One of the selling points of Surface Duo is your productivity. Citing technology media OnMSFT, the original Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 actually have a hidden desktop mode that, when enabled, can use the Duo as a mini Android computer.
If you have any Android phone running Android 10/11 that supports video output via USB-C port, then you can try this experience. The feature is incorporated into developer mode, and it’s worth noting that it doesn’t work on Pixel devices because Google disables video output over USB-C.
The original Surface Duo was only recently upgraded to Android 11, but the previous Android 10 didn’t offer that feature. Android 10 doesn’t trigger desktop mode, it just mirrors the Duo’s screen to an external monitor. The recent Android 11 update seems to have fixed this bug.
The enabling steps are as follows:
First, go to settings, then scroll down to the bottom and go to “About”. In “About”, tap the version number seven times, and then enter the password to confirm. Once confirmed, scroll to the main page of the Settings app, select System, and go to Develop options.
There, scroll all the way down to the Applications section and toggle the switches for Force Desktop Mode and Enable Free Window. Restart your phone and plug it into the monitor with the docking station or directly with a USB-C connection. Of course, you also need a keyboard and mouse. This can be connected to the phone via a USB docking station or Bluetooth.
What can you do in desktop mode?
Compared with Samsung’s DeX mode, Surface Duo’s desktop mode is much simpler. It just lets you open apps like a mobile phone, but without a special start menu, etc. in windowed mode. You can drag apps around the screen and resize them just like you would on a Windows PC.
While doing so, you can also open additional apps on the Duo’s home screen, but not the same ones you open on the second display. You can even open the app drawer by dragging up to open other apps on the secondary screen. But unfortunately, this experience is still a little buggy. At times, it may crash, your screen may go blank, or applications may crash or freeze. This is to be expected when dealing with developer options.