The dual-screen Android device can be pre-ordered from Sept. 1.
(Photo: Microsoft) We expect smartphone innovation from Apple, Google, and Samsung, but last year it was Microsoft that surprised us by revealing it planned to launch a dual-screen Android device. Now Microsoft has confirmed the Surface Duo’s launch date and sky-high price. In a Tech Community blog post, Frank Bucholz, senior product marketing manager for Surface, revealed that the Surface Duo launches on Sept.10, but pre-orders will open on Sept.1. What is going to make many pause before hitting that pre-order button, though, is the price. It starts at $1,399. In return for all that cash you’re getting what Microsoft calls an 8.1-inch PixelSense Fusion display, constructed of two 5.6-inch displays linked by a 360-degree hinge. The Surface Duo runs Android and therefore can take advantage of the “full ecosystem of Android mobile apps,” but Microsoft is keen to stress this is also a device focused on a Microsoft 365 experience.
