Other than the iPhone 12 and Google Pixel 4a, one highly anticipated smartphone for 2020 is Microsoft's Surface Duo. The device made its debut at the 2019 Surface Event alongside the Surface Neo. Perhaps the biggest surprise it brought to the table aside from the foldable dual-screen configuration was the fact that it runs on Google's Android operating system. Now after months of speculation, the manufacturer has finally confirmed the release date for its first Surface handset.

Microsoft's Surface catalogue is considered by the tech industry as premium-grade computing products. Hence, the company wants consumers to know that the Duo is primarily a productivity platform with telephony features added. As such, there are no secondary displays and cameras visible on the exterior. Thus, it remains to be seen how the engineers were able to come up with a workaround for notifications.

According to a post on Microsoft's official blog, the Surface Duo is slated to ship on Thursday, Sept. 10, and will retail for $1,399. Its pricing positions it closely with other foldable smartphones such as the Galaxy Z Fold and Motorola RAZR.

However, instead of a single flexible panel, it uses two 5.6-inch AMOLED screens which fan out into an 8.1-inch 1800 x 1350 PixelSense Fusion display. Each one is affixed to a 360-degree hinge for impressive versatility.

It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC which is paired with 6 GB of RAM. Internal storage sizes are listed at 64 GB for the base model and 256 GB for those who require more space. Oddly enough, sources claim that it will be powered by a 3,460 mAh battery, which might not be enough for a device with its screen size.

Microsoft Surface Duo
Microsoft will get back into the smartphone market with a new kind of folding device call Surface Duo, which will be launched next year and will be compatible with Android apps from tech rival Google's mobile operating system Microsoft / HO

Although Microsoft is yet to officially share everything about the Surface Duo, leaked press images might have revealed the contents of the retail package. Accompanying the foldable handset is a two-piece bumper case, a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable, and a power adapter. Out of the box, it will run on a customised version of Android 10 with an Android 11 update to follow soon. It appears to be compatible with the Surface Pen as well.

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