At its much-awaited online hardware event, Microsoft unveiled the second-gen Surface Duo foldable smartphone alongside a multitude of Surface laptops. The Surface Duo 2 fixes most of the shortcomings of the original Duo, which was launched last year. This foldable phone may boast a similar design but is now more powerful, includes a larger display and a massive rear camera module.
So without further ado, check out the key specifications of Microsoft’s latest foldable smartphone, the Surface Duo 2:
Microsoft Surface Duo 2: Specifications
The Redmond giant continues to boast about Surface Duo 2 being the slimmest 5G smartphone. The design hasn’t changed a lot on the outside, and you still have nanocoated glass panels for that comfortable and premium in-hand feel. The Duo 2 includes an 8.3-inch PixelSense Fusion display (diagonally) with a 90Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass Victus protection on top.
One of the biggest upgrades in the display department has to be the curved inner edges along the hinge. When you close the Surface Duo 2, you will see the curved display through the hinge and Microsoft is calling it the Surface Duo Glance bar. It enables you to see calls, message and Teams notifications with ease, and it also shows the battery charge – reminding me of the crazy Mi Mix Alpha.
Under the hood, Microsoft’s foldable is no longer powered by a dated processor. Instead, the Surface Duo includes the flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset, coupled with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage. The device runs stock Android 11 out-of-the-box, of course, with some nifty features sprinkled in to make use of the dual screens. You can click and view images in real-time, edit them with ease, drag and drop apps across screens, game on Duo 2 as a handheld console, and much more.
One of the highlights of Surface Duo 2, as you can guess, will have to be the massive triple camera module on the rear. The original Surface Duo included only an 11MP selfie camera, which you could for clicking pictures or video calls. And well, if you remember all the reviews, its image quality was pretty bad.
Well, Surface Duo 2 fixes that major shortcoming with a triple camera setup, including a 12MP primary sensor, a 16MP ultra-wide lens, and a 12MP telephoto camera. Both the primary and telephoto camera come with OIS (optical image stabilization) support. You will also find a dedicated 12MP selfie camera on the inside (when unfolded) for selfies and video calling. As for the picture quality, we will have to wait for hands-on reviews to know better.
Moreover, this foldable phone comes with Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6, 5G, and NFC support. We will include more details about the device as we learn them.
Price and Availability
Microsoft Surface Duo 2 will be available in Glacier and Obsidian color variants. This foldable phone has been priced starting at $1499.99 (~Rs. 1,10,600) and will compete against the Galaxy Z Flip 3 from Samsung.
So yeah, you can clearly see that Microsoft has decided not to repeat its past mistakes with the Surface Duo 2. It now aims to offer a more fulfilling experience to users who wish to own a foldable phone. The hardware is no longer under-specced, which is just great, but can Duo 2 hold its own against the likes of actual foldable screen phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3? Let us know your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
