The Microsoft Surface Duo was an interesting device when it launched, giving users a foldable phone experience produced by two independent screens. The device originally shipped with Android 10, and while the company has issued a number of updates for the handset, Microsoft really hasn't offered the best software support during the life of the device, with sparse updates when compared to its competitors. Thankfully, the Surface Duo was updated to Android 12L towards the end of 2022, but now, it looks like Android 13 is being made available through unofficial means, which could potentially extend the handset's life.

The latest Surface Duo update comes from Thai Nguyen, a developer that previously worked with Microsoft and has been tinkering with a way to load Android 13 on the Surface Duo for some months now. Nguyen has released a test build of Android 13 for the Surface Duo, and has made it available with clear instructions on installing it through the XDA forums. As far as what you can expect, the update is based on what you'd find on Pixel handsets, which means you'll get a clean experience with plenty of great software features.

Of course, there will be some bugs, which is to be expected, with some of the more critical ones coming from unreliable screen orientation recognition, screen timeout issues, missing pixels in split screen mode, and more. Because of this, Nguyen recommends using DSU Sideloader to get things running, so just in case you need to, you can easily just pop back into the native experience. If you've never used the app before, the app allows users to load versions of Android without wiping out the underlying system partition. This makes it easy to test out potential builds but minimizes the risk, so you can easily go back to the stock configuration.

While some might complain that Android 14 is already on the horizon, this is just the beginning of the project and could lead to more iterations down the line. Of course, Nguyen is just one person, but this concept could open the doors for others to begin creating future OS versions for the Surface Duo. If interested, you can always try it out, just make sure to follow the direction in the forum and back up any important information from your phone just in case something goes wrong.