Creating something super thin while maximizing the display: Thus the Pixel Fold was born, according to Pixel Product Manager George Hwang, “our thinnest smartphone ever when unfolded and, when folded, the thinnest of its kind on the marketGoogle explains in an in-depth post about its first foldable announced at the I/O event in May.
Everything (or almost) is in the hinge friction fluid made of stainless steel, capable of assuming any position between 0 and 180°. When open it is “completely flat” (although in reality we have seen how Pixel Fold stays slightly bent for “ensure greater rigidity“, as explained by Google itself at the launch). The smartphone is so thin because when it is fully open, the hinge is “moved completely off the display“, unlike other devices where part of the hinge components remain under the panel increasing its thickness.
This solution was arrived at by analyzing whole boxes of hinges of all types, mechanical and non-mechanical: “we wanted to recreate the way you can hold and close a book with one hand and we wanted to replicate the way both sides come together perfectly when closed“explains Google designer Sangsoo Park.
Google then worked on the force needed to open and close the Pixel Fold: what was needed was a fluid movement, until “clap” than when the smartphone is completely folded. Equally important was defining the precise location of the magnets so that the smartphone could remain securely closed.
