A new report indicates that Google won’t be releasing it’s next foldable phone as a stopgap between mainline phones. Instead, it will join the Pixel 9 lineup as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The original Pixel Fold was released in 2023 between the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 8. It didn’t receive the new Tensor G3 chips and only had 3 years of Android updates versus the Pixel 8 which is the first Pixel phone with 7 years of updates. This didn't look great in comparison to the Pixel 8 which released only three months after the Fold was announced.
According to Android Authority, Google is looking to release 4 new devices this coming fall. The Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
This lineup is surprising since Google has generally only launched two new phones with new iterations and it's been this way since 2016. Four new phones is a big jump indeed.
If the Fold is being “folded” into the main Pixel lineup, it will likely have all the same features and the same chipset as the standard Pixel 9 phones.
This means that it will feature the new Tensor G4 chip and a number of updated software features like on-device Gemini Nano and pro camera settings. According to rumors, the 9th generation of Pixels will feature a bigger camera sensor, a new Samsung Modem 5400 and Qi2 wireless charging.
The Pixel 9 lineup is also supposed to have Android 15’s Powered Off Finder API and an Adaptive Touch feature along with a brand new UI.
Again, these are all rumors but they have been supposedly confirmed by Google insiders. We’ll definitely know more the closer we get to October when the search giant typically announces its new lineup of devices. The Pixel A midranges phone usually come out in the late spring.
If Google is making this change, it does set them apart from other foldable phone manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola. The Samsung Galaxy Z and Motorola Razr are in a different lineups from both companies' main devices.
Google left the original Pixel in no-man’s land in 2023, with it basically being a foldable Pixel 7 but clearly worse than the Pixel 8 that immediately followed it. To put the Fold into the main family of phones shows a marked pivot for Google and it’ll be interesting to see how the company plans to support the Fold going forward.
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