Google Reveals Pixel Fold, A Foldable Smartphone with a Big Screen

Following a leak last month, Google has officially confirmed the existence of its upcoming Pixel Fold smartphone.

The smartphone will be fully detailed at next week’s Google I/O event, but until then, Google has teased its folding phone, showing its form factor and design in a short video clip. PetaPixel first saw news of the new teaser video on Engadget.

While there aren’t any technical specifications revealed in the teaser video, it’s clear that the unfolded Pixel Fold will be pretty large, and it appears to show a well-executed folding design with no noticeable crease in the middle of the expanded display and a nearly gapless hinge.

Samsung kickstarted the new folding smartphone category back in early 2019 with its Galaxy Fold smartphone. There were some growing pains early on, and the latest Galaxy Z Fold 4 still lacks impressive camera performance, per Ted Kritsonis’ review for PetaPixel.

Google is the latest smartphone maker to jump into the folding phone fray. In 2021, Fujifilm designed a foldable smartphone with a stylus pen and Huawei’s Folding Mate X2 pushed photographic boundaries with a Leica quad-camera array that same year.

Despite there being numerous folding smartphones available these days, the space is still relatively uncrowded, and there remains ample room for innovation.

The Verge recently reported on some rumored specs for the Google Pixel Fold. Leaker Evan Blass claims that the Pixel Fold is 5.5 inches (139.7 millimeters) tall and 3.1 inches (78.7mm) wide when folded. Blass claims the phone is 6.2 inches (158.7mm) wide when unfolded. The Google Pixel Fold allegedly weighs just under 10 ounces (283 grams).

Blass alleges that the IPX8 water-resistant smartphone features a 9.5-megapixel dual-pixel front camera with an f/2.2 lens. He adds that the inner camera — the camera available when the phone is unfolded — is 8MP and includes an f/2 lens.

Based on leaked renders, the referenced inner camera appears to be a punch-hole design rather than being tucked away as a hidden camera beneath the display. That said, it’s difficult to tell much from Google’s teaser video, so those interested must wait until Google I/O on May 10 to learn the full details.

Supposing there’s no camera underneath any of the Pixel Fold’s displays, that might be a good thing, given that the Galaxy Z Fold 3’s under-display camera proved lackluster. Kritsonis described the same 4-megapixel under-display camera as “terrible” in his Galaxy Z Fold 4 review.

Additional leaks suggest that the Pixel Fold runs on Google’s Tensor G2 chipset, the same one Google introduced in its Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones last fall. In Kritsonis’ Google Pixel 7 Pro Review for PetaPixel, he remarks that the powerful Tensor G2 helps the Pixel 7 Pro deliver excellent image quality.

It remains to be seen if the Pixel Fold’s rear cameras will be similar to the fantastic rear cameras found in the Pixel 7 Pro. Based on leaked specs, at least the front-facing cameras are different.

Image credits: Google