Google Pixel Fold Features That Make It The Foldable Phone Worth Buying

Chris Burns/SlashGear

By Max Miller/May 11, 2023 10:28 am EST

Ever since Samsung dropped the first Galaxy Z Fold in 2019, foldables have been the bleeding edge of the Android market. Now, Google itself has entered the fray with its newly announced Pixel Fold, and it seems poised to be one of the year's hottest smartphones.

As evidenced by its eye-watering $1,799 price tag, Google is aiming for the fences with the Pixel Fold. There are newly designed hinges, which place much of the mechanism above and below the inner display to allow for a fully flat fold when closed. The build quality overall is among the most premium on the market. Combine that with the Pixel lineup's proprietary software, legendary camera performance, and compatibility with the rest of Google's extensive ecosystem, and you've got a contender for the best foldable currently available.

For those who are sick of the rote, repeatable candy bar-style phones we've grown accustomed to for the better part of two decades and who may now be eyeing the explosion of foldable phones, you may be happy you waited. There are plenty of reasons to think the Google Pixel Fold is the foldable worth buying.

Chris Burns/SlashGear

One of the best reasons to buy a Pixel device has always been Google's exclusive version of Android, which comes packed with goodies straight from the company that makes the globally dominant mobile OS. That remains true of the Pixel Fold, which is getting a few of its own unique features in addition to those Pixel fans know and love.

There are the tried-and-true Pixel exclusive features such as What's Playing, which passively scans for playing music and displays the song and artist on the always-on display, and Google's proprietary voice recorder app that has nearly flawless onboard transcription and can even differentiate between different speakers in a recording.

Then you'll get Google's top-notch photography tricks, like Magic Eraser, which lets users quickly remove objects or people from photos and intelligently guesses at what should fill that space instead.

But exclusive to the fold are features that take advantage of its unique form factor. Google showed off something it calls Dual Screen, a language translation feature which lets users face the Fold's outer display toward another person and have their voice translated into text on that display. Other Pixels have a similar feature, but you have to awkwardly show your phone to the other person, so this should allow for more seamless scaling of the language barrier when you need to quickly get directions from a local while on vacation. It won't be dropping until this fall according to Google.

There's also an onscreen dock that can be accessed by long pressing the gesture bar, a selfie mode that utilizes the main cameras, and more.

Chris Burns/SlashGear

Software is where Google has always excelled. It is first and foremost a software company, and its hardware can often resemble development platforms rather than consumer-focused luxury goods. But with the Pixel Fold, there's no question that Google has focused on every aspect of the hardware, and the result — so far as we can tell ahead of a full review — is nothing short of stunning.

Ignore the chunky top and bottom bezels, or at least try to, because they exist for a reason. To allow the phone to fold fully flat, as opposed to a device like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 that closes with a slight gap, Google's product team placed some of the hinge elements into those top and bottom bezels. The result is that the Pixel Fold achieves an IPX8 water resistance rating. According to tech reviewer Michael Fisher, a Google representative informed him that the hinge design bifurcates the device into two halves, allowing water to free-flood through the middle without penetrating into the internals. Additionally, the closed-flat design should do a better job of keeping dust and debris from getting onto the interior display while the device is pocketed.

Then there's the form factor. According to Fast Company, Google was inspired by a Moleskine notebook and a vintage cigarette case. It's certainly unique compared to other tablet-style foldables on the North American market, most closely resembling Oppo's Find N line. Its squatter and unfolds into a widescreen aspect ratio and does indeed resemble a small notebook. Built with Gorilla Glass and stainless steel, the Pixel Fold is among the most premium designs on the foldable market.