- Great external display
- Good primary camera
- Solid battery life
- Expensive
- Underpowered processor
- Inconsistent AI features
Five years into the foldable journey, we keep seeing devices plagued by the same problems. There are a lot of things the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold does well, but it can't escape the universal compromise of tablet-style foldable: they're very expensive while being less capable than cheaper alternatives.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold mostly matches or bests what Samsung has been doing in the space, which is great. More competition in foldables is a good thing! But at the same time, it's unlikely to convince non-believers that a foldable is the right device for them.
There's an interesting caveat to this, however. While the Pixel 9 Pro Fold retails for $2,699, we've seen telcos cut the price by as much as $800 during pre-orders. If you're reading this early, some of these deals might still be available. Either way, we're likely to see these kinds of price drops in the future, and at under $2,000, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold becomes a lot more compelling.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold 256GB Plans
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Telstra
$74 Basic Upfront Mobile Plan
$148.97/mth
Min. cost $2,772.92
Link not supplied
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Form factor x-factor
Let's start with what the Pixel 9 Pro Fold gets right, first, however. Google has almost nailed the form factor. Instead of a long, tall external display like on Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6, you get a most conventional 6.3-inch display. This makes using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold almost just like any other phone when it's shut.
I say almost because the phone has chunky bezels and a significant amount of heft to it. While the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's external display is 6.3-inch, the phone's footprint almost matches the iPhone 15 Pro Max thanks to the bezels. And weighing in at 257g, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is much heavier than your typical phone. It's also a bit heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which Samsung trimmed down to 239g this year.
When unfolded, you get an 8-inch display, which is just that little bit bigger than the 7.6-inch display on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Unsurprisingly, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is really good at doing tablet things when unfolded - watching videos, reading, playing games. I found it a good size for looking up guitar tabs too. Google hasn't really done anything novel here, but the implementation works.
My main complaint is that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold internal display has a much more prominent crease than we've seen on foldable phones from OPPO and Motorola. It's not the end of the world, but I'd still prefer a display with less crease than more - especially when other manufacturers have solved the problem.
All in all, I'd say the Pixel 9 Pro Fold design is more practical than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but not quite as sleek. Samsung's latest is just that little cleaner. It also benefits from S Pen support, while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold can't be used with a stylus.
It's also worth noting the cover display on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn't have a dynamic refresh rate. It can still hit 120Hz for silky smooth scrolling, but it can't drop below 60Hz to conserve battery. I didn't have battery life issues, and this isn't something that should impact most people, but it is worth calling out on a device this expensive. Especially when the Galaxy Z Fold 6's external display has it.
Just like Samsung's foldables, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is rated IPX8 for water resistance.
A step-down, but only sometimes
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's camera is its main advantage against the Galaxy Z Fold 6. While it's a step down from what you get on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has the best camera we've seen on a foldable so far.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's primary camera gets surprisingly close to the Pixel 9 Pro XL in most cases. You might notice some lack of detail in the background or a bit more camera grain if you're pixel-peeping, but otherwise, the results are genuinely better than I expected. The exception to this is very dark environments, where the Pixel 9 Pro Fold simply fails to keep up.
Here's a shot from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold:
And the same shot from the Pixel 9 Pro XL:
The shot from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is noticeably softer, and in some cases, blurrier.
These issues are magnified when it comes to the secondary lenses. You'll get decent photos with good lighting, but shooting at night reveals a stark performance gap. If you've got enough ambient lights, shots only look a little worse. In darker environments, the resulting images can end up unusable.
Here's an ultra-wide shot from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold:
And the same image from the Pixel 9 Pro XL:
In the Pixel 9 Pro Fold image, the sky is grainy and the powerlines disappear into the background.
While it's disappointing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold cameras don't match what you get from a mainline Pixel 9, at least the delta between the primary lenses isn't as large as you might expect.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera samples
Check out these camera samples taken on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Click or tap on any photo to see a larger version.
The question of power
As with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, pure horsepower is a bit of an issue with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google's new Tensor G4 chipset is a fairly modest upgrade over last year, with headline figures claiming "20% faster web browsing" and "17% faster app launching". This is par for the course when it comes to Tensor chips. Google's go-to line has been its chipsets are optimised for AI features rather than "speeds and feeds".
That's all well and good, but only to a certain extent. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has been as snappy as I'd expect for a flagship phone, and is more than capable of handling demanding video games. At the same time, Google's approach to its chipsets makes it feel like it's getting lapped by what the best phones from Apple and Samsung are capable of. You're not getting advanced features like ray tracing here, for example, which both Apple and Samsung have made a big deal about in their most releases.
The way a phone renders light in games might be a niche feature, but it's an example of how Google isn't pushing its mobile hardware in the way the competition is. That's disappointing for two reasons. The first is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's $2,699 asking price. A phone this expensive shouldn't compromise on power. Secondly, gaming is an ideal use for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's larger internal display. It's the kind of screen where you'd want your games to look as nice as possible.
On the plus side, the Pixel 9 Pro XL's battery is as good as you can expect from a foldable. I was able to achieve between five and six hours of screen time per charge, which is about the same as the Galaxy Z Fold 6. That's a full day of moderate usage with a comfortable buffer.
I used the external display around 75% of the time, so I'd expect a slightly shorter battery life if you're using the internal display more. Conversely, I solely tested using 5G. If you're using WiFi most of the time, expect a little more life per charge.
One little oddity worth pointing out is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has mmWave 5G support, which will likely make it the only phone with the tech to be released in Australia. While this is far from essential - there's almost no mmWave coverage - it's kinda neat.
Slick software, with exceptions
Given Google also makes Android, it shouldn't be too surprising that the software experience om the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is pretty seamless for the most part. The standard foldable things are ticked off - if you’ve got software open when the phone is closed, it will be right there when you unfold it, and vice versa if you're closing the phone.
You can run two apps side-by-side when the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is unfolded, which works well enough too. It's not quite as ambitious as what Samsung and OPPO have allowed, but two apps simultaneously should suit all but the most rabid multi-taskers.
Unsurprisingly, there are a few quirks too. Some are likely to be fixed pretty quickly, like the fact I couldn't add a new account to Gmail unless the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was shut. Others are more so existential. Android tablet apps have a tendency to be pretty mid, and while there have been improvements, many still aren't optimised for larger displays.
Facebook looks especially silly running on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's internal screen, for example. That's been the issue with Facebook on other foldables too, and isn't likely going to be something that changes any time soon. At the very least, those work as you'd expect on the external display, so you can always save the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's large screen for things that warrant it.
As with the rest of the Pixel 9 family, Google is promising seven years of major operating system upgrades, security updates, and feature drops for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. That's a best-in-class promise, but one that Samsung recently matched with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6.
And similarly, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold gets the whole suite of AI features found in the other Pixel 9 devices. Gemini replaces Google Assistant as the default voice assistant, there's an onboard image generator, an app for collating and finding information in screenshots, and a bunch of photo features that make it a little too easy to manipulate images in problematic ways.
I went deep into the AI features in my Pixel 9 Pro XL review, and the same applies here. In short, while there are some useful features, Gemini feels unfinished and frequently spouts misinformation, and the photo tools are going from kinda-dodgy-but-potentially-fun into deeply concerning. Google's prioritising shareholder value over user experience here.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold - Final Thoughts
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a tough sell at $2,699 for the same reason every tablet-style foldable is a tough sell right now. While you gain the potential utility of a two-in-one device, you end up compromising on other features like the camera setup. Spending more for a device that performs worse in certain areas is the wrong choice for many consumers.
At the same time, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has already had some deep discounts. We've seen telcos sell it for as little as $1,899 when you buy it on a plan, and while that's in no way cheap, it's a lot more reasonable than $2,699.
At $1,899, the compromises are less of an issue, and more of a choice. Do you want the better cameras or a folding screen? You're picking from one of the two rather than getting slugged with a massive premium for the form factor on top of other compromises.
(As a side note, the early discounting also makes it hard to recommend buying the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at full price. Even if it currently isn't being discounted, similar discounts will almost certainly come back around.)
Price aside, if you know you want a tablet-style foldable, the Pixel 9 Fold Pro is great. There are things Google could improve, but nothing here should raise red flags. It's the easiest a phone in this category has been to recommend.
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SpinTel
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Alex Choros
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