Microsoft announced several new products yesterday, but the biggest surprise was the foldable Surface Duo Android phone that be officially released in 2020.
The design of the device resembles Microsoft’s just-announced dual-screen Surface Neo laptop, but on a smaller, pocketable scale. The Surface Duo features two 5.6-inch displays that can rotate 360 degrees, allowing it to be fully unfolded as a miniature 8.3-inch tablet.
Android 10 has support for foldable phones like the Samsung Galaxy fold and Huawei Mate X, so it was no suprise that Microsoft is now basing its mobile future on Google’s Android Operating System.
Each display can also run two different apps at the same time, or the Duo can be turned into landscape mode, allowing the second display to be used as a keyboard or game controller. The version of Android on offer here looks heavily skinned, too, to resemble the Windows 10X operating system that the larger Surface Neo runs.
Wired, reports that the Surface Duo is powered by a Snapdragon 855 processor, but elements of the design haven’t been finalized yet — like whether it’ll feature a rear camera at all.
That’s because this was just an early preview of the Surface Duo. The device won’t be out until holiday 2020, by which time there will be a new foldable phones from Samsung, Motorola, and more.
