And just like that, a listing appeared! When Microsoft launched the dual-screen Surface Duo smartphone back in August, it offered two ways to buy it.
As an unlocked device, or as a locked AT&T device.
While the latter was sold just by the carrier itself, Best Buy and the Microsoft Store offered both variants to those who wanted in on the action. But now the company is ready to expand availability of its first ever Android handset in the market.
Redmond is still waiting to see how the device performs on home turf in the US, and only then make a decision to launch it in international markets. So that’s out of the question until the first quarter of 2021, at least.
But beginning this week, Verizon is also selling the device.
This variant is not different from existing units, expect that it is locked to the carrier and may include Verizon bloatware. There might also be Verizon branding on the back, but it’s hard to confirm this right now since the carrier does not have images of the outside of the device.
In terms of pricing, while both AT&T and Verizon are now official resellers of the Duo, AT&T has already put up a discount for it.
The Surface Duo for Verizon, however, comes at $1,379 for the 128GB version, while the 256GB version can be yours for $1,479. So, $20 less than elsewhere.
Verizon does not have a payment plan at the moment, which is odd since that is pretty much the main proposition of buying a smartphone from a carrier. But at least, the handset is now available for purchase from another place.
Slow and steady, as the saying goes.
