Google leaps into the foldable phone market with “Pixel Fold”

May 11, 2023

Google Pixel Fold Price in Nepal Specifications Where to buy

Alongside Pixel 7a, Pixel Tablet, and a bunch of software announcements, Google finally took the wraps off the “Pixel Fold” at I/O 2023. This is the company’s first foldable smartphone, and it looks to give Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold lineup a serious run for its money. Let’s learn more about the Google Pixel Fold, including its features, specs, expected price in Nepal, and more.

Google Pixel Fold Overview:

Display

Pixel Fold is a book-style foldable phone, much reminiscent of the OPPO Find N2 and Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2. That’s because instead of a tall display with a narrow aspect ratio like Samsung prefers in its foldables, Google has gone the opposite way with a short and wide display. You’re looking at a 5.8″ cover (external) screen with a broad 17.4:9 aspect ratio, which expands to a big 7.6″ 6:5 display.

Both of them are 120Hz OLED screens. But Pixel Fold’s external display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, whereas just like Galaxy Z Fold 4 or any other Samsung foldable, its main display has an Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) protective layer. Likewise, these two differ in terms of brightness levels too. With 1,200 nits (HDR) and 1,550 nits (peak) brightness on the cover display, compared to 1,000 nits and 1,450 nits on the main one.

Design and Build

Google is also pretty confident with the build quality of this thing. According to the company, Pixel Fold’s custom-made stainless steel hinge has “fluid friction across the full 180° range of motion to securely support different postures”. That means it can firmly stay upright at different angles, like a mini laptop. And Google has built-in something called “tabletop mode” too, which splits supported app’s content into two halves for better controls and user experience.

At 12.1mm, Pixel Fold is also some of the slimmest foldable phones out there. But it is a fair bit heavy, weighing 283 grams. More importantly though, this guy doesn’t leave a gap when folded—which makes Samsung the only big player in this segment with foldables that have a noticeable gap when shut.

Surprisingly enough, Google’s first foldable phone is also IPX8 water resistant. So far, only Samsung and Huawei have managed to make their book-style foldables watertight. Other than this, the Pixel Fold brings a familiar camera housing at the back, and the phone available in two color options: Porcelain and Obsidian.

Performance

As expected, Google Pixel Fold is powered by Tensor G2 chip. This has been paired with 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and either 256 or 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage, while it runs on Android 13 out-of-the-box. Besides the aforementioned tabletop mode, the company has also introduced a bunch of software features to make the most out of Pixel Fold’s large screen real estate.

Google Pixel Fold - Dual Screen mode — Dual Screen mode

Things like “drag and drop” and “split screen” are nothing extraordinary but “Dual Screen” is the one feature that really caught our eye. With this, you’ll be able to use both the external and the internal display at once. It also has a taskbar to quickly switch between apps or launch a new one. And the taskbar will automatically go away when you’re not using it.

Cameras

Pixel Fold’s camera setup is pretty interesting. At the back, you get a 48MP f/1.7 1/2″ main camera with OIS, alongside a 10.8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, and a 10.8MP f/3.05 telephoto sensor with an impressive 5x optical zoom. Or up to 20x digital zooms. For selfies, there’s the 9.5MP front camera on the cover screen or the 8MP inner camera.

But instead of using a hole-punch cutout or hiding it under the display, Pixel Fold gets thick bezels for this camera. We’re assuming Google went this route with concerns for accidental touches, but how this affects the user experience remains to be seen. Anyway, besides the dedicated front cameras, the phone also lets you take selfies from its much more capable rear camera setup. As for videos, you can shoot at up to 4K 60 fps from the main and the front camera, while the one on the internal display maxes out at 1080p 30 fps only.

Battery and Others

Google has used a modest 4821mAh battery on its first foldable phone, with support for 30W wired charging. And also Qi wireless charging. There’s a fingerprint sensor embedded into the power button for authentication. Its stereo speakers support “Spatial Audio” for a more immersive listening experience as well. In terms of wireless connectivity, there is WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC.

Google Pixel Fold Specifications:

Durability: IPX8 water resistant, Stainless steel frame
Dimensions:
- Folded: 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1mm
- Unfolded: 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8mm
Display:
- Cover: 5.8″ OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass Victus
- Main: 7.6″ OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, UTG
Resolution:
- Cover: FHD+ (2092 x 1080 pixels), 17.4:9 aspect ratio
- Main: QXGA+ (2208 x 1840 pixels), 6:5 aspect ratio
Chipset: Google Tensor G2 5G (5nm Mobile Platform)
Memory: 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 256/512GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
Software & UI: Android 13 (upgradeable)
Rear Camera: Triple (with LED flash);
– Primary: 48MP f/1.7 sensor, 1/2″, OIS
– Ultrawide: 10.8MP f/2.2 sensor, 1/3″, 121.2º FoV
– Telephoto: 10.8MP f/3.05 sensor, 1/3.1″, 5x optical zoom
Selfie Camera: 9.5MP f/2.2 (outer), 8MP f/2.0 (inner)
Audio: Stereo speaker with Spatial Audio, No headphone jack
Security: Side-mounted (capacitive), Face unlock
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano + eSIM), WiFi 6E (dual-band), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS / Galileo / Glonass / QZSS, NFC, 4G LTE (VoLTE), 5G
Battery: 4821mAh with 30W wired charging, Qi wireless charging
Color Options: Porcelain, Obsidian

Google Pixel Fold Price in Nepal and Availability

According to Google, Pixel Fold will be available in the US, UK, Japan, and Germany. Its 256GB variant costs USD 1,799 and you can pre-order it right now. Although it’s highly unlikely that Google Pixel Fold officially arrives in Nepal, we expect its price to be around NPR 295,000 if it does.