Microsoft Surface Phone release date, specs news: Three variants of Surface Phone expected to come out with Android OS?

Ivan Menchavez Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Will Microsoft dominate the smartphone market this time with the Surface Phone? | Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Microsoft has become a favorite subject of rumors and speculations all over the Internet for quite some time now. According to reports, the American software giant is expected to release multiple devices this year including the Microsoft Surface Pro 5, Microsoft Surface Book 2 and the highly anticipated Microsoft Surface Phone.

Despite the company's continued silence with regard to the development and release date of the smartphone, rumors about its specs and rollout date are all over the web.

According to the latest reports, Microsoft is making sure to dominate the smartphone market this time with the Surface Phone. The company is said to be gathering impressive specs and features to make sure it can compete with Apple's and Samsung's flagship smartphones.

In a report by MCrunch, there are speculations going around online suggesting that Microsoft has already started the development of the device. An alleged image of the smartphone has even surfaced on the Chinese social media website, Weibo. However, Microsoft has yet to confirm these reports.

It has already been reported that Microsoft is planning to roll out three Surface Phones soon. According to Tech Times, the company is gearing up for its release this year, targeting enterprise and business markets. The publication added that the entry level variant of the Surface Phone will run on a Snapdragon 821 processor from Qualcomm paired with 3 GB of random access memory (RAM). On the other hand, the mid-range model will also run on the same processor; however, it will carry a whopping 6 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the top-tier model will also run on the same chipset, only this time it will be paired with an amazing 8 GB of RAM and a storage capacity of 512 GB.

There are also speculations suggesting that fans will finally see Microsoft come out from its comfort zone as they will no longer have Windows operating system (OS) on their flagship smartphone. According to Ecumenical News, all three Surface Phone variants will run on the Android OS.