The Pixel Fold has arrived with a premium price tag and some strong words from Google on the engineering behind it. But, as some have noticed, the Pixel Fold doesn’t seem to want to unfold completely flat.
Like other book-style foldables, Google says the Pixel Fold unfolds to 180 degrees. But, in some early impressions, that doesn’t always seem to be the case. Will Sattelberg at Android Police mentioned that the device seems to stop around 176 degrees. In his hands-on time prior to yesterday’s event, our Abner Li said that it was closer to 178 or 179 degrees, to the point where it wasn’t really perceptible in the hand.
Michael Fisher, also known as MrMobile, further dialed in on this “issue” on Twitter. He notes in a thread that the Pixel Fold can reach 180 degrees, but it won’t do so eagerly. Apparently, a considerable amount of pressure is required to get the Fold to be “flat,” to the point where Fisher describes the bend as “too much for comfort.”
Apparently, as Google told Fisher, this is a side effect of the hinge design. The hinge is designed to be fairly stiff, able to sit in place at certain angles, much like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4.
While this might be a little frustrating for some, the Pixel Fold is far from alone in being unable to sit completely flat. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series has the same quirk, it just happens after a few weeks of use. My Galaxy Z Fold 4 currently maxes out around 178 degrees. I can get that last two degrees with some pressure, but like Fisher says, it’s not a comfortable action. Other book-style foldables have been known to do the same thing both out of the box and over time, too, so the Pixel Fold isn’t an outlier here by any means.
In other tweets, Fisher also correctly points out that this issue is made more apparent by the Pixel Fold’s large camera module, which prevents the phone from sitting flat on a table when unfolded anyway.
More on Pixel Fold:
- The best deal on Pixel Fold is at Google Fi, with $700 off or up to $1,000 trade-in
- Here’s how the Pixel Fold’s size compares to the rest of Google’s lineup
- Pixel Fold and Tablet hands-on: Unexpected first-generation surprises [Gallery]
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