Google Pixel Fold 2 design just leaked — and it’s a huge change

Google Pixel Fold TikTok app
(Image credit: Future)

Last year's Google Pixel Fold featured a wide cover display, a difference from other foldable phones that that felt less cramped and easier to use. But Google could be heading in a different direction with the follow-up Fold, according to a leaked photo purporting to show off the unannounced device.

The Pixel Fold 2 photo was posted by Android Authority, and it comes from the same unnamed source that told the site the next Fold would leapfrog past the Tensor G3 chipset in favor of the Tensor G4. The photo shows off the Pixel Fold 2 with a narrower front screen than what you'd find on the original Fold.

That's not the only change. The distinctive camera bar that Google has used on its mobile devices since the Pixel 6 is gone, replaced by a smaller, fatter bump that stacks one camera over the other. Android Authority also reports that the interior display will have a near-square aspect ratio, similar to the OnePlus Open.

Leaked Pixel Fold 2 photo from Android Authority

(Image credit: Android Authority)

As much as we liked the wider Pixel Fold screen, Google has plenty of incentive to mull over a change. A common complaint about the Pixel Fold is that not enough apps have been optimized to take full advantage of the screen size, leaving black bars on either side of the app window. What's more , the source of the photo told Android Authority that redesign could make the new model thinner than the Pixel Fold.

Other things about that leaked image puzzle us, such as the camera bar. That's been a pretty well-established part of Google's phone design for nearly three years. Leaked Pixel 9 renders claiming to showcase this year's flagship phone update still retain the horizontal camera bar, even if it now looks like a pill-shaped design that doesn't quite extend edge-to-edge. Still, even with that change, the Pixel 9 render looks a lot more like Google's current lineup than this Pixel Fold 2 photo.

Much of what we know about the Pixel Fold 2 comes from this Android Authority source, who's also told the site that the next foldable could include 16GB of RAM including the new Tensor chipset. Otherwise, we're in the dark about the Pixel Fold 2, including whether it will shop in the summer like last year's release or see a later debut alongside the Pixel 9 phones in the fall.

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Don Reisinger is CEO and founder of D2 Tech Agency. A communications strategist, consultant, and copywriter, Don has also written for many leading technology and business publications including CNET, Fortune Magazine, The New York Times, Forbes, Computerworld, Digital Trends, TechCrunch and Slashgear. He has also written for Tom's Guide for many years, contributing hundreds of articles on everything from phones to games to streaming and smart home.