Microsoft announced the Surface Duo 2 earlier this week which boasts fixes for many of the complaints leveled at the first model, including the presence of Android 11. Those who stumped up the cash for the original Surface Duo will be painfully aware that it’s still languishing on Android 10, the version of Android that was officially released in August 2019.
According to a statement given to The Verge, Microsoft is “working to bring Android 11 to existing customers before the end of this year.” While it’s kinda good news for Surface Duo owners, it’s hardly the most committed phrase you’ll read and this means that there will be phones launching with Android 12 (Pixel 6) before the Android 11 update rolls out to Microsoft’s foldable.
To be perfectly clear, for a company of Microsoft’s size and vast resources, the fact that the 1st-gen Surface Duo is still stuck on Android 10 is abysmal, especially considering that the device cost $1,500 at launch. Microsoft should better support those who took a chance on a company that is renowned for launching mobile phones and abandoning them, as it did with the Kin, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, Nokia, you get the picture. As for Android 12 will roll out for either the 1st or 2nd generation, that is anybody’s guess but it’s hardly reassuring.
Anyhow, at least Microsoft actually gave a vague timeline for when it might roll out the Android 11 update to the Surface Duo. That’s something?
