Images of Microsoft’s Canceled Windows Surface Phone Have, Well… Surfaced
A set of images leaked this week depicting an unreleased Microsoft smartphone prototype that may date from 2013 or 2014. The handset is thought to be a Surface-branded Windows Phone that never made it out to the public. Even the suspected Surface Phone nameplate was never confirmed.
The photos, obtained by Windows Central through an anonymous source on Telegram, show a phone with a silver metal frame, navigation keys below the 720p display, a Microsoft logo on the back, and Windows Phone software. The device runs an early internal build linked to Windows Phone 8.1, dated September 2013. Windows Central reports that it contains an unidentified Qualcomm processor and includes a micro-USB port, a headphone jack, a SIM slot, volume controls, and a camera button.
Images do not reveal the chipset model, RAM, storage, battery size, or camera specs. The phone has a similar overall aesthetic to Microsoft’s early Surface devices, but neither the photos nor public records indicate that Microsoft planned to sell this exact design under the Surface name.
Microsoft announced it would buy Nokia’s Devices and Services business in September 2013 and finalized the purchase on April 25, 2014. This deal gave Microsoft control over Nokia’s phone operations and the Lumia product line—a possible answer to the mystery of why Microsoft would hold back from launching this device.
