If you’ve always wanted to pretend you were gaming on a Nintendo DS while playing Xbox titles on a Microsoft-built Android phone with two screens—or desired a radical dual-screen device for ultimate productivity—then it’s finally time to consider the Surface Duo. A third-party seller on Amazon is taking another 25 percent off an already steeply discounted sale price for the 128GB and 256GB Microsoft Surface Duo. That drops the final cost down to about $630 and $660 respectively, a far cry from the device’s original staggering $1,400 price.
To get the deal click the 25 percent off coupon under the price on the product page. Do note that these particular models are locked to the AT&T network, however.
The Microsoft Surface Duo is a double-screen phone with a hinge that folds the two sides together like a book. Each screen is 8.1 inches with 2700-by-1800 resolution at 401 pixels per inch. By dint of having two screens, the Duo is an odd duck in the Android world, with most apps not built to take advantage of its dual-screen nature. Microsoft apps are optimized for it, however, and that’s where this device truly shines.
Panos Panay
The Surface Duo playing an Xbox Cloud Gaming title with dedicated touch controls.
One excellent feature that recently came to the Duo is support for xCloud, Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The update turns the Duo into a portable gaming machine for streaming Xbox console titles.
On the one screen you see the game itself, while the other shows dedicated touch controls, as you can see in the image above from Surface chief Panos Panay. The controls can change based on the game, and there are about 50 games that currently support the Duo.
The Surface Duo is an interesting device, and if you live in Microsoft’s world (or at least subscribe to Xbox Game Pass), then today’s pricing finally makes the radical two-screen phone worth considering.
[Today’s deal: Microsoft Duo for $630 (128GB) and $660 (256GB) on Amazon.]