Surface Duo displays coming to Best Buy stores August 28

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
last updated

Take an early peek at Surface Duo ahead of its launch.

Surface Duo In The Box
Surface Duo In The Box (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

Update, August 25 (4:30 pm ET): Microsoft now says Surface Duo displays will arrive at Best Buy locations starting August 28. The original story, published August 21, follows.

What you need to know

  • Microsoft's Surface Duo is already on display at select Best Buy stores.
  • There's no master list available, so you'll want to call ahead of time to make sure your store has one.
  • Surface Duo is expected to launch September 10 and is available to preorder now starting at $1,400 (opens in new tab).

The wait for Surface Duo is bound to be agonizing for thos who are excited to pick one up. The September 10 launch date is only a few weeks away, but you can already get some hands-on time with the phone if you're lucky enough to live close to a participating Best Buy store. According to the official Surface Twitter account, Surface Duos are already on display at at least some Best Buy stores.

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If you don't live near a participating Best Buy, you'll also get a chance to check out Surface Duo at AT&T stores starting August 28.

Surface Duo is Microsoft's first entry in the phone space in several years, and it marks the Surface brand's first-ever phone. The dual-screen device is primarily aimed at increasing productivity, offering the ability to open two apps at once. Imagine scenarios like dialing into a meeting on one screen and taking notes on the other.

Microsoft has already optimized several of its apps to work well across two screens, and there are some third-party apps like Spotify and Audible that are on board as well. Expect to see more apps optimize for this experience after launch if the Duo is a success.

Surface Duo is available to preorder now starting at $1,400. You can pick one up at the Microsoft Store, Best Buy, and AT&T.

Preorder today

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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

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Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

9 Comments
  • Support kind of letting people down there. They say "call your local store for confirmation," with no real context. Do most stores have it? Only a few? Like, who wants to call around a bunch of stores in their area if, like, 5 stores in the country have it? Seems like the kind of thing they should be promoting. Odds are, the majority of people who answer the phones aren't even going to know much about the Duo to begin with.
  • Most people don't have a bunch of Best Buy stores in their area. I don't think it's the big deal you're making it out to be.
  • "Most" is true, but it's still kind of weird to blindly call stores who will think the question is totally out of nowhere. I would also say this is the kind of thing, given it's a $1,500 investment, that people would do a bit of driving for. I drove about an hour (one-way) to get my G8 at launch from Best Buy. For this, I'd do the same. At the time, I lived within an hour or so of 3-4 Best Buys. I've since moved, and there are 7-10 within that drive time. I'd drive an hour to check it out, but I'm not calling every Best Buy in my area. Best Buy used to have Nintendo demo events for games, among other things. When such things happened, they would have location availability on their site. This seems like the kind of thing they could be doing for demos of the Duo as well.
  • That's Karen Wallace for you. Glad you two have met
  • Adorable joke, so original. Look at what ended up happening. They aren't even in stores yet, so I was right in saying it was a waste of time to call around.
  • Yes because a couple of phone calls just to say "first" for a device you already knew wouldn't be sold for a few more weeks is so damaging for your schedule and overall life expectancy... Okay, Karen!
  • Does any know of a list of stores that have this? You know, maybe somebody started a list, posted in on the web somewhere?
  • I went down to my local Best Buy and nothing yet... =(
  • Great time for Microsoft to axe all its physical stores. They are the masters of shooting themselves in the foot.