Much has been covered about Surface Phone or the foldable Andromeda device recently. Earlier we had exclusively shared information about other vendors also preparing their own version of foldable Andromeda devices we now have seen more information appearing confirming the same.
But the excitement of fans is reserved for the Microsoft’s first party hardware the “Surface Phone”. The Surface Phone has been in testing for long and we had reported about its getting tested with Snapdragon 845 processor in past. But we have recently seen Qualcomm launching Snapdragon 850 which is a variant of Snapdragon 845 exclusive to Windows.
Our sources tell us that Qualcomm agreed to tweak Snapdragon 845 on the basis of feedback provided by Microsoft during the course of Surface Phone. Snapdragon 850 and 845 are much similar in terms of architecture and other specs. Both pack Octa-core Qualcomm® Kryo™ 385 CPU and Adreno 630 GPU, though Snapdragon 850 has higher maximum clocking speed of 2.96 GHz than 2.8 GHz of Snapdragon 845.
Processors that will power Surface Phone:
The good news is that the Surface Phone and many of the Andromeda OS powered foldable smartphones from other vendors will be powered by Snapdragon 850. But we also hear that Intel processor powered foldable “Pocket PC” devices are also in works. The major differentiation between Qualcomm and Intel processor devices will be the pricing and Intel-powered foldable devices will be in higher pricing bracket.
Launch and release dates:
Microsoft will align Andromeda and Surface Phone launch with Windows 10 Redstone 5. The announcement or launch of Andromeda OS may be done in August-September time-frame just before the Redstone 5 will go official. We can also hear about vendor Pocket PC devices running Andromeda during this event. We recently saw Dell Jannus and Intel’s Tiger Rapids prototypes breaking cover.
Surface Phone aka the Andromeda device however may be made official later in a separate hardware event and the release may not happen before end of the year 2018.
This is as per the latest information that we have from our retail sources with knowledge of Microsoft’s plans. Though we all know that plans do change and if it does change we will keep you updated.
Surface Phone/Andromeda device Features, Specs, UI & other details:
You can read our exclusive coverage of Surface Phone/Mobile top features/specs/UI design, photos & other details here.
We have so far developed a good understanding of Surface Phone/Surface Andromeda device design on the basis of patents that reveal too much. With Andromeda appearing as one of the SKUs of Windows Core OS in latest Windows 10 Preview builds. it seems Microsoft may be finally on track to a 2018 launch for both Andromeda OS and device.
We posted some evidence that shows that Microsoft is already working to curate Apps collections for the Surface Phone/Mobile. We had exclusively reported that 2018 may see Surface Mobile (Surface Phone) & Windows mobile devices from top vendors too. In a recent poll, our readers selected Surface Phone as the most appealing name for the ultimate mobile device from Microsoft. Surface Mobile and Note names came at 2nd and 3rd rank.
