Surface Duo gets another minor firmware update

Microsoft started rolling out the latest firmware update for the first-gen Surface Duo. The October 2021 update for the dual-screen smartphone from Microsoft is yet another patch that contains nothing but regular Android security patches. It is now the sixth update without device-specific improvements, bug fixes, or patches, not to mention a new Android version.

What is new in the October 2021 firmware update for Surface Duo

Here is the changelog for the October 2021 firmware update for the first generation of Surface Duo:

• 2021.913.25 (North America), 2021.913.26 (Europe), and 2021.913.27 (North America, AT&T Locked).
  • This update addresses scenarios outlined in the Android Security Bulletin for October 2021.

That's it.

The update is available for all Surface Duo variants, including the AT&T locked version. To install the October 2021 firmware update for Surface Duo, you need just 51MB of free space, which is another evidence of poor software support from Microsoft.

Unfortunately, more than a year since its debut, Surface Duo remains a uniquely interesting device that Microsoft let down by poor software and lackluster support.

Microsoft recently confirmed that it plans to update the original Surface Duo from Android 10 to Android 11. The upgrade to a now one-year-old Android version should arrive closer to the end of this year. Surface Duo 2, which received significantly improved hardware, should go on sale with Android 11 out-of-box.

If you plan to buy the second-gen Surface Duo, prepare to shell out $1,499 for the basic configuration with 128GB of memory, $1,599 for the 256GB variant, and a whopping $1,799 for the 512GB variant. The smartphone will go on sale on October 21, 2021. As with the original Surface Duo, Microsoft promises three years of "active support" for Surface Duo 2, but the quality of that support remains an open question.