Spending almost $2,000 on a phone, especially a first generation version, brings me quite a bit of anxiety, even as someone who has been in the industry for well over a decade and loves to dive into the newest of new. That is just an enormous amount of cash. Dropping $1,000 on a phone was already a big deal, but now we are almost doubling that to get into foldables, like Google’s new Pixel Fold.
Anxiety considered, it sure looks like many of you did not hesitate to pre-order the first foldable made by Google. I was scared to, and didn’t, but the more and more I look at the device, I’m tempted to. As that temptation has grown, I keep heading over to the Google Store to see if my fingers have the courage to pull the trigger. When I stopped through there this week to put my wallet through another stress test, I noticed that you really can’t pre-order anymore and my chances of tossing away $1,800 are pretty much gone for now.
Pre-orders for the Pixel Fold have been open since Google I/O a couple of weeks ago and the earliest you can get an unlocked model in Obsidian without a carrier in-between is well into July. The 256GB model has an estimated delivery period of July 7 – July 13. If you were to try and buy the 512GB Obsidian version, the dates are now showing as August 23 to August 31 (!). The Porcelain model, which only comes with 256GB storage, is completely out of stock and there is a waitlist.
Should you go the Google Fi route, you’ll get the same availability through the Google Store. If you went through the Google Fi store, you may have more luck. They aren’t currently showing estimates for delivery as far as I can tell. However, they also only have the Obsidian model and may be holding some for Fi customers. At this time, no one else is selling the Pixel Fold.
Speaking of carriers, they will soon open their own pre-orders. We know for sure that Verizon will start taking them on June 20, with plans to ship by June 27 to match Google’s release date. For AT&T and T-Mobile, they have both committed to selling the device at some point in the summer.
So, if you wanted an unlocked Pixel Fold directly from Google, you are out of luck unless you don’t mind waiting for a while. Your best bet now to have a Fold around launch day is going to be through a carrier.
Y’all got money to spend, eh?