Microsoft unveils new Surface range including the Surface Duo 2

Microsoft overnight unveiled its latest Surface 2-in-tablets such as the Surface Pro 8, Surface Pro X, Surface Laptop Studio, Surface Go 3 along with the new Surface Duo 2 foldable phone.

So let’s have a look at each device that has been launched.

Surface Go 3

The ultra portable and affordable Surface device has been the Surface Go and the new Surface Go 3 seems to continue the same design as the Surface Go 2 with a 10.5-inch PixelSense Display (1920 x 1280 @ 221pp) that comes in two variants.

The first variant is powered by a Dual-core Intel Pentium Gold 6500Y processor and 4GB RAM and 64GB of available storage or a Dual-core 10th Gen Intel Core i3-10100Y processor, 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage.

Both devices come with a 5MP front-facing camera that supports Windows Hello face authentication and an 8MP rear camera. There are Enhanced dual far-field Studio Mics with 2W stereo speakers featuring Dolby Audio. There is also Bluetooth version 5.0 alongside WiFi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax.

Both devices will come with Windows 11 pre-installed and the devices have up to 11 hours of usage. There is also a USB-C port, 3.5 mm headphone jack, 1 × Surface Connect port, Surface Type Cover Port and MicroSDXC Card Reader.

Interestingly, it seems an LTE variant of the Surface Go which will be preloaded with Windows 11 is due to come out in early 2022, but no pricing or exact time frame has been given

Pricing starts from $629 and is available to pre-order via the Microsoft website.

Surface Pro 8

The new Surface Pro 8 comes with a 13-inch PixelSense Flow Display (2880 x 1920 @ 267 PPI). It seems the new Surface Pro 8 will be the first non-gaming laptop to support a 120Hz refresh rate.

There are 2 variants to the Surface Pro 8 which include a Quad-core 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 Processor with 8GB RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage. The other variant is powered by a Quad-core 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 Processor with 16GB Ram and either 256GB up to 1TB of onboard storage included.

Both devices come with a 5MP front-facing camera that supports Windows Hello face authentication and an 8MP rear camera. There are Enhanced dual far-field Studio Mics with 2W stereo speakers featuring Dolby Audio. There is also Bluetooth version 5.0 alongside WiFi 6: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax.

All devices will come with Windows 11 pre-installed and the devices have up to 16 hours of usage. There is also a USB-C port, 3.5 mm headphone jack, 1 × Surface Connect port, Surface Type Cover Port and MicroSDXC Card Reader.

The Surface Pro 8 will come in two colours, Graphite and Platinum, with pricing starting at $1649 and can be pre-ordered from the Microsoft website.

Surface Pro X

The Surface Pro X hasn’t really got much in the way of any changes with it still having the same 13-inch PixelSense Display (2880×1920 @ 267 PPI).

The only change is that this version doesn’t support 4G LTE connectivity, instead will be Wi-Fi enabled only.

Pricing starting from USD$900 (approximately AUD$1,245) with pre-orders yet to begin here.

Surface Laptop Studio

The new Surface Laptop Studio is Microsoft’s most powerful surface to date. Its design means it can’t be a detached tablet form like the other surface tablets launched overnight, however it does have the ability to adjust the screen of the device to any angle. This ability lets you choose how the display is used to your liking. You can have it upright like a traditional laptop or have the display completely flat over the keyboard.

The Surface Laptop Studio comes with a 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow Display and is powered by an 11th Gen Intel Core H35 processor with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU onboard. There is also 16GB or 32GB RAM and will come with either 256 GB, 512 GB, 1TB, 2TB onboard storage.

The Surface Laptop Studio will be available sometime in 2022, though no dates or pricing were provided.

Surface Duo 2

Last year in September, Microsoft unveiled its first fully powered Android smartphone that was also a foldable smartphone or phablet if you like.

Whilst on paper it seemed that the Surface Duo would be a killer foldable smartphone, views out of the USA and other places the device launched reported about buggy software and user experiences which put in some doubt if Microsoft would release an updated version.

This year’s version of the Surface Duo 2 has been beefed up and new features and improvements have been made.

For example, the Surface Duo 2 comes with two conjoined screens, with both screens measuring 5.8-inches which when fully opened brings the display size to 8.3-inches. There is also a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G processor, meaning yes the Surface Duo 2 will come with 5G enabled connectivity. It will come in either 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage configurations.

The Surface Duo will run Android 11 right out of the box, though no details of if it will get Android 12 when it officially launches.

There is also NFC support along with a triple rear camera set up being made up of 12MP wide, 12MP telephoto, and 16MP ultra-wide, along with the ability to shoot in 4K resolution. Users will now be able to see notifications on the hinge when the phone is closed.

The Surface Duo 2 will come in 2 colours – Glacier and Obsidian on October 21 in the USA, with other countries such as UK, France, Germany, Japan and Canada to also open pre-orders on the same day from USD$1499 (approximately AUD$2100)

We will let you know when Australia will get access to the Surface Duo 2 and for what price, our local Microsoft contact has confirmed it will be sold here.

If you’d like to watch the full event, you can watch it here or the highlights real of each device that was launched at the event overnight.