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Surface 3 vs. Surface Duo - Detailed Specs Comparison

Here's what you need to know what's different between Surface 3 and Surface Duo specs including CPU, RAM, storage, battery, display, and more.

BY Evan Forrest February 21, 2026

Surface 3 vs. Surface Duo

The 2015 Surface 3 features the 2W Intel Cherry Trail quad-core Intel Atom x7-Z8700 with the boost speed up to 2.40 GHz. While the 2020 Surface Duo features the 5W Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 with a clock speed of 2.84 GHz.

If you are in the market looking for a laptop and don't know what's the difference between the 10.8″ Surface 3 (2015) and the 8.1″ Surface Duo (2020), we have a detailed tech specs comparison between both devices for you to check out here.

Surface 3 vs. Surface Duo: Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface 3 See at Amazon	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Surface Duo See at Amazon
Key Features
What's new	New design It’s now thinner (8.7mm), new tablet-friendly 3:2 aspect-ratio form factor, and new Microsoft Logo on the kickstand. Full Windows 8.1 You can run all your desktop apps and upgradable to Windows 10. Better display New bigger and better 10.8” Full HD Plus display with 10 points multitouch. Inking supports It now supports a new Surface Pen with 256 pressure sensitivity, tail eraser, and remote Bluetooth activation. New CPU Architecture It’s now using the new quad-core Intel® Atom™ x7 processor for outstanding performance and long battery life. New kickstand Now in three angles. New Micro-USB port It can be charged with any mobile phone charger. More Better 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera, new Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), and optional 4G LTE.
What's missing	No magnet charging port replaced with the new Micro-USB port. Slower Charging The new Micro-USB has a limited power delivery (13W) compared to its older propriety 24W charger.

Availability	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Released	2015	2020
Release Info	Introduced: March 21, 2015 Pre-ordered: March 21, 2015 Released: May 5, 2015	Introduced: Microsoft October Event (October 2, 2019) Pre-ordered: August 12, 2020 Released: September 10, 2020
Pricing	Surface 3 Wi-Fi $499 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $599 - 4 GB \| 128 GB Surface 3 4G LTE $599 - 2 GB \| 64 GB $699 - 4 GB \| 128 GB	$1,399 - 128 GB $1,499 - 256 GB
Amazon Deals	$162.96 Microsoft Surface 3 128GB WiFi Tablet 10.8" Intel Atom - Silver (Renewed) $389.95 Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) $389.00 Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10)	$989.95 Microsoft Surface Duo 2 5G 256GB (Unlocked) - Obsidian $931.02 Microsoft Surface Duo 2 5G 128GB (Unlocked) - Glacier $869.99 Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13" Touchscreen OLED Display, Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core), 16GB RAM, 256GB Storage, Black, Amazon Exclusive

Microsoft Surface 3 10.8-inch Price
	Microsoft Surface 3 128GB WiFi Tablet 10.8" Intel Atom - Silver (Renewed) By Microsoft $162.96	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Go 3 - 10.5" Touchscreen - Intel® Core™ i3 - 8GB Memory - 128GB SSD - Device Only - Platinum (Latest Model) By Microsoft $389.95	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface 3 Tablet (10.8-Inch, 64 GB, Intel Atom, Windows 10) By Microsoft $389.00	See at Amazon
Surface Duo Price
	Microsoft Surface Duo 2 5G 256GB (Unlocked) - Obsidian By Microsoft $989.95	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Duo 2 5G 128GB (Unlocked) - Glacier By Microsoft $931.02	See at Amazon
	Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Laptop/Tablet (2024), Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, 13" Touchscreen OLED Display, Snapdragon X Elite (12 Core), 16GB RAM, 256GB Storage, Black, Amazon Exclusive By Microsoft $869.99 $1,004.54 13% OFF	See at Amazon

Display	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Size	10.8 Inches	8.1 Inches
Info	Resolution: 1920 x 1280 (2.4M Pixels) Density: 214 PPI Aspect ratio: 3:2 Inking: supports Surface Pen Touch: 10 points multi-touch	Dual PixelSense™ Fusion Displays open: 8.1” AMOLED, 2700x1800 (3:2), 401 PPI Single PixelSense™ Display: 5.6” AMOLED, 1800x1350 (4:3), 401 PPI Display Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass

Exterior	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Size Comparison
Dimensions	10.52” x 7.36” x 0.34” (267 mm x 187 mm x 8.7 mm) Width: 10.52” (267 mm) Height: 7.36” (187 mm) Thickness: 0.34” (8.7 mm)	7.35 x 5.71 x 0.18 (186.9 mm x 145.2 mm x 4.8 mm) Open 3.67 x 5.71 x 0.38 (93.3 mm x 145.2 mm x 9.9 mm) Closed
Weight	Surface 3: 1.37 lbs (621 g) Surface 3 with Keyboard: 1.95 lbs (884 g)	0.55 lbs (250 g)
Colors	Silver	Glacier
Keyboard and Trackpad	Surface Type Cover Not included Keyboard: Activation: Moving (mechanical) keys Layout: QWERTY, full row of function keys (F1-F12) 4 directional keys; Windows and Media Controls Keys; LED backlighting Trackpad: Precision glass trackpad. Supports up to three-finger multitouch gesture.
Ports	1 x Full-size USB 3.0 1 x microSD™ card reader 1 x Micro USB charging port 1 x Headset jack 1 x Mini DisplayPort 1 x Cover port 1 x Nano SIM card slot (Surface 3 with LTE only)	1 x USB Type-C 1 x SIM card slot

Internal Specs	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Processor	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 4 cores, 4 threads, 1.60 → 2.40 GHz, 2MB Cache, 2W	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 8 cores, 8 threads, 2.84 GHz, 5MB Cache, 5W
Integrated Graphics	Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 Intel® HD Graphics 16 Execution Units, 20 → 600 MHz	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 GPU 585 MHz
Memory	2GB 4GB 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM.	6GB DRAM
Storage	64GB 128GB eMMC	128GB 256GB UFS 3.0 of internal storage

Connectivity	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 5: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac compatible.	WiFi-5 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth	Bluetooth Wireless 4.0 technology	Bluetooth Wireless 5.0 technology
	Optional LTE Nano SIM Tray GPS Assisted GPS GLONASS	LTE: 4x4 MIMO, Cat.18 DL / Cat 5 UL, 5CA, LAA. Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 150Mbps Upload Bands Supported: FDD-LTE: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,12,13,14,19,20,25,26,28,29,30,66 TD-LTE: 38,39,40,41,46 WCDMA: 1,2,5,8 GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900 Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS One eSIM and one Nano SIM Note: AT&T locked device will not support eSIM

Battery	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Size	27.5 Wh	3577 mAh
Battery Life	Up to 10 hours of video playback	Up to 15.5 hours of Local Video Playback Up to 10 days of Standby Time Up to 27 hours of Talk Time
Power Supply	13W Micro USB power supply	18W USB-C PD charger

Software	Surface 3	Surface Duo
OS	Windows 8.1 Pro Upgradable to Windows 10 Pro	Android™ 10 3-years of software updates.
Built-in Apps	1-Year Microsoft Office 365 Personal	Microsoft built-in applications: Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Office Lens, PDF Reader, and more Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Teams Microsoft OneDrive Microsoft Edge Microsoft OneNote Microsoft To Do Microsoft News Microsoft Authenticator Microsoft Bing Search Intune Company Portal LinkedIn Microsoft Solitaire Collection Surface Audio Microsoft Surface Duo UI core features: Dual screen windowing Adaptive modes App Groups Microsoft 365 Feed Dynamic dock Universal Search Adaptive Camera Microsoft SwiftKey Adaptive Keyboard Your Phone Companion - Link to Windows Other preinstalled apps: Google Search Google Assistant Google Calendar Google Drive Google Duo Google Photos Google Play Movies & TV Google Play Store Google Maps Chrome Gmail YouTube YouTube Music Contacts Messages Phone Files Clock Calculator Sound recorder Spotify (Unlocked) HBO MAX (AT&T) AT&T TV (AT&T) My AT&T (AT&T) Call Protect (AT&T) Amazon Shopping (AT&T) NBA (AT&T)

Camera & Audio	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Camera	3.5MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p HD video	Adaptive camera 11MP, f/2.0, 1.0 µm, PDAF and 84.0° diagonal FOV optimized with AI for front and rear Photos: Auto mode with low-light & HDR multi-frame photo capture and dynamic range scene detection Super-resolution zoom, and super zoom up to 7x Portrait mode with adjustable depth control Panorama mode Burst mode Video recording: 4K video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps 1080p video recording at 30 fps and 60 fps HEVC and H.264 video recording formats Gyro-based digital video stabilization Video Conferencing Microsoft Teams and Skype video conferencing up to 1080p at 30fps High CRI LED Flash for both front and world facing photo and video scenarios
Audio	Single microphone Front-facing stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio enhanced sound	Mono speaker Dual Mic noise suppression and echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures Best-in-class Full Duplex communication for voice calls in hands-free mode Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive

Misc	Surface 3	Surface Duo
Inking	Supports Surface Pen 256 levels of pressure N-trig Active Pen technology	Supports all in market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen and Surface Hub 2 Pen 4096 levels of pressure Tilt sensing Best in class latency Paper feel magnetic storage
Sensors	Ambient light sensor Proximity sensor Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer Digital compass	Dual Accelerometer Dual Gyroscope Dual Magnetometer Dual Ambient Light Sensor Proximity Sensor Hall Sensor Fingerprint Sensor
Security		Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader (1:100K FAR <3% FRR) Lock type: Swipe, PIN, password Security applications pre-loaded on the device: Microsoft Authenticator
In the box	Surface 3 Power supply Quick Start Guide Safety and warranty documents	Surface Duo Surface Duo Bumper (Color: Glacier) Surface Duo USB-C® Power Supply (18w) Quick Start Guide Warranty and Compliance Guide SIM Ejector tool
Warranty	One-year limited hardware warranty
More	Casing: Magnesium Kickstand: 3 positions Physical buttons: volumes, power	Exterior Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass