One of the biggest complaints with foldable phones is the price tag. These are quite expensive, even with Samsung dropping the price of its foldable phone from about $2,000 down to $1,800 with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Fold 4.
Now that the Pixel Fold has been officially unveiled, it's given us a chance to try and reflect on Google's decision to "match the market rate" with its first foldable phone. With that in mind, we decided to have a bit of fun and rounded up a few things that you can buy for the price of the Pixel Fold.
1,400 Snickers bars
Are you the type of person who wants to reach for a candy bar when you need a little pick-me-up? Well I am, and instead of spending $1,800 on the Pixel Fold, you can get 1,400 Snickers bars. This will give you a Snickers bar to enjoy and devour every day for the next five years, and then some.
A 2001 Acura TL
Not everyone can (or wants) to jump on the EV hype train, and you don't have to thanks to a dealership in Utah. If you're willing to make the trek, you'll be able to grab a 2001 Acura TL with a CarFax listing that claims it has never been in an accident! The mileage is a bit high, as there are over 225K miles on the odometer, but what more could you ask for from a car that costs as much as a phone?
An entire Chromebook-powered home desk setup
Besides my obsession with all different kinds of tech, I'm also secretly obsessed with desk setups and "battle stations." But tying the Pixel Fold's steep price back into the Android Central-sphere, you could spend the same amount of money and build out your own home office setup.
And making things even better is the center of the setup, as our pick for the best Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook Spin 714, is powering it all. Listed below is everything you'll need to create the ultimate Chromebook home office:
- Acer Chromebook Spin 714 - $529
- LG UltraFine Display Ergo 4K - $547
- Logitech K580 Slim - $44
- Logitech M720 Triathlon - $34
- Baseus 17-in-1 USB C Docking Station - $120
- FLEXISPOT Standing Desk - $170
- FLEXISPOT OC3B Ergonomic Executive Mesh Office Chair - $180
- Topo Comfort Mat by Ergodriven - $99
- Logitech Z207 Speakers - $52
- Total: $1,775
As an aside, it absolutely boggled my mind that I was able to get everything listed for just under the $1,800 price point. And that's even including a comfort mat for you stand on at your standing desk.
3 Steam Decks complete with 1TB microSD cards and Steam Gift cards
While the Steam Deck falls more under the purview of our sister site, Windows Central, I'm a huge fan of what Valve has done and have owned one since it was released. On one hand, the Steam Deck makes it possible to play so many great Steam games, but it can also act as an emulator for retro games, a portable Linux computer, and so much more. You can even go so far as to install Windows on a microSD card, giving you even more ways to play different games.
A trio of Pixel 7as each with their own set of Pixel Buds
It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the Pixel 7a is being overshadowed by the Pixel Fold despite offering such an incredible value. Well, if you want to put your $1,800 to work, you can give a Pixel 7a to three different people, along with giving them some Pixel Buds A-Series to go with it.
A PS5, a PSVR 2, and probably all the best PSVR 2 and best PS5 games
I enjoy dabbling in VR every once in a while, and I'll have more on my AR experiences later. But as Nick Sutrich kindly pointed out when I asked for suggestions, you can grab the PS5, a bunch of the best PS5 games, and dive into the world of the PSVR 2 with the best PSVR 2 games, all for the same price as a single Pixel Fold. In our review, Michael Hicks gave the PSVR 2 a 4.5/5 star rating stating "Unlike the PSVR, the PSVR 2 is a more polished next-gen device with proper tracking, significantly improved lenses, and other modern-day upgrades like eye tracking."
An incredibly-overpriced desktop GPU
Gone are the days when you could enjoy PC gaming without needing to take out a loan just to be able to get a "good" one. Graphics cards continue to skyrocket in price, and while crypto is still part of the reason, you can thank the world of AI such as Google Bard and ChatGPT for increasing prices.
This brings us to the latest NVIDIA GPU with the GeForce RTX 4090, specifically the ASUS TUF OC Edition RTX 4090, priced at an eye-watering $1,800. If you already have a great PC and just need a GPU upgrade, look elsewhere and just save yourself some money for more RGB or a new keyboard.
The best smartphone and laptop combination
This one is obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I just couldn't resist. There's an entire market of people who advocate for smaller phones, but then when they are actually released, people opt for something different. Such is the case with the iPhone 13 mini, as Apple went a different route, ditching the "mini" and going with the iPhone 14 Plus in 2022. But thanks to Apple's excellent track record for updating devices, you can grab an Amazon "Renewed" iPhone 13 mini at quite a substantial discount.
You might have thought that I would include an Apple Watch here, but the reality is that Apple's M2-powered MacBook Air is simply incredible. Even the base model, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage blows a lot of the competition out of the water. You'll still need to live the "dongle life," but the M2 MacBook Air is perfect for a lot of people.
Last but not least, the Galaxy Z Fold 4
If you don't want to take a chance on a first-generation product from Google, and we would definitely understand why. But if you still want a foldable phone, all you need to do is look at the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Or, you could wait a little bit longer until the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is announced, which might be happening sometime in July, as opposed to August.
Even with the steep price, we're excited
Ever since foldable phones have risen in popularity, there have been quite a few intriguing and downright impressive options to choose from. The problem has been, at least for some, that the alternatives to the Galaxy Z Fold 4 are only available in specific regions that don't include the U.S.
Google's entry into the foldable market could pay huge dividends, even with the saturation that Samsung has achieved. There's been a major shift in the Pixel lineup over the past two years, and the Pixel Fold is the natural evolution of the future of smartphones.
