RIP to the Microsoft Surface Duo’s support window, an unmitigated disaster

Enlarge / The Microsoft Surface Duo. (credit: Ron Amadeo)

RIP to the Surface Duo 1. As spotted by Windows Central, Microsoft is killing off support for its first self-branded Android phone. The device was an unmitigated disaster, and now the “three year” update plan, which only featured two exceedingly late major OS updates, means the Surface Duo will go down in history as the worst-supported premium Android phone ever. The $1,400 device never ran a current version of Android.

Things were weird with the Surface Duo from the very start. Microsoft unveiled the phone in October 2019 and didn’t ship it until September 2020. After a long wait, the phone debuted to mostly negative reviews. Android couldn’t take advantage of the ultra-fat 4:3 displays, and having two of them didn’t help much when it made things like typing extremely difficult (there was no split keyboard). A massive amount of software issues made it the buggiest device in recent memory and, coupled with the sky-high price, the sales pitch was not great. It was pretty to look at, though.

The fire sale started almost immediately. The phone had a $200 price drop a month after its launch, then a 50 percent price drop to $699, and eventually a 70 percent collapse to $409—an incredible $1,000 off the MSRP. Inexplicably, a second version was made, and support for that device ends in October 2024. It looks like a third version, at least following this form factor, is not in the cards.