Samsung will launch its fifth flagship foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 5, later this year. The Z Fold 5 isn't looking to be a huge upgrade, and Samsung is also not going to fix two aspects of its Z Fold lineup: the narrow, TV remote-like cover display and very limited zoom capability by current flagship standards.
Well, that's where Google's first foldable could steal some customers from Samsung. Google has released a teaser for the Pixel Fold ahead of the Google I/O event where the device will be fully unveiled, and the teaser has confirmed that the Pixel Fold will have a periscope zoom camera like the Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 and a wide cover display.
The Pixel Fold's outer display is rumored to be 5.8 inches in size and has a standard phone-like aspect ratio, even though 5.8 inches might seem a little small overall in a day and age where sub-6-inch displays are extremely rare on smartphones. And thanks to the smaller but wider outer screen, the Fold's foldable main display is bigger as well.
Google's first foldable will have a wide cover display, modern zoom camera
Google does seem to have gone a little overboard with the width of the Pixel Fold's cover display, and the bezels around the inner display could have done with a bit of trimming. But it's clear that the Pixel Fold is a better choice than Samsung's Z Fold smartphones for those who envision foldables as regular phones that can unfold to provide a tablet-sized display for content consumption and productivity tasks.
✨May The Fold Be With You✨https://t.co/g6NUd1DcOJ#GoogleIO #PixelFold
May 10 pic.twitter.com/K8Gk21nmo8— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) May 4, 2023
Upon close inspection, the teaser also seems to show what is a periscope zoom camera at the back (the one that's sitting alone inside a circular cutout), with rumors suggesting that it will offer 5x optical zoom. Basically, the Pixel Fold will offer an actual modern flagship camera experience, something Samsung refuses to offer with the Z Fold lineup even five years after the Korean giant first started selling foldable smartphones.
However, that's not to say the Pixel Fold will necessarily be a better device, especially when you take into account features like stylus input and a more powerful flagship chipset that you will get with the Galaxy Z Fold 5. Google is also likely to attach an exorbitant price tag to the Pixel Fold. And when you're spending upwards of $1500, a more established global smartphone brand like Samsung, with its unbeatably wide after-sales support network, is the clear choice for most customers.
Still, the Pixel Fold will be attractive to those who want a foldable with a wide cover display and a more advanced zoom camera instead of compromising on those two important aspects as Galaxy Z Fold owners currently do. Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 could possibly fix at least the cover display issue, but for now, the Google Pixe Fold is looking like a nice alternative for some people.
Image credits: Google
