Google has cracked the foldable formula on its second try, beating Samsung at its own game, by developing the slightly chunky Pixel 9 Pro with a large 8-inch tablet screen on the inside.
Compared to previous products, from the chunky, passport-shaped Pixel Fold to Samsung's many elongated Galaxy Z Folds, the new Pixel's simple shape is so familiar and easy to use that it's hard to understand why it took so long for anyone to try it.
It may seem odd to praise a cutting-edge £1,749 (€1,899 / $1,799 / AU$2,699) gadget as the closest thing to a “normal” phone at half the price, but the shape and size of the internal screens of the various foldable phones has never been an issue – if anything, until now the closed shape has felt like a huge compromise.
Smaller rivals like the OnePlus Open and Honor's Magic V series come close, but the Pixel stands out from the crowd: it lets you go about your day-to-day life forgetting that it's just a regular, slightly heavy 6.3-inch phone, until you need that great-looking 8-inch tablet screen inside.
The tablet screen's boxy shape makes it great for using two apps side-by-side, but not great for widescreen video; it requires large black bars at the top and bottom of the screen; and the crease required to fold the screen down the middle is less noticeable than on previous versions, but that, along with the softer, less durable material, is a compromise common to all foldable displays. Otherwise, the display is crisp and smooth, rivaling the best on the market, with very high brightness, making it much easier to use outdoors than previous versions.
The Fold is equipped with the same Tensor G4 chip and 16GB of RAM as the Pixel 9 Pro, and performance is similar — it's snappy and has no trouble running two apps on the screen at once, but it can't match the pure performance of Android rivals powered by Qualcomm's top-end chips.
With two screens, battery life is more variable than your average phone, but the Fold will last about 40 hours if you charge it every other day. That's not quite Samsung's best, but it's eight hours longer than the original Pixel Fold. With a 45W USB-C charger (sold separately), a full charge takes about 97 minutes.
specification
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Outer screen: 6.3-inch FHD+ 120Hz OLED (422ppi)
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On screen: 8-inch 120Hz OLED (373ppi)
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Processor: Google Tensor G4
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Ram: 16 GB
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Storage: 256 or 512 GB
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operating system: Android 14
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camera: 48MP wide-angle, 10.5MP ultra-wide-angle, 10.8MP 5x telephoto, two 10MP selfie cameras
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Connectivity: 5G, e-sim, USB-C, wifi 7, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, UWB, GNSS
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water resistance: IPX8 (1.5 meters for 30 minutes)
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Folded dimensions: 155.2 x 77.1 x 10.5mm
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Unfolded dimensions: 155.2 x 150.2 x 5.1mm
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Weight: 257g
AI Multitasking
The Fold will ship with Android 14 and, like rival Samsung, will be offered with seven years of software support, including an upgrade to Android 15 in the fall.
All of the big new features on Pixel phones this year are AI-based. Gemini Live Experience is the highlight of the full conversation experience, allowing two-way discussions such as stage name suggestions or the best parkrun near you for your personal best. Gemini Advanced Subscription The phone comes with a one-year warranty.
On the Fold, the Gemini app can run alongside other apps, so you can have a full conversation with Google while doing other things, like generating images. Pixel Studio Search for tickets via app or AI Screenshot App.
Google Photos' Magic Editor lets you “reimagine” or completely rework photos, insert objects using text prompts, and is easy to use on the larger internal screen.
Google has taken a simpler approach to multitasking on tablet screens than its competitors, limiting you to only two apps running on the screen at once.
The new option to continue what you were doing in an app on the inner screen when you close the phone by swiping up on the outer screen works well. Split-screen app pairs can be saved as icons on your home screen for quick access, and apps can be resized to fit nicely on the tablet screen. Many apps, including some games, are already optimized for the larger screen too.
But many apps still open as a basic, stretched phone version that doesn't look or work as well on a large, square screen, and some require you to rotate the screen to see the tablet version — a common problem that Android has yet to solve.
camera
The new Fold has a similar camera setup to its predecessor: three cameras on the back, one 10MP selfie camera on the outer screen and another on the inner screen. Both selfie cameras are pretty good, but the main camera can be used for selfies and is much better, so it will be used primarily for video calling.
The main 48MP camera takes great photos in a variety of lighting conditions. The 10.5MP ultra-wide is stable, and the 10.8MP 5x telephoto is unmatched in a foldable. All three cameras are similar, but none are as good as Google's non-foldable 9 Pro phone; the 5x camera, for example, blurs details, especially in low-light conditions. But the Fold still takes the best photos of difficult shots, outperforming all other foldable phones.
There are also various modes available, including macro photography for taking close-up images, and the ability to shoot with the phone open or closed. New this year is the standard 9 Pro's “Add Me” group photo feature, along with a host of AI-assisted features.
The most interesting addition is the Made You Look feature, which displays different animated characters on the outer screen to grab your kids or pets' attention while you're taking a photo. It's a smart and useful feature that solves a real-life problem, but it's best used in bright light as it uses the outer screen's selfie camera.
Sustainability
Google hasn't released an expected battery lifespan, but it should last at least 80% of its original capacity for 500 full charge cycles. The phone is repairable. From Google and Third Party ShopGenuine replacement parts are also available From iFixitThe cost of repairing the internal screen will be over £550.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is made with at least 18% recycled materials, including recycled aluminum, plastic, rare earth elements and tin. The environmental impact of mobile phones In the report, Google Recycle your old devices It's free.
price
How much does the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold cost? £1,749 (1,899 euros/$1,799/2,699 Australian dollars).
By comparison, the Pixel 9 Pro costs £999The price of the Pixel 9 Pro XL £1,099The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is priced at £1,799, the OnePlus Open is priced at £1,499, and the Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is priced at £1,199.
verdict
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the best foldable phone/tablet hybrid design yet, and a big step up from its predecessor.
Its size and shape are so similar to a regular phone that messaging and other normal operations feel so natural when closed that it's easy to forget the Pixel is open, which isn't the case with all the competition.
Opening it up reveals a great looking internal screen that's very bright and easy to use outdoors, and its square shape makes it perfect for using two apps side by side, especially if you're using an AI app alongside a web browser or messaging app.
The fingerprint scanner in the power button and 2D face unlock are fast and accurate, the battery life is good and the phone feels snappy, and the camera, while not as good as Google's top-end models, is best in class.
The Pixel is still a bit heavier than ideal, and it suffers from the usual shortcomings of a foldable device, including a lack of dust resistance and a delicate internal screen that raises big question marks over its long-term durability. It might be wise to buy insurance against accidental damage.
It's also very expensive, but if you can stomach the price, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the book-style foldable smartphone you should buy.
Strong Points: It's a phone and tablet in one, the same size as a regular large phone when closed, a great tablet screen, great performance, solid battery life, best-in-class camera with 5x zoom, waterproof, packed with AI and Gemini Advanced, and includes a one-year warranty and seven years of software updates.
Cons: It's very expensive, much more fragile and expensive to repair than regular devices, it's not dustproof, it's heavier than a regular phone, its 2D facial recognition isn't as secure as Face ID, and it has fewer features for power users than its competitors.
