Google’s long-in-development foldable phone — the Pixel Fold — is reportedly eyeing a late June launch. A recent leak predicted that the Pixel Fold will hit the European shelves priced at 1,700 Euros, which equates to roughly $1,800 based on current conversion rates. That’s not easy to digest, especially for a first-gen foldable phone and considering Google’s own shaky history with its Pixel hardware and software.
But it appears that the Pixel Fold’s price won’t be inexplicably exorbitant at all. Leaker Yogesh Bear shared on Twitter that the foldable phone could actually cost anywhere between $1,300 and $1,500. Assuming that turns out to be true, the Pixel Fold could undercut the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 and its successor by a healthy $500.
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In fact, such an asking price would put the Pixel Fold in roughly the same ballpark as the higher storage configurations of phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. Of course, Google won’t be able to match the asking price of foldables from Chinese brands, but it would at least look competitive in the Western markets.
Now, a price of around $1,300-1,500 makes a lot of sense. First, the biggest deterrent for foldable phones is their high asking price. There’s a reason Samsung managed to sell bucketloads of its flip-style foldable phones because they cost nearly half vis-a-vis the phone-tablet hybrids in the Galaxy Z Fold series.
A price that makes practical sense
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Pushing the Pixel Fold in roughly the same price bracket as a mainstream no-compromise flagship phone would give the Google phone some reasonable edge with its foldable appeal. Plus, it’s worth considering that the Pixel Fold isn’t offering anything unique or industry-first with its hardware that could demand a price tag more handsome than Samsung’s own.
From the leaked renders that we’ve seen so far, the Pixel Fold looks every bit like your average Pixel 7 series phone with a foldable screen sandwiched between the two halves. Then there are the leaked specifications, which aren’t really cutting-edge either.
Rumors suggest that the Pixel Fold would be based on the second-gen Tensor chip, the same as the Pixel 7 duo. Unfortunately, this particular chip will be outdated within a few months as the third-gen Tensor chip based on the 3nm fabrication process will arrive on the shelves with the Pixel 8 series phones later this year.
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Nothing extraordinary is happening in the camera department either. The triple camera setup reportedly includes a 64-megapixel main snapper, a 12-megapixel ultrawide-angle sensor, and a 10-megapixel telephoto lens. Battery capacity is reportedly 5,000mAh, but don’t expect any blazing-fast charging tech to make an appearance here.
At best, the Pixel Fold’s biggest selling point is that it’s a foldable made by Google, which means the software should be the most polished Android experience for that form factor. Pushing it to the market with a relatively modest price point of around $1,300-1,500 makes sense and would likely drive genuine enthusiasm for the phone that could turn into practical sales — something Google needs.