The Google Pixel ‘Fold’ could be real, and coming this year

Google Pixel 5
(Image credit: Future)

The Google Pixel ‘Fold’ may indeed be real after all, if a leaker’s tweet is to be believed. 

Noted leaker Jon Prosser didn’t include much information in his tweet – just that the Google Pixel Fold exists, and that it’s coming either late this year or early in 2022, per a follow-up message.

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In a reply to that tweet, DSCC founder and display analyst Ross Young concurred – and noted that he’d first tweeted this information in December 2020 in a foldables forecast, noting that the second half of 2021 would see “at least 3 models from Samsung, 4 models from Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi and 1 model from Google.”

While that doesn’t add any more information about the Pixel Fold – like, for starters, if that is what it will be called – at least it’s more corroboration that Google, which had released a lower-spec flagship phone at the end of 2020 with the Pixel 5, is working on a decidedly higher-tier device in a foldable.

Google Pixel Fold: what we know

We first heard Google was working on a foldable phone in March 2019, when patents for potential designs were discovered. They described a possible clamshell foldable like the Motorola Razr 2020 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, and another that had three folding panels with three screens.

The rumors thereafter have been few and far between, though a recent report alleged that Google is joining Xiaomi and Oppo in ordering displays from Samsung for its potential foldable device. Reportedly, Google is ordering 7.6-inch displays.

David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.