In a detailed blog post Microsoft have unveiled the details of their long awaited dual screen tablet device, the Surface Duo. Available to pre-order in the US today the new Duo is set to land in September of this year.
Similar in size to Apple’s iPad Mini the Surface Duo combines two 5.6″ OLED touchscreens with a robust hinge that folds down into a relatively slim, 1cm (9.9mm), format.
Each screen comes has a 1800 x 1350 resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio. When viewed together that makes for a 2700 x 1800 3:2 combined display, separated with a small bezel.
Powering the Duo is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 with 6GB of RAM and can be configured to include up to 256GB of internal storage.
The Duo also has two batteries that lie under each screen with a total combined capacity of 3,577mAh. That’s over 1,000mAh less than Samsung’s new Note 20 Ultra and I’d say something of a concern. Microsoft insist you’ll get a full day’s usage though with 15.5 hours of local video playback, up to 10 days of standby time, and up to 27 hours of talk time.
Of course what’s most interesting here is that this is the first real device from Microsoft to run someone else’s operating system. An Android based tablet is one of the most unexpected things to have come from Microsoft in years and I love that they’re pushing the envelope with hardware in this new dual-screen frontier.
Unfortunately the pre-order is only available in the US right now. Aussies will have to wait a little longer, most likely to see how well it performs over there and allow the manufacturing lines to catchup in our current COVID nightmare.
US folks, you can pre-order now, with the Duo shipping in September. Pricing starts at US$1,399 for the 128GB model and bumps up to US$1,499 for 256GB. You’ll also need to spend an extra US$111 if you’d like the pen.