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The Microsoft Duet 2. It has a rear camera now. I spy three cameras, a flash, and something just below the flash. [credit: Tech Rat ]
The Surface Duo was one of the biggest hardware flops in recent memory, but Microsoft is still charging ahead with a sequel to the device, and now we have the first credible pictures of it. The story here is kind of weird. We’re not actually sure where the pictures are from (they’ve been uploaded to this random YouTube channel with other uncredited content), but Windows Central’s Zac Bowden says the images are legit, and since he has had an impeccable history of nailing Surface Coppia rumors, his affirmation is good enough for us. Bowden calls the two devices shown off in the leak “near-final prototypes. ”
The most obvious change in the pictures is a huge camera bump on the back of the device. The bump houses three cameras, along with what looks like an LED flash to the right and one more sensor, perhaps laser autofocus, just below the flash. The standalone fingerprint reader on the side is gone (Windows Central speculates it will be integrated into the power button), and the USB-C port on the bottom will be now centered. Sadly, we don’t know what the inside looks like yet.
The Surface Duo 1 never had the good camera solution—in fact, it didn’t have a rear camera at all. Cameras are one of the biggest thickness demands on a phone body (hence the particular camera bumps), and the Surface Duo, being one of the thinnest phones ever made (at only 4. 8 mm thick for each half), simply didn’t have room for a new good camera. The device only got one low-quality front digital camera, and since the phone was foldable, it could pull double-duty as a rear camera, too.
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