Several months in advance of the expected launch of Google’s next-generation Pixel 11 Pro Fold, leaks are already trickling in regarding the look and feel of the upcoming book-style folding phone. A new set of CAD-based renders has been published online by OnLeaks in collaboration with Android Headlines, and it paints a rather unequivocal picture: physically speaking, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold won’t be straying far from its direct predecessor.
In the grab bag of mock-ups designed based on these leaked CAD files, OnLeaks and Android Headlines depict a book-style handset with roughly similar dimensions to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, with the same general aspect ratio, the same overarching design language, and the same basic hinge construction. Aside from a slightly thinner chassis, the only difference on display here is an ever-so-slightly rejigged rear camera module that looks to be more prominent than the one found in Google’s existing foldable.
Now, on the surface, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold’s familiar exterior design isn’t bad news. There’s little need to reinvent the wheel if a formula is already working as is, and Google has done a good job of ushering in a now-iconic brand image over the past several hardware generations. To be sure, the thinner chassis here is a step in the right direction in making the foldable form factor compelling to existing candybar-style phone owners, and the larger rear camera module might be hinting at improved optics — another positive development if proven accurate.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold won’t live in a vacuum when it (presumably) releases to the public later this year. All eyes are on Apple and its much-anticipated folding iPhone model, which is rumored to launch in a similar timeframe to Google’s next-generation offering. Samsung also appears to be putting some real elbow grease into the foldable scene as of late, to say nothing of the onslaught of high-end foldables from Chinese OEMs like Honor, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo.
Whether we’re talking about Apple, Samsung, or any other phone maker, all the leaks, rumors, and market analyses are pointing to one thing in particular: when it comes to the book-style folding phones of tomorrow, wide is the new black. For Google and its Pixel Pro Fold line, as with any other mobile brand under the sun, the uber-competitive foldable landscape necessitates a mantra of ‘adapt or die.’ I fear Google hasn’t yet gotten the memo.
Wide book-style foldables are the future
Google should’ve stuck with its first-gen guns
Ever since I first laid eyes on the Microsoft Surface Duo back in 2020, I’ve been convinced that wider foldable handsets are the right way forward. The passport or moleskin-style dimensions of wide folding phones make for a comfortable in-hand feel when closed shut, and the sprawling, landscape-oriented canvases of their wider inner displays are incredibly useful for not only side-by-side app multitasking, but also for content consumption.
We’ve seen some OEMs experiment with wide folding aspect ratios before — the Oppo Find N and Find N2 spring to mind — but, since then, hardware makers have all settled on a tall-when-folded and square-when-unfolded standard that hardly feels like the optimal setup in my eyes. The problem here is that, when using the phone’s inner display, the near-perfect square aspect ratio is less-than-ideal for watching videos on, and it leaves little room for fullscreen apps to extend into their tablet mode configurations and to embrace multi-column interface designs.
The irony here is that the very first-generation Pixel Fold was on the right track when it launched with a wide form factor…
That’s where Apple’s upcoming iPhone Fold comes into play: if rumors are to be believed, the tech giant is set to embrace the wide foldable form factor in the same vein as the ill-fated Surface Duo line, and in the same vein as those aforementioned older Oppo Find N devices. Samsung appears to be gearing up to launch its own wide-bodied Galaxy Z Fold model in the near future, too, and I have to imagine the rest of the hardware herd is set to follow suit as well.
All of this leaves Google in a precarious position. While I have no doubt that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will prove a solid, high-quality smartphone when it inevitably launches in the fall, I reckon Apple will suck all the hype out of the room with its wide-winged, and perhaps even creaseless, iPhone Fold.
The irony here is that the first-generation Pixel Fold was on the right track when it launched with a wide form factor from the very beginning, only to be axed by Google a single generation later. Had the company stuck to its guns from the get-go, it would’ve ensured the Pixel 11 Pro Fold remained forward-thinking in a post-iPhone Fold world. Instead, much to my chagrin, it looks like we’ll be waiting until at least the Pixel 12 Pro Fold to (hopefully) re-embrace the original Pixel Fold’s foldable vision of the future.
