Would you buy a foldable Google Pixel phone? I’m not sure if I would.

Opinion post from

Eric Zeman

Folders are on the news again this week and it made me wonder, would anyone buy these new potential foldable phones? What about them, in addition to the foldable format, of course, would make them attractive to consumers? Is there a better approach or design than others? Let’s talk.

Huawei kicked off the Mate X2. The X2 represents a major change for Huawei. The original Huawei Mate X featured a screen that wrapped the front and back of the phone. The X2, however, abandons this approach for a more traditional folding laptop style that opens similarly to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold line. Based on my experiences with Mate X and Galaxy Fold, Huawei did the right thing here. Mate X2 has an 8-inch main screen and a separate external panel that allows the phone to be used when closed. Unfortunately, this phone will only be sold in China.

Then came the rumor that Samsung is making foldable displays for a handful of phone makers, including Google, Oppo and Xiaomi. Google and Xiaomi are looking at the Galaxy Fold style screen, while Oppo is more interested in a design similar to the Galaxy Z Flip. This report corroborates a 2019 story that said Google was interested in foldable phones.

“We are definitely creating a prototype of the technology. We’ve been doing this for a long time, ”said then-head of Google Pixel, Mario Queiroz, to CNET. However, Queiroz added a qualifier: “I don’t think there is a clear use case yet.”

Phones must not be selling, or at least not selling well enough.

Completing the foldable forage, Samsung launched a new offering that allows people to try a foldable phone – be it the Galaxy Fold 2 or the Galaxy Flip 5G – before buying it. The idea is to persuade people to try a format that they might otherwise have ignored.

It is this last story that really marked me. In early February, Samsung cut the price of the Galaxy Z Flip 5G by $ 250. Similarly, Motorola and Verizon Wireless cut the cost of the Razr by up to $ 500. Now, Samsung expects a period of free trial hook users to the life of the foldable phone. Why? Phones must not be selling, or at least not selling well enough. Damn, the Wall Street Journal declared a flop foldable in September 2020.

First, let’s address the elephant in the room: cost. Huawei’s new Mate X2 costs almost $ 3,000, the Galaxy Fold 2 costs almost $ 2,000 and the Z Flip and Razr style folders cost around $ 1,400, more or less depending on promotions. These prices are out of line with current consumer spending on smartphones. Of course, prices need to fall below the $ 1,000 mark before most people weigh a fold. It is not yet clear whether or not the new foldables from Google, Oppo or Xiaomi will fall below that dollar value. It is doubtful.

Foldable prices are out of line with current consumer spending on smartphones.

Then there is the use case for folding. The two main fields are laptop and flip-phone style, with the first commanding more stature and cost. A phone like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 is for advanced users who want a huge, tablet-like screen when the device is opened. Meanwhile, a phone like the Moto Razr is a more modern choice for anyone looking to minimize the phone’s footprint. Each of these is a legitimate reason for wanting a foldable, but it is likely to outweigh the high cost.

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Trust is a problem. Execution is important, and both Samsung and Motorola score poorly in that department. The original Samsung Galaxy Fold failed spectacularly and the first generation Moto Razr also suffered from hinge problems. These problems have been largely corrected in subsequent projects, but it makes us wonder if the first foldable manufacturers – Google, Oppo, Xiaomi – would be able to get it right with their initial products.

Given the long list of hardware peculiarities of the Google Pixel line over the years, it is difficult to have faith. For now, foldable phones are very expensive and unreliable. While the idea of ​​a foldable phone from Google is attractive on a basic level, there are serious obstacles for the Pixel maker to overcome.