In this article you will learn Everything about Google Pixel Fold. Samsung and Motorola will release improved foldable hardware in 2022, intensifying the battle. Foldable gadgets have been gaining traction over the past two years.
Google may be prepping its own entrance into this expanding industry, with the Google Pixel Fold rumoured to debut this year. However, some sources indicate that the foldable phone may have been delayed or cancelled.
We compile news and rumours regarding Google’s first foldable device.
When will the Google Pixel Fold be released?
Google hasn’t even acknowledged that a foldable smartphone would be released, so there is no concrete information regarding a release date.
In 2020, 9to5Google announced that it had received secret Google internal documents indicating that a foldable gadget would debut in the fourth quarter of 2021. This forecast was echoed by Ross Young, Jon Prosser, and The Elec from South Korea. Obviously, this did not occur, as the launch of the Pixel 6 series occurred without a foldable device.
9to5 Google subsequently discovered code referencing “isPixel2022Foldable,” which seems to confirm that the Pixel Fold will come at least this year. Some had hoped to see it debut at Google’s I/O developer conference in May, but this did not occur, and subsequent reports from 9to5Google suggest Google and display industry analyst Ross Young pointed to its October debut alongside the Pixel 7 flagship.
However, there are some grounds for pessimism. Young has updated his estimate, and along with Korean site The Elec and insider Jon Prosser, he now claims that the foldable has been pushed back to spring 2023, suggesting that it might debut at next year’s I/O, possibly alongside the Pixel 7a. Leaker Digital Chat Station revealed in August 2022 that the phone is still in development, with Foxconn responsible for its assembly.
Is the Pixel Fold cancelled?
There were rumours that the Pixel foldable had been scrapped.
Ross Young wrote a year ago that “Google has opted not to launch the Pixel Fold,” citing sources in the display supply chain as saying that Google had cancelled its purchases for the foldable’s components.
Young said that Google was afraid that “the product wouldn’t be as competitive as it needed to be” because they would be competing largely with Samsung in a narrow niche market with higher costs than their principal rival.
This seems doubtful anyway. Young has now claimed that the Pixel Fold is back on track, and it appears that while the business did cancel parts purchases, Young may have been a bit hasty in claiming that the phone had been abandoned altogether.
What will the Pixel foldable be called?
Simply said, we have no notion, although the majority of Internet users have begun to refer to it as the Pixel Fold.
9to5 Google says that it will instead be known as the Pixel Notepad, but it notes that this is merely a “working brand name” and may change.
Google has only revealed the phone’s internal codenames, Passport and Pipit.
9to5 Google discovered the term ‘Passport’ in several sections of Android code, including the first public beta of Android 12. It came alongside a model number, GPQ72, which is believed to be associated with the Japanese form of the phone.
Notably, this is not solid evidence that the Pixel Fold will ever be released. The same list also featured a model number for “Needlefish,” a 2019 Pixel codename believed to be associated with a never-released 5G Pixel 4 variant. Since Needlefish was never released, the Passport model number appearing here is inconclusive, but it does add to the evidence that Google is at least developing a foldable phone.
Recent appearances of “Pipit” include Camera app code, a Geekbench listing, and portions of the Android 12L beta, as reported by 9to5.
According to Google, this is a new codename for the same foldable Pixel smartphone.
What about the second Pixel Fold?
Before proceeding, it is important to address the rumours of a second Pixel Foldable. First reported by 9to5Google, this phone is only known by its codename ‘Jumbojack’, which appears in code connected to Android 12.1, now known as Android 12L — a mid-cycle software update aimed to add more serious support for foldable phones to Android 12.
The phone appears to have two displays, one of which is inaccessible when the device is closed (which makes sense). In the code, references to a ‘Pixel’ gadget show it is a real device destined for public distribution.
According to 9to5Google, the name likely refers to a cheeseburger from the restaurant company Jack in the Box. The article even believes this may be a reference to the ‘hamburger’ folding format of phones like the Z Flip 4, as opposed to the ‘hot dog’ design of the Z Fold 4, albeit this is a stretch.
How much will the Google Pixel Foldable cost?
This is another area where we lack sufficient knowledge. For this sort of equipment, there is no historical precedent, so cost is still a bit uncertain. However, one certainty is that it will not be inexpensive.
9to5 Google’s reporting uncovered a price in addition to the rumoured name and distribution strategy, and the site claims that Google has a “target price” of $1,400 for the Pixel Notepad in the United States.
If accurate, this would significantly undercut the phone’s main competitor, the Galaxy Z Fold 4, by $400. That would surely give Samsung pause, and could compel the Korean tech giant to reduce costs for the Z Fold 5 in the following year.
In any case, any foldable tablet that Google sells in 2022 is likely to cost more than $1,000, so you may want to start putting money aside now.
What are the Google Pixel Foldable specs?
Displays and design
Clearly, the most significant addition to the Pixel’s feature list will be a folding display of some sort. This appears to be the book-style design followed by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Huawei Mate X2, as opposed to the vertical clamshell design of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Motorola Razr 2022.
Getting the display right will be vital, as we’ve seen how difficult it is to avoid creases in the display when it folds or the panels failing altogether, as with the first Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.
The Elec reports that Samsung is offering Google, Xiaomi, and Oppo foldable displays for upcoming devices. Google has apparently acquired a 7.6-inch foldable OLED display, the same size as the Fold 4’s display.
In a subsequent report, The Elec maintains this forecast and adds that the display will be coated with ultrathin glass (UTG). Since Samsung is providing the display, it is not surprising that UTG will be implemented.
Ross Young, a specialist in the display industry, has a piece of information concerning the exterior display. He believes that Google’s foldable screen would have a 5.8-inch cover display, which is smaller than the Z Fold 4’s 6.2-inch screen. This will include a larger aspect ratio, indicating that the cover display would be somewhat shorter and broader than Samsung’s screen.
The Android 12L beta 2 includes animations that appear to illustrate the basic design that Google is employing.
The two animations, discovered by 9to5Google, depict how a SIM card may be put into the gadget (the second shows the phone in its closed form). The aspect ratio appears to be closer to the square-ish form of the Oppo Find N than any of Samsung’s Z Fold prototypes, which could help the Google foldable stand out in western markets when it releases.
Core specs
Regarding the remainder of the specifications for its first foldable device, Google has a number of options. Initially, it was believed that the company would re-use the in-house created Tensor chip that debuted in the Pixel 6 series, as opposed to returning to a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip—it seems safe to assume that Google will continue to employ its own silicon whenever possible in the future.
This was supported by a Geekbench 4 entry for a phone entitled “Google Pipit”; keep in mind that Pipit is one of the predicted codenames for the Fold. The listing does not define the Tensor chip by name, but instead lists an ARM chip with eight cores, 1.8GHz base speed, and 2.8GHz peak speed. Tensor is an octa-core ARM chip with four efficient cores clocked at 1.8GHz and two fastest chips clocked at 2.8GHz, therefore it is a perfect fit. It is shown here with 12GB of RAM and, as expected, Android 12 operating system.
Now that the Pixel Fold is anticipated to ship either alongside or after the Pixel 7 series, it’s more likely that Google will have upgraded the phone to the second-generation Tensor chip scheduled to appear in those devices. Samsung is reportedly already prepared to mass-produce the new 4nm chip for Google, and it seems doubtful that Google would release its flagship foldable with outdated components.
Cameras
We believe we have a better understanding of the phone’s camera specifications courtesy to the 9to5Google article that uncovered the Pipit codename. The site discovered code that discloses the foldable’s four camera sensors: a 12.2Mp IMX363, a 12Mp IMX386, and two 8Mp IMX335 cameras. The latter two are labelled “inner” and “outer,” implying that they are for a pair of selfie cameras.
This appears to be a reversion to the camera specifications employed before to the latest Pixel 6 upgrade. The IMX363 is the same sensor used for the primary camera in the Pixel 3, 4, and 5, whereas the IMX335 is the same sensor used for the front-facing cameras in Pixels up to and including the 6, but not the 6 Pro. The IMX386 is also included on the Pixel 6, where it powers the ultrawide camera.
A different code dive by developer Kuba Wojciechowski reveals the same collection of camera sensors, as well as a Samsung GN1 – the current main sensor in Pixel 6 devices, which is anticipated to return in the Pixel 7 series.
All of this suggests a camera combination akin to the Pixel 6, without the telephoto lens featured on the Pixel 6 Pro.
While some had hoped that Google would experiment with an under-display camera on the Fold, Digital Chat Station anticipates something quite different: a standard punch-hole selfie camera on the outside screen and a micro-hole camera embedded within the frame. This would allow for an uninterrupted main screen without the quality sacrifices imposed by cameras under the screen, although any camera tiny enough to fit within the internal frame may be somewhat limited.
A patent discovered by 91mobiles, which was supposedly filed in June 2021, gives us a glimpse of how this would appear.
There is still a possibility that Google will use Samsung’s designs for an under-display camera in its foldable devices. LetsGoDigital uncovered a Google patent for a revolutionary solution to the technology, which employs a movable mirror beneath the display that may point either at a camera lens or a second display. Therefore, when the camera is required, light is reflected into the lens, and when it is not, light is reflected from the auxiliary display to cover the void.
Google has now submitted a second patent (also discovered by LetsGoDigital) for under-display cameras that use a different (and possibly more cost-effective) technology to achieve the same goal. This version employs a multi-layered transparent display, which is more comparable to other versions we’ve seen.
Intriguingly, the patent identifies by name one Sangmoo Choi, a former Samsung display developer who has been with Google for more than three years, but who presumably had expertise with Samsung’s early efforts to develop under-display camera technology.
There is no reason to suppose that each patent is for the forthcoming foldable, and it could be intended simply for the Pixel 7 series – or perhaps later phones – but there is hope that it is being prepared for a flagship foldable.
Android 12L, a new Android version that boosts compatibility for large-screen devices such as tablets – and foldables – will be incorporated into the phone’s software. It includes improved split-screen compatibility for all Android apps, two-column notification shade and control centre layouts, and a desktop-style taskbar, which we anticipate to see on the Pixel Fold’s large screen.
If you can’t wait to get your hands on the most advanced smartphone technology, check out our guide to the greatest phones that will be released in 2022 and 2023.