Here’s the canceled Pixel Fold that wasn’t good enough for Google

The Google Pixel Fold launched relatively late compared to first-generation foldables from other manufacturers. By the time it finally released in mid-2023, Samsung had just launched the fifth iteration of its book version of the foldable phone (and debuted a second look with the more popular Galaxy Z Flip series), and several other companies had debuted ones as well. This situation could have been very different, though: Google actually had another prototype ready a year before the original Pixel Fold, but decided to scrap it because it wasn’t “good enough,” as Google’s head of hardware product design Ivy Ross revealed in a 2023 episode of the Made by Google podcast.

While the existence of this canceled smartphone is a fairly well-known fact, we’ve never seen it in pictures or learned all the specifications, but that changes today. Photos of what appeared to be a mysterious Pixel Fold-like device have surfaced for the first time in a quiet environment. XDA Forum Thread (The original images have unfortunately disappeared, but we have copies), leading to quiet speculation that this was either a fake or an early prototype. Thanks to an anonymous source within Google, Android Authority I can confirm that this is in fact our first look at the canceled foldable Pixel codenamed “pipit” and its specifications.

Before we begin, it’s worth mentioning that the devices codenamed “pipit” and “passport”, both supposedly canceled Pixel foldable devices, are actually the same device. Although they were different projects at one point, they eventually converged into a single device that continued to be called “pipit”.

The canceled Pixel Fold has an oddly familiar look; the only feature that clearly distinguishes it from the final version is a (mostly) transparent glass bar that runs the width of the device, looking a lot like a Pixel 6. The released Pixel Fold has a smaller, polished metal camera island, matching the look of the Pixel 7 Pro.

Other than that, the form factor hasn’t changed much. The unusual aspect ratio is the same, the frame and hinge look pretty much the same, and even the matte rear glass was already there (the carbon texture on the top of the device is just a skin added by the vendor).

(We apologize for the image quality of the photos below. This is the best we were able to recover from the deleted photos in the thread.)

Unfortunately, the unit discussed in the thread has a broken inner display, so we can’t compare it to the first-gen Pixel Fold. However, it’s fair to assume that it looked similar, if not identical.

Unremarkable specifications

If “pipit” were to be released, it would have arrived a few months after the Pixel 6 series, so obviously its specifications are a generation behind the first generation Pixel Fold, which relied on the base configuration of the Pixel 7. Instead of a Tensor G2 with Exynos Modem 5300, the device came with the first generation Tensor and the Exynos 5123 modem, which was notable for the number of problems it had.

Likewise, the device had an older camera setup. While the first generation Pixel Fold looked more like a Pixel 7a with its improved cameras, “pipit” had a much older setup with a rather old Sony IMX363, which debuted on the Pixel 3 in 2018! The other sensors are also downgraded and the telephoto lens is completely absent. I’ve put together a comparison of the camera specs below.

Another area where “pipit” differed from the released Pixel Fold was the exterior screen. The device still had a slightly smaller screen at 66 x 128mm compared to 67 x 130mm on the Pixel Fold. The resolution also differed slightly at 1080 x 2100 pixels versus 1080 x 2092.

One thing, however, remained surprisingly the same: the internal display remained a completely unchanged panel. What’s interesting, however, is that Google has developed a prototype version of the device with support for pen input. Although it appears that the idea was eventually abandoned (the last prototype including this concept was the “PIPIT EVT 1.0 Stylus”, while other versions of the device reached the DVT stage much later), it is always interesting to see that Google was exploring something like this.

While the Pixel Fold that ended up on store shelves is an upgrade over the “pipit,” it feels pretty progressive, which begs the question: What went wrong? Why wasn’t the “pipit” good enough?

Of course, this is pure speculation, but we can make a good guess by looking at the broader context in which it would have been launched. “Pipit” was reportedly announced at Google I/O 2022, along with the canceled Pixel tablet with first generation Tensor (codenamed “tangor”; the device that ultimately shipped was “tangorpro”) and the Pixel 6a. This would also have made it one of the first devices to run Google’s large-screen-optimized version of Android, the 12L. It really couldn’t have been a better choice, so why didn’t it happen?

The launch of the Pixel 6 series was an absolute disaster. A good part of that was the buggy version of Android 12. Although the Android 12L version fixed some things, it was still far from stable. Not only that, but many features have also been carried over, making it 12L less than it was supposed to be.

It’s likely that Google decided to push back its tablet and foldable a year ago to make sure the software was ready and tweak the hardware if necessary. What ended up shipping still wasn’t perfect, but it’s probably better than what we would have seen if Google had gone with “pipit.”

Even canceled, “pipit” was something of a success: our sources tell us that many Google employees used prototypes as their everyday devices, and the first-gen Pixel Fold certainly built on hardware and software created for the canceled prototype. Hopefully the upcoming Pixel 9 Pro Fold will continue this generational improvement.