Surface Duo 2 benchmarks confirm Snapdragon 888 SoC and 8GB of RAM

Back in 2019, Microsoft finally unveiled its first Android handset, namely a dual-display device called the Surface Duo. While the device underwhelmed in terms of critic reviews and commercial performance, many praised it for its stylish form factor. Just over a month ago, supposed images of the upcoming Surface Duo 2 leaked, giving a hint at some of the hardware changes, especially camera improvements. Now, the handset has been spotted on Geekbench, which confirms some key specifications.

The Geekbench report, which can be seen here, shows the Surface Duo 2 scoring a single-core score of 1,091 and a multi-core score of 3,517. For reference, the Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G has scores of 972 and 3052, respectively. Similarly, the OnePlus 9R charts at 940 and 2,970, respectively. While this would indicate decent performance from the Surface Duo 2, it is important to note that Geekbench scores aren't necessarily indicative of real-world performance, and can be quite easily manipulated in a device's favor.

Perhaps the more interesting bits are related to the device's internals. The benchmark indicates that the Surface Duo 2 will boast a Snapdragon 888 chipset and 8GB of RAM. This is sizeable upgrade over the Surface Duo which launched with Snapdragon 855 and 6GB of RAM. At the time of running the benchmark, it was purportedly running Android 11, but of course, this could change by the time that Android 12 hits general availability and the Surface Duo 2 hits the market.

Again, it is important to remember that specifications on Geekbench can be doctored, but Windows Central has confirmed that these are indeed the Surface Duo 2's specifications. Other known specifications of the handset include a triple-camera array containing a standard main camera, a telephoto lens, and an ultra-wide shooter. This is a major upgrade over the disappointing camera present in the first-generation Surface Duo.

Given the internals of the Surface Duo 2, we can expect the device to launch towards the end of the calendar year. That said, pricing will once be a key factor in terms of how the market responds to the handset. We talked in detail about how, at its $1,399 launch price, the Surface Duo was tragically overpriced. Microsoft has been offering massive discounts on the handset quite frequently since its launch.