The Pixel Fold: Google’s answer to foldables?

Google finally did it. In a world where Samsung, Huawei and even Oppo had their own take on foldable devices, Google put forth its own, the Pixel Fold. And it has all the earmarks of a Pixel device. The Pixel Fold ships with Android 13 with all the Pixel goodies including Material You and the Monet Engine, and will also be ready for Android 14 when it launches this year. When folded, the Pixel Fold packs a 5.8” 1080x2092 pixel, OLED, 120Hz display wrapped in Gorilla Glass Victus. The Fold then unfolds (pun intended) into a 7.8” 1840x2208 pixel, OLED, 120Hz display. Being Google’s first foldable, the device ships with Google’s own flagship (for now) Tensor G2 chip, backed up by 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of non-expandable storage.

The Pixel Fold is IPX8 water resistant meaning the device can be submerged in up to 1.5 metres of freshwater for up to 30 minutes (although I wouldn’t recommend it). Google has also taken a page from other folding devices and improved on the hinge mechanism, thus allowing the two halves of the Fold to sit flush against each other, minimizing debris and dirt from finding a way in. The hinge, made of stainless steel, is also rated for up to 200,000 opens and closes, according to Google, and can hold its position wherever folded. So you can technically use the Pixel Fold as a mini laptop, if you wanted to.

In terms of battery, the Pixel Fold packs a 4851mAh nonremovable battery that is split into two cells (one on each half of the device), again, akin to most foldable devices these days. It supports up to 30W wired fast charging as well as wireless charging, though there’s no charger included.

A total of five cameras are found on the Pixel Fold. They are an 8MP selfie camera on the cover, a 9MP selfie camera on the inside, a 48MP main camera with OIS (optical image stabilization), a 10.8MP ultrawide lens and finally, a 10.8MP 5x telephoto lens. While the sensors are different to those found on the Google Pixel 7 Pro, the features and capabilities, especially in terms of software optimization for imaging, are virtually identical in both devices. In terms of pricing, the Pixel Fold starts off at $1,799 for the 256GB model and goes up to $1,919 for the 512GB version. Not exactly cheap, but then again, most foldables are not known for being cheap either.