Surface Duo Dual-Screen Phone Could Debut Next Month

There may have been some collective disappointment when Microsoft once again put on hold the realization of its long-overdue Courier device, a.k.a. the Surface Neo. It still plans on dipping its toes and testing the waters of the dual-screen device category but with a less ambitious yet still novel Surface Duo. It was rumored that, contrary to the company's plans last year, this Android phone and tablet in one will be launching earlier than planned and now it seems that it will indeed be the case to beat Samsung at its own game.

If you disregard the Royale FlexPai, Samsung is pretty much the first to commercialize a foldable phone with a foldable screen. While the Galaxy Fold 2 did make some dreams come true, it also left much to be desired in terms of reliability and durability. Microsoft, however, thinks there's a different solution to that problem in the form of an older idea of combining two screens into one.

With the Galaxy Fold 2 expected to debut together with the Galaxy Note 20 on August 5, Windows Central's Zac Bowden says Microsoft is moving up its schedule to beat Samsung to the punch. Whether that will just be a few days or a week or so earlier than Unpacked 2020 is still unknown but we are quite close to seeing the Surface Duo in action.

Microsoft's first-ever Android phone under its own name and brand won't be carrying the latest and greatest smartphone hardware when it launches. It won't exactly be lagging behind, especially if Microsoft manages to wow with its dual-screen experience. After all, the idea itself goes back years but those attempts have always fallen flat when it came to taking advantage of the hardware through software.

That said, even if Microsoft does announce the Surface Duo early, it won't be launching the phone immediately. The same leak says it could be two months before it becomes available, giving people plenty of time to decide which of the two folding phones is worth sinking their money into.