Surface Duo owner replaces glass with metal, and it works surprisingly well

Surface Duo 2020
Surface Duo 2020 (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • One Surface Duo owner went all in on metal after shattering one of his Duo's glass panels.
  • The panel is made of aluminum and, so far, hasn't resulted in any negative effects.
  • Surface Duo is available now starting at $1,400.

We've seen plenty of skins pop up for the Surface Duo since it launched in October, but what if you wanted to replace the glass entirely? That's what one Surface Duo owner did after shattering one of the glass panels on their Duo. Surprisingly, it works.

Reddit user WALLY_MAMM0TH posted their creation to Reddit, showing off the new aluminum panel on the back of his Surface Duo. Here's how they described the process of replacing the shattered glass:

Took some measurements sketched it up in fusion 360, exported to silhouette studio for the stencil. Cut it out of some thin aluminum cleaned it up a bit and bam, an aluminum back glass Replacement. Still have full folding function, no signal loss, and I kinda think it's helped with the dispersion of heat (but that may just be a suedo effect).

If you're looking to try out a similar project for yourself, you'll have to practive some extreme patience. "I pain stakenly took the damaged back glass off piece by piece using a razor blade and tons of patience," WALLY_MAMM0TH said. "I would not recommend it lol."

It's definitely a mod that's not for the faint of heart. Still, it's cool to see what you can do if you want to spend the time and effort after an unfortunate accident.

Surface Duo is available now starting at $1,400, though there have been some holiday season discounts popping up here and there.

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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