Microsoft announces new dual-screen foldable smartphone, the Surface Duo

(Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

last updated 2 October 2019

Microsoft is officially making phones again, although it'd prefer a term other than "phone" for its latest device.

The company at an event Wednesday officially announced the new dual-screen foldable Android smartphone, the Surface Duo, which essentially looks like a smaller version of the the Surface Neo, another dual-screen foldable device Microsoft also announced. Each display on the Duo is 5.6 inches.

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Still, Microsoft is already urging against referring to the Surface Duo as a phone, despite the fact that you do use it to make calls. "You're going to talk about it as a phone, and I get that," Microsoft Chief Product Officer Panos Panay said at the Wednesday event. "...[But] make no mistake. This product is a Surface." Even so, Wired writes that although Panoy "doesn't want you to call it a phone," there "is no doubt that this is a phone."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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