Love it or hate it, foldable phones are here to stay. And one of the next members of the party will be the Google Pixel Fold. However, this may not change the pace of the competition. For example, recently many Chinese manufacturers have released excellent foldable devices. But most don’t get the right amount of exposure. This is one of the reasons why Samsung is still in the lead.
From now on, the case of the next Google Pixel Fold will no longer be the same. It will definitely get tons of exposure. But it still might not have what it takes to beat Samsung’s flagship foldable devices.
Is international exposure important for foldable phones?
Honor has made notable progress in its foldable devices recently. Yes, I’m talking about the Honor Magic Vs. It comes with beefed up specs and has what it takes to rival the Samsung Z Fold 4 head-to-head. Wondering what’s so special about Honor Magic Vs? Its highlighted feature is that it has a reworked hinge, which aims to hide the crease of foldable devices.
Now, if you’ve read people’s opinions on foldable phones, most don’t like the visibility of the fold. So, with the upgraded hinge, the Honor Magic Vs can actually make quite a few people pass Samsung foldable. That’s unless Samsung doesn’t come up with a better hinge soon.
However, Honor Magic Vs will not debut in the international market anytime soon. Honor plans to do an exclusive launch in China first. And after the initial launch, the phone is expected to release in European markets. But there is still no word on the international release. And that means Samsung doesn’t need to worry too much about it.
But it’s not just about exposure
Have you ever wondered why Samsung leads the way when it comes to foldable phones? Yes, it has global exposure. But that’s not the only thing in the equation. Samsung didn’t release the world’s first foldable phone. However, it first brought the most usable version of the phone.
Performance and usability matter a lot for smartphones. If you take a look at Samsung’s current foldable flagship, you’ll notice that it comes with high-end specs. This includes flagship-level processor and camera sensors.
Along with that, Samsung’s flagship foldable phones have a lot of cutting-edge foldable phone technology. We always worry about durability. But Samsung has addressed each of them with each release. For all these reasons, people think of Samsung foldables first when buying a foldable phone.
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Samsung Z Fold vs. Google Pixel Fold
Google has no problem with global exposure. Take the Pixel 7 series, for example. It has the highest availability for the Pixel lineup. You can get the devices from countries such as Japan, USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, India and many more. Therefore, when Google releases its next foldable phone, it will likely be available in most major markets.
So what can stop Google from supporting Samsung foldable devices? It’s efficient!
Google Pixel Fold performance lag
According to the recent Geekbench score of the upcoming Google Pixel Fold, the device is set to use a Tensor G2 chipset. It’s the same processor found in the Pixel 7 lineup. And as you know, the Pixel 7 duo don’t win against Samsung’s current flagships when it comes to performance.
The Samsung Z Fold 4, on the other hand, uses Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. Its Geekbench score is well above that of Google Tensor G2. So daily performance on demanding apps will be much better in the Z Fold 4 than in the Pixel Fold.
But that’s not all! By the time the Pixel Fold is released, Samsung will be ready for the Galaxy Z Fold 5. This device should come with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. And this processor will be much better than the Tensor G2.
Other factors
Samsung’s performance boost doesn’t mean a total loss for Google Pixel Fold. Most users don’t even care too much about raw performance. Instead, they look for other factors, like a better camera. And Google Pixel is known to excel in this regard.
Moreover, buyers also consider the guarantee of future updates and a clean user interface. Again, Google has the upper hand on both counts. Pixel 7 devices warrant five years of software support. This includes three years of major Android updates and five years of security updates.
Likewise, with Pixel devices, you experience Android as it should. These phones come with a simple user interface and no bloated apps. Samsung One UI is also a great Android skin. But it’s still a bit different from vanilla Android, which many users don’t want.
So, in short, Google Pixel Fold still has a chance to compete with Z Fold devices head-to-head. Now, it just depends on whether Google is doing everything right with the Pixel Fold and releasing at the right time.
