Surface Duo - A comprehensive, "for Business" review
12th August 2020 marked a significant day for Microsoft's re-introduction back into the mobile phone market. The long anticipated release announcement of the Surface Duo (US currently) comes with huge excitement, with major online platforms and tech magazines reporting overwhelmingly positively on the Surface Duo.
Clearly the Surface Duo is more than just a Smartphone, the Duo sets the standard for a new category as part of the Surface family of devices, one that is designed with mobile productivity and creativity in mind. A new wave is upon us, inspiring us all to rethink how we want to use and experience our pocket based devices.
Surface Duo will be available on the 12th September 2020 (US) and pre-orders are open now after the first announcement back in October 2019.
So what is Surface Duo?
Surface Duo is a new dual-screen Surface with two 5.6-inch screens that pivots on two beautifully designed hinges to present an 8.1-inch screen, bringing together the very best of Microsoft productivity experiences, Android 10, Apps and Surface hardware all packaged and designed into an ultra slim and portable device.
Lets take a closer look at the commercial launch video for Surface Duo.
What is Surface Duo for?
Productivity, Productivity, Productivity!
As you can see Surface Duo opens up (my attempt at paronomasia), a new world of possibilities, giving new ways to be productive on a truly dynamic canvas screens, or should I say two dynamic screens? Consider times when you have been away from your primary productivity device, such as a Laptop or Tablet needing to Create, Complete, Collaborate, Contribute or Converse on work and projects, be it professionally or personally. The Surface Duo's elegant functionality removes the frustrations and complexities of having to consume a single app at a time on a single screen, and in my opinion is one of the core factors that is driving such excitement around this device.
I have mentioned productivity above, so lets look a few examples, I will then cover the points below in more detail;
- Overview
- The Design
- For Business value
- Accessories
- Warranties & Service Plans
- Technical Specifications
- and Conclusion
View two apps at once
Open two apps side-by-side, in this example you can see you can now plan your trips and pull up directions at the same time. No more, annoyingly, having to switch between apps.
Make your own App Groups
Pair any two apps and launch simultaneously, each on a full screen, for a completely custom experience. Whether that is Teams and Outlook or Spotify or Browsing the choice is yours. The overview from Jamire further down shows you how to do this, for me this is game changing, ensuring I get into my "flow" quicker whilst getting more done. Think about all those apps you tend to use together like Teams and OneNote, Outlook and To Do or simply play your favourite music whilst browsing in Edge or maybe even the the Kindle app just as Satya Nadella himself.
Type on one screen, view on the other
Easily compose an email by typing on the bottom screen keyboard, while viewing your draft or reference points on the top display.
Drag and Drop across screens
Drag your text, notes, lists or even shopping ingredients from one screen directly to your To Do list on the other for instant task management.
Enjoy the view with dual-screen enhanced apps
Scroll through your photo library on one screen, while viewing your selection on the other. The ability to utilise both screen really does bring the Surface Duo to life, with future enhancements developed by software/app vendors, the potential use cases limitless.
Two sites, side by side with Edge
The Surface Duo's dual screen makes browsing a much more pleasurable experience, allowing you to open and view two websites at the same time to compare content and get inspired, shop and pin ideas. No more switching between tabs, where the experience is just like having two touch screen monitors, "dare I say it", in the palm of your hands :-)
Overview
Now that we have seen the some of the productivity features and their benefits, lets hear from Jamire from the Microsoft Store, Redmond WA, who talks us through a hands on overview of the Surface Duo.
The Design
Here we have the the thinnest mobile device on the market, connecting two PixelSense Fusion Displays and when combined, presents one 8.1" canvas screen to play with.
Dimensions
Open: 145.2 mm (H) x 186.9 mm (W) x 4.8 mm (D) Closed: 145.2 mm (H) x 93.3 mm (W) x 9.9 mm (D at hinge)
Fast, secured sign-in
Unlock using the built-in fingerprint reader.
Perfectly positioned at the opening edge of the Surface Duo, this means you can login and fold out the device at the same time. No Pin, No Password, you are straight in.
Dual-screen AMOLED touchscreens
Two high-resolution Corning? Gorilla? Glass 5.6” (1800x1350) screens that open to 8.1” (2700x1800), with consistent colour and brightness calibration.
Won’t weigh you down
Less than 0.19” thin (4.8mm) when open, and under half an inch thin (1cm) when closed; weighing in at only 8.81 oz (250g).
Revolutionary 360° hinge
Seamless interactions between the dual screens are possible with 56 micro-cables – each thinner than a human hair.
Versatile connection
Supports Fast Charging with the included 18 watt USB-C power supply, or video output. A single connection for all your peripherals.
AI optimised Adaptive camera
11MP, f2.0, image quality tuning with various modes depending on posture;
4K video recording with gyro-based digital video stabilisation.
Surface for Business
The Surface Duo unlocks more value, and this is where it gets even more interesting!
Surface Duo has protection built in at every layer with deeply integrated hardware, firmware, and software to keep your devices, identities, and data secure. As an Android 10 device, Surface Duo utilises Android security features at the OS level and at the Google services layer. The Android OS leverages traditional OS security controls to protect user data and system resources, protects device integrity against malware, and provides application isolation. Additionally, Google provides a number of services layered on top of the OS that, when combined with Android OS security, helps to continuously protect the Android user.
Custom engineered UEFI
Unique to Surface Duo, among Android devices, is Microsoft’s custom engineered Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) which enables full control over firmware components. Microsoft delivers Enterprise-grade security to Surface Duo by writing or reviewing every line of firmware code in house, enabling Microsoft to respond directly and agilely, to potential firmware threats and to mitigate supply chain security risks.
Verified Boot
Starting at the hardware level upon sign-in, Verified Boot strives to ensure executed code only comes from a trusted source. It establishes a full chain of trust, from hardware-protected root of trust to the bootloader, boot partition and other verified partitions. When Surface Duo boots up, each stage verifies the integrity and authenticity of the next stage before handing over execution.
App separation
Application sandboxing isolates and guards Android apps, preventing malicious apps from accessing private information. Mandatory, always-on encryption and key handling help protect data in transit and at rest, even if devices fall into the wrong hands. Encryption is protected with Keystore keys, which store cryptographic keys in a container, making it more difficult to extract from a device.
Google Play Protect
At the software layer, Surface Duo uses Google Play Protect threat detection, which scans all applications including public apps from Google Play, system apps updated by Microsoft and carriers, as well as sideloaded apps.
Microsoft Defender ATP
The enterprise grade antivirus and malware protection software for Window 10 is now available for Android devices managed from Intune.
Find Out More
Enterprise-level chip to cloud security
Surface Duo has protection built in at every layer with integrated hardware, firmware, and software to keep your devices, identities, and data secure.
Find Out More
Control with cloud-based management
Manage the entire Surface Duo experience for employees and protect work data with a variety of device management solutions, including Microsoft Intune.
Find Out More
Enhance existing apps for dual screens
Make your customer-facing and essential business apps work great for dual screens with the Surface Duo Software Development Kit (SDK)
Find Out More
Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) on Surface
Meet complex business and security requirements with broad device redirection support, endpoint protection, Microsoft 365 virtualised in Azure. Particularly in this new world where WVD is fast becoming the go to solution to deliver work environments to end users, but that is another topic altogether.
Find Out More
What is in the box?
- Surface Duo
- Protective Bumper
- USB-C? Power Supply (18w)
- SIM Ejector tool.
- Quick Start, Warranty & Compliance Guide
Accessories
Write, listen and connect
Elevate your Surface Duo experience with Microsoft 365, Surface Slim Pen, Surface Earbuds, Surface Headphones 2 and more. I am sure we will see many more accessories begin to appear for Surface Duo, that said we already know compatibility is in place and will function with the Surface Pen, Slim Pen and the Hub 2 Pen. Check in here for Surface accessories and the Designed for Surface site for 3rd party licensed solutions here. The Manufacturer ZAGG has already published the first 3rd Party accessory, a 4-piece InvisibleShield GlassFusion+ screen protector for Surface Duo. The accessory will protect all sides of the device with shock absorbing glass and offers anti-bacterial protection.
Find Out More
Warranty & Service Plans
In the US, where the Surface Duo will launch there will be the option of purchasing Microsoft Complete for Business Plus, on top the Manufacturers Warranty, lets take a closer look into what this includes.
Manufacturer Hardware Warranty
- Included with every Surface
- Duration: 1 year
- Starts on day of purchase
- Prepaid return shipment
Includes:
- Mechanical breakdown
Microsoft Complete for Business Plus
- Sold Separately
- Duration: Up to 3 years
- Available within 45 days of Surface device purchase
- Prepaid return shipment
Includes:
- Advanced Exchange
- Accidental Damage
- Next Business Day Replacement
Find Out More
Technical Specification
Dimensions
When open: 145.2mm (H) x 186.9mm (W) x 4.8mm (D)
When closed: 145.2mm (H) x 93.3mm (W) x 9.9mm (D at hinge)
Display
Dual PixelSense Fusion Displays when open: 8.1” AMOLED, 2700x1800 (3:2), 401 PPI
Single PixelSense Display: 5.6” AMOLED, 1800x1350 (4:3), 401 PPI Display
Material: Corning? Gorilla? Glass
Battery Capacity
3577mAh (typical) dual battery
Camera and video recording
Adaptive camera 11MP, f/2.0, 1.0 μm, PDAF and 84.0° diagonal FOV optimised with AI for front and rear.
Photos:
- Auto mode with low-light & HDR multi-frame photo capture and dynamic range scene detection
- Super resolution zoom, and super zoom up to 7x
- Portrait mode with adjustable depth control
- Panorama mode
- Burst mode
Video recording:
- 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps Electronic Image Stabilisation on
- 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps
- HEVC and H.264 video recording formats
- Gyro-based digital video stabilisation
- Video HDR mode
- Slow motion video support for 1080p at 120fps and 240fps
SIM
One eSIM and one Nano SIM
Connections
USB-C? 3.1
Audio
Mono speaker, Dual mic noise suppression and echo cancellation optimised for productive use in all postures. Best in class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands free mode.
Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY
Qualcomm? aptX? Adaptive
Sensors
Dual Accelerometer
Dual Gyroscope
Dual Magnetometer
Dual Ambient Light Sensor
Proximity Sensor
Hall Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor
Exterior
Exterior Material: Corning? Gorilla? Glass
Colour: Glacier
Language support
All supported languages (Android? 10)
Pen and inking
Supports all in-market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen and Surface Hub 2 Pen
Simultaneous Pen and touch are supported
Warranty
1-year limited hardware warranty
Weight
250 grams
Battery Life
Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback
Up to 27 hours of Talk Time
Up to 10 days of Standby Time
Fast Charging
Fast Charging using 18W in box power supply
Video conferencing
Microsoft Teams and Skype video conferencing up to 1080p at 30fps
High CRI LED Flash for both font and world facing photo and video scenarios
Network and connectivity
WiFi: WiFi-5 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth: Bluetooth? 5.0
LTE:
4x4 MIMO, Cat.18 DL / Cat 5 UL, 5CA, LAA.
Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 150Mbps Upload
Bands Supported:
- FDD-LTE: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,12,13,14,19 20,25,26,28,29,30,66
- TD-LTE: 38,39,40,41,46
- 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? 855 Mobile Platform optimised for the dual-screen experience
Storage and memory
128GB or 256GB UFS 3.0 of internal storage
6 GB DRAM
Software
Microsoft built-in applications:
- Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office Lens, PDF reader and More
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Microsoft Edge
- Microsoft OneNote
- Microsoft To Do
- Microsoft News
- Microsoft Authenticator
- Microsoft Bing Search
- Intune Company Portal
- Microsoft Solitaire Collection
- Surface Audio
Microsoft Surface Duo UI core features:
- Dual screen windowing
- Adaptive modes
- App Groups
- Microsoft 365 Feed
- Dynamic dock
- Universal Search
- Adaptive Camera
- Microsoft SwiftKey Adaptive Keyboard
- Your Phone Companion - Link to Windows
Other preinstalled apps:
- Google Search
- Google Assistant
- Google Calendar
- Google Drive
- Google Duo
- Google Photos
- Google Play Movies & TV
- Google Play Store
- Google Maps
- Chrome
- Gmail
- YouTube
- YouTube Music
- Contacts
- Messages
- Phone
- Files
- Clock
- Calculator
- Sound recorder
- Spotify
Operating System: Android? 10
Video playback
Video Playback Formats15: MKV, MOV, MP4, H.265(HEVC), AVI, WMV, TS, 3GP, FLV, WEBM
Wireless: Chromecast support
Wired: DisplayPort over USB-C. Supports video out when connecting via HDMI Adapter
Security and authentication
Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader (1:100K FAR <3% FRR)
Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password
Security applications pre-loaded on device: Microsoft Authenticator
Product safety
Your device contains magnets, which may damage objects such as credit cards, passbooks, access cards, boarding passes, or parking passes. Please keep a safe distance between your device and objects that are affected by magnets. Please review product safety warnings and instructions for important safety information about your device.
To finish
Surface Duo truly does represent a Giganotosaurus step in how dual-screen devices will drive how we all interact with our pocket devices, Surface Duo clearly creates new experiences, inventing new interactions and reimagines productivity that is merged perfectly with design and security in mind.
No longer will we need to struggle with complex tasks on an, "on the go" device, answering to what is currently an unmet need.
Microsoft, never fails to amaze me! The Surface team have created something that is truly amazing and I have no doubt that the Surface Duo has placed Microsoft securely back into the mobile phone market.
To think, we still have the Surface Neo to come...
References:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-duo?activetab=overview
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/business/surface-duo#
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dual-screen/introduction#responsive-app-layouts
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/surface-duo/surface-duo-secure
and my thoughts.
__________________________________________________________________________
Vikash Kumar
Technophile, Techpreneur & Father
?August 2020