Foldable phones are a tantalizing idea, but they have yet to really take off. Durability issues, prices reaching well above $1,600, and the idea that you’re getting something different and unproven means they still feel a bit like a gamble. For its second ever folding phone, announced today and seen by yours truly behind closed doors beforehand, Google’s fancy new strategy is…a new name.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold succeeds the Pixel Fold, presenting itself more as another version of the Pixel 9 Pro (also announced today) than as its own product line. This makes sense to a degree—the phones share the same processor and memory—but much of the rest of the experience is entirely different.
Bigger screens
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
Compared to the other Pixel 9 Pro phones, the 9 Pro Fold is both worse and better than your other options. The external screen is 6.3 inches and has a resolution and brightness more akin to the base Pixel 9 than the other Pro models, but you’re only using that when the phone is closed.
Opening the 9 Pro Fold unveils an luxurious 8-inch mini tablet, this time with greater resolution than any other Pixel 9 model. Brightness is still lower than other options, even the external screen or base Pixel 9’s, but there’s no denying that extra screen space.
That goes double when you take into account last year’s Pixel Fold specs, which had the external screen at 5.8 inches and the internal screen at 7.6 inches, with lower resolution and brightness across the board.
How’s the hinge?
The original Pixel Fold was marred by news of broken inner screens just after launch, meaning this year’s phone has plenty of scrutiny.
While I can’t speak to its long-term durability, I can say that it was easy for me to operate when I went hands-on with it, although it’s best to open and close it with two hands. It certainly feels sturdy, and actually has a bit of a snap to it, but time will tell whether it actually is.
What I feel confident saying is how invisible the crease was. Earlier folding phones were plagued by a noticeable crease down the middle, something I’d be hard-pressed to point out on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Even at an angle, this felt more like a proper tablet than a Nintendo DS, if you catch my drift, which should make big-screen experiences much less distracting.
How thick is it?
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
What remained distracting was the phone’s thickness in the pocket, something that’s pretty unavoidable in clamshell devices. Google says it’s barely any thicker than a non-folding Pixel 9 Pro, but it felt much chunkier in practice.
I can’t say for sure why. On paper, the Pixel 9 Pro is 0.3 inches thick while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is 0.4 inches thick when folded (and actually a slightly thinner 0.2 inches thick when unfolded). In practice, it feels like a king size candy bar sitting next to a credit card.
Perhaps the difference was that some demo units had cases and some didn’t. Maybe I’m just having a “princess and the pea” moment with that extra 0.1 inches. It’s certainly manageable, but it still doesn’t feel quite portable enough. At any rate, it is an improvement, as last year’s Pixel 9 Fold was 0.5 inches when folded (and an identical 0.2 inches when unfolded).
How does it improve on the Pixel 9 Pro?
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
By calling this the Pixel 9 Pro Fold instead of the Pixel Fold 2, Google’s inviting a clear comparison to its other Pixel 9 Pro models, indicating that the Pixel Fold is ready to play with the big boys. So what does it bring to the field? The same thing the Pixel Fold did—extra screen space.
Its 8-inch screen is the “largest ever display on a phone,” Google says, which is true enough for now. With that, it can display up to four apps at once, and supports YouTube multiview for up to four livestreams at once. Some games, like Asphalt 6 and Disney Speedstorm, also take full advantage of the 9 Pro Fold’s screen for extra space, as do certain Pixel exclusive apps like the new Pixel Studio AI image generation suite.
But there are also some neat tricks you can do with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold thanks to its combination of external and internal screen options. For instance, there’s a new “Made You Look” mode that displays animated characters on the external screen while shooting a picture, which should help children to look at the rear camera lens.
You can also partially unfold the phone to prop it up like a book or laptop, which could be useful if you’re viewing content hands-free, although the camera bump does make the latter a little difficult. A kickstand would be a great addition for Google’s next foldable.
How is it worse than a regular Pixel 9 Pro?
Having extra screen space when you need it is great, but it does introduce a few compromises to the unfolded experience.
Aside from the aforementioned hit to resolution and brightness, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s cameras are arguably the weakest of the Pixel 9 line. It still boasts a 48 MP main camera, but its ultrawide camera is 10.5 MP, lower than even the base Pixel 9’s. It does have a telephoto camera, which the base Pixel 9 doesn’t, but at 10.8 MP, it’s much weaker than the Pixel 9 Pro’s telephoto.
Its selfie and inner cameras are also the weakest of the bunch, at 10 MP versus the 10.5 MP of the base Pixel 9 and the 42 MP of the other Pixel 9 Pros. All of this is likely to save on thickness, but don’t get this phone if photo fidelity is important to you.
Battery life takes a bit of a hit, too, with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold offering less battery life than any other Pixel 9 despite the larger screen. That’s a shame, because its tablet-like qualities makes it better for the kind of sit-down, long-session apps that tend to drain battery most.
There’s also a bit of an elephant in the room, in that most apps don’t yet expect users to have a foldable phone. While Google-curated experiences will work fine regardless of your mode, expect big black bars to either side when using certain apps while unfolded. You might have more screen space, but it’s a case-by-case basis whether you’ll actually get to use it. TikTok only recently added support for foldables.
Oh, and there are fewer color options, as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is only available in black and white.
How to Buy the Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt
There’s certainly more to consider when buying a Pixel 9 Pro Fold versus a standard Pixel 9 Pro, but if you’re ready to take the plunge, pre-orders are available now starting at a whopping $1,799 (with the phone shipping on September 4). Yes, Google still hasn’t found a way to knock that price down.
Aside from its phones, Google also today announced upgrades to the Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds Pro, which you can read about here.
