Microsoft Surface Duo Appears With Protective Cover

Microsoft will probably need until next year before it launches the Surface Duo, but Windows and hardware boss Panos Panay still likes to show it around now. Now he has shown what the dual-screen smartphone with protective cover looks like.

As head of the Surface team, Panos Panay has meanwhile also become the face of advertising for the products of the hardware division of Microsoft. He likes to show the Surface Duo and the Surface Neo, the two dual-screen devices that Microsoft first introduced a few months ago, in public appearances and on social media.

Now Panay, who by the way now even heads the Microsoft Windows team, has just shown the Surface Duo with an adapted protective cover on Twitter. Microsoft is apparently also working on offering suitable accessories for its hybrid smartphone and tablet with two displays. Presumably, customers should be able to better protect the not particularly inexpensive dual-screen device from knocks and scratches.

The case obviously gives the Surface Duo a kind of all-round rubber “bumper” that is relatively thick and rounds off the edges. How exactly the cover is to be attached to the two-part smartphone with Android is not clear from the image of Panos Panay. However, it is clearly recognizable that the Redmond company obviously also want to tinker a kind of handle on the cover, by means of which the Surface Duo can be better held on one side. Because Microsoft uses aluminum and glass as the housing materials, it may not always be easy to hold the dual-screen smartphone with one hand to interact with the screens.

When the Surface Duo comes onto the market is still unclear. It was recently heard that the launch of the product, which is equipped with two six-inch displays, was postponed to 2021. Then the Snapdragon 855, which forms the technical basis, is already two years old. Microsoft probably wants to use the time above all to optimize the dual-screen operation with Android and the adapted Microsoft Launcher – inclusive some adjustments for apps.