What’s said to be a new Pixel Fold leak appears to fill in whatever gaps were left in knowledge about Google’s first foldable phone. If the details are true, we have not only a long list of potential specs, but also a date for the device’s big reveal, and it’s ahead of Google I/O 2023.
Leaker Jon Prosser previously released purported renders of the Pixel Fold, along with a timeline, saying the phone would be formally announced May 10, the first day of this year’s Google I/O conference. On Friday, Prosser released a video in partnership with Front Page Tech with even more details, including that Google will first tease the device on April 26.
Prosser continued with a lengthy specs drop accompanied by some close-up renders of the foldable. He also noted two storage configurations for the foldable: 256GB, in either chalk (white) or obsidian (black) colors, for about $1,800, or a 512GB model that comes only in obsidian, for about $1,920.
According to Prosser’s sources, the foldable packs a 5.8-inch OLED outer display with a distinctly wide 17.4:9 aspect ratio in Full HD Plus resolution (2,092 by 1,080 pixels) and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The 7.6-inch OLED inner display sports a more tablet-size 6:5 aspect ratio (2,208 by 1,840 pixels) and also a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
The render shows a camera block that looks similar to that on the last Google flagship phone, the Pixel 7 Pro, though it stands alone on the Pixel Fold instead of curving into the back cover as in Google’s other phones. The cameras themselves are roughly similar to those on the Pixel 7 Pro, though: The main camera is a 48 megapixel camera with a f/1.7 aperture and 82 degree field of view. The foldable also has a 10.8 megapixel ultrawide with an f/2.2 aperture and 121.1 degree field of view, while the 10.8 megapixel telephoto lens can shoot with 5x optical zoom and a (presumably digitally enhanced) 20x “super res” zoom.
The one place where the Fold may be worse than its flatter predecessor is in video, with the Fold recording only 4K footage in 30 frames per second, while the Pixel 7 Pro can crank that up to 60fps. If you want that many frames per second while shooting video on the Fold, you’ll need to dial it down to 1080p.
The front-facing camera on the outer display is a 9.5 megapixel f/2.2 shooter with an 84 degree field of view, which is also roughly comparable to the selfie camera on the Pixel 7 Pro. There’s a camera on top of the inside display too, an 8 megapixel f/2.0 shooter that’ll mostly be used for Zoom and other video chat calls.
The Pixel Fold will use Google’s own Tensor 2 chipset (presumably the Tensor Gen 2 that debuted in the Google Pixel 7 back in October) along with a Titan M2 security chip, according to the leak. It’ll also pack 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM across all configurations.
As for dimensions, the Pixel Fold will purportedly be 5.5 inches tall by 3.1 inches wide and 0.5 inches thick, which is shorter yet wider when folded than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4‘s size of 6.1 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by 0.6 inches thick. (The leak didn’t include the dimensions of the Pixel Fold when unfolded flat.) At 283 grams, the Pixel Fold is also heavier than the Samsung Z Fold 4, which weighs 263 grams.
The Pixel Fold’s battery specs are less concrete, with Prosser saying only that a charge will last “beyond 24 hours” and potentially up to 72 hours with a battery-saving mode (a setting that typically limits features and screen brightness).
Prosser has a reputation for leaking legit info about consumer tech products, especially phones. He accurately leaked the design of the 2021 iPad Mini 6 and the release date for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. But as with all leaks, this information may not accurately reflect the final device we expect to see revealed at Google I/O in a matter of weeks.
