Remote learning, remote working and remote entertainment- ever since the pandemic hit last year, everything has been remote, which has led to a massive spike in sales of hardware devices that allow people to go remote. Microsoft, one of the biggest names in the tech game, has been betting heavy on its Surface lineup, which has become quite popular over the past few years. Now, expanding on the series, the company has announced the all-new Surface Laptop Studio and the Surface Duo 2. Let’s delve a bit deeper.
Surface Laptop Studio:
The 2-in-1 device, that can be folded into a tablet-like device (studio mode, according to Microsoft) and performs all the functions of a laptop, is deemed to be the most powerful Surface ever built by Microsoft. In the words of Pete Kyriacou, VP of Devices at Microsoft, the device is the culmination of years of Surface innovation – on hinges, display, silicon, and more – and brings the best of the Surface heritage together in one powerhouse device. The redesigned Microsoft flagship laptop sports a 14.4-inch PixelSense Flow display (2400 x 1600) that supports up to 120Hz and Dolby Vision. It is mounted on a new flexible and durable Dynamic Woven Hinge, which is said to allow the laptop to transition between modes.
Priced at $1600, the Surface Laptop Studio supports three modes: laptop (like a normal laptop), stage (which folds the display forward and hides the keyboard, something you can use to watch your favorite movie or show, or play games), and studio (the display is folded flat over the keyboard and helps you to write and sketch).
It also supports Microsoft’s new Surface Slim Pen 2, which is housed in the base. Powered by the quad-core Intel 11th Gen Core i5-11300H and i7-11370H processors, it comes with 16GB or 32GB of memory, and up to 2TB of storage. While the Core i5models have Intel Iris Xe graphics, the Core i7 models have Nvidia’s RTX 3050 Ti GPU with 4GB of VRAM, which make it a beast as far as raw power goes.
Surface Duo 2:
Coming to the new Surface Duo 2, the device comes with a triple rear camera setup(in addition to the 12 mp front camera) and an upgraded processor. The rear cameras consist of a 12-megapixel wide camera, a 12-megapixel telephoto camera with 2X optical zoom, and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide camera. It features two 5.8-inch OLED displays with 1,344×1,892 pixels (the displays can be combined to have an 8.3-inch display), has Gorilla Glass protection, and offers 5G connectivity. Moreover, it also has a 90Hz refresh rate and 900 nits of brightness as well.
Powered by the Snapdragon 888 SoC, it has up to 512GB storage and 8GB RAM. It has a 4, 449 battery and runs on Android 11 out of the box. Like the Surface laptop Studio, it also supports the Surface Slim Pen 2 and offers color options of Glacier and obsidian. It is up for preorder, starting at $1500.
