Surface Duo Go? It seems that Microsoft was keen to expand its Surface Duo lineup with a midrange model that would have brought the form factor to more affordable price points.
According to details, this mystery device just leaked out and made its way to eBay last month.
According to the information provided, this handset was supposed to offer a plastic exterior with a simpler dual camera setup and a slightly more rounded exterior with a matte finish. Flat displays similar to the ones on the original Surface Duo were also part of the package.
The device was dubbed as the Surface Duo 2 dev unit on the eBay listing, which has since been removed after the gizmo was sold to an unknown buyer.
Unfortunately, the deleted listing did not offer details other than the handset images.
Here are the images:
People close to the matter have confirmed that the device was real and legitimate. The product itself was codenamed Cronos. It was supposed to ship later this year as a lower-cost lite version of the Surface Duo 2.
Under its fully plastic exterior, the device housed an upper midrange Qualcomm SoC, a dual camera array on the back, and non-curved displays sans the glance bar.
In comparison, the flagship Surface Duo 2 features a Snapdragon 888 SoC, a triple camera array on the back, 90Hz curved displays with a glance bar, and an exterior made of plastic and glass.
As you would imagine, these changes were designed to lower the price of this form factor. It is not known how much Microsoft was planning to sell Cronos for, but it would definitely have been much cheaper than the $1,000+ it asks for the Surface Duo 2.
Redmond canceled Cronos in late 2021 after it decided to focus on the next Surface Duo flagship instead, which is currently slated for a launch sometime in late 2023.
And while its existence suggests that Microsoft is serious about the Surface Duo and wants to bring this new form factor into the hands of more people by releasing different models at varying price brackets, it is clear that the company is not ready to do so just yet.
But an expansion of the lineup seems to be on the cards.
We will, in all probability, hear more about this in the near future.
