It has been almost a year since Microsoft first teased the Surface Duo, which was not only the company's first dual-screen phone, but also its first Android device in general (not counting the short-lived Nokia X devices that it acquired along with Nokia). It took a while, but the Duo is finally here. It will be available unlocked and on AT&T, starting at $1,399.

Microsoft has spent the past year gradually sharing details about the Duo, on top of rumors and leaks, so there's not too much left to the imagination at this point. Still, there's plenty to get excited about: dual 5.6-inch AMOLED screens, Surface Pen support, a 360-degree hinge, and Android 10.

As previously leaked, the Surface Duo is using last year's Snapdragon 855 processor, rather than the Snapdragon 865 that the Galaxy S20, LG V60, Galaxy Note20, and other 2020 have. That's not a critical flaw by any stretch of the imagination, but it does mean that the Duo's internal hardware doesn't quite match up to other ~$1,000 phones. There also doesn't appear to be support for NFC or wireless charging.

The main attraction here is the dual-screen design, which consists of two 5.6" 1800x1350 4:3 AMOLED screens. When the Duo is expanded, the total viewable area expands to 8.1" with a resolution of 2700x1800 (3:2). The only downside is that the Duo is wider than most modern smartphones when used in single-screen mode, at 93.3mm across. The phone is also impressively thin, even when folded: it's 4.8mm thick when open, and 9.9mm when closed. For comparison, the Galaxy S20 Ultra is 8.8mm thick, and it only has one screen.

SPECS

Microsoft has implemented more than a few software tricks to make the most of the form factor – for example, you can create 'app pairs' on the home screen that will open two selected apps at once. All of Microsoft's own applications (which are preinstalled) support dual-screen layouts to some extent, and the company already has a few third-party apps on-board. The Amazon Kindle app will display two pages at once in book mode, for example.

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The Surface Duo is available for pre-order starting today on the company's online store, and it will start shipping on September 10th. It's carrier-unlocked for use on the network of your choice (including Verizon), but AT&T will also be selling a carrier-locked version through its stores. No matter where you buy it, you'll have to fork over $1,399.

Source: Microsoft

Buy: Microsoft Store