The unveiling of the Google Pixel 10 series is less than a week away now, and like most other Google device launches, the leaky faucet is now in full hose mode. All the secrets Google is likely trying to hold close to its proverbial chest are being pried away and revealed ahead of the announcement, and that includes one big surprise for the company’s third-generation foldable: a new hinge.
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But this isn’t just any normal folding phone hinge, if we can even call that normal. It’s rumored to be a fully dust-resistant hinge, something the industry at large has struggled to figure out. We first saw this leak appear in late June, noting that the upcoming Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold would be IP68 water and dust-resistant, marking a first for any foldable phone.
This comes on the heels of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7’s release, which didn’t move the needle for dust resistance at all, packing in the same IP48 rating as the Fold 6. For note, the 4 in the IP48 rating means that the device is dust resistant down to 1mm particles, which is good enough for most things, as JerryRigEverything’s video shows (timestamp 6 minutes).
But I expected the first fully dust-resistant hinge to come from the Honor Magic V5, or a company like Oppo or Vivo. Definitely not Google, as the company is rarely among the hardware engineering elite. After all, the Pixel 9 unabashedly looked like an iPhone, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold hardly stood out among a crowd of far more unique foldable phones.
What’s in a foldable hinge
Nearly every foldable phone on the market uses a different kind of hinge. While all early foldables used gears, most recent foldable phones have switched to a gearless system. While gears make it easy to lock the hinge in place, they also provide a point that allows dust to enter or, at the very least, a point of failure if dust were to ever get inside the hinge.
Since the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung has been using gearless hinges. They’re interlocking metal parts that slide together and stay open via cleverly designed angles. You can see them in action in JerryRigEverything’s Z Fold 4 video (timestamp 9 minutes), and Google has been using gearless hinges in its Pixel Fold phones for the last two years, as well.
But Pixels aren’t historically known for their durability or long-term use. From overheating processors to problems with warranty claims and even parts falling off, Google doesn’t exactly have a great name in this area. Again, as JerryRigEverything’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold video (timestamp 6 minutes) shows, Google has work to do on durability when compared to the competition.
So, how in the world is it that Google will supposedly be the one with the first dustproof hinge? The “6” in that rumored IP68 rating means the hinge is completely sealed off from dust of any type or size, which means the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s hinge is going to be as airtight as the International Space Station.
Hyperbole aside, that takes a lot of bespoke engineering hours to accomplish and, again, is something that not even Huawei, Honor, Vivo, Oppo, or Samsung have been able to accomplish with all the money they’ve dumped into foldable phone R&D over the years. I’m not saying it’s out of the realm of possibility at all, but I certainly didn’t expect it from Google’s Pixel engineering team, which is only on its third generation foldable product.
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold durability is just part of the picture
But let’s be fair to Google, it looks like the Pixel 10 is going to bring Google into an entirely new realm of engineering excellence. The new Tensor G5 processor rumored to be inside the Pixel 10 is now supposedly made by TSMC, the Taiwanese manufacturing giant that makes the best chips in the world.
Previously, Google used Samsung Semiconductor for all its Tensor chips, the same company that makes Exynos chips, and that should tell you everything you need to know.
Google’s tease of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold doesn’t exactly reveal much about its hinge, but it does focus on the fact that this is a folding phone and seems to suggest that something new and exciting is happening with its folding nature.
If Google is able to deliver a foldable phone with IP68 ingress protection, it’ll cement the idea that the Pixel 10 series is on another plane of existence from the rest of the Pixel series, and that’s good for Google’s Pixel division all around.
For more news and information on Google’s upcoming phones, check out our Ultimate Guide.
