Christmas comes early with full leaked renders of the upcoming Pixel Fold

I was not expecting this at all today! As many of you know by this point, the Pixel Fold (A.K.A. Pixel Notepad and Passport) has been leaked, rumored, and delayed all sorts of times over the past 18 months. Known only as the Pixel Fold early on, the name ‘Passport’ was thrown around before we all were told that Google’s first foldable device would go by Pixel Notepad. As it turns out, that name may not be accurate, either, and we could be right back to Pixel Fold if the latest, most substantial leak of this much-hyped device ends up being accurate.

Thanks once again to Jon Prosser over at Front Page Tech, not only are we getting some info, availability, and a few stats for the Pixel Fold, we’re also getting very impressive renders of the first folding Pixel phone. These renders are – like others Prosser has provided in the past – actually built from specs and hands-on time with this device. Like the Pixel Watch, the Pixel 6, and Pixel 6 Pro, these renders look incredibly legit and are as impressive as anything we’ve seen yet from Front Page Tech.

Leaked with great confidence

Jon isn’t one to leak things that aren’t firmly corroborated, but this time around it feels even more confident. Listening to the video, it is clear that the Pixel Fold info he has access to is complete and very accurate. More so than any other leak video of his I’ve seen, this one carries the air of complete confidence in the source and source material, not really leaving room for much inaccuracy. And that’s a very good thing once you’ve seen these renders. The Pixel Fold looks absolutely gorgeous! Also, he tweeted this yesterday before today’s leak video:

the leak tomorrow is probably our most complete ever and I’m 100% sure of its accuracy.

— jon prosser (@jon_prosser) November 13, 2022

What we know about the Pixel Fold

So, in the video (which you should totally watch to simply see this beautiful phone in motion), we learn a few things. I think it’s been clear that the Pixel Fold was real, but it now seems like this naming convention has a real chance of sticking. I’m glad to hear it because Pixel Notepad just didn’t make any sense, and looking at these renders, I don’t see a stylus likely being part of the equation. Pixel Fold just sounds better.

Second, we’re looking at premium materials for the Pixel Fold. Like we expect for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series, the Pixel Fold will be made of glass and aluminum, and the look of it falls decently inline with the current Pixel family. There’s a camera bar along the back, though it doesn’t go edge-to-edge like the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7’s cameras do. Still, it looks like it belongs in the Pixel family and I’d side with Jon in saying I might like this look even better than the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

Third, we have stats on at least the two front-facing cameras. Well, a single stat, anyway: 9.5MP. We don’t know anything more, but there will be a front camera on the outer display along with the same resolution camera on the larger, inner display, too. It’s likely they will be the exact same setups. No other camera stuff was leaked, but at least we know that the back array will be the full 3-camera setup, so it could very well house the same setup we see in the Pixel 7 Pro.

Next up, we also learn that the power button will house the fingerprint scanner, and I absolutely cannot wait for this. I’ve long said the best/fastest fingerprint scanners are the physical, capacitive sort and the easiest place to hide them is on the power button. I love this setup and I enjoyed it quite a bit on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 I drove for a few months last year. Good on Google for making this particular move.

Finally, we have the launch date and price. And it is steep. The source feeding FTP info on this phone holds that the Pixel Fold will be $1799 with a release in May of 2023 alongside the Pixel Tablet. If true, this shoots a hole in the side of previous rumors that the Pixel Fold would be far less expensive than devices like the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, unfortunately. Perhaps Google is going more premium than they originally expected or those early rumors were simply off-base. Either way, it looks like we’ll know a lot more about this phone in May and it’s price – if accurate – will definitely reduce the number that Google needs to make on the first run.

I don’t know about you, but I’m incredibly excited for this phone. I loved using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, but Samsung’s take on Android just wore me out over time. I largely stick with Google’s phones mainly for the software experience, and the idea of having a pocketable tablet on me at all times that also comes wielding Google’s Pixel phone experience sounds like the best of both worlds. While I’m loving my Pixel 7 Pro, you can bet this device will be my next.