For a long time, the foldable segment in Western markets was the purview of Samsung, and Samsung alone. 2023 hits a little differently though, with Oppo's Find N2 Flip and Honor's Magic Vs launching in Europe already. and today Google unveiled the Pixel Fold to take on the likes of Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 whilst costing the same price.
After all the on and off again reports, Google has finally launched the Pixel Fold which takes more inspiration from Oppo's Find N2 than its Galaxy Z Fold 4 rival in terms of its overall dimensions and aspect ratio which means there is more usable display on hand. According to Google, the Pixel Fold's Fluid Friction hinge is made from steel and has a “dual axis, quad-cam synchronized mechanism” which opens to any angle up to 180°. There's IPX8 water and dust resistance which is great to see, and Google says that the Pixel Fold is thinner than its competitors.
Powered by last year's Tensor G2 chip which is also present in the Pixel 7a that launched today and last year's Pixel 7 series, the Pixel Fold also sports 12GB of RAM and 256/512GB of built-in storage.
The cover display is 5.8-inches and the internal panel is 7.6-inches when unfolded. Both are OLED displays with 120Hz refresh rates and HDR support. The cover display has a peak brightness of 1450nits whilst the internal screen has 1550nits.
The Pixel Fold sports a trio of rear cameras which includes a 48MP main sensor which, thanks to pixel binning, will produce 12MP images. There's a 10.8MP ultra-wide lens whilst the third camera is a telephoto lens that has 5x optical zoom and supports Google's 20x Super Res Zoom. The cover display's camera is a 9.5MP sensor and you'll also find an 8MP camera housed above the internal display on the right-hand side.
As with every Pixel phone, Google has bundled in a bunch of handy software features such as Long Exposure, Face Unblur, Night Sight, Top Shot, Super Res Zoom, Motion Autofocus, and Live HDR+.
Google promises to provide three years of Android OS updates along with five years of security patches, which is a year's fewer Android updates than what Samsung offers with its flagships which is somewhat bizarre. Speaking of software, Google says it has worked with the likes of Spotify, Disney Plus, TikTok, eBay, Canva, and a whole lot more to help optimize their apps for the Pixel Fold.
Google says that the Pixel Fold's 4,821mAh battery will last well over 24 hours with 72 hours in reach if you activate the Extreme Battery Saver mode. Considering that the Pixel 7 Pro uses the same processor and isn't renowned for its battery life despite having a single display to power, we are skeptical about Google's claims which tend to be on the optimistic side historically. The Pixel Fold supports 21W wired charging which means you'll need to remember to charge the phone overnight although it does also support 7.5W wireless charging, which is something. If you don't have a compatible wall charger you'll need to purchase one separately because Google is too stingy to include one in the box.
The Pixel Fold is already available to pre-order in Porcelain and Obsidian colorways from the Google Store with prices starting from $1,799 for the 256GB base model. Google says that pre-orders will ship sometime during June which is a little vague but we'll trust them on this.
What are your thoughts on the Pixel Fold? At $1,799, would it tempt you from buying the Galaxy Z Fold 4 (if you are in the market for a foldable)?
