Microsoft unveiled the Surface Duo - its first Android-powered dual-screen device - back in October 2019. It wasn’t until August this year that the company detailed the specifications and launch dates of the device. The dual-screened device – which the Redmond firm refuses to refer to as a phone – was made available only to users in the U.S. for a whopping $1,399.
Rumors suggested that the Redmond firm will not be selling the Duo in markets outside of the U.S. at least till 2021. Today, the firm confirmed those reports by announcing that the Surface Duo will launch in Canada, United Kingdom, France, and Germany in “early 2021”. It adds that it will share more information at the “beginning of 2021”, presumably along with the expected launch of the Surface Pro 8 and the Laptop 4 in January.
The company did not share any more information about the devices’ availability in the said markets. The blog post does, however, go through the benefits of the phone’s dual screens and boasts of the new capabilities brought by both native and third-party apps that leverage the hardware.
For $1,399, the Duo packs a Snapdragon 855 SoC, 6GB RAM, and 128GB of internal storage - with a 256GB tier available for $1,499. The dual displays are both 5.6-inch AMOLED screens with a display resolution of 1800x1350. Photography duties are carried out by a single 11MP shooter with an f/2.0 aperture. Even with the high asking price, the device omits features such as NFC, 5G, and a high refresh rate for the display.
It will be interesting to see how the company prices the Duo in the new markets that it is being made available, and if the company has any surprises in store.