When seeing the CAD renderings that leaked earlier, everyone’s expectations for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold have been reduced to quite low. Now,Evan Blass via Leakmail The latest promotional materials shared have made me almost lose all hope. Except for the new paint and a few minor line adjustments, the overall appearance is almost the same as the previous generation, even so fine that it is difficult for ordinary people to detect it without careful comparison.
Official images of Pixel 11 Pro Fold revealed, look very similar to the previous generation
The appearance of Pixel 11 Pro Fold continues the design language of Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The proportions, rounded corners, and shape of the camera module are all the same. Google’s design of “two small Pixel camera modules stacked on top of each other” is visually a bit abrupt and lacks a sense of coordination. Google obviously wants to maintain a consistent rounded style in the Pixel series, but putting this language on a folding screen phone brings another problem: the frame on the hinge side exposes large pieces of metal at the top and bottom, visually destroying the overall coherence.
If competitors adopted the same conservative strategy, perhaps such an update would still be acceptable. After all, the original Pixel Fold brought the “shorter and wider” book-style folding shape to the Western market, and Samsung is now adopting a similar direction on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Apple’s first foldable machine is rumored to follow the same path. In this trend, Google seems to have chosen to launch at least one more generation of products and continue to fine-tune the existing design rather than make a drastic redesign.
According to previous CAD size information, the thickness of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold has dropped from 10.8mm to 10.1mm when folded, and from 5.2mm to 4.8mm when unfolded. These numbers look gratifying, but reducing the thickness by a few millimeters is not enough to cover up the fact that the overall design has remained almost unchanged for a year. This strategy is similar to the Galaxy Z Flip 8: the hardware is roughly the same, the thickness is slightly reduced, but the price is increased by $100. A thinner body may also mean a compromise, with reports indicating that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will have a battery capacity of around 4800mAh, down from the 5015mAh of its predecessor. The price is also expected to rise, with the basic model likely to reach 1,999 euros, raising the bar for this folding machine again.
At the very least, the new pine colorway does pop. The soft green back cover is paired with a light gold frame and the Google logo of the same color, creating an unexpectedly harmonious texture overall. The body material also reveals the previously teased Pixel Glow LED indicator, cleverly hidden within the camera shield on the top. While these highlights can’t replace a truly groundbreaking redesign, they are among the few parts of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold that feel fresh.
Ultimately, the core selling point of the Pixel series may still be the new Gemini smart features. Even though the appearance is almost the same as last year, the AI function may still attract many users to buy it. The original Pixel Fold was to some extent ahead of its time. Now, with more industry giants adopting similar shapes, the market may finally be ready to accept this design. If Google is willing to try again, it may be able to rediscover the uniqueness of the Pixel Fold series.
Source: KOCPC Chinese