Google enters foldable smartphone market with Pixel Fold

NEW DELHI: Google has announced its first foldable phone called Pixel Fold that is now available for pre-order in the US and will begin shipping next month.

The $1,799 Pixel Fold, powered by Tensor G2 chip, will take on Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4 in two colours, Porcelain and Obsidian, and will first be available in Germany, Japan, the UK and the US.

The Pixel Fold customers in the US will get a Google Pixel Watch for free when they pre-order the device.

When closed, Pixel Fold has a familiar smartphone silhouette that fits in the palm of hand and slides into pocket.

"Flip it open to reveal a 7.6-inch screen with a thinner profile than any other foldable phone in the market," Google said late on Wednesday.

When closed, the exterior screen lets you do all the usual tasks you'd expect from a Pixel phone -- like responding to Messages, browsing Chrome or using our suite of Call Assist features, like Direct My Call, Call Screen, Hold for Me and Clear Calling.

"When fully open, the interior screen gives you all the benefits of a tablet. When in splitscreen, you can easily drag and drop files across different apps, like Google Photos to Messages and Slides," said the company.

Pixel Fold offers Super Res Zoom with 5x optical zoom, Real Tone, Night Sight and Portrait photography along with pro-level modes from Pixel 7 Pro, such as 10-bit HDR video.

The customers can use Magic Eraser and Photo Unblur in Google Photos to help get pictures looking just right.

"With Rear Camera Selfie on Pixel Fold, you can get the highest quality selfie on a Pixel ever. Use the exterior screen as your viewfinder and the 48-megapixel main camera to get an amazing selfie," said the company.

The Dual Screen interpreter mode simultaneously uses the inner and outer screens to translate live conversations.

"With this feature, you'll be able to have more natural conversations across languages, without having to huddle around a single screen," said Google.