For a lot of mobile tech enthusiasts (and especially hardcore Android fans) out there, the most exciting product announcements of 2025 might already be in the rearview mirror. If you had asked me at the very beginning of the year, I’d have probably expected to be in a similar position by now, as I was also mainly looking forward to Samsung’s two big 2025 Unpacked events.
But with the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition 7 globally unveiled at last, my excitement… for a totally different device (or four) is unexpectedly growing. That’s right, I am now looking forward with (cautious) delight to Google’s Pixel 10 series launch next month for a couple of key reasons.
The prices may be just right… after all
While a little optimism never hurt anyone (or anything), too much of it can definitely set unrealistic expectations for an unannounced family of high-end handsets and thus substantially reduce the chances of said handsets ever achieving commercial success.
So, yes, I may have hoped for a few seconds a couple of months ago that at least one member of the Pixel 10 lineup would be cheaper than its Pixel 9 series counterpart, but realistically, the best case scenario was always one with unchanged price points across the board.
The “vanilla” Pixel 10? If it retains the Pixel 9‘s base $799 pricing (as has been rumored for several months now), its value proposition might prove unrivaled hard to rival, especially when Samsung is likely to come dangerously close to that mark with a potentially underwhelming Galaxy S25 FE soon.
It’s as if Samsung is intentionally trying to make Google look good, which brings me to quite possibly the search giant’s biggest mobile hardware achievement this year.
Does the Pixel 10 Pro Fold sound too good to be true to anyone else?
Of course, then you’ve got the likes of the Honor Magic V5, which packs a truly ginormous (by any standards) 6,100mAh battery in China, but obviously, that’s a different (regional) story. In the (inexplicable) absence of a OnePlus Open 2, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold could well become a US battery life champion, which I know is something we’ve all wished for at least once in the last couple of years.
And mind you, while this bad boy certainly doesn’t look as thin and as stylish as the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in those leaked renders from a while back, its design and overall thickness seem very close to what the Pixel 9 Pro Fold currently offers. That means Google might be able to considerably boost the battery size and slightly expand the cover screen real estate without adding much bulk, which sounds like an amazing engineering feat. Maybe even more amazing (at least in my book) than Samsung making the Z Fold 7 4.2mm thin in unfolded form.
Oh, and let’s not forget that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has also been expected for a little while to offer IP68 water and dust resistance, thus beating the (theoretical) durability of all its key US rivals. That’s yet another major detail that’s practically etched in stone after the latest report on this device, as well as another big reason why I’m more excited than ever for Google’s August product launch event. Who’s with me?
