Murmurs that Microsoft’s Surface Duo might appear earlier than expected have been floating around for a while—but an FCC filing earlier this week and Bluetooth SIG certification that popped up today are strong hints that we’re probably a just a few weeks away from launch.
The Surface Duo was announced last October at Microsoft’s Surface event and initially expected to hit sometime during the 2020 holiday season. Then in March, Windows Central cited multiple sources with inside knowledge of the Duo saying that both the hardware and software were “pretty much done”—hinting at a summer release. Then last month, rumor had it that Microsoft was keen to launch the Duo before Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, which we now know will take place on August 5.
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There’s only one week left in July, so beating Samsung to the punch might be a tall order. Still, recent filings seem to back up that we’re likely to see the Surface Duos sometime before the end of August. The Verge, citing unnamed sources, reports that Microsoft had initially planned to showcase the Duo and other dual-screen devices at Build but all that changed once the global pandemic hit. As a result, both Windows 10X and the Surface Neo, another dual-screen Surface gadget that was announced alongside the Duo, would be delayed to 2021. It would appear the Duo was spared the same fate because it’ll run on Android 10.
Leaked specs for the Duo indicate that the device will have two 5.6-inch displays, run on a Snapdragon 855 chip, and feature 6GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. The Duo is also expected to have a 3460mAh battery, as well as USB-C fast charging. Gizmodo got a first look at the devices back October and while the Duo will likely be compared to folding phones, it’s really not the same thing. Not only is there a hinge, but it’s also two screens that work together, as opposed to a smaller screen that unfolds into a bigger one.
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In any case, we’ll have to wait and see what the Duo’s final form ends up being. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear like we’ll have to wait that much longer.
