The Pixel Fold has long been the subject of rumour and speculation, having been through many years of will-they-won’t-they, it seems that 2023 is the year that Google will venture into the folding phone market. This is a book-style opening device, so it will be a direct rival forthe Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, with Samsung currently dominating the market for this type of device. It’s perhaps an odd choice for Google to start with, seeing as Samsung generally sells more of the flip-style devices, the Galaxy Z Flip 4.
The official tease doesn’t tell us much more about the device apart from when we’ll hear more about it, withGoogle I/O on 10 Maybeing the date for your diary. We’re expecting thePixel 7aand thePixel Tabletalso to be announced at the event, so it’s going to be a bumper time for Google’s hardware department.
The rumours suggest that we’re looking at a 7.69-inch internal display and a 5.79-inch external display which sounds really usable. This phone is expected to be powered by the same Google Tensor chip as found inthe Pixel 7 Pro, while there’s high hopes for the cameras. Cameras are where many folding phones make a compromise against flagship devices, but Google’s focus on computational photography in Pixel devices could see the rumoured 50-megapixel main camera being the main attraction on this device.
But in reality, what we’re really looking for is software advancements. Android hasn’t kept pace in the world of tablet apps alongside Apple, and with the Pixel Tablet and now the Pixel Fold looking to make greater use of that larger screen space, the making of this device will be in the software experience.
