We’re nonetheless in January and we’ve already seen leaked renders of the upcoming Google Pixel 9 and 9 Professional, that are very prone to launch in October, in 9 months. We’ve additionally gotten a number of glimpses of the Pixel 8a, which ought to come round Might-June. However nothing concerning the Pixel Fold 2. What provides?
Did Google instantly determine methods to maintain a telephone underneath wraps for as soon as? Or is Google not making a Pixel Fold 2 in any respect? I feel it’s neither of those and, truly, I feel the shortage of Pixel Fold 2 information is definitely excellent news. Hear me out.
Would you slightly get a Pixel Fold 2 quickly with older specs or look ahead to a greater chip and digicam?
69 votes
Final 12 months, the Google Pixel Fold had already been leaked one million instances by January. We knew what it regarded like, we knew lots of its specs, and we had been anticipating it to launch round Google I/O 2023. Most of these particulars turned out to be true, with the one distinction being that the telephone was introduced in Might, however solely grew to become obtainable on the finish of June.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
And therein lies the issue. The Pixel Fold, Google’s top-of-the-line $1,799 foldable telephone launched solely three months earlier than the Pixel 8 collection, however with cameras and specs much like the Pixel 7 Professional — a nine-month-old telephone. Notably, it had the Tensor G2 processor, which was already a middling chip 9 months earlier.
You paid $1,799 for the Pixel Fold and bought a chip and cameras that had been outdated the second the Pixel 8 launched, three months later.
So those that paid for this absurdly costly Pixel in June needed to take care of a mean chip and watch because the less expensive (compared) Pixel 8 collection bought the higher Tensor G3 solely three months later. Feels unfair, doesn’t it? And that exact misstep garnered the Pixel Fold plenty of criticism, too. Granted, a first-generation Pixel of any variety must be thought-about a proof of idea greater than a product, actually, and even Google implicitly admitted that by solely launching it in three international locations as a substitute of the same old 17+ international locations that Pixels can be found in.
I feel Google realized a lesson with its experiment there: a mid-cycle launch works for price range telephones just like the Pixel A-series, however it doesn’t work for the top-of-the-line Pixel.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Which brings me again to the Pixel Fold 2. Right here’s what we all know for certain:
- Each Google product leaks many, many months forward of its launch. This can be a truth at this level.
- The one rumor we’ve heard concerning the Pixel Fold 2 is that it may very well be codenamed “comet” and nobody is bound if it’s a book-style foldable like the unique Fold or a flip-style foldable just like the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Moto Razr (2023).
So, the truth that there is no such thing as a correct Pixel Fold 2 leak up to now would inform me that it’s extremely unlikely to launch in Might/June like its predecessor. We’re doubtless a later date, both alongside the Pixel 9 collection or probably even after.
It’s extremely unlikely that the Pixel Fold 2 will launch earlier than the Pixel 9 collection. So it should not get outdated specs.
And that’s excellent news in my ebook as a result of it means the Pixel Fold 2 — at any time when it launches — gained’t get outdated specs at an exorbitant worth and gained’t be thought-about uncompetitive the second it hits cabinets.
Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Now, whether or not or not we get a Pixel Fold 2 this 12 months or not stays to be seen. Even our leak of the Pixel roadmap for 2024-2025 (which has turned out to be fairly correct up to now) didn’t have a lot element concerning the Pixel Fold 2. All it mentioned was that Google can be evaluating a follow-up foldable on the idea of the unique Pixel Fold. (And the market’s standing, I suppose.)
As a fan of the unique Pixel Fold, and of Android on bigger screens generally, I actually wish to see a follow-up, maybe with a type issue that resembles the OnePlus Fold extra. That, plus a Tensor G4, a extra highly effective digicam setup, and a few additional dual-screen performance would make it a compelling product. Simply make it extra sturdy, Google, please?
