Following the release of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8, Surface Laptop Studio, and Surface Go 3 earlier this month, the company’s dual-screen Surface Duo 2 is launching in select markets today. This is Microsoft’s second attempt at creating an Android-based dual-screen device, and the hardware of the Surface Duo is a big step forward.
With larger 8.3” PixelSense Fusion displays, a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888 SoC, support for 5G and NFC, and a triple-lens camera on the back, the Surface Duo 2 addresses many of the original Surface Duo’s shortcomings while iterating on a premium-looking design. The Duo 2 also adds a fingerprint sensor that’s integrated into the power button, and the hinge has also been improved with a “Glance Bar” that can display the time of day and notifications without opening the Duo 2.
The Surface Duo 2 is available in Glacier or a new Obsidian finish, and it starts at $1499.99 in the US for the model with 128GB of storage. In the UK, the same base model is priced at £1,349, and the Surface Duo 2 starts at €1,599 in other European markets.
If the Surface Duo 2 is slightly more expensive than the original model, keep in mind that the Surface Duo 1 was discounted pretty quickly and we saw it under $400 back in August. It remains to be seen if the same thing will happen with its successor, but sometimes being an early adopter isn’t such a good idea. The original Surface Duo had a lot of software issues and has yet to be updated with Android 11, and we hope that the Surface Duo 2 will fare better on the software front.