Smartphones with foldable displays seem to be the rage these days. Samsung has already launched the Galaxy Fold and is expected to soon launch the Galaxy Z Flip. Meanwhile, nothing much happened with Microsoft after it retired Windows phone. Now the company is prepping a folding phone with a robust foldable display.

A Twitter user by the name Israel Rodriguez spotted a Surface Duo on a train in Vancouver. In all likelihood, it belongs to a Microsoft employee working on the Vancouver campus. Interestingly the device features a white dot on the side of the front camera. This is either a sticker or perhaps an LED flash for the camera. The Surface Duo will not have a separate rear camera and might require users to flip the device.

I'll keep hammering this home. The "install as app" feature in the new Edge is game changing especially on ARM devices. (see the recent Verge video). I'm not making this up. https://t.co/5tnam0Y6MN

— Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) February 1, 2020

It would be exciting to see what Surface Duo has in store. The Surface Duo looks more like a tablet-smartphone hybrid and the hinges will ensure that there are no creases on the display. However, the slightly larger gap between the display halves might hamper viewing experience.

Israel Rodriguez further shared a video in which we can see Surface Duo being used. The user switches from various configurations including landscape, portrait or half-open mode. As you can see in the video, the Surface Duo user interface changes with change in the mode. Despite being a prototype, the user interface on the Surface Duo seems to be very fast.

The rumor mills also predict that Surface Duo might be lacking in the camera department. Microsoft should rethink offering a single camera at a time when smartphones are packing three or even four cameras.