According to a source from CNBC, Google will open for sale its first folding screen smartphone – the Pixel Fold – in June. The company is expected to launch this product at Google I/O on May 10.
Google claims that the Pixel Fold will have the most durable hinge of any folding smartphone on the market. The expected price of this model is $ 1,700, directly competing with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4.
According to Google’s plan, it will promote the Pixel Fold as a compact, waterproof folding phone with a 5.8-inch external screen. When extended, the device’s internal screen has a size of 7.6 inches, on par with the Z Fold4. The product is equipped with a large battery with 24 hours of use, and up to 72 hours in battery-saving mode.
Pixel Fold is equipped with Google’s Tensor G2 chip. This is the processor used by the company on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro launched in 2022.
This model will be a test of the experience of a folding smartphone manufactured by Google from hardware to software. The company is optimizing the Android applications operating system and many Google Play to work well on the folding phone platform.
The fact that Google launched a folding phone directly against the Z Fold4 is making the relationship between the company and Samsung tenser. Earlier, shares of Alphabet – Google’s parent company – fell 3.5% after news that Samsung plans to replace Google with Bing as the default search engine on all its smartphones. This move could cost Google $3 billion in annual revenue.