The Google Pixel Fold is coming at I/O 2023. That much seems certain. We saw a large number of leaks in the past few weeks detailing Google’s first foldable. We think we know the phone’s specs and features, and the Pixel Fold’s price and release date have already leaked. What we didn’t have until this weekend was an actual hands-on video experience with the Pixel Fold that would give us a look at Google’s foldable handset design.
The Pixel Fold’s design leaked months ago. We already know what to expect, especially given the recent round of specs leaks that revealed everything about the foldable. And a leak a few weeks ago gave us a blurry look at what seemed to be a Pixel Fold prototype being used in the wild.
But the video that Kuba Wojciechowski posted on Twitter gives us our first up-close look at the Google Pixel Fold.
We have six minutes of footage, with the contents of the foldable display being blurred. But that’s enough to learn a few big details about the Pixel Fold’s design.
First, the Pixel Fold’s foldable display has massive top and bottom bezels. Like, massive. But maybe that’s for the best when it comes to foldable devices. The bigger bezels might protect the screen when you fold the phone, as 9to5Google argues.
Also, a larger top display lets Google employ a regular, no-compromise internal selfie camera. Samsung is going for under-display cameras for the Galaxy Z Fold phones, and those cameras aren’t quite where we’d want them.
Put differently, seeing larger bezels on an internal foldable screen isn’t a turn-off for me. I did say that the Apple iPad mini 6 gives us a taste of what a foldable iPhone would look like. And the mini does have large bezels. That said, large bezels remain a problem for traditional smartphones.
Another important design detail concerns the external display, which appears to have a great aspect ratio. We’re looking at a punch-hole screen that should be more comfortable than the Galaxy Z Fold.
Finally, the foldable screen will apparently close perfectly, like other foldables designs. There’s no gap like on Samsung’s Z Fold.
As with any other Pixel leaks, there’s a possibility the device in this hands-on video is fake. But Pixel rumors usually come true. Google should unveil the Pixel Fold in a few weeks, at which point we’ll get proper hands-on videos that will probably confirm this leak.
