The Google Pixel Fold 2 is expected to arrive this spring and should bring many improvements from the original Google Pixel Fold The original Pixel Fold was an impressive fold, thanks to its wide front display, high-quality camera, and intuitive multitasking And while it had its flaws in places (thick bezels, some apps not going full screen), the Pixel Fold still made our Best Foldable Phones list [Because it will face stiff competition from the Galaxy Z Fold 6, OnePlus Open, and other foldable devices, the Pixel Fold 2 is said to feature a narrower, sleeker design, less camera bumps, a more powerful Tensor G4 chip (maybe), and other upgrades Here's what we know so far about the Google Pixel Fold 2

No release date for the Pixel Fold 2 is known yet, but Google is expected to be preparing a second foldable release at some point during the year The logical assumption is that Google will announce this phone at Google I/O 2024 in May and prepare for a release this summer, as it did last year However, that may not be the case

Android Authority speculates that the Pixel Fold 2 may have a different ship date than the previous model Apparently, the phone just began engineering validation testing (EVT) in early 2024, suggesting that it will not be ready for launch immediately after Google I/O However, the possibility of an appearance later this year cannot be ruled out

If the Pixel Fold 2 is not announced at I/O, it may instead be announced along with the Pixel 9 series This would tie in nicely with rumors that the new fold might skip the Tensor G3 in favor of the G4

Similarly, there is no information on pricing at this early stage We don't expect the Pixel Fold 2 to cost less than the Pixel Fold's starting price of $1,799, but given the current trend of rising smartphone prices, we wouldn't rule it out until we hear otherwise

Design leaks suggest that the Pixel Fold 2 may look slightly different from its predecessor Instead of having a wide covered display, which we preferred over the narrow displays of phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Google may slim it down a bit

Sources also claim that the internal display will have a more square-like aspect ratio, similar to the OnePlus Open Both of these changes may be in response to complaints that there are not enough apps optimized for the Pixel Fold, resulting in black bars Sources also told Android Authority that it will have a slimmer design

The leaked images also indicate that a major change could be coming to the back of the Pixel Fold 2: instead of the horizontal camera rubber that has been employed since the release of the Pixel 6, the Fold 2 could feature a smaller, thicker camera bump in the upper right corner In the image, four lenses are stacked in pairs

It doesn't look good, so we hope this is just a prototype design, to be replaced or seriously slimmed down for the final Pixel Fold 2 model

A recent exclusive from SmartPrix shows the first 360 rendered video of the Pixel Fold 2 and details about its overall shape According to the report, Google is aiming to make the Pixel Fold 2 the thinnest foldable smartphone currently available in the North American market

The Pixel Fold 2 could also feature a larger display than rival foldable models, at 629 inches on the outside and 802 inches on the inside

It is claimed that the Pixel Fold 2 could offer a significant performance boost; according to Android Authority, the phone could skip the Tensor G3 and launch with the Tensor G4 chipset Not much is known about the benchmarking capabilities of the Tensor chip, but there are rumors that the G4 chip may be based on Samsung's Exynos 2400

The Exynos chip will not beat the flagship Snapdragon chipsets used by other Android flagships, but it could give the Pixel Fold 2 (and Pixel 9) a significant boost in computing power Not to mention the addition of AI capabilities over last year's Pixel 8 series

How effective that computing power will be, however, may depend on when Pixel Fold 2 is released If it happens by the end of the year, it will be a big boost; if it has to wait until mid to late 2025, it won't be as impressive

It has also been suggested that the Pixel Fold 2 could offer 16GB of RAM, 4GB more than the Pixel Fold, and upgrade storage to UFS 40

Design leaks seem to indicate a possible Pixel Fold 2 with a fourth camera lens, although the image quality is not particularly good What we can see, however, is that there appears to be only one distinctly square-shaped telephoto lens In other words, the likelihood of the Pixel Fold 2 having a second telephoto camera like the Galaxy S24 Ultra seems pretty low based on this image alone

We do not know what changes the Pixel Fold 2 will offer compared to its predecessor, which featured a 48MP main lens, a 108MP ultrawide, and a 108MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom The increased resolution of the latter two would be welcome, as would other changes such as a larger camera sensor and a larger telephoto magnification

Whatever happens, we can expect Google to go all out to enhance its AI camera Both in terms of generating better photos from the start and providing even more powerful editing tools after the shot is taken

It is currently unclear what kind of battery we can expect from the Pixel Fold 2 We would expect at least something similar to the Pixel Fold's 4,821 mAh battery, which lasted 10 hours and 21 minutes in our battery tests Even without a larger battery pack, the durability offered by a more efficient chip would be welcome

Expect Qi wireless charging and at least 30W wired charging to return

There are still many unknowns regarding the Google Pixel Fold 2 But if Google wants to remain relevant in the foldable phone market, it will have to do a lot Samsung has a lot of experience, and OnePlus has leveraged its relationship with Oppo to make the OnePlus Open the best foldable phone

So whether Google chooses a novel design, powerful AI features, improved hardware, or a mixture of the two, the pressure is on Let's hope the rumors we see in the coming weeks and months will keep us optimistic about the potential of the Pixel Fold 2