Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

First Impressions

As unique as its predecessor was, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a welcome reboot that is so much nicer to use for extended periods. Both screens are (mostly) great, the build is thinner and lighter and everything just feels more high-end.

Introduction

Google has decided against releasing the Pixel Fold 2, with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold taking its place.

This is more than just a name change to bring the foldable in line with other models in the 9 Pro series, it’s a complete reboot of what a folding Pixel is.

I’ve spent the last few days with the £1749/$1799 Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and before I give my final scored verdict, here are my initial thoughts.

Is this the new foldable phone to beat? Or is the OnePlus Open still the king?

Design and Screens

• Large 8-inch internal screen
• Smaller 6.3-inch 20:9 screen on the outside
• Big redesign over the first Pixel foldable

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a big departure from the design of the original Pixel Fold. The squat shape has been ditched, replaced by a body not too dissimilar to the excellent OnePlus Open. 

As a result, it’s thinner, lighter and easier to hold and, even though I was charmed by the odd passport look of the original Fold, there’s no denying that the updated model is an improvement – even if it lacks those distinctive looks.

This is a very thin foldable. When it’s closed up, it is roughly the same thickness as an iPhone 15 Pro Max inside one of Apple’s cases, and throughout the few days of testing so far it has sat well in my pocket without feeling irritating. I used Google’s first Pixel Fold for several months and that was a heavy device, sagging down pockets and making itself very noticeable.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels rigid and sturdy too, with a hinge that actually lets the screen fold completely flat – something the original failed to do without some force.

Google has upgraded the screens across the whole Pixel 9 range, and these two displays are great. The outer 6.3-inch panel feels just like a standard, small Android phone and it’s basically the same size as the Pixel 9 Pro. The 20:9 aspect ratio is welcome too, avoiding that tall, narrow design that’s such a divisive feature of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold range.

With any iteration of the Samsung Z Fold, I would always shy away from using the outer display as I find it too restrictive. Apps look weird being all squashed, and the panel is too narrow for video or light games. 

Unless I am typing out a quick message or answering a call, I would always open up the Z Fold. By having a more traditional outer screen, my use cases with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold change completely. I open the phone less, and it just feels like I am using the Pixel 9 Pro – until I want to watch a YouTube video or play a game on the larger internal canvas.

That internal screen is big at 8 inches, with a 1-120Hz refresh rate and a sharp 2076 x 2152 resolution. It’s a very square panel, so you will get hefty black bars on either side of the 16:9 video but on the whole, it’s great. I much prefer opening up a Google Doc or Excel spreadsheet or replying to an email or Slack message on this screen than on a traditional phone display.

One big issue with the original Pixel Fold was the way apps would struggle with the internal aspect ratio, displaying incorrectly or sticking to their phone version and leaving loads of space wasted. With the tweaked aspect ratio, and an extra year of app development, the issue doesn’t seem as noticeable now.

Google has really upped the brightness over its first foldable entry, with this model able to hit 2700 nits in certain situations and a more sustained 1600 when playing back HDR video. The update makes a real and noticeable difference, both for general everyday use (outdoor visibility is excellent) and for video playback.

My biggest issue with the screen is the same issue I have had with countless foldables, including the Z Fold 6 – the crease. Google, like Samsung, hasn’t managed to follow the lead of Xiaomi and OnePlus in eradicating the visible fold that runs down the middle of the screen.

I’ve always found feelings towards the crease on foldable phones vary depending on personal preference. Some can simply look past it and move on, whereas others find it the single biggest issue with these kinds of phones. I’m certainly in the latter camp.

The crease here is annoying. It’s annoying when you run your finger across it and feel the bobble and it’s annoying when you’re looking at the screen at an angle and the sun reflects off it. The fact that the screen and its plastic covering pick up fingerprints and oily smudges far quicker than a standard glass panel is also annoying. I understand why the crease is there, but when others have managed to engineer it out, it’s hard to swallow when the 9 Pro Fold is so expensive.

Performance

• Tensor G4 chipset runs the show
• 16GB RAM, up to 512GB storage
• Feature-rich software

Aside from the design and some aspects of the camera, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is just another member of the Pixel 9 Pro family. It has the same Tensor G4 chipset as the Pixel 9 Pro XL, meaning it’s a capable performer that impresses in AI performance but not so much in GPU grunt, and the same 16GB RAM.

In our Pixel 9 Pro XL review, we said “I think the gap has widened even further with the Snapdragon competition in benchmark testing, with results more in line with last year’s Tensor G3 than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped competition. Does it really matter though? I’d argue not. In real-world use, the Pixel 9 Pro XL feels extremely quick and responsive”.

While I haven’t spent long enough with the phone yet to fully render a verdict on the performance, a lot of what Lewis said above matches my feelings towards the 9 Pro Fold.

In benchmarking tests, it comes a clear second to phones running Qualcomm’s latest silicon, and the A17 Pro chipset inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max is not far off doubling the multi-core test results in Geekbench. The 9 Pro Fold, like the Pixel 9 Pro XL, gets hot gaming even during short bouts of basic titles. In more graphically intensive titles, a 20-minute round of gaming can leave the metal sides feeling noticeably warm. This seems to have a detrimental effect on the battery life too, though I will need to use the phone for a little longer to judge battery life fully.

Where performance is snappy is during AI tasks. The Pixel Studio image generator can whip up images in a few seconds, and the various AI photo editing tricks finish up without any long waits.

I’ll delve more into the software, notably the Gemini Live assistant and the other AI skills, in the full review. Or you can read our Google Pixel 9 XL Pro review for an in-depth look at all of these aspects. Google still promises seven years of updates, which is welcome.

The 4650mAh battery is large, albeit smaller than the cell inside the original Pixel Fold, and throughout my initial testing, it has been getting through the day – though only just. Coming from the Pixel 9 Pro XL where I was getting well into day two – even with heavy use – this is a little disappointing to see, but not uncommon for foldables.

Camera

• Not the same array as the Pixel 9 Pro
• Duo of 10MP selfie cameras
• Excellent image processing

The cameras on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold aren’t the same as the ones on the other two 9 Pro series phones. Space remains tight on such a thin device, and that’s clearly led to sacrifices having to be made.

There’s a main 48-megapixel f/1.7 camera on the back, but the ultrawide and telephoto zoom cameras are 10.5MP and 10.8MP, respectively, putting them below the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. 

In my testing (which I stress is still in its early stages), the biggest loss is the zoom quality where the lower megapixel sensor has to rely on AI more to keep shots detailed. Still, all three cameras are very capable – and Google’s fantastic image processing ensures detail is sharp and contrast is punchy.

There are two 10MP selfie cameras (one on the inside, one on the cover screen) both of which have the same specs, so you can use them both depending on the scenario without sacrificing quality.

Early Verdict

I was really taken with the design of the Google Pixel Fold, and was slightly irked at first that that blueprint had been ditched for something more akin to the OnePlus Open. 

After a few days of use, it all makes sense. As unique as its predecessor was, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a welcome reboot that is so much nicer to use for extended periods. Both screens are (mostly) great, the build is thinner and lighter and everything just feels more high-end.

Issues remain, not least with the obvious screen crease and inefficient chipset, but there’s every chance this could be the best foldable phone we’ve tested this year.