Microsoft is not done with the mobile form factor devices and the company recently announced the highly-anticipated Surface Phone called ‘Surface Duo’. Microsoft’s dual-screen device isn’t running Windows but… Android, and it will also come equipped with Google Play Store.
Surface Duo will bring the best of Microsoft’s experiences, Android and excellent Surface hardware design into a single handset.
Surface Duo is a 5.6-inch device with large bezels when folded and it fits inside the pocket, but Microsoft’s Panos Panay doesn’t like to call the Surface Duo a phone.
In other words, Surface Duo is a dual-screen device that can do much more than any other Android phone and tablet. Duo has a hinge that joins two 5.6-inch displays and is specifically aimed at boosting productivity.
Surface Duo comes with a front-facing camera and stereo sound, but the Redmond firm didn’t talk up the Surface Duo’s camera which raises an important question— will the Surface Duo have a “real” camera?
Surface Duo camera
The Galaxy Fold inherits cameras of the Galaxy S10 Plus and it has three lenses on the back, and two inside. The prototype of the Surface Duo, which Microsoft demoed at the Surface event, doesn’t have a rear camera, which means users will have to rely on the front-facing camera wrapped around.
But it’s possible that Microsoft is internally working on a prototype of Surface Duo with an interesting camera module.
Speaking at the Surface event, Panos Panay dropped hint Microsoft has other tricks to offer a decent camera in this device, but the company has no plans to reveals too many details about the camera.
“The idea is, I want to help you become more creative and productive, that doesn’t mean a bajillion-megapixel camera on the back of the product,” Panay said.
A picture of a Surface Duo prototype revealed a black variant with a giant cut out for a camera module. This suggests that the software giant is exploring various camera solutions for Surface Duo and the final version might take photography as seriously as buyers do.
Microsoft owns patents for several interesting camera technologies for dual-screen hardware like Surface Duo. For example, a patent published in 2018 describes a dual-screen device with each screen having a forward-facing camera next to each to better facilitate quality photography.
