Microsoft missed its promise to bring Android 11 to the original Surface Duo before the end of 2021, but the software update for the company’s dual-screen screen device is still in the pipeline. Kimmo Lehtosalo, Senior Director of Program Management at Microsoft has now confirmed to Windows Central that Android 11 should be coming to the original Surface Duo “in the next few weeks.”
The Redmond giant apparently planned to release the Android 11 update in December, but the company needs a bit more time to provide a “great experience” to Surface Duo owners. You can find the full statement from the Microsoft employee below:
We’re finalizing the validation and certification for Android 11. We originally planned to deploy Android 11 as an update for Surface Duo in December, but we needed a few more weeks to ensure a great experience for Surface Duo customers. We expect to begin Android 11 rollout in the next few weeks, beginning with unlocked devices.
The Surface Duo originally launched with Android 10 back in September 2020, the same month when Android 11 was officially released. The more recent Surface Duo 2 released back in October 2021 is already running Android 11, but Windows Central recently reported that both the Duo 2 and the original Duo could skip Android 12 entirely in favor of Android 12L, a new version of the mobile OS optimized for tablets and dual-screen devices.
If Microsoft’s design efforts on the Surface Duo hardware received a lot of praise, the software has been an ongoing weak point with many users complaining about recurring bugs and slowdowns. Microsoft is still new at making Android devices and the company is still depending on Google to really optimize the OS for dual-screen devices, but things should hopefully get better for Surface Duo owners in the coming months.
