This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
The rumored new Pine color is very similar to the Jade one. | Image by Mystic Leaks
It's almost foldable season as the major players on the smartphone market will be releasing a wholly fresh batch of new foldable devices in the coming months.
Samsung will be first with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Z Flip 8, and in what's expected to be the big release of the year, Apple will finally show us what it thinks a foldable should be with the iPhone Ultra this September. And we keep hearing rumors that powerhouse Oppo will also release a foldable phone later this year; I bet other phone makers will also want to join in on the fun.
Google will also partake, as the upcoming Pixel 11 series will treat us to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. However, judging from the rumors and leaks so far, I'm already convinced that Google's foldable phone will easily be the most forgettable and least exciting one to land in 2026.
Where's the evolution, Google?
Based on the leaks and rumors surrounding the Pixel 11 Pro Fold (and these rarely miss when it comes to Google hardware), this one will introduce little upgrades to the lineup.
The chipset problem
Fine, an upgrade to a denser 2 nm manufacturing process for the Tensor G6 is expected, but I'm not actually holding my breath for that. The reason is that Google's Tensor chips have disappointed for years, regardless of what manufacturing node they were built on.
Be it 5 nm (Tensor G1), 4 nm (Tensor G2, G3, G4), or 3 nm (Tensor G5), they have all been trailing behind their rivals in terms of performance and efficiency, so excuse me if I'm reluctant to believe a jump to 2 nm will be the magical solution to all of Google's chips' problems.
I'd wager that while the upcoming Tensor G6 will beat the Tensor G5 slightly, it will inevitably be scraping the barrel in terms of raw power and therefore efficiency, hurting the future-proofness, the overall user experience, and ultimately the potential battery life of the device.
Which brings me to the…
Battery to last you a day at best?
Another rumor solidly circulating around is the battery capacity of the device, which will reportedly be just 4,800 mAh, a downgrade from the 5,015 mAh one on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. That's not something I like to see; instead of finding a way to fit a larger battery in the foldable phone, Google is slimming down the battery's size. I am pessimistic that the chipset will be much more efficient to offset that battery capacity decrease.
Roughly a year ago, when I reviewed the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, one of my bigger gripes with the device was its unimpressive battery life. With my usage, it lasted a business day or so, which doesn't inspire confidence and ensured that I had to always be in the know of where the nearest outlet was.
That's vastly opposed to favorite foldables of mine like the Oppo Find N5 and Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, which carried larger batteries and way more efficient chips, making them much more reliable in comparison.
One of the thicker and heavier foldables I've used in the past couple of years, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold design will apparently return with the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. | Video by PhoneArena
A design that doesn't really inspire
Finally, the apparent lack of major design upgrades means we will likely be treated to the same fairly thick and heavy foldable that would look archaic to svelte new foldables like the Fold 8 Ultra and the diverse cast of Chinese foldables that continuously break into new thinness frontiers.
If you are someone who loves their phones hefty and large, more power to you, but I'm not like that, and lugging the Pixel 10 Pro Fold felt like handling an early 2000s workstation laptop after using a MacBook Pro for years. A total disappointment!
Sadly, it seems the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will continue to be a large foldable phone that doesn't really look the part in late 2026.
The only redeeming feature? The new color!
I'm a sucker for green, especially if it's anything different from the most generic green a five-year-old can imagine. While not terribly unique, the leaked new Pine finish that will likely be the hero color of the Pixel 11 does look appealing enough to me, especially paired with that champagne-colored frame.
As far as exterior looks go, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold might just be the best-looking foldable I've seen so far in 2026, but that might as well be its only redeeming feature, the only reason to be vaguely excited about it.
And I have to admit, that's a very vague and superficial reason to be excited about a device.
Final word: I want to love the Pixel lineup, but Google is actively working against that
Life was simpler when the Pixel 2 XL was the king of the hill. | Image by PhoneArena
I've been a fan of Google phones ever since the early Nexus days, and I would like to assure you I have no agenda against Google. One of my favorite phones of all time was actually the Pixel 2 XL, a hidden gem in its heyday.
I really wish to love Google's latest Pixel phones, but the company's weird decisions and lack of a forward approach at a time when every other manufacturer has pressed the pedal to the metal make its latest and upcoming Pixel phones feel like the worst possible time to be lackluster in terms of upgrades and innovation.
We don't need yet another reskinned Pixel 9 Pro Fold with the bare minimum of upgrades that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will likely be.
Another year, another unimpressive Google release.
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Peter is a skilled writer with over 13 years of experience at PhoneArena. He has published nearly 300 phone reviews and comparisons. This vast experience helps him navigate the mobile tech landscape with ease. He enjoys everything Android but relies on a MacBook Pro daily.
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