that end, Microsoft has combined two panels with a hinge to make an Android-powered device that lets you not only use both displays at the same time, but also seamlessly move apps and content between them. That capability will cost you a pricey $1,499 when the Duo 2 hits store shelves. It's available for pre-order today.

Got burned back in the days of Windows CE phones

[Baconsmoke]

Never really cared to give Microsoft a second chance after that. I'm probably being petty, but I can live with that.

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[bhcompy]

Yea, Microsoft Bob was so terrible I never tried another Microsoft product because those same bastards are still in charge

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[thegarbz]

And that makes your experience relevant? I once tried a Dell mouse, so clearly they don't know anything about how to build a desktop monitor!
The Duo 2 is not a phone, it's not Windows CE, it doesn't run a mobile OS, and doesn't have a phone form factor.

I'm probably being petty, but I can live with that.

I'd call your approach many things. Stupid, retarded, idiotic, moronic, but not petty.

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[Baconsmoke]

The fact that you think insulting because they don't want to buy a particular brand of phone is really strange. You should probably take a step back and figure out why you lash out like that. Perhaps you troll for fun or perhaps you have a very unhealthy relationship with corporations and feel that people somehow owe them something. Either way your comment wasn't useful in any sense of the word.

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[arglebargle_xiv]

The Surface is actually a pretty nice piece of hardware. As with other Microsoft hardware (mouse, keyboard, etc), if they only stuck to what they were good at, namely computer hardware, instead of dabbling in software all the time they'd be a pretty decent company.

$1499

[jsicolo]

Ouch.

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[ChunderDownunder]

And it's still Android.

Snapdragon 888 is a newer generation than the SQ2 found in their Surface Pro X, so would be perfectly capable of running Windows 11.

Lumia revisited? It seems odd they have this Android dual screen while at the same time saying that Windows 11 will soon include an Android runtime.

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[Midnight Thunder]

Is anyone else creating ARM based SoCs for Android phones, outside of Qualcomm.

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[ChunderDownunder]

Samsung (Exynos) and Mediatek (Helio)

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[MightyMartian]

Because I just know I want my next phone running Windows...

Said nobody ever.

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[ChunderDownunder]

I don't know anyone who wants a Microsoft-branded Android phone :)

The dual screen concept is novel but with foldables emerging, I just don't see Microsoft's angle here on an OS they don't control.

Windows Phone had a cult following of sorts, dunno never used one, but ultimately failed due to the "app gap" - which Windows 11 is addressing by supporting Android inside a WSLg container.

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[Miamicanes]

Because the half-life of a phone with foldable screen (before it starts to look bad along the crease, or fails outright) is likely to be "a year and a half, if you're lucky."

Assuming the phone's implementation of Android is smart enough to ignore touches to the rear screen when it's folded back-to-back, this also gives you a way to have a more normal-sized phone in situations where using the unfolded phone would be awkward (say, during a literal phone call).

That said, I can't think of any way someone could

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[I-am-a-Banana]

Well I had the fortune to use the Nokia Windows phone and let's say the phone was great. I really disliked the IPhone I had to use, was glad when I got an Android upgrade, but then had a chance to set up and use the Windows phone. Setup and UI wise it was FAR superior that the other two IMO. It felt intuitive to use. if they could bring that experience to Android I would be a happy camper.

Also the phone was a beast, it took a beating....

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[mobby_6kl]

Guys we know you hated the original one so much we had to sell it for $1000 off, so here's the new one, now a hundred bucks more expensive!

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[MightyMartian]

It must be a vanity thing for MS to keep trying to make a phone that anybody wants. Just how many times are they going to throw money into this?

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[zoid.com]

Nope...

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[fermion]

Wait a few months. Like the Duo it will be on fire sale down to under $500. I never even heard of this phone. At least itâ(TM)s android so buyers wonâ(TM)t be totally screwed when MS gives up. I suppose it did make a splash in the kiddie pool. Certainly not for adults.

Sharing a (failed) product I once worked on

[OrangeTide]

A dual-screen tablet [ecoustics.com] powered by Tegra. Screens were multitouch and pen, so you could highlight books or take notes with either hand. Could fold and unfold a full 360 degree. Of course the Kno's screen are 14 inch and the whole apparatus was quite heavy. And even if we made it to market (just barely), I think Microsoft was the wiser one at the time to have killed off their dual-screen Courier [cnet.com].

So I have to ask: what's changed between 2011 and 2021 ? Why was a dual screen not viable then, but now a room full of people making six and seven figures at Microsoft think this is a good idea?

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[ItsJustAPseudonym]

Maybe the technology has just advanced enough that they can make a foldable phone that's tolerably thick. It looks about the same thickness as some phones from two or three years ago.

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[OrangeTide]

Our device was a little difficult to hold in the open state. You ended up trying to hold it two handed and try to tap items with a thumb, or you tried to balance in one hand without knocking it out with the other. A paperback novel is easier to hold one handed because you're not trying to tap on it, but even then you can get a little fatigued holding it that way.

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[Miamicanes]

Probably because back in 2011, a tablet with two screens would have weighed 3 pounds, which really IS too heavy for comfortable use. Back in 2012, I had a Motorola Xoom, which weighed about a pound and a half. Its weight wasn't crippling, but holding it with one hand definitely became tiring after a few minutes. If 1.5 pounds in one hand is tiring, I suspect 3 pounds in two would be no better.

That said, in the past, I've toyed with the idea of hacking a dual-screen ebook reader using a pair of identical And

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[OrangeTide]

On ours you do gestures, hold one page down with three fingers and swipe the other side to look at two different parts of the same text book. Transitions between a 2 page and 1 page flip for as realistically book-like as possible.

It really was too heavy, same weight as a macbook pro of the same era. The screen size needed for decent viewing of text books is what drove that particular decision. The Microsoft Courier was smaller and would have been theoretically much lighter, but there are still a lot of ergo

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[thegarbz]

So I have to ask: what's changed between 2011 and 2021 ?

Software.

No seriously. The best hardware in the world is pointless if the software doesn't exist to support it. We openly mocked Apple about the design of a phone with a touch screen. Then they demonstrated an OS that was touch capable. We openly mocked laptops with touch screens. How can you even navigate or resize windows without pixel perfect control? Well the answer is software. Windows 10 can be operated with a finger, Windows 7 cannot. That's 2011 and 2021 for you.

The same goes with multiple displays,

Itâ(TM)s a pity they ditched their Windows ph

[freedom_india]

I had a Lumia 925 and it was far ahead of its time with live tiles, wonderful camera and a snappy UI. Sadly stupid Microsoft ditched it.

Linux Phone

[xenog]

Microsoft releases a Linux phone and nobody cares. Welcome to 2021. Oh no, my bad, Android cannot be called Linux because it is popular. The Linux name can only be used to refer to Linux-based operating systems where the user base is significantly composed of neckbeards.

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[Thantik]

If this were a reasonably priced device, at say the $300-$600 range, I'd be far more excited. However, like you -- I am happy that Microsoft is releasing Linux hardware to the masses. Mobile has dominated desktop, and Linux runs most of it. We don't need a "year of the linux desktop" anymore, because desktop is largely irrelevant to the masses. Linux won. There's no doubt about it.