Once I unfurled its 8-inch internal display, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold started to convince me that a $1,799 foldable can be one of the best smartphones. This successor to the more-neatly named Google Pixel Fold looks super nice, (still) packs a delightful dual-OLED display experience and gains some much-needed interface tweaks that help make the case for this expensive paradigm shift.
So, for those who didn’t fold when they saw the price tag, I’ve got a whole lot to talk about with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold after I spent two hours with it at a private hands-on event. While I’m not sold on a lot of the AI tricks that Google’s pushing in this bigger-screen phone, I’m still?ready to explain why you might be excited that preorders are open now (ahead of its Sept. 4 release date).
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold packs new tricks that make its unfolding design more fun and easy to use.
The devil’s in the Pixel Pro 9 Fold’s design details
The big question about larger foldable phones (as opposed to the compact Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6) is, “What’s it like to have that much screen in your hand?” For the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the answer is that it feels great. I took a few moments to realize I needed to use two hands or grip in farther when using the Fold in its unfolded position, but before I knew it, I was casually flipping the foldable around in my hands. Additional confidence came from the intent and strength required to open the new stainless steel hinge, which seems perfectly crafted to avoid accidental unfolding. This thing also feels super durable, thanks to its high-strength aluminum alloy cover and the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on its front and back sides.
None of this works as well as it does, though, without the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s curved edges that make it fit more comfortably in my hand than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 I’m currently testing. With that added comfort, I’m a lot less worried about the pricey handset slipping out of my mitts.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold measures 6.1 by 3 by 0.4 inches when closed, which makes it slightly taller, wider and thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. This extra size didn’t feel like a problem in my two hours with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but I can imagine that many interested in a foldable could think thinner feels better (or vice versa).
As for the crease in the middle? Well, it’s there, but I stopped thinking about it at a certain point during my two hours with the phone. Hopefully it’s like the notch in the iPhone, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro: something you get used to and accept for the overall benefit of the device.
As for the hues, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is sold in Porcelain (white) and Obsidian (black), and I’m more partial to the latter for its neutral look. The white model offers more of a two-tone contrast with its silver frame and camera bump. I can’t tell if the rest of the tech press will disagree with me on this or not, but I actually really love the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s double-oval camera design, which looks futuristic and fun.
Google’s packing in more multiscreen features to make this price worth it
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s internal display is a mighty 8-inch, 2076 x 2152 OLED panel that looks pretty good, complete with up to a 120Hz refresh rate for super-smooth scrolling. It’s not just larger than the Z Fold 6’s 7.6-inch, 2160 x 1856 AMOLED panel, but it also looks cleaner in one slightly subtle way. The pinhole selfie cameras inside the Pixel 9 Pro Fold are noticeable black dots, which just sort of blend into the overall experience, while Samsung’s attempt to actually hide its cameras under the screen creates a weird little box I find distracting.
I didn’t have time to watch any of my favorite YouTube channels on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but every photo and image I saw on its screens looked either vibrant or accurate with none of the oversaturation you might expect from Samsung’s Galaxy phones.
The dual-screen experience is continuing to evolve with features like “Made You Look,” an animation of colorful blob people on the front screen you can use to get your photo subjects to smile for the camera. While this is made for distracted kids, it also has a shot of working on inebriated adults who are too busy talking to actually take a group photo late at night.
I’m also a fan of the tripod mode that lets you hold up a hand to trigger the countdown to a photo, for those great posed selfies taken when you can place your phone on a surface in front of you. This may not always be a viable option, but it’s much more compelling than the AI-based “Add Me” photo trick I’ll talk about below. The second screen is also great for — and this isn’t new — being able to see yourself while taking a selfie with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s 48-megapixel rear camera.
Google also added a couple of great little interface touches, such as the ability to start a split screen view from your home screen. Just long press on an icon to open a list of options, and select Split Screen. Then you tap another icon to select what app appears on the other half of your screen. You can also save app pairs for when you have a winning combo: Might I suggest Gmail and Photos for collecting and sharing your best summer shots with those wise enough to stay off social media?
Then there’s the little Taskbar tray of apps on the bottom of the screen, which you used to have to swipe up to show since it hid itself. Now you can keep it visible by holding down on the little dividing line and tapping the pop-up option. Both that and the contextual split screen button seem obvious in retrospect, and I’m happy to see them arrive here (and I hope they come to the OG Google Pixel Fold).
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s competitive specs promise speedy performance
All this app juggling and multitasking flowed smoothly in my time with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which may be credited to the Tensor G4 chip (the latest generation of Google’s own processor) and the 16GB of memory on board.
That’s 33% more than the 12GB in the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Storage-wise, the Pixel Fold 9 will start with 256GB, just like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 that starts at $101 more.
Exciting camera tech in a dramatic camera bump
In addition to the image processing smarts you find across the Pixel 9 lineup, the Fold’s rear trio of cameras gives you 0.5x, 1x and 5x optical zooms. That’s impressive on its own, as it beats the Galaxy Z Fold 9’s 0.6x, 1x and 3x zooms. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold isn’t far off in the spec fight here either, with a 48-megapixel main sensor and 10.5- and 10.8-megapixel secondaries. (The Galaxy Z Fold 6 rocks 50-, 12- and 10-megapixel shooters.) The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s dual 10-megapixel inner cameras, however, beat the Z Fold 6 by matching the cover camera and exceeding the Samsung foldable’s 3-megapixel interior camera.
Google’s also fixed one camera issue that we pointed out in our Google Pixel Fold review: Biometric Face Unlock is now in both the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s selfie cameras! Finally.
And while the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s camera hardware is superior, especially with its 10x optical zoom, the Fold still packs Google’s pro camera settings if you love to tweak every last little bit of exposure. Night Sight video mode is also here, using Google’s AI tricks to reduce noise and artifacting in low-light videos and boost quality.
Google folded a lot of Gemini AI tricks into this phone
Since this is a 2024 Google product, there are a bunch of AI features to talk about. The most interesting might be Gemini Live, where you can have a natural voice conversation with Google’s virtual assistant rather than submit a series of prompts. I got to see a conversation where the voice assistant sounded somewhat natural in a back-and-forth about how to have a healthier breakfast. Personally, I’d just search that information out online, so I could see and verify the sources as I researched it, but I’ve never really taken to voice assistants. It was a little impressive, though, when the AI adjusted on the fly as the subject interrupted mid-chat.
Our team also got to demo the new Google AI Add Me trick, which you’ll either find neat or worrisome depending on your thoughts on falsified photos. Add Me basically lets you merge multiple photos with different people in them, so that everyone can be in the same shot. Much like every other AI-assisted tool that attempts to create something that’s not really there, it has me wondering why. The generous reading for this feature is for people who don’t want to ask strangers to take their group photos, and I get that. It’s also just very easy to imagine this kind of thing being used for nefarious purposes, as we continue to explore the troubling world of bad faith Photoshopped art and deep-fake videos. Me, personally, I just want photos of what actually happened, but maybe I’m the weirdo. Google will be using tagging to flag photos as generated by AI, but I need to see if that tagging holds up once you’ve taken a screenshot of your created art.
I was similarly confused by a Reimagine feature demonstrated to me on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold that allowed the user to turn a mountainside roadway into a treacherous ravine. Not only was this an odd visual because of how greenhouse gas emissions have soared because of AI but because I just didn’t see the point of it all. Fortunately, there are other ways of being creative with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
That’s the new Pixel Studio, a photo-editing tool capable of making traditional memes and generative AI images via Google Gemini. I first dived in with a simple idea, taking a photo of my colleague Mike Andronico and captioning it with the text “brain so big, hair dont fit,” since Mike has a great sense of humor about his baldness. Pixel Studio even has the correct font (Impact) for that classic meme format, though it doesn’t include the Stroke option to create a thin black outline around your text.
And since I’m trying to keep an open mind about generative AI, I fed Pixel Studio’s Gemini-based image creator the phrase “vampire squid in space,” curious about what I would get. Hilariously, it rendered a being I dubbed “accidental space Cthulhu” because of how it resembles the creatures in H.P. Lovecraft’s writing. This dabbling didn’t change my mind on the value of AI-generated images, as they all seem stylistically flat and are made off the backs of original creators who don’t get any credit.
I’m also curious to spend more time with Google’s Pixel Screenshots utility, which promises a better way to organize and find all your screenshots. At the time of writing, I have 36,033 screenshots in my photo library, and I could use all the help I can get.
The takeaway
Comparing my two hours with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold to our review of the Pixel Fold that came before it, I am feeling ready to commend Google for making the right changes. Not only are the overdue multitasking and interface tweaks here to make using all your apps a bit easier but it makes a variety of smart design tweaks that address our criticisms of last year’s model.
I can’t wait for our full, in-depth Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review so we can see more of this feature-rich foldable. Whether you’re hitting preorder or not, it’s time to start thinking about which apps work best together to make use of that handy split screen mode.
