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I hope the Pixel Fold isn’t cancelled – Samsung needs some foldable competition
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News broke this week suggesting Google isn’t going forward with its rumoured foldable phone and has cancelled the project – at least for now.
When I firstread this newsmy initial feeling was a distinct lack of surprise. I felt that if Google was going to release this mythicalPixel Foldphone, the perfect time would have been alongside thePixel 6andPixel 6 Pro. Even if it wasn’t ready to be put on sale, a tease or initial announcement would have been welcome.
Bad news for those waiting for the Google Pixel Fold. We hear they have canceled parts orders and decided not to bring it to market as indicated in the latest DSCC Weekly Review. See blog excerpt athttps://t.co/EVmWKcgi2c.@DisplaySupplypic.twitter.com/2P5lFW09Pt
But once that lack of surprise passed, my strongest feeling about this news was disappointment.
I’m a big fan of Google’s phones. I’ve used every Nexus and every Pixel phone to date and while they all have their quirks, they’re charming and user-friendly in a way many Android phones are not. They also have the best version of the Android software with quick updates. The prospect of some of this coming over to a foldable was tempting.
The foldable phone space is currently, at least in the UK and USA, dominated by Samsung and Google deciding against releasing its own rival means there’s even less competition for Samsung. Ultimately this isn’t a great thing.
Samsung’s foldable line of phones has improved immeasurably since they were first announced. The original Fold was, to put it mildly, awful and while the follow-up was much better I still found it hard to recommend. With theZ Fold 3– and the cheaperZ Flip 3– Samsung made a foldable phone that is easily one of thebest phonesaround.
Yet, the competition in this foldable sector is so minimal at the moment there’s nothing really pushing Samsung forward to continue with these sizeable yearly upgrades – both in hardware and software. We’ve seen it before with the base iPad – when the competition isn’t up to much the innovation can stall.
The only real competition for the Samsung foldables is theMoto Razr, and while Razr is a neat phone it is nowhere near as ambitious as the Fold or the Flip. Hopefully, Motorola keeps going with it though, as with a few tweaks it could be an alternative to the Z Flip 3.
Huawei has also made a number of foldable phones and the latestMate X2seemed a well-made device during my short time with it. But, due to its ongoing issues with the US Government and its inability to ship phones with Google services included it’s always going to be a hard recommendation.
For these foldable phones to get better, both in terms of hardware and software, we need lots of competing products pushing everyone to do more. That just isn’t the case yet, and it could do these foldable devices harm in the long run.
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Max is the Editor of Trusted Reviews, and has been a mobile phone and technology specialist for over nine years. Max started his career at T3 straight after graduating from Kingston University. Max ha…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
