Remember when Microsoft teased the Surface Duo in the latter stages of 2019? The Android world was stunned by the Duo's clean design and apparent resurrection, in spirit anyway, of the Courier concept that was unceremoniously killed off by the Redmond-based company. As excited as I am for the Surface Duo, the newly leaked specifications for the dual-screened handset are worrying for a handset that will undoubtedly cost the proverbial arm and a leg.
According to Windows Central, we can expect the Duo to sport the Snapdragon 855 (from 2019) and 6GB of RAM under the hood. At this point in 2020, and considering the long time that Microsoft has been developing the Duo, I would pose the question that it's simply not enough. For a handset that is not marketed as a smartphone but as a productivity tool, which means loads of multitasking going on, 6GB of RAM is not going to cut it.
There will apparently be two variants; one with 64GB of storage and another with 128GB, it's unsure whether MicroSD support is present or not. Something that isn't present is NFC, so there'll be no mobile payment option for the Duo. It's an omission that doesn't make sense for anyone planning on using the Duo as their main device.
The battery has a capacity of 3,460mAh, which is frankly a little light even for a regular handset, nevermind one with twin 5.46-inch AMOLED displays of 1800 x 1350 resolution. Considering that the majority of phones launching in 2020 sport batteries with 4,000mAh or more, the Surface Duo is going to need topping up before the day is out with normal usage.
There's an 11MP camera with 1.12μm pixel width and F/2.0 aperture that sits in the top-right corner of the display, which almost certainly is not going to be of Pixel 3a or iPhone SE quality. Finally, the Surface Duo will launch running Android 10 but should be updated to Android 11 fairly quickly, which is good news.
It's expected that Microsoft will launch the Surface Duo during the holidays but there have been persistent rumors that it may make an early debut during the summer months. Despite my misgivings about the leaked specifications list, I really hope that the Surface Duo proves to be winner, or at least good enough so that Microsoft commits to further Android-powered devices or phones, as we call them.
Source: Windows Central
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