Microsoft shows off Surface Duo in three new videos

By Sean Endicott
last updated

New videos show off the Surface Duo's two screens in action.

Surface Duo Upright
Surface Duo Upright (Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft shared three new videos on how to use the Surface Duo.
  • The videos showcase the device's two screens in action.
  • The Surface Duo is available for preorder now starting at $1,400.

Microsoft's Surface channel on YouTube has three new videos about the Surface Duo. The videos showcase the device's two screens and how experiences can span across the device. The first video shows composing an email, the second shows viewing content on OneDrive, and the third shows opening two browser windows at once.

The Surface Duo has a unique form factor that focuses on productivity. With it being different than any other device, Microsoft has to illustrate how the device having two screens can increase productivity.

Microsoft Surface DuoPreorders today!

 (opens in new tab)
Microsoft Surface Duo

Two screens are better than one

Microsoft delves into the future of foldables with an ambitious dual-screen device, featuring two ultra-thin 5.6-inch AMOLED displays bound by a 360-degree hinge. This pocketable inking-enabled Android smartphone marks the latest in the Surface lineup, geared for mobile productivity.

Microsoft Surface Duo

Main

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

19 Comments
  • I really hope once it's in the hands of people that they really start coming up even more creative ways to use the device. I really hope Microsoft is listening closely so that they can make better experiences as they go. But it is really cool to see little things like the taskbar icons moving over to one side if an app opens. All those little improvements really makes it a unique experience and well polished.
  • The device is for people who sit all day on their couch using email or video calls on a small device. It's not for people who ever use their phones with one hand.... It's not for people who take a lot of pictures. It's not for people who use wireless chargers. It's not for people who need extra storage. It's not for people with small front pockets.
  • THere are lots of devices that are not for a specific use, Like hauling cargo in a racecar. SO... whats your point? doesnt mean it doesnt do what it's designed for well.
  • I travel from 40 to 50 out of 52 weeks a year. I take pictures, am constantly on the go. I compose emails, participate and host video conferences, work on several web based systems.
    This phone is for me.
  • If you take pictures and travel, the battery and camera are going to be issues. The Fold or Note will probably be better choices.
  • Do we really have to explain to you the ` everything ain't for everybody` concept?
  • So you just took the things that the phone doesn't do and says it's not for people that does those thing. Sounds like a lot but you really said nothing except for hey look, watch me make a negative comment about a device that I was never planning on buying in the first place. I don't sit on the couch doing email and video calls all day, I do use use my phone with one hand and don't see why you can't use this one with one hand. I would like wireless charging, but I'm not going to die if it doesn't have it. Look how many years you licked Apple's chops with your iPhone and didn't have wireless charging. If you buy the 256 version and still need extra storage, then you probably should be using a PC or you need to learn how to delete stuff after 3 years. Just saying.
  • Why do people keep saying it cannot be answered by 1 hand? Just put it unfolded/flipped in your pockets. Screen protectors on it (like on any phone I would add those) and problem solved. "It's not for people with small front pockets.", it is, its really thin.
  • I never understand that either, like what's so bad about an exposed screen, that's literally how every non-fold smartphone is already lmao
  • It's not people. It's this same guy on every duo post writing it for some odd reason. Like it's super oddballish
  • I can't wait for this device to be in my hands.
    It does what I need most, it seems to let me stay productive on my travels.
    I don't need it to have NFC, my smartwatch has it.
    I don't need wireless charging at all.
    My professional life takes place at airports, in planes, in hotels, at customer sites.
    I'm not carrying a wireless charger around when all I need is a wall socket to plug in and top off.
    The devil will be in the details once I spend a few weeks with it, but from what I saw so far, this is exactly what I have been waiting for.
  • Why didn't you buy an Axon M then? You could have been using this device for years now. Duo is no different, except it has a Microsoft logo.
  • I hate these videos. I think the concept and images are good but the music is so 'corporate presentation'. They have created something too cool to be designated to just old-school corporate environments. Get litty, Microsoft
  • Oh, anything you want to say about the ACTUAL phone?
  • No, I wrote what I wrote. And I'm confident I've written more about the duo on this site than you. Go check And that's a weird response when the post is literally about the new videos and not about the duo itself.
  • I wonder how this pandemic will effect sales as i was suprised at the $1399 price tag like many others & recon others like Google will need tp review prices to stay competitive as in the UK the government have said it could take 20 years to recover.
  • Sure it will be a great device for insurance company assessors and postage services whom have all been clinging to Windows Mobile CE PDA's for so long. For everyone else its a 'not so important' leave in the drawer without a charge device that you never switch on.
  • Don't worry no matter how "not bad" it is, the self-proclaimed youtube reviewers community will make sure it fails and don't get sold. They want to see apple logo on it else they don't want it. I have seen many reviewers now they are literally feeling uneasy whenever comparing pixel 4a to iPhone se now. 😂 I mean they can't even properly look in the camera and say se is overall better device assuming you don't need to use some apple exclusive features. When SE came out all were blabbering about how SE is really good device if you want to "join" the apple ecosystem bandwagon now pixel 4a came out with much better overall all rounded phone and they are not saying the same for iPhone users. Typical bias. I am fine with bias as long as it doesn't start openly defending the loser thing and try to portray as some kind of out of this world winner.
  • Wow, there's really a lot of compromises made in the Duo. Sure, it will be a few hundred less than the cutting-edge Galaxy Z Fold 2 but personally.. If I'm the kinda guy who's already decided that a foldable is my next device then I'm definitely spending that extra couple hundred to get the full package rather than a half-baked device. Not sure why MS is doing exactly what the did years ago with Windows Phone by releasing devices full of compromises (last years processor, limited storage, limited ram, lack of any "decent camera", no NFC, no wireless charging, no 120hz screen etc). All so that they play catch up every year adding specs we've already been familiar with for years. We can sit here making excuses all day but saying who it's for and who it's not for. But spec for spec, why someone wouldn't spend a few hundred more and get the best hardware possible when you're already prepared to drop $1400? I guess $1400 buys you the "Surface" brand name. MS really mislead me to think this was going to be THE foldable tablet to own. Too bad it took them this long to release one.