Surface Duo 2 is a second chance for the Microsoft foldable device

One of the devices that Microsoft launched last year was the Surface Duo, only available in America, the device gained attention for its unique way of considering a folding display, but also for the lack of standard options like NFC and a decent camera. The new Surface event took the cover off the Duo 2, which aims to correct almost all the problems that the first had.

Featuring larger, 8.3″ PixelSense Fusion displays, a Snapdragon 888 5G Mobile CPU, a dynamic triple-lens camera, stereo audio, NFC for contactless payments and an array of new accessories that add special features and extra protection, Duo 2 represents a big upgrade from what was released before.

But like last years effort, a lot of the focus of the device is around the productivity enhancements that it can offer users, like being able to read emails on one screen, while talking with someone on a video call on another. Even using the Kindle app, provides more options, letting you enjoy your digital book, like you would if it was on paper.

Speaking of paper the Duo 2 supports the new Surface Slim Pen 2, which has haptic motors inside, mean to replicate the feeling of writing on paper, with its small little gestures.

Beyond being productive, the Duo 2 also works as a gaming platform, with some games like Asphalt 9 being optimised for it, but even further past that is the fact that it supports Xbox Cloud Gaming, meaning if you have an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you can stream all the games right to your Duo 2, some of them can be played without the need for an external controller as well.

One of the new features that is kinda cool is the sidebar for notifications, I say sidebar, but it is actually just one of the screens, lighting up in a pulse manner for calls, or just showing little icons for missed messages or such.

Unlike the first attempt, the Surface Duo 2 is coming to Australia, we just don’t know when yet, but it will come in two colours and three storage offerings. The two colours are the same Glacial White from last year and the new Obsidian Black, both of which have been coated to provide protection on the outside, while Corning Glass does the job on the inside.

There are three storage sizes, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB, but that is in, the RAM for all is locked at 8GB, prices start at $2,319 and go up from there.

Finally, tech specs are important and there are a lot here, so check out the full breakdown of what you get with the Duo 2:

Dimensions

Open:

• 145.2 mm (H) x 184.5 mm (W) x 5.50mm (T)

Closed :

• 145.2 mm (H) x 92.1 mm (W) x 11.0 mm (T at hinge)

Display

• Dual PixelSense™ Fusion Displays open: 8.3” AMOLED, 2688x1892

• Single PixelSense™ Screen: 5.8” AMOLED 1344x1892 (13:9)

• 401 PPI

• HDR

• Wide colour 100% SRGB, DCI-P3

• Dual displays with 90Hz adaptive refresh rate

• 800 nits max brightness

• Display Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus™

Battery capacity4

• 4449mAh (typical) dual battery

• 4340mAh (minimum) dual battery

Camera and video recording

Dynamic triple lens rear-facing camera:

• Wide: 12MP, f/1.7 aperture, 27 mm, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF and OIS

• Telephoto: 12MP, f/2.4 aperture, 51 mm, 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS and 2X optical zoom

• Ultra-Wide: 16MP, f/2.2 aperture, 13 mm, 1.0µm, 110o diagonal field of view with distortion correction

Front-facing Camera:

• 12MP, f/2.0, 24 mm,1.0µm

• Flash: Dual led - dual colour flash

Photos:

• Auto mode with low-light & HDR multi-frame photo capture and dynamic range scene detection

• Dedicated night photography mode

• Smooth Zoom between all 3 Rear Facing Camera combined with digital super zoom up to 10x

• Portrait mode with adjustable depth control. Portrait mode supported for wide and tele camera. Machine learning used for portrait mode

• Panorama mode with wide dynamic range

• Capture short video during photo capture with long press

• Capture photos during video recording

Video recording:

• HDR Video

• 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps

• 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps

• Slow motion video at 120 or 240fps

• HEVC and H.264 video recording formats

Network and connectivity

• Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2.4/5GHz)

• Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.1

• NFC for payments and provisioning

• 5G-NR NSA (mmWave): Release 15 DL 64 QAM up to 6 Gbps, 8xDL CA (800MHz), 2x2 MIMO

• 5G-NR NSA (mmWave): Release 15 UL 64 QAM, 2xUL CA (200MHz), 2x2 MIMO

• 5G-NR NSA (mmWave) Bands: n257, n260, n261

• 5G-NR NSA (Sub-6): Release 15 DL 256 QAM up to 3.2 Gbps, 2xDL CA (TDD+TDD), 4x4 MIMO

• 5G-NR NSA (Sub-6): Release 15 UL 256 QAM

• 5G-NR NSA (Sub-6) Bands: n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n20, n25, n28, n38, n41, n66, n71, n77, n78, n79

• Gigabit LTE - A Pro Release 15 with 4x4 MIMO and LAA

• LTE DL Cat 20, 256 QAM up to 2Gbps, 5xDL CA

• LTE UL Cat 13, 64 QAM Contiguous 2X ULCA

• LTE Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48, 66, 71

• WCDMA: 1,2,5,8

• GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900

• Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS

Processor

• Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 888 5G Mobile Platform

Storage and memory

• 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

• 8GB DRAM LPDDR5 memory

Software6

Microsoft built-in applications:

• Intune Company Portal

• LinkedIn

• Microsoft Authenticator

• Microsoft Bing Search

• Microsoft Edge

• Microsoft Lens - PDF Scanner

• Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint & More

• Microsoft OneDrive

• Microsoft OneNote

• Microsoft Outlook

• Microsoft Start

• Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft To Do

• Surface

• Tips

• Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft Surface Duo 2 UI core features:

• App Groups

• Dual screen windowing

• Dynamic Dock

• Dynamic Triple-Lens Camera

• Microsoft 365 Feed

• Span apps automatically

• Surface Duo Glance Bar

• SwiftKey Adaptive Keyboard

• Universal Search

• Your Phone Companion - Link to Windows

Other preinstalled apps:

• Calculator

• Chrome

• Clock

• Contacts

• Files

• Gmail

• Google Assistant

• Google Calendar

• Google Drive

• Google Duo

• Google Maps

• Google Photos

• Google Play Movies & TV

• Google Play Store

• Google Search

• Messages

• Phone

• Sound recorder

• YouTube

• YouTube Music

Operating System: Android™ 11

Video playback

Video Playback Formats:

• MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, 3G2, AVI, FLV, TS/M2TS, MKV, WEBM, 3GP/MPEG-4,HEIC/HEIF,ASF/WMV, MOV

Wireless*

• Chromecast and Miracast support

Wired:

• DisplayPort over USB-C®. Supports video out when connecting via HDMI Adapter

• 4K video out over USB-C when connecting via DisplayPort cable or HDMI Adaptor to external monitor

*Wireless dependent on the TV/monitor support

Security and authentication

• Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader with enterprise grade security

• Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password

• Security applications pre-loaded on device: Microsoft Authenticator

What’s in the box

Surface Duo 2

• Surface Duo 2 (Colour: Glacier or Obsidian)

• Surface Duo 2 USB-C Cable

• Quick Start Guide

• Warranty and Compliance Guide

• SIM Ejector tool

Sensors

• Dual Accelerometer

• Dual Gyroscope

• Dual Magnetometer

• Dual Ambient Light Sensor

• Dual Proximity Sensor

• Hall Sensor

• Fingerprint Sensor

Weight2

• 284 grams

Battery life9

• Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback

• Up to 28 hours of Talk Time

Battery charging

• Fast Charging available using the Microsoft Surface 23W USB-C Power Supply11

Video conferencing

• Microsoft Teams and Skype video conferencing up to 1080p at 30fps

Countries and carrier compatibility10

Unlocked device for all carriers

• Australia

• Canada

• France

• Germany

• United Kingdom

• U.S.

• Austria

• Belgium

• Denmark

• Finland

• Ireland

• Italy

• Netherlands

• Spain

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Japan

SIM

• One eSIM11 and one Nano SIM

Connections

• USB-C® 3.2 Gen 2

• Unlocked for all carriers

Audio

• Stereo speaker, Dual Mic AI-based noise suppression and acoustic echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures

• Best-in -class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands free mode, receiver and LRA

• Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY

• Qualcomm® aptX™ Classic, HD and TWS

• Hearing aid compatibility: M4/T3

• Wake on Voice using Google Assistant

Exterior

• Exterior Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass

• Color: Glacier, Obsidian

Language support

• Danish

• Dutch

• English (Australia)

• English (Canada)

• English (UK)

• English (US)

• Finnish

• French (Canada)

• French (France)

• German

• Italian

• Japanese

• Norwegian

• Polish

• Spanish (Spain)

• Spanish (US)

• Swedish

Pen and inking

• Supports all in-market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen, and Surface Hub 2 Pen8

• Simultaneous Pen and touch are supported

Warranty12

• 1-year limited hardware warranty