Google Pixel Fold is official – will it be your next folding phone?

It's official! The Google Pixel Fold, the search giant's first foldable phone, will be revealed on 10 May at the 2023 edition of the annual Google I/O conference – where I think a whole bunch of other Google Pixel products will also be announced – as revealed in a Tweet by Google. 

It might not come as a major surprise that Google is jumping onto the best folding phones wagon, as it's been rumoured and discussed for a long time. It's just that, until now, we've been subject to mostly renders and guesstimates of what to expect. The Tweet by Google, which I've embedded below, changes all that though – and I already want a Pixel Fold based on this teaser!

The folding phones market in the West has been dominated by Samsung with its Galaxy Z Fold series – the fifth generation of which has also recently been teased – which in the Galaxy Z Fold 4 I found to be the best yet, but I've still always been left wanting that something more. 

Well, by the looks of it, that 'something more' is going to be the Google Pixel Fold. Visually speaking Google's foldable looks a lot like a 'double Pixel 7 Pro' in a way – a vast mini tablet-like scale when unfolded, a flagship Android phone when in its folded format. It looks suitably slim, too, which is something that folding phones need to pursue to really succeed. 

My only gripe? Did someone say 'bezels'? I suspect many people did – as the Google Pixel Fold does seem to have a rather sizeable chunk of the black stuff top and bottom. The sides I can take as that's necessary for practical holding sense. At least it's all looking lovely and symmetrical, though.

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But what really excites me about the Pixel Fold is that, well, it's a Google phone. And that means first dibs on the latest Android. And, hopefully, it means the company has been working hard to get Android into a position where it's really good at handling larger surfaces, being productive in an easy-to-use split-screen format, and all that other good stuff that, typically speaking, folding phones insofar haven't been especially great at. This could spell the new dawn for Android. 

I also notice that there's no glimpse of any stylus, so don't expect one embedded in the body. But I think that'll play to Google's strengths: the Pixel Fold isn't going to be a business device, after all, it's going to be a maximum productivity plus fun device. At least that's my hope. 

So put me on the list to buy the Google Pixel Fold already. Although that could come back to haunt me, as it's anyone's guess what this foldable will cost. My prediction? It's going to have to compete with the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which was £1,649/$1,799 at launch. Gulp. That is a lot of money. But seeing as Google has played it very safe with the Pixel 6A and Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, surely, just surely, the Pixel Fold will be sensibly priced, right? We'll have to wait and find out on 10 May...