Google I/O is lower than a month away, and whereas we’re more likely to hear all concerning the Pixel 8a, this fall’s Pixel 9 trio is unlikely to make an look. Or, based mostly on this week’s reviews concerning the next-gen Pixel Fold successor, possibly I ought to say quartet? The newest leaks on the Pixel Fold 2 have it pegged to be formally becoming a member of Google’s mainline collection because the “Pixel 9 Professional Fold,” and admittedly, I can not consider a worse solution to model your smartphones.
It is only a actually unhealthy identify
And it does not make quite a lot of sense with this yr’s redesign
Supply: Google
There are a number of completely different causes I feel this can be a unhealthy thought, however let me begin with the obvious: it is clunky as hell. You can make the argument that one thing like “Pixel 9 Fold” might assist make it clear to customers that this foldable is precisely just like the Pixel 9; simply, you already know, with a hinge. Nonetheless, Google’s choice to create a trio of ordinary smartphones this yr — doubtless referred to as the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Professional, and Pixel 9 Professional XL — complicates this matter immensely.
The Pixel Fold’s successor is more likely to be extra in keeping with the Professional-branded Pixel 9 fashions than the entry-level {hardware}, so, on some degree, it is sensible for Google to try to shoehorn in a single additional phrase. In follow, although, this is not going to inform you a lot about what to really anticipate from the telephone. Love them or hate them, foldables are a very completely different expertise to an ordinary smartphone, chasing after a extra prosperous demographic targeted fully on productiveness.
It seems like all foldables are doomed to observe within the footsteps of conventional smartphones
That mentioned, discovering the identify awkward to each write and converse is, little doubt, subjective. Even in case you discover no fault with the branding, although, I nonetheless see some main points going through this new identify. For one, second-gen Pixel Fold leaks have proven us a tool that appears nothing just like the Pixel 9. Satirically, all the pieces we have seen relating to Google’s mainline telephone trio this yr suggests it is adopting a Pixel Fold-esque digicam bar, but the Pixel Fold 2 appears set to drop it fully for a sq. digicam module that appears extra in keeping with the Qualcomm-powered Pixels of yesteryear.
If Google desires to merge its foldable with the Pixel 9, why is it leaning on a design language that’s so drastically completely different? Will we see upgrades to the digicam {hardware} to convey it in keeping with the Pixel 9 Professional XL? What’s it about these telephones that means they’re going to be remotely related other than their software program expertise and the chipset beneath the hood? If the Pixel Fold 2 is now designed to be a part of the Pixel 9 lineup, it ought to share a few of its visible DNA to make its placement within the lineup clearer.
4 Pixel 9s are too many to recollect
Common buyers are going to lose monitor
This whole debacle appears destined to trigger client confusion, too. Google is already increasing the Pixel 9 lineup to incorporate three telephones, and by rebranding the Pixel Fold 2 to be part of this collection, it is rather a lot for telephone buyers to maintain monitor of. Whereas I do not suppose anybody’s going to confuse the foldable for one thing else, I do suppose you are going to see lots of people calling this factor by random rearrangements of its phrase salad-esque branding. The phrases “Pixel 9 Professional Fold” are really easy to combine up, there is no probability common customers ever name it by its precise identify — even at this time, I commonly hear individuals say issues like “Pixel Professional 8.”
These rebrandings come at a time the place Google has an opportunity to make some main market share strikes. Apple is including RCS help this yr for improved messaging between iOS and Android, doubtless making it simpler for some iPhone customers to depart blue bubbles behind. Samsung’s smartphone design is caught in a rut, one it does not appear inquisitive about leaving any time quickly. There’s a probability for Google to seize an viewers in search of one thing new, each within the US and overseas. These new names aren’t serving to that aim.
Google is headed out of the price range flagship sport, however at what price?
Up till now, Google’s branding has been clear and exact — the Pixel 8 Professional is for energy customers, the Pixel 8 is for common customers, and the Pixel 8a shall be a extra reasonably priced solution to entry that very same lineup for much less upfront money. The Pixel 9’s naming scheme appears destined to confuse the very individuals Google is betting are prepared to leap ship, regardless of whether or not it is for the Pixel 9 or the Pixel 9 Professional Fold.
To place this one other means: Google is not Apple. If they cannot bear in mind the identify of the telephone once they stroll into their service retailer, they don’t seem to be going to purchase it.
Should you’re trying to rebrand, attempt once more
Simply do not make it too complicated
Look, the reality is, I do not know why Google is considering this type of clunky rebrand for its foldable. It might be to assist differentiate itself from Samsung, one thing we all know the corporate was involved with means again in 2022. But when that is the case, I am undecided tying the foldable to your mainline telephone collection is the best way to go. On the finish of the day, anybody inquisitive about a folding telephone goes to purchase a folding telephone, whether or not it is instantly linked to a mainline telephone collection or not. All Google’s doing right here is risking an entire lot of client confusion with a clunky identify, and I am undecided what the upside is.
Google’s first foldable improves on Samsung’s fashions in quite a lot of methods. For example, the change to a wider telephone means the entrance display feels rather more comfy in each day use, plus the inside show opens up completely for video. It does have some first-gen points on the {hardware} and software program facet of issues, however in order for you a Pixel telephone with the flexibleness of a pill, that is the one to get.
