Microsoft gave us our first teaser trailer of the Surface Duo in October last year, leaving us wanting to know more. Over time the leaks inevitably came and even some Microsoft employees posted pictures on Twitter showing off the foldable device.
As of today, we finally have a price tag and the full specification sheet for the Surface Duo. To start off with, when fully opened, the display becomes an 8.1″ Dual PixelSense Fusion AMOLED with a resolution of 2700 x 1800 pixels. On the other hand, the single-screen format is a 5.6″ display with a resolution of 1800 x 1350 pixels. The battery size seems a bit lacking and comes in at 3577mAh. Under the hood, the Surface Duo is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform with 128GB or 256GB of internal storage and 6GB of RAM. In the camera department, the folding smartphone features an adaptive 11MP shooter with up to 4K 60fps video recording.
If you’re curious about pricing, the Surface Duo will set you back between US$1399.99 and $1499.99. As most foldable smartphones already have a high price tag and probably will for a while longer until they become more mainstream. In this case, you’re paying for the Surface Duo device, a bumper case, and an 18W USB-C power supply. The device will come unlocked and work with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, even though the last carrier doesn’t show support on the full specs list.
If US$1399 is too much for you, and it really is, Microsoft is offering up to US$700 cash back with a trade-in offer. If you’re trying get to that US$700 amount, you’ll need to trade in a current phone such as an iPhone 11 Pro or Pro Max with at least 64GB or Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Plus 5G. Other than that, most devices that you can choose to trade in from range between US$550 and US$650.
Full specifications of the Microsoft Surface Duo are below:
| Dimensions | Open:145.2 mm (H) x 186.9 mm (W) x 4.8 mm (T) Closed:145.2 mm (H) x 93.3 mm (W) x 9.9 mm (T at hinge) |
|---|---|
| Weight | 250 grams |
| Display | Dual PixelSense™ Fusion Displays open: 8.1” AMOLED, 2700×1800 (3:2), 401 PPI Single PixelSense™ Display: 5.6” AMOLED, 1800×1350 (4:3), 401 PPI Display Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass |
| Battery Life | Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback Up to 10 days of Standby Time Up to 27 hours of Talk Time |
| Battery Capacity | 3577mAh (typical) dual battery |
| Battery charging | Battery charging using 18W in box power supply |
| Camera and video recording | Adaptive camera 11MP, f/2.0, 1.0 µm, PDAF and 84.0° diagonal FOV optimized with AI for front and rear Photos: Auto mode with low-light & HDR multi-frame photo capture and dynamic range scene detection; Super-resolution zoom, and super zoom up to 7x Portrait mode with adjustable depth control; Panorama modeBurst mode Video recording: 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps; HEVC and H.264 video recording formats; Gyro-based digital video stabilization |
| Video conferencing | Microsoft Teams and Skype video conferencing up to 1080p at 30fps High CRI LED Flash for both front and world facing photo and video scenarios |
| Countries, carriers, and compatibility4 | Countries: U.S. Unlocked device: AT&T, T-Mobile Locked device: AT&T |
| Network and connectivity | WiFi: WiFi-5 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz) Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0 LTE: 4×4 MIMO, Cat.18 DL / Cat 5 UL, 5CA, LAA. Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 150Mbps Upload FDD-LTE: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,12,13,14,19,20,25,26,28,29,30,66 TD-LTE: 38,39,40,41,46 WCDMA: 1,2,5,8 GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900 Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS |
| SIM | One eSIM and one Nano SIM Note: AT&T locked device will not support eSIM |
| Processor | Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform optimized for the dual-screen experience |
| Connections | USB-C® 3.1 |
| Storage and memory6 | 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.0 of internal storage 6GB DRAM |
| Audio | Mono speaker, Dual Mic noise suppression and echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures Best-in-class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands-free mode Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive |
| Software | Android™ 10; Microsoft and Google apps pre-installed |
| Sensors | Dual Accelerometer Dual Gyroscope Dual Magnetometer Dual Ambient Light Sensor Proximity Sensor Hall Sensor Fingerprint Sensor |
| Video playback | Video Playback Formats: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM Wireless: Chromecast support Wired: DisplayPort over USB-C®. Supports video out when connecting via HDMI Adapter |
| Exterior | Exterior Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass Color: Glacier |
| Security and authentication | Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader (1:100K FAR <3% FRR) Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password Security applications pre-loaded on device: Microsoft Authenticator |
| Language support | All supported languages (Android™ 10) |
| Pen and inking | Supports all in market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen and Surface Hub 2 Pen *Simultaneous Pen and touch are supported |
| What’s in the box | Surface Duo Surface Duo Bumper (Color: Glacier) Surface Duo USB-C® Power Supply (18w) Quick Start Guide Warranty and Compliance Guide SIM Ejector tool |
| Warranty9 | 1-year limited hardware warranty |
| The Microsoft Store Promise for Surface | 60-day return policy 90 days of free technical phone support Free virtual workshops and training |
So, what are your thoughts about Microsoft’s first-generation foldable device? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, or Facebook. You can also comment on our MeWe page by joining the MeWe social network.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
