Interesting as a concept, you may be wondering who Microsoft's Surface Duo is for. So Microsoft has released a 35-minute presentation detailing the new, non-phone device that explains why you might want the Surface Duo.

The Surface Duo is not a truly foldable phone like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2, which was based on the original Galaxy Fold with a seamless foldable display, nor is it simply a smaller version of the Surface Go 2.

As such, one might shake one's head at the Surface Duo's slightly dated specifications (it uses the 2019 Snapdragon 855 chip) and rather expensive price ($1,399, much more expensive than the iPhone 11 Pro or Surface Pro 7). All of this has left many, including us, pondering who the Surface Duo is actually for.

Fortunately, Microsoft's deep dive answers many of these questions. [We built it for people who love Microsoft Office, Teams, and Outlook. But it's also for people who use Android apps and mobile apps in general. But ultimately, it's designed to fit in your pocket while still being productive and creative.

Panay spoke eloquently about the Surface Duo's design and its hinge, but he passionately stated that the Surface Duo "can do something" that single-screen devices "can't do. That's because using apps side-by-side and working across two screens "switches your brain on in a different way" and allows you to accomplish more.

In effect, Surface Duo is less about specs and hardware features and more about enabling people to accomplish more.

Panay said the Surface Duo is designed to be "the Microsoft you love and the Android you know and love," and he described the Duo's multitasking capabilities and how easy it is to quickly span Microsoft apps across two screens He demonstrated how such apps can take advantage of the two screens. The overall idea is that the Surface Duo makes clever use of the two screens and does not require the user to juggle apps or web pages on each screen.

The rest of the video further touts the virtues of this dual-screen approach to productivity that combines a tablet and a smartphone. And while it all looks pretty slick, a full review of the Surface Duo would be necessary before any real conclusions can be drawn.

[18] In short, the Surface Duo is a device for people who use a lot of Microsoft apps and want to get the most out of them on their mobile devices. if you want to get the Surface Duo, you'll have to pay an "early adopter tax" from its hefty price. The Surface Duo is not. In the next generation, however, the Surface Duo could become more sophisticated and less expensive.

If you are not that interested in Microsoft apps and want a simple smartphone, the Surface Duo is not for you. This is because Microsoft appears to be using the Surface Duo as a concept device for the next direction for Windows 10 and Office apps, and could lay the groundwork for other dual-screen phone/tablet combination devices.