After years of hints that a Pixel Fold might be on the way, it’s really beginning to look like Google’s first foldable phone is imminent.
The leaks are picking up steam, and in the last eight days alone we’ve had all the key specs leak alongside a very short video of the phone in action.
Now we have the biggest indicator yet that Google’s first foldable is nearly upon us. Veteran leaker Evan Blass just shared what appear to be official promo images of the Pixel Fold.
Blass has a phenomenally good record of leaking marketing shots ahead of a phone’s reveal and, more importantly, companies don’t waste time creating these kinds of promo images too long before an official unveiling.
The first picture shows the Pixel Fold in its closed state, where it’s supposed to look barely distinguishable from the majority of smartphones on the market. It does, of course — not only does it have to contain the thickness of two screens, but the aspect ratio is different to nearly every handset on sale today in order to make the unfolded screen useful. In other words, it’s shorter and wider than the Pixel 7.
But with the Pixel Launcher homescreen, Google’s stock apps and themed icons, it’s instantly recognizable as a Pixel handset. And that hinge looks remarkably thin compared to foldables that have come before too — we’ll just have to see if that’s camera tricks or if it looks that neat in person.
Speaking of camera tricks, the second shot shows the Pixel Fold in its unfolded state from the back, giving us a close look at the camera array as well as the width of that hinge.
Unlike the Pixel 6 and 7, the camera bar doesn’t go from edge to edge, and instead, we’re treated to a wide bump in the middle. According to the leaker Jon Prosser in a recent video, this triple camera array will include a 48MP main camera, a 10.8MP telephoto lens with a 5x optical zoom and a 10.8MP ultrawide sensor.
Curiously, while the first image blurs out the temperature and upcoming calendar appointment, the second picture leaves these on full display.
The whole thing looks very promising, and if Prosser’s specs are correct it should be no slouch in the performance stakes either. The leaker claims it will be powered by the Tensor G2 processor, backed up by 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Both panels — the 5.8-inch external display and the 7.6-inch unfolded tablet screen — will apparently be OLED with 120Hz refresh rates for a super-smooth look and feel.
If you’re tempted, you can expect to pay a premium though. We’ve heard the 256GB model will set you back $1,799, while doubling storage to 512GB will take that up to $1,919 — though we can likely expect pre-order incentives such as a free Pixel Watch to sweeten the deal.
As mentioned above, you don’t get official-looking renders like this if a device isn’t nearly ready for show time. At this point, it would be very surprising if the Pixel Fold didn’t at least get shown off at the Google I/O, which kicks off on May 10.
