Man, so it turns out the Surface Duo wasn’t always going to be what we got. I mean, who knew? Apparently, the whole thing kicked off as a Windows Phone. Yeah, seriously. And now there’s this blast from the past—some images cropped up that give a peek at Microsoft’s ditched tech dreams from, like, 2017.
Okay, quick rewind—Andromeda was the super-secret codename for this dual-screen gadget meant to rock the Windows phone world with a whole fresh OS vibe. But, plot twist, it got the boot in 2018. So, what went wrong? A cocktail of hiccups and delays. Classic.
But then, Microsoft had a light bulb moment. They retooled it into the Android Surface Duo. Funny how things turn out, right? But trust me, Andromeda had a completely different groove back in the day.
Imagine a digital pocket notebook with the power to replace your smartphone. Sounds wild, huh? It had this crazy focus on pen use—inking, they called it. Not something you’d see every day.
Anyway—oh wait, backtrack—these new pics finally put hardware and OS together in one frame. Never before happened, I kid you not. Props to some listings on a Chinese platform called GooFish, oddly enough, where a bunch of these Andromeda prototypes popped up—some barely clinging to life, but others still kicking with this unique Windows version.
Okay, so nerd moment here: Andromeda was packing a punch with stuff like a back camera, wireless charging for the Surface Pen, and a metal frame—felt pretty swanky compared to what shipped as the Surface Duo.
Seems, though, they dropped that metal for plastic in the final Duo to ditch some weight, but hey, with that trade-off, the USB-C port kinda… cracked over time. Not ideal on a thin device.
Also—and this is kinda neat—there was talk of Andromeda having these smaller hinges and an extra monochrome camera sensor. I think it was for scanning 3D objects. Guess Microsoft was dabbling in 3D at the time. HoloLens vibes, anyone?
Another tidbit from GooFish mentions these early prototypes looking a bit like a journal. Different shape, kind of tall and slender, with a fabric shell. I get old-school diary feels a bit.
The software side was interesting, too—running on Windows Core OS, with a digital journal front and center that was just begging for doodles and scribbles. Cortana was there, too, like a trusty sidekick.
But, alas, the Andromeda OS didn’t reach its curtain call. What it could’ve become? Anyone’s guess, really.
Ah, thinking back, I first stumbled on the Andromeda whispers way back in 2016. That was a trip. Thought it might be the Windows Phone savior, but, well… here we are, just reminiscing about what could’ve been.
Think Andromeda would’ve hit big? Or maybe fizzled out? Drop a thought below. Let’s swap some theories.
