Google unveils $1799 Pixel Fold, the latest Android folding smartphone
Google's new Pixel Fold smartphone merges the utility of its Pixel line with a folding design that expands into a sleek tablet -- for $1799.
Pixel Fold
When Pixel Fold is closed, it has a conventional smartphone shape that comfortably fits in a hand and slides into pocketd. However, upon opening, it unveils a 7.6-inch screen that has a slimmer profile than any other foldable phone currently available in the market.
In designing this foldable device, Google says that it ensured form and function were not compromised. The majority of the Pixel components, including the camera, battery, speakers, and haptic technology, were "ingeniously redesigned" to fit within the slender profile.
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Furthermore, the custom-built hinge contributes to the phone's thinness while simultaneously doubling as the most durable hinge available. Finally, Pixel Fold has an IPX8 rating for water resistance.
The external screen on Pixel Fold allows users to perform all of the typical tasks from a Pixel phone, such as responding to messages, browsing the internet via Chrome, and utilizing Google's Call Assist features, which include Direct My Call, Call Screen, Hold for Me, and Clear Calling.
Once fully unfolded, the interior screen on Pixel Fold provides all of the advantages of a tablet. Many apps are optimized to utilize the larger screen fully, allowing for an immersive experience when watching shows, reading books, or playing games.
Additionally, the expanded screen provides extra space to get more tasks done. The Taskbar can seamlessly switch between apps or handle dragging compatible apps into splitscreen mode to multitask.
While in splitscreen, users can move files between different applications, such as transferring photos from Google Photos to Messages and Slides. The Taskbar is dynamic and disappears when users are done with it.
Pixel Fold offers a range of camera features, including Super Res Zoom with 5x optical zoom, Real Tone, Night Sight, and Portrait photography. Additionally, the phone provides professional-level modes found in Pixel 7 Pro, such as 10-bit HDR video.
The exterior screen on Pixel Fold, which measures 1080 x 2092 pixels, can achieve a brightness of up to 1550 nits, while the interior display, which measures 2208 x 1840 pixels, can reach up to 1450 nits. As a result, both screens should be sufficiently bright to be easily visible outdoors.
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Pixel Fold
When Pixel Fold is closed, it has a conventional smartphone shape that comfortably fits in a hand and slides into pocketd. However, upon opening, it unveils a 7.6-inch screen that has a slimmer profile than any other foldable phone currently available in the market.
In designing this foldable device, Google says that it ensured form and function were not compromised. The majority of the Pixel components, including the camera, battery, speakers, and haptic technology, were "ingeniously redesigned" to fit within the slender profile.
{"@context":"https://schema.org/","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Google Pixel Fold: The Only Foldable Engineered by Google","description":"Introducing Google #PixelFold-- power and innovation, folded into one. ","thumbnailUrl":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9wobcM-WPQk/sddefault.jpg","uploadDate":"2023-05-10T19:06:17Z","duration":"PT2M9S","embedUrl":"
"}Furthermore, the custom-built hinge contributes to the phone's thinness while simultaneously doubling as the most durable hinge available. Finally, Pixel Fold has an IPX8 rating for water resistance.
The external screen on Pixel Fold allows users to perform all of the typical tasks from a Pixel phone, such as responding to messages, browsing the internet via Chrome, and utilizing Google's Call Assist features, which include Direct My Call, Call Screen, Hold for Me, and Clear Calling.
Once fully unfolded, the interior screen on Pixel Fold provides all of the advantages of a tablet. Many apps are optimized to utilize the larger screen fully, allowing for an immersive experience when watching shows, reading books, or playing games.
Additionally, the expanded screen provides extra space to get more tasks done. The Taskbar can seamlessly switch between apps or handle dragging compatible apps into splitscreen mode to multitask.
While in splitscreen, users can move files between different applications, such as transferring photos from Google Photos to Messages and Slides. The Taskbar is dynamic and disappears when users are done with it.
Pixel Fold offers a range of camera features, including Super Res Zoom with 5x optical zoom, Real Tone, Night Sight, and Portrait photography. Additionally, the phone provides professional-level modes found in Pixel 7 Pro, such as 10-bit HDR video.
The exterior screen on Pixel Fold, which measures 1080 x 2092 pixels, can achieve a brightness of up to 1550 nits, while the interior display, which measures 2208 x 1840 pixels, can reach up to 1450 nits. As a result, both screens should be sufficiently bright to be easily visible outdoors.
Pixel Fold -- Pricing & Availability
The Pixel Fold is available to preorder for $1,799, and includes a free Wi-Fi Google Pixel Watch. Orders made today will arrive as soon as June 27.This story is breaking. Refresh often for the most currrent information
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
How slim is that? I thought the Mate X3 was pretty slim at 5.3mm but I've seen a couple of sites mention 6mm for the Pixel Fold.
https://www.techradar.com/news/huawei-mate-x3
No, I'm not predicting "Apple is doomed," but I hope Tim is paying attention and doesn't let Apple get "iPhone'd" by a competitor.
Durability is always a concern with folding devices, especially since putting a protective case on it seems nearly impossible. The eye-watering price may scare away some folks, but it gives Apple a bit more headroom in terms of what they may be able to ask for their next generation devices, assuming the response to Google's price tag does not rattle their fans.
I think the customer response to Google's device may hinge on how the thing feels in the hand. If the folding mechanism is robust and precise, does not get sloppy with use, and feels like a premium product, they may be on to something. But if it's clumsy to hold, unbalanced, and too heavy the target audience will be fairly small. I can hold my iPad mini in one hand while poking at it with the other (in portrait orientation), but it doesn't have a big hinge right in the middle of it.
Qualification is needed here. "Most durable hinge available" on a particular class of device? Based on what evidence?
More marketing fluff masquerading as information. "Many apps" could be a relatively large number from the perspective of the individual user (say, 100 or so) yet still be a minuscule percentage of the apps available on Google Play. Further, that's assuming that the apps are indeed optimised for the larger screen; Android has always been about upscaling or downscaling the interface to take advantage of the available real estate - this does not fit my definition of "optimized for" and is better described as "capable of."
The first quoted sentence is missing a big qualifier at the end: "all of the advantages of a tablet but with a hinge in the middle." The hinge provides a visual and tactile interruption to the screen; it might be subtle enough that it can be ignored after a while once the user grows familiar with it, but I don't think the sentence as written covers the situation well enough to be upgraded from "marketing copy" to "introductory device review."
seriously? using the M2 name and adding an adjective, but in the front… shameless
By the way, the Pixel Fold is smaller than I had expected. Here it is side-by-side with the rest of the Pixel phone lineup
Yeah, that's a no from me, dawg.
It's too small to use for typing up documents, etc, with any regularity. You could unfold it and watch a movie or TV show, which will be a 'letterboxed' picture that's maybe a couple millimeters bigger than what you'd see on the regular phone screen turned horizontally. I guess it would be better for watching old TV shows, which would appear close to full-screen on the unfolded device.
This is truly a technology looking for a purpose.
I'm not saying there isn't a market for an $1800 foldable phablet, but this form factor makes no sense as a foldable phone.
In any event, to dispel with confusion circulating among some AI readers: Titan is Google's security chip, and the one in the Fold is the M2 version. The processor is a Tensor G2, "generation 2".