In October last year Microsoft released to the world its dual-screen, Android-powered phone, the Surface Duo. It was stated that this device would be officially unveiled during this October’s Surface event and hit the market during the 2020 shopping season. Well, we are hearing rumblings that we might get our hands on the device earlier than previously stated.
Apparently both the hardware and software are pretty much done, with Microsoft focused on finalising the top-level OS customisations specific to Surface Duo. Microsoft is hoping to have all the software done by early April, and that the Surface Duo could start shipping in limited quantities the summer, with its full availability announced in the spring alongside the Surface Go 2 and Surface Book 3.
Surface Duo Specs
- Snapdragon 855
- 6 GB RAM
- 64 GB storage for the entry-level model
There will be variants with more RAM and storage, but the Snapdragon 855 will be universal across all Surface Duo tiers. This means that the Surface Duo will be shipping with last year’s flagship processor, and in addition will miss out on 5G support.
In my option, not having any 5G onboard is not a deal-breaker at the moment as this is a fledgeling technology, but as we progress through 2020, most new flagship phones launching this year will include 5G capabilities in some capacity. By the end of next year, 5G will be a much more widespread thing.
But the Surface Duo does need to launch soon. With the specs that it has, it won’t be long until that it will be considered “too outdated” by the rest of the market. That said, I still want one.
Although Microsoft recently announced that the Surface Duo might suffer from supply constraints in 2020 as factories in China are shut down due to COVID-19 virus. If conditions don’t improve, Microsoft may have no choice but to postpone or cancel these early launch plans for the Surface Duo.