Google Pixel Fold Announced With Stunning Price Tag - Also Launched As A New Budget Phone And Tablet | Science and technology news

Google has announced its first foldable smartphone with a market-leading starting price of £1,749.

This puts the Pixel Fold far ahead Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4, the world’s most expensive foldable handset, costs £1,649.

Like its competitor Google‘s Effort has a familiar smartphone form factor when closed, but opens up to more of a tablet design with a 7.6-inch screen.

Google said the Pixel Fold would be the thinnest foldable device out there when it launches next month. Pre-orders begin today following the announcement at the company’s I/O event of the year California.

The tech giant said many components of its existing flagship, the Pixel 7 Pro, have been redesigned to fit the new device’s sleek design, held together with “the most durable hinge on the market.”

It will certainly hope to do better than Samsung’s first attempt at a foldable phone in 2019, whose release was delayed after several reviewers managed to break it.

PIXEL FOLD: THE MAIN SPECIFICATIONS

Screen: 5.8 inches, 7.6 inches unfolded, up to 120 Hz
Battery: 24 hours by default, up to 72 hours in battery saver mode, supports fast and wireless charging
Storage: 12 GB RAM and up to 512 GB storage
Processor: Google Tensor G2
Rear camera: 48-megapixel standard lens, plus ultra-wide-angle and telephoto lenses with 5x optical zoom
Front and inner cameras: 9.5 and 8 megapixel lenses respectively
Security: fingerprint and face unlock, security updates guaranteed for five years

As with other foldable devices, apps work normally on the front screen when the device is closed, are optimized for the larger footprint and can be used side by side when the device is open; while the camera can be used hands-free in tabletop mode.

Perhaps the device’s most innovative feature won’t launch in June, but will roll out alongside the next major update to Google’s Android operating system later this year.

Leveraging the company’s powerful language translation tools, an “interpreter mode” will use the phone’s inner and outer screens simultaneously to translate live conversations – allowing both people to see what the other is saying in their respective languages.

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At the other end of the affordability scale…

The Pixel Fold was one of three main devices unveiled at Google I/O.

Like the successful Pixel 6a and last year similar earlier publicationsThe Pixel 7a takes many of the same specs as Google’s top-of-the-line phone from last year and packs them into a more affordable body at a price to match.

The Pixel 7a costs £449 compared to £599 for the standard Pixel 7 and £849 for the Pixel 7 Pro.

That’s a smaller saving compared to last year’s budget option, however, as the 6a launched at £399.

For £499 you get a slightly smaller screen than the Pixel 7 (6.1in vs 6.3in) and not quite as premium build quality (more plastic, less glass), but the same Tensor G2 processor and storage for fast ones Perfomance.

The battery is slightly larger than the standard model, while the cameras come in at 64 megapixels for the main sensor and 13 for the ultrawide.

HANDS ON WITH PIXEL 7A

Despite the price, the compromises in everyday life with the Pixel 7a are not noticeable at all.

While the plastic back gives the device a more affordable feel than premium phones, the Tensor G2 chip and generous amount of memory ensure actual use of the device is just as quick and smooth as you’d expect from a more expensive phone would.

The screen is comparable, too: the OLED display now supports refresh rates of up to 90Hz, making it far more responsive and easier on the eyes than other phones in this price range.

The real star of the show is the camera, which has a 64-megapixel main sensor on the rear and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens – plus a decent 2x optical zoom for close-ups.

Performance is great in low light and allows for excellent night shots, and all of the software features of its bigger brothers – including the long-touted ability to remove unwanted background objects from your images – come into their own.

The selfie camera is solid, but we found the Face Unlock feature (new for the “A” model this year) to be wildly inconsistent compared to the iPhone’s Face ID.

Battery life seemed solid, with Google claiming more than 24 hours of use if you turn on the phone’s “adaptive battery” although using the always-on display to show info like the time and notifications really drains the power.

And while the phone supports wireless charging, it’s not the fastest.

A real rival to the iPad?

While the smartphone market has always been highly competitive, Android tablets have struggled to catch on Appleis the iPad.

Google hopes to differentiate the predictably named Pixel tablet by bundling it with a docking station, thus transforming it from a portable personal device into a home device – a concept similar to Nintendo‘s Switch game console.

When the tablet is placed in the docking station, it charges and has more powerful speakers – making it a more effective music player for the living room.

It also turns it into a dedicated smart home device for turning on lights or showing doorbell cameras, and has a built-in Chromecast for casting videos, music and photos from another device to the 11-inch screen.

Like the Pixel Fold and 7a, the tablet is powered by a Tensor G2 processor.

It’s out on June 20, priced at £599 – and isn’t available without the dock.

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