14 DAY TRIAL // Surface Duo is a fantastic Android device, there’s no doubt about it, but a major drawback is its hefty price tag. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a surprise given it’s a Surface product, and as everybody knows, Surface products are premium devices priced accordingly.
Microsoft knows this very well, and this is why the software giant has apparently tried to resolve the whole thing by making the Surface Duo a device priced in a way to allow more customers to get it.
That’s right, Microsoft was working on a cheaper Surface Duo, and its debut was supposed to take place as soon as this year.
According to a report from WindowsCentral, this cheaper Surface Duo was spotted and sold on eBay not a long time, obviously as a prototype of what’s apparently a device that will never get to see the daylight.
This is because Microsoft has already canceled the project in order to focus entirely on the upcoming Surface Duo 3, so for what it’s worth, we won’t be getting a cheaper Surface Duo anytime soon.
The cheaper model, which was internally referred to as Cronos, was equipped with a mid-range Qualcomm SoC, so its purpose was as clear as it could be. The device was supposed to be offered at a lower price point, so with a mid-range Snapdragon chip, this was obviously possible.
To reduce the selling price, Microsoft also planned to use plastic for the body, while also going for non-curved displays without the glance bar. Instead of a triple-camera configuration, this device was fitted with a dual-camera setup.
The aforementioned source speculates that the device could have been called Surface Duo Go, which is obviously a moniker that makes sense given the phone was supposed to be a cheaper version of a premium Surface.
Microsoft has obviously remained completely tight-lipped on the cheaper Surface Duo.