Google really needs to figure out how its foldable can be different
At this point, I'm not entirely convinced that a Google Pixel Fold actually exists, let alone that Google will be showing off a foldable phone at some point during the first half of 2023, as some rumors claim. Maybe I've been burned by the on-again, off-again nature of Pixel Fold rumors — at one point, the phone was most definitely canceled until it was most definitely not — but I'll believe there's actually a Pixel Fold when a Google executive is whapping me upside the head with one at the device's launch event.
Best Foldable Phones
In any case, I maintain that there should be a Pixel Overlay if just because to give Samsung some contest for the best foldable telephones. The present moment, that is an intramural challenge at Samsung between the Universe Z Overlay 4 and System Z Flip 4, so having somebody — anybody — take a shot at a foldable telephone can push this classification of telephones forward.
Will Google ever come out with the Pixel Fold?"
So to me, the question to answer isn't necessarily "Will Google ever come out with the Pixel Fold?" Instead, it's "If Google really is working on a Pixel Fold, how can it stand out from Samsung's foldables?" After all, the only way phone shoppers get a choice in foldables is if Google comes up with a device that has its own unique approach. A "me too" device is not going to cut it here.
I've given the Pixel Fold some thought. Here's what I think Google needs to do if its rumored foldable is going to steal any thunder away from Samsung's phones, particularly the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
Come up with the perfect design
To date, we've seen two basic approaches to foldable phones — the phone that opens up like a book to reveal a tablet-sized screen inside (a la the Galaxy Fold) and the flip phone-style approach where you open the phone vertically to get to an elongated display (a la the Galaxy Flip). From the sound of Pixel Fold rumors, it appears that Google is taking the first approach.
Yes, it would be more exciting if the Pixel Fold were to introduce an entirely new design, if only to distinguish itself more clearly from Samsung's foldables. But the open-book approach is a solid one that delivers the extra screen real estate that makes foldable phones a compelling option. The problem arises when the design is too much like the Galaxy Z Fold's look, and recent rumors are doing little to ease that concern.
Display
For example, the inward Pixel Overlap show is reputed to be a 7.6-inch board. On the off chance that that number sounds natural, that is on the grounds that it's the means by which huge the Universe Z Overlap 4's principal screen is. There's allegedly an outside cover show on the Pixel Overlay, as well — you know, similar to the one on the Universe Z Overlap, however the Pixel's outer board is reputed to be more minimized than the 6.2-inch external screen on Samsung's phone.
Perhaps subsequent rumors will spell out bigger differences between the Pixel Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold 4. But from what we've heard so far, Google's phone sounds like a Galaxy Z Fold 4 without the S Pen. That's no way to make a splash in the phone world.
Beat Samsung on price
At $1,799, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is most expensive mainstream handset you can buy. It's so pricey, in fact, that current Black Friday phone deals are taking hundreds of dollars off some Galaxy Fold models — and the device still costs more than 1,000 damn dollars.
That ought to be a chance for Google to undermine Samsung's evaluating, very much as it does with its lead phones. The Samsung System S22 might begin at $799, yet you can get a Pixel 7 from Google for $200 less, and all you're truly surrendering is a zooming focal point. Do that sort of aggressive valuing with your foldable, Google, and you could actually have the option to direct some business away from Samsung.
So it's a little confounding that underlying cost bits of hearsay for the Pixel Crease are foreseeing that Google's telephone will cost the equivalent $1,799 that Samsung charges for its foldable. We need to trust that gossip is off-base, and that the genuine cost is basically a couple hundred bucks not exactly that. In any case, why bother with carrying out one more cosmically valued foldable telephone?
Come up with unique experiences
Google may have its work cut out for it here. Not only does Samsung have a four-year head start on perfecting foldable-specific features like continuity and flex modes, it's also reaping the benefits of all the foldable-friendly changes Google started making to the Android operating system, starting with Android 12L. Because of that, anything the Pixel Fold is likely to be able to do, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 will have been at it longer.
Put more emphasis on the Pixel Fold cameras
If there's an area that Samsung's overlooked with its foldables, it's the camera. It's only with the Galaxy Z Fold 4 that Samsung got serious about the cameras on its foldable, adopting the same setup used by the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S22 Plus. (Those are good phones to copy from, since both spent some time on our rankings of the best camera phones.)
I can't imagine a world where Google doesn't focus on the cameras of the Pixel Fold right out of the gate, given how important photography is to its other phones. Until the Tensor chip came along, Google's excellent AI-powered camera features and computational photography expertise were the biggest reasons to pay attention to Pixel phones.
So I imagine many of the camera features found on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are going to be included on a Pixel Fold as well. I could even see Google setting things up in a way that takes advantage of the foldable phone's unique design. Imagine shooting pictures with the close-up Pixel Fold and then opening up the device to have the images waiting in a photo-editing application.
Pixel Fold outlook
We have far to go until we see whether the Pixel Overlay is a reality or not, as the most sound reports recommend it will show up at some point around May 2023. That gives Google a very sizable amount of chance to sort out how it will pitch its foldable, expecting such a gadget is even underway.
But if the Pixel Fold does see the light of day, I hope that Google puts a lot of effort into making a phone that's more than just a Galaxy Z Fold 4 with a Google logo slapped on it. The only way that foldables become more capable devices is if phone makers put their own unique stamp on these handsets.
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