The Microsoft Surface Duo isn’t exactly the best hybrid phone-tablet in the market today but it’s one of the more intriguing models we’ve seen. It offers mobile productivity even without the latest specs. The device is coming to Europe and Canada very soon, making the release a first outside the United States. The Surface Dup is also arriving in Germany. It will be upgradable to Android 11 by Summer. If you’re willing to get the device with only Android 10, you can purchase one and see if the Snapdragon 855 processor if already enough.
The not-so-updated specs are not really the problem. Many people are just concerned about several issues that have been reported like the plastic frame around the USB-port cracking and the battery swelling that cause some strange bulge. You can read on the Microsoft Surface Duo Teardown to see the good and the bad about the device.
The Surface Duo has other bugs but they can be fixed. Performance-wise, the Surface Duo benchmark scores were found to be high and outperforming other flagships. The number may be different now though because a lot has changed in six months.
Microsoft has released the Surface Duo in the US. It’s actually now given a $400 discount. It’s still not clear if units rolling out outside the country will also have a lower price.
Android 11 for Surface Duo
For now, we’re curious about the Android 11. The Surface Duo actually runs on a custom Android interface and come with enterprise level security by Microsoft. It may not be the usual Android 11 OS update we’ve seen already but slightly different.
By the time Android 11 is released for the Microsoft Surface Duo, Android 12 would have been introduced. But that’s fine since it will still take time before Android 12 is ready for the flagships.
It’s still not clear if a Surface Duo will be announced. That is a possibility but we think for now, Microsoft needs to focus on properly marketing the original Surface Duo. There’s also the Surface Neo that has already been delayed. The last time we heard about it was in May last year.
