Microsoft teased its upcoming Surface Duo mobile-tablet-phone-thing at an event back in October. It’s a dual-screen device with a physical hinge and two glass displays that will run Android.
It’s pretty much a new category of device – too cumbersome to be called an outright smartphone, one too many hinges to be a tablet, and not a foldable display in sight.
A new leak has shown off how Microsoft might intend to make the new form factor useful with a peek style notification bar on the right screen when the Duo is opened slightly. It looks a little like the edge panel you might find on a Samsung Galaxy phone.
The second video (below) then shows how the UI adjusts when the Duo is opened and then folded round fully to take a call on the inside displays.
— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) February 26, 2020
The new form factor shows Microsoft’s rekindled confidence in the hardware market after the death of Windows Phone and Windows Mobile. It is also a glimpse into how Microsoft intends the Duo to display Android apps and what neat unique UI features the two screens might bring to the Android software.
Microsoft will also launch the Surface Neo foldable device that is more like a laptop and will run Windows 10X. The Duo meanwhile represents as close to the fabled Surface Phone as Windows Phone fans are ever going to get – it will run Android as opposed to the now unsupported Windows 10 Mobile.