C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
Just think about it: A Google Pixel Flip. Honestly, it sounds like my dream phone. It’d combine my favorite form factor with my favorite Android skin, and I’d never need to recommend anything else again. I’d have Google’s top-notch image processing to balance out the often-limited flip phone cameras, years of updates to look forward to, and a cover screen experience that only needs a proper app drawer to leap ahead of Samsung’s Flex Window.
And yet, I can’t shake the feeling that Google has already missed its flip phone opportunity. It feels like it’s given Motorola and Samsung too much of a head start, and I fear it means I won’t see a Pixel Flip any time soon. Here’s why.
Would you buy a Google Pixel Flip? 21 votes Yes 71 % No 29 %
Google? Nailing first-generation hardware?
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
We’ve reached a point where flip phones (and foldable phones in general) have attained a level of maturity. Motorola and Samsung are making gorgeous flagships (and now sub-flagships) that are hard to put down or look away from, and it’s led me to keep a Razr Ultra in my pocket long after I finished my review. However, it wasn’t always that way. I spent a few years complaining about Samsung’s cover screen, and the less-than-flat hinge on the original Razr Plus was a huge issue. And now you want me to expect Google to come in and stick its first-generation landing?
I’m sorry. I know that was probably a little bit harsh to the Pixel’s maker, but let’s be honest — it’s true. I’ve used enough first-generation Pixel products — the Pixel Watch, the original Pixel Fold, the Pixel 6a — to know that Google usually needs a year or two to let things finish baking. Sometimes, like the Pixel Watch, the issues come from diving into a brand-new form factor, while others, like the Pixel 6a, come from fitting a white-hot Tensor chip into a smaller, plastic body. Then, in the third case — the Pixel Fold — it’s a case of a little of column A, a little of column B.
I love the Pixel lineup, but I've used enough first-generation Google products to know a Pixel Flip would take time.
In those cases, Google had the space to experiment and, at least, mostly keep up with its rivals. Its first Pixel Watch had to take on a Galaxy Watch 5 that felt a lot like the Galaxy Watch 4, and its Pixel Fold challenged a Galaxy Z Fold 5 that landed with a severe lack of innovation. Maybe the Pixel 6a faced the most formidable foe in a solid Galaxy A53 5G, but even that felt like little more than an annual update.
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