Google Pixel Fold coming before the end of the year (report)

Google Pixel 5 (Image credit: Google)

UPDATE: It seems that we could be seeing the Google Pixel Fold arrive before the end of the year, thanks to a new leak from David Naranjo, the Senior Director at Display Supply Chain Consultants. David has revealed a new launch date for the Google Pixel Fold, which will apparently fall within Q4 of 2021. It's also revealed that the Google Pixel Fold will use an LTPO OLED display.

With the Google Pixel 6 handsets due to launch on 19 October, it's possible that we could see the Pixel Fold announced alongside them. Alternatively, this new fold phone could appear at any point up until 31 December instead.

ORIGINAL STORY: Up until now, we haven't heard much about the upcoming Google Pixel 6. However, new rumors are suggesting that we could be seeing a foldable version of the handset launch at some point this year. This is intriguing, as Google has already developed the software that runs on all Android foldables, so you could argue that Google is in the perfect position to develop a great foldable camera phone.

Other interesting rumors (taken from Android 12 developer preview code) include the suggestion that the Google Pixel 6 could support face unlock, under-display fingerprint scanning and that we could have an XL version of the Pixel 6.

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However, as reported by BGR, Google has had previous difficulties in producing pitch-perfect Pixels, with each generation featuring an issue that consumers have had to grapple with. Some of these were even hardware-related, which meant that the problems couldn't be fixed with a software update.

As we know from the original Samsung Galaxy Fold, creating a fully functional foldable camera phone is quite a feat. After design issues caused the foldable screen to quickly degrade, Samsung hastily redesigned the handset to attempt to eradicate the issues and relaunched the phone. However, it wasn't until the follow-up Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 was launched that we saw a "fully baked" foldable from the camera phone manufacturer.

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Interestingly, Tech website TheElec is reporting that Google will be sourcing its foldable OLED panels from Samsung. Apparently this panel will be around 7.6" in size. This would seem to suggest that Samsung's focus on its initial foldable phone teething problems will have paid off – especially since TheElec reports that both Oppo and Xiaomi will also be sourcing their foldable panels from Samsung as well.

At present, there aren't any further details on the Google Pixel 6 (Fold?). However, now that we've begun to see some initial rumors, there's no doubt that we'll hear more soon…

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.

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