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Folding phones are all the rage right now. They’re the obvious next step for handsets, as they offer a big upgrade in screen size while still allowing the device to fit into your pocket. If you’re in the market for a new phone and have $2,000 or so to spend, you can get what is essentially a phone and tablet in one package.
While Samsung was the first big phone manufacturer on the market to offer a folding phone lineup, companies like Apple and Google could be following suit with their own entries in the next few years. Recently, rumors have surfaced that Google’s folding Pixel, which might be called the Pixel Note, could arrive as early as 2023.
Google’s Pixel phones are known as the Android answer to the iPhone. Their boutique design, hand-picked UI, and consistent security updates make them the very obvious Android alternative to the “walled garden” of the iPhone. The question, then, is how that would translate to something as tech-heavy and unique as a folding phone.
Rumors suggest that the upcoming Pixel folding phone might have a similar design to the Oppo Find N, a folding device that has an 18:9 aspect ratio in its “folded” mode and a squarish design when opened. That makes it much easier to use as a traditional phone in folded mode, though it does make things a bit smaller on the inside compared to something like the Samsung Galaxy Fold.
A big sticking point right now for folding phones is their price range. Samsung’s folding phones range from $1,400 to $2,000, making them more than just premium handsets. The normal price for a flagship phone runs between $800 and $1,000, which is already far too expensive for many users. Sadly, it sounds like Google’s folding Pixel will probably also hew closer to the Samsung price model.
Rumors indicate that the Pixel folding phone will likely retail for between $1,400 and $1,800, a massive entry price for something as straightforward as a mobile phone. Still, it will likely run on Google’s impressive Tensor chipset, which debuted on the Google Pixel 6 last year. Whether or not the phone shows up in the spring of 2023 like the rumors suggest is anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain: Google wants a slice of that folding phone market sooner rather than later.
