I hope the Pixel Fold isn't cancelled – Samsung needs some competition

News broke this week suggesting Google isn't going frontward with its rumoured foldable phone and has cancelled the project – at least for at present.

When I first read this news my initial feeling was a distinct lack of surprise. I felt that if Google was going to release this mythical Pixel Fold telephone, the perfect fourth dimension would have been aslope the Pixel half-dozen and Pixel half-dozen Pro. Fifty-fifty if it wasn't set to be put on sale, a tease or initial declaration would have been welcome.

But in one case that lack of surprise passed, my strongest feeling well-nigh this news was disappointment.

I'm a big fan of Google's phones. I've used every Nexus and every Pixel phone to date and while they all have their quirks, they're mannerly and user-friendly in a way many Android phones are not. They also have the best version of the Android software with quick updates. The prospect of some of this coming over to a foldable was tempting.

The foldable phone space is currently, at least in the UK and USA, dominated by Samsung and Google deciding against releasing its own rival ways there's even less competition for Samsung. Ultimately this isn't a great thing.

Samsung'southward foldable line of phones has improved immeasurably since they were start announced. The original Fold was, to put information technology mildly, awful and while the follow-upward was much better I still found it hard to recommend. With the Z Fold iii – and the cheaper Z Flip iii – Samsung made a foldable telephone that is easily one of the all-time phones around.

samsung galaxy z fold 3 half open — Galaxy Z Fold 3

Still, the competition in this foldable sector is so minimal at the moment there's nothing really pushing Samsung forward to continue with these sizeable yearly upgrades – both in hardware and software. We've seen it before with the base iPad – when the competition isn't up to much the innovation tin can stall.

The only existent competition for the Samsung foldables is the Moto Razr, and while Razr is a peachy phone it is nowhere nearly as ambitious as the Fold or the Flip. Hopefully, Motorola keeps going with information technology though, equally with a few tweaks it could be an alternative to the Z Flip three.

Huawei has too made a number of foldable phones and the latest Mate X2 seemed a well-made device during my short time with it. Just, due to its ongoing issues with the US Government and its inability to ship phones with Google services included it'south ever going to be a difficult recommendation.

For these foldable phones to go ameliorate, both in terms of hardware and software, nosotros need lots of competing products pushing anybody to practice more than. That but isn't the case withal, and it could exercise these foldable devices impairment in the long run.