Google has officially launched its first foldable phone, the Pixel Fold, for USD 1,799. It is up for pre-order in the US and will ship in June. The Google Pixel Fold sports a 5.8-inch exterior screen and a 7.6-inch OLED interior screen with a visible crease but an invisible gap when folded. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4‘s 16mm thickness when closed, the Pixel Fold is around 12mm thick. Its design is more reminiscent of the OPPO Find N2.
Speaking of design, it is slim and light, with a durable hinge that can withstand up to 200,000 folds. You get five cameras to use in total. There are 8.3-megapixel selfie cameras on the front and inner display and a triple camera array on the back. That includes a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 10.8-megapixel ultrawide, and a 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto. As with other foldables, you can use the outer screen as a viewfinder for the rear cameras.
The Pixel Fold promises fast and smooth software with new Android features, such as the animated wallpaper and a hidden taskbar for what looks like recent apps. It supports over 50 first-party apps optimized for large screens, including YouTube and a new Interpreter mode, where the screen displays the conversation happening in real time. When Android 14 rolls out, expect more UI-specific features to come. However, it lacks pen and external display support, which is disappointing.
The Pixel Fold has more top-notch specs, including the Tensor G2 chip, 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and 120Hz refresh rates on both screens. It will launch with Android 13 and get five years of software and security updates, which would be a big draw for those hoping to get a lot of mileage out of this foldable. An IPX8 water resistance rating will hopefully offer some physical protection for the Google Pixel Fold. But only time will tell how durable this first-gen foldie will be.
It also has a fingerprint sensor and offers 30-watt wired and slower wireless charging options for its 4,821mAh battery. Google claims you can get up to 33 hours of use, but that’s the lab measurements, so it would most likely be shorter.
The Pixel Fold looks like a decent first attempt for Google in the foldable space. But we have to wait for the reviews to come in and see if it’s worth its asking price.
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