Early look at Surface Duo provided by official SDK

Jan 23, 2020 05:27 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft has released the official SDK for the upcoming Surface Duo smartphone running Android, and this gives us the chance to get a taste of this new device way ahead of its late-2020 release date.

Surface Duo was announced in October 2019, and according to Microsoft, it is projected to hit the shelves in the holiday season of this year.

The SDK technically gives developers the chance to prepare their apps for the upcoming dual-screen Android experience on the Surface Duo, and Microsoft says a similar release for the Surface Neo, which runs Windows 10X, is due in February.

An SDK demo published on Twitter by Microsoft watcher Zac Bowden was used by Jonas Daehnert, also known on Twitter as PhoneDesigner, to create an early look at the Surface Duo by merging the video with the official device renders released by the Redmond-based software giant.

Surface Neo SDK next month

As you can see in the video embedded below, the app experience on the Surface Duo seems to be extremely fluid, and the transition from one screen to another appears to be very polished - Bowden, however, notes that some navigation gestures are still unfinished, and occasional bugs still exist though.

It goes without saying that the software side of Surface Duo will be further refined as we get closer to the holiday 2020 release date, especially as Microsoft is now giving developers the chance to optimize their apps for this device many months ahead of the projected launch.

Surface Duo is Microsoft’s first Android smartphone, and it comes alongside Surface Neo, another dual-screen device which this time runs Windows 10X. A Windows 10X SDK is projected to be released next month, again with the goal of giving app makers more time to optimize their apps for the dual-screen form factor of the device before the public debut takes place.