Google Pixel Fold: Price, release date, and everything you need to know

Nov 13, 2023

The Pixel Fold is finally on the way. Here's what you need to know about Google's first foldable phone.

Rumors about a Pixel foldable have been around for a few years now. While Google has reportedly delayed the device several times for unknown reasons, you no longer have to wait for the highly-anticipated Pixel Fold. As of Google I/O 2023, the company has finally lifted the covers off its first foldable, and it's all that the recent leaks chalked it up to be.

The Pixel Fold is a compact foldable much smaller than Samsung's popular Galaxy Z Fold 4. Its form factor closely resembles Oppo's Find N2, which should make it comfortable to use. As you'd expect, the device packs top-of-the-line hardware, and it's almost on par with Samsung's flagship foldable on that front. If you've been eagerly waiting for the Pixel Fold and plan on picking one up, here's everything you need to know about it.

The Pixel Fold is up for preorder starting at $1,800, and it will ship to early buyers next month. That's a great price for a flagship foldable of its caliber, especially since it offers a software experience like no other. But if you think it's too expensive, Google is offering early buyers a free Pixel Watch, which should make the Pixel Fold's price tag a bit more digestible. You'll have to shell out $1,919 for the higher-end 512GB variant, which might be a tough pill to swallow for most. However, you'll have to buy the Obsidian color to get that model, since the Porcelain color only offers a 256GB variant.

The Google Pixel Fold has a compact form factor measuring 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1mm when folded, and 139.7 x 158.8 x 5.8mm unfolded. Its design resembles other recently released Pixel devices, thanks to Google's signature camera visor on the back panel. The camera visor has a metal finish and two cutouts for the camera sensors, but it doesn't flow over the edges like on the Pixel 7 Pro, presumably to accommodate the hinge and give the phone a cleaner look.

Speaking of the hinge, Google has equipped the Pixel Fold with a multi-alloy stainless steel hinge with a mirror-polished finish. On the inside, it has a custom dual-axis, quad-cam synchronized mechanism with fluid friction across the full 180-degree range of motion. As a result, you can prop up the Pixel Fold at several angles to perform various functions.

The Pixel Fold features a volume rocker and a power button with an integrated fingerprint sensor on the right edge, a USB Type-C port at the bottom, and two antenna bands each on all edges except the hinge. The device features a short but wide cover screen on the front with a centered hole-punch cutout for the main camera and a substantial bezel all around. Similarly, the inner folding screen has a thick bezel all around, with the secondary selfie camera integrated into the top bezel of the right half.

In terms of durability, the Pixel Fold has Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection on the front and back, an IPX8 water resistance rating, a fingerprint-resistant coating to avoid smudges, and a plastic film on the folding screen to give its Ultra Thin Glass an additional layer of protection. Design-wise, the Pixel Fold looks and feels as premium as any device in its price range. The Porcelain and Obsidian finishes add to the appeal, making it one of the best-looking smartphones from Google.

The Google Pixel Fold is a feature-rich device with a compact form factor, flagship hardware, impressive cameras, and a phenomenal software experience.

Google has packed the Pixel Fold to the brim with top-of-the-line hardware. The device features Google's Tensor G2 chip, paired with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, so it should perform similarly to the Pixel 7 Pro. Like the Pixel 7 series devices, the Pixel Fold also has the Titan M2 security co-processor that adds an extra layer of protection over Android's built-in security measures.

While the Pixel Fold packs the same SoC as the Pixel 7 lineup and the recently released Pixel 7a, its unique form factor means that it features two high-quality displays instead of just one. On the outside, it has a 5.8-inch OLED cover screen with an unusual 17.4:9 aspect ratio, FHD+ (2092x1080p) resolution, and 120Hz refresh rate support. It has a peak brightness of 1.550 nits, making it great for visibility in direct sunlight. It also offers a 24-bit color depth, HDR support, and Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The cover screen has a centered hole-punch cutout that houses the main 9.5MP f/2.2 dual PD selfie shooter.

On the inside, the Pixel Fold has a large 7.6-inch OLED panel with a 6:5 aspect ratio and chunky bezels all around. Like the cover screen, it has a peak refresh rate of 120Hz, but it's a sharper panel with a 2208x1840 resolution. The foldable display features an Ultra Thin Glass layer that allows it to bend, but since it's pretty fragile, Google has added a plastic film on top for durability. The panel offers a peak brightness of 1,450 nits, HDR support, 24-bit color depth, and always-on display support. While it doesn't have a hole punch cutout, Google has neatly hidden a secondary 8MP f/2.0 selfie shooter in the bezel at the top of the right half.

While the two selfie cameras might seem unimpressive, the Pixel Fold has a great set of rear-facing cameras that should deliver amazing shots. The rear-facing triple camera module is headlined by a 48MP f/1.7 primary quad PD main camera with OIS and CLAF. It's accompanied by a 10.8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a 121.1-degree field of view and lens correction and a 10.8MP f/3.05 telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and 20x Super Res Zoom support.

The device also has a laser detect autofocus sensor and a spectral and flicker sensor. All three rear-camera support 4K video capture at 60fps, while the front-facing cameras support 4K 30fps video. You also get access to all of Google's unique camera features, including Cinematic Pan mode, Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Real Tone, Night Sight, Live HDR+, and Face Unblur. Additionally, the foldable form factor allows the Pixel Fold to support rear camera selfies using the cover screen as a viewfinder.

Rounding off the hardware is a substantial 4,821mAh battery that, according to Google, can offer "beyond 24-hour battery life" on a single charge and up to 72 hours with the Extreme Battery Saver mode. To charge it back up, you get 30W wired fast charging support and Qi wireless charging. For connectivity, the Pixel Fold offers mmWave and sub 6GHz 5G support, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, UWB, and a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 port.

Google's press materials for the Pixel Fold don't include the Android version, but we believe that the device will run Google's unique flavor of Android 13 out of the box. It'll offer all the features found on other Pixel flagships, along with a couple of extras to help users make the most of the foldable form factor.

While we don't have all the details, Google has confirmed that the software will allow users to easily open apps side-by-side in split-screen mode. The foldable will also let users easily drag and drop images, videos, links, and text from one app to another. The Pixel Fold should also support app scaling in various foldable states, app continuity, multi-window mode, a taskbar, and more, but we'll have to wait till we get our hands on the device to know for sure. We'll update this post with all relevant information as soon as it's revealed. As for software updates, Google will support for the Pixel Fold for at least five years.

Based on what we know about the Pixel Fold so far, we believe that it has the potential to be among the best foldable phones of 2023. It offers top-notch performance hardware, a sleek and comfortable design, the beloved Pixel software experience, great cameras, and impressive displays. However, since we're yet to try the device out for ourselves, we'll reserve our verdict for the full review.

The Google Pixel Fold is a feature-rich device with a compact form factor, flagship hardware, impressive cameras, and a phenomenal software experience.

I chanced upon the XDA Forums while looking for a way to update the original Motorola Defy to Android 4.0 ICS. Now I help people find answers to similar questions while covering the latest developments in the tech world. You can reach out to me at [email protected] or on Twitter @pranobmehrotra.