I've spent the last five weeks using one of the greatest folding phones – the OnePlus Open – and it's got me thinking about Google's apparent forthcoming Pixel Fold sequel, the Pixel Fold 2, which has already leaked in apparent hands-on pictures.
I made no secret about my disappointment with the original Pixel Fold, which felt like the start of something great, but just didn't live up to its full potential in my opinion. The Pixel Fold 2, on the other hand, has all the opportunity in the world to be one of the best folding phones – if, that is, it can take on the best in the business with various feature upgrades.
Given how the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V2 have upped the ante in the folding phones market in early 2024 already, I've been pondering the five key features that Google needs to get perfect with the Pixel Fold 2 to make it an absolute winner. So here's my wishlist for the rumoured forthcoming foldable...
1. Less screen bezel
Bezel be banished! Sure, there's logic in having thicker edges around the best tablets' screens to enable holding them without getting fingerprints everywhere. But it's not the same in the best phones, including folding handsets – which you don't hold the same way anyway.
With the original Pixel Fold, I thought Google's clear love for display bezel was a bit too prominent, with the black edging giving the device an almost dated look from launch day. Its competitors are often lighter on the edging for both cover and folding displays – and I think the Pixel Fold 2 going lighter on it will make for a more modern-looking foldable.
It's not only the amount of bezel, though, the Pixel Fold 2 is an opportunity for Google to contemplate the device's aspect ratios. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5's small cover display, the Fold felt much better to me as a 'normal' phone – but squashing the bezel and rejigging the design could mean an even larger display potential.
2. An enhanced folding mechanism
Manufacturers have spent a lot of time and a lot of money in developing the hinge mechanisms to make their folding phones fold elegantly. Or at least try to. But the problem I've had with many of them is the fold doesn't feel quite right, the screen 'crease' that's left is too prominent, and the rigidity of the process may lack and lead to failure (my first Fold review unit broke, for example).
The original Google Pixel Fold was one of the poorer performers in this department: its display never quite folded out flat, unlike the excellent OnePlus Open which has this beautiful 'snap-into-place' feel from its hinge mechanism – which also results in less of a display crease being visible. This is the current gold standard in my view and it's what Google is up against.
So how can the Pixel Fold 2 win? It's going to need an upgraded folding mechanism and hinge – one that feels better in use, that can snap into a flat position, that can negate much of the screen's crease for a truly premium operation. I'd also love for a screen coating to negate fingerprints too – as the nature of plastic-coated OLED panels in this format are absolute magnets for smeary fingerprints. Solve all these points and the Pixel Fold 2 will be super.
3. For Android software to offer more
I was a little baffled when using the Pixel Fold that Google – the inventor of Android software, so it holds the keys – just hadn't really made particularly great use of its operating system to deliver foldable-specific features to really upsell the whole idea of a folding phone. The original Fold and, indeed, the Pixel Fold 2 could both benefit from a bit of behind-the-scenes Android work.
If the Pixel Fold 2 can leverage more multi-tasking apps, delivered in a more elegant way, and with cross-app workflows, then I think it'll be a big step forward. It's up to Google to show off just how much its software can deliver for folding phones and leave the charge. Right now, however, it feels a step behind Samsung – which, admittedly, is many iterations into its Z Fold series – and needs to race ahead.
4. A thinner, lighter design
With the original Pixel Fold I had criticised it for feeling physically large, so was a little tricky to use one-handed, and also being rather heavy. It's not so massive that it's implausible to use, of course, but at 283g it's a full 22% heavier than the newer Honor Magic V2, for example. That's a significant difference that's easy to feel in the hand or pocket.
So how can the Pixel Fold 2 cut its weight? I think Google is going to need to shave millimetres here and there, consider material choices, and perform other nips and tucks to get its size down. At 5.8mm unfolded it's slender enough, but a lot thicker than the Honor's 4.7mm equivalnet.
Much of this width can be attributed to the rear camera bump, of course, so there's consideration to be had there. It's a 'problem' the OnePlus Open has too: the giant camera unit on the rear is necessary to utilise the best camera components, and with Google synonymous with computational photography I'd hope the Pixel Fold 2 will be top-tier in the cameras department once more. But also a smidge thinner and lighter too!
5. Battery improvements
This entry on the wishlist goes hand-in-hand with the phone's internal hardware, really. If the Pixel Fold 2 embodies Google's supposed Tensor G4 processor for a 2024 release then hopefully that chipset will bring with it better battery management and performance – as I found the original Pixel Fold ultimately lacking in this department.
The original folding phone's 4821mAh battery is slightly less capacious than the Honor Magic V2's 5000mAh offering, showing that even in smaller-body designs greater capacities can be accommodated. And hopefully with faster-charging facilitated, too, as the previous 21W wired in the original Fold is slow by today's flagship standards.
I think a new Tensor hardware could help deliver increases in power for better performance, whilst offering battery improvements. If the Android software is better geared up for folding phone use-cases, too, then it should be another string to the longevity bow. Because if all the above are Pixel Fold 2 features then I'll want to be using Google's next folding phone pretty much all of the time...
