We may earn compensation from reviewed products. Learn about our editorial policies.
-
Camera9
-
Display8
-
Design8
-
Performance9
-
Value for money8
I get called an Apple fanboy, often, and while that’s abundantly true, I’m also a big-time Google Pixel fanboy.
I have been since my first experience with the Pixel 4a. Ever since I laid my hands on that brilliant, low-cost smartphone, I’ve been captivated by the Pixel’s ability to worm its way immediately into your heart. Whether it’s the design, camera system, or clean Android experience – or a combination of all that stuff – I always miss the latest Pixel device when I have to move onto a new review unit.
It’s been over a year since the first Pixel foldable was released, and we now have its successor, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Yes, it’s a mouthful (why not just ‘Pixel Fold 2’, eh?!) but it’s also far more than just an iterative update.
This is my first impressions review of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Specs and pricing
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is powered by the Tensor G4 chip and comes with one RAM option – 16GB. Storage starts at 256GB and tops out at 512GB (nope, there’s no 1TB option, I’m afraid). Price-wise, you’ll pay £1,749 / $1,799 and £1,869 / $1,919, respectively.
The displays have received a considerable upgrade, with the 160mm Actua cover display considerably taller than the previous version and sporting a whopping 2,700 nits of peak brightness. The internal display is just as bright and has also grown – this time to 204mm. The battery has shrunk to 4,650mAh, although Google quotes the same 24+ hour battery life, and it retains fast charging and wireless charging support.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has also received numerous design upgrades, with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 all around, and a smaller steel hinge with a new polished finish. Water resistance remains unchanged at IPX8, but the camera bump has been completely redesigned and freed from the scratch-tastic shiny version that marred the original Pixel Fold.
Pixel Fold vs Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Place the Pixel 9 Pro Fold against its forefather and it isn’t just the naming convention that has changed. This is a completely different-looking device. To be blunt, it’s everything the original Pixel Fold should have been.
One of the most telling aspects of this is the fact that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold opens completely flat, just like the Galaxy Z Fold6 and just about every other flagship foldable on the market. That will silence a lot of the critics, even if the continued presence of relatively chunky bezels around the internal display may not (although they are smaller, in fairness).
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels completely different in the hand, too. It’s much taller than the device it replaces, and feels a lot thinner, and a lot less chunky. Imagine a chiselled, honed, and finely tuned version of the Pixel Fold – that’s what Google has managed to achieve with the new version. And I can’t thank them enough for getting rid of the camera housing material that immediately weathered on the Pixel Fold.
The internal display is noticeably bigger, too. The only downside is the fact the selfie camera has been moved from the bezel to the display itself, and Google has opted not to make it a semi-hidden version like the one on the Z Fold6.
Beyond the design differences, we head into more mundane territory. The chip is indeed two generations on from the Pixel Fold, and we now have 16GB of RAM versus 12GB. The camera system remains largely unchanged (bar a few tweaks to the ultrawide, telephoto and selfies), but it should be noted that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has access to a lot of the new AI features which don’t appear to have made their way to the Pixel Fold.
Design and display
What more can I say about the design of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold?
Well, there are two colours to choose from – Porcelain and Obsidian (I opted for the latter, but the former is lovely in person, too). The crease is also slightly less intrusive than before; it sits somewhere between the Z Fold6 and the Honor Magic V3 in terms of acceptability.
I much prefer the matte finish Google has opted for this time (bar the hinge), and although the power button is still in the wrong place (I’d much rather they followed every other Android manufacturer and placed it below the volume rocker) everything feels tight as a drum and looks satisfyingly premium.
Just like the Pixel Fold, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels like an expensive device as soon as you unearth it from the packaging. This first impression is only amplified when you first experience that glorious and near-perfectly sized cover display, and the volume turns up another notch when you dig into the colossal internal display. It’s an extremely impressive smartphone.
I like that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold looks distinctive from the front, too. Google’s decision to retain a wider metal bezel near the hinge is a smart one and immediately sets the Pixel 9 Pro Fold out from the competition.
Performance and battery life
If you’ve only just discovered me, I should highlight that I don’t do benchmarking of any kind – it bores me to tears. I can, therefore, only confirm one thing about the performance of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold: it ‘slaps’, as the kids say, during everyday use.
With that out of the way, I will say once again that the absence of a higher storage tier beyond 512GB is both a shame and rather odd, considering you can get that option on the regular Pixel 9 Pro.
OS-wise, the Pixel 9 Pro offers an experience that is undoubtedly tuned towards those who are relatively new to the foldable smartphone game. You can ‘only’ run two apps side-by-side on the big screen and there are still a few apps that fail to make the best use of that display, despite the opposite being true on competing devices. The latter is irritating at times, but the former really doesn’t bother me; I love the no-frills foldable productivity offered by the Pixel.
As for battery life, I haven’t had the device long enough to provide a meaningful judgement beyond the fact that it easily keeps going for an entire day. I’ll report back after I’ve had more hands-on time with it.
Camera
Let’s quickly recap the rear camera spec for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold:
- 48 MP Quad PD wide camera
- 10.5 MP Dual PD Ultrawide camera
- 10.8 MP Dual PD telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom
As noted earlier, that’s largely the same as what we had on the original Pixel Fold, but I don’t care.
Once again, if we’ve only just met, I should confirm that I still love Pixel photography over any other smartphone camera system.
No matter the device or version of Android, every Pixel device I’ve tested thus far produces photos I adore. And the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is no different.
The crowning glory for Google, however, is the decision to include the 5x optical telephoto lens on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It’s one of the biggest misses on the Z Fold6 and similarly absent on the Honor Magic V3.
Once you start snapping with that 5X optical, you’ll never want to switch back. Despite that, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold excels across the optical zoom range and has done nothing to change my mind about Pixel photography.
Video performance is what Pixel video performance has always been – very usable but just a notch below the iPhone. And, no, unlike its ‘normal’ siblings, there’s no 8K option on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold for some reason. But, then, the need to lean on the cloud-based Video Boost system to upscale 4K video on those other devices doesn’t make this much of a miss.
Conclusion
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a device that’s going to appeal mainly to Google fans. This is the same for most foldable devices; given their price, you need to really want one to part with your hard-earned.
There’s a significant premium required for the Fold over the regular 9 Pro XL, but you get a lot for the extra money. Two additional displays and an entirely different user experience more than account for that premium, in my opinion.
The work Google has put into refining its foldable should be commended in a world of tepid smartphone upgrades. It looks as though they’ve listened to the criticism leveled at the Pixel Fold, and acted without cutting any corners. That’s refreshing.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold isn’t the best foldable out there, but it is still one of the most likeable and easiest to live with – making it very easy to recommend.
Before you go
