Surface Duo: Windows 11 now works on Microsoft's first foldable smartphone
The Surface Duo may be Microsoft's return to smartphones, but developers Gustave Monce and Simone Franco have got the device running Windows 11. To recap, Monce already brought Windows 11 to the Lumia 950 XL, which relies on the old Snapdragon 810 chipset. In comparison, Microsoft equipped the Surface Duo with the Snapdragon 855, a chipset that itself was outdated when the Surface Duo launched in many markets.
Still, the Surface Duo scores a respectable 596 points in the Geekbench 5 single-core benchmark, and 1,957 points in its multi-core counterpart. In comparison, the Microsoft SQ1 that powers the Surface Pro X manages 739 and 2,875 points, respectively. For reference, Microsoft bases the SQ1 on the Snapdragon 8cx that shares similarities with the Snapdragon 855.
According to Monce, standby mode, the USB Type-C port and the Surface Duo's hardware buttons work. However, many core features are broken, at least for the time being. If you are interested in installing Windows 11 on your Surface Duo, Monce and Franco have published a walkthrough on GitHub. Please note that installing Windows 11 will wipe all Android data; the Android partition will remain, though. Also, you must unlock your device's bootloader and be comfortable with booting a custom UEFI.
