Microsoft celebrated 2020 with the Surface Duo a comeback on the smartphone market, now the folding smartphone is also being sold in Germany. At the beginning 2021 the Surface Duo will be available, the company announced.

The distinctive feature of the Duo are the two 5.6-inch screens that work either separately from one another or together as one large display. Both are connected with a 360 – degree hinge. Together they come to 8.1 inches of diagnosis and 2700 x 1800 pixels. The Surface Duo is powered by the somewhat aged Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 and has 6 GB of RAM and a maximum of 256 GByte memory on board.

Microsoft relies on Android Saved Microsoft has with the wireless standards, the camera and the battery. The Surface Duo does not support 5G, has only one camera with 11 – megapixel sensor and only comes despite two screens to a battery capacity of 3577 mAh. The duo is charged via USB-C, not wirelessly via the Qi standard. With 250 grams and just under a centimeter closed, the Surface is quite thin and light for a folding smartphone. When it comes to the operating system, Microsoft is open and relies on the Google platform Android, but with its own launcher. Many Microsoft services such as Outlook or the mobile Office package are preinstalled.

The Surface Duo should not be a bargain. In the USA, Microsoft started with an MSRP of 1400 dollars. Although this price has meanwhile been reduced by 200 dollars, the folding smartphone is still clearly in the range of the smartphone -Luxury class.

Folding smartphones are available in different designs Folding smartphones or foldables are offered by several manufacturers in various shapes, most with flexible displays that can be folded horizontally or vertically. As a rule, the sensitive folding display is on the inside and is supplemented by a smaller or larger external screen, for example on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 or the Motorola Razr. Only Huawei dares to put the flexible screen on the outside with the Mate Xs. Microsoft’s approach with the Surface Duo is similar to that of LG, but there the second display with a special cover is only flange-mounted on request.

(sht)