Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: Bigger, mostly better

All credit goes to Samsung for inventing and popularizing the foldable. The form factor had plenty of doubters — I admit I was skeptical — when the first Galaxy Fold hit the market in 2019. It was the first Galaxy Flip, which arrived a year later, that taught me to truly appreciate foldables.

When the original Pixel Fold debuted in 2023, it quickly became my favorite foldable. Google demonstrated how a few tweaks to its aspect ratio can make a foldable much less unwieldy. But for all the impressive technology that went into the device, I discovered it also doubled as a great e-reader.

The Pixel Fold was a formidable entrant, which — to my mind — has only been rivaled by the OnePlus Open. The addition of those products, along with others from companies like Oppo, have opened the field in a nice way. The competition has pushed innovation, rather than being content to let Samsung rest on its laurels.

By the time it was ready to announce the Fold’s successor, Google had enough confidence in the product to fully integrate it into its flagship line. There will never be Pixels 2 through 8. Instead, Google gave the world the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, slotting the device in as a kind of ultra-premium sibling to the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. That, frankly, is just branding. At the end of the day, it means nothing for consumers.  

What matters is that the Fold is back, bigger and better than before. I confess that the “bigger” part initially gave me pause. One of the things I liked most about the original Pixel Fold was that it felt more manageable than Samsung’s versions. I suppose it’s something of an inevitability that foldables join the rest of the smartphone space in the great screen embiggening.

Mercifully, Google managed to make strides in screen size without building an unwieldy phone around it. The front screen has increased from 5.8 to 6.3 inches and is steadily inching closer to edge to edge. That will be more than enough screen real estate for most of the things you do day to day.

More impressive is the interior display’s jump from 7.6 to a full 8 inches of 120Hz AMOLED. For reference, the iPad mini’s screen is only 0.3 inch larger. When unfolded, this thing is legitimately a tablet. Google’s settled on a nice aspect ratio as well. When you’re finished responding to emails on the front display, you can pop it open and watch a movie.

The Pixel 9 Fold has grown up and out while actually losing weight in the process, down from 283 to 257 grams. Unfortunately, shedding 100 or so extra grams comes with a smaller battery, down to 4,605 from 4,821 mAh. Google largely circumvents any issue there with a more power-efficient SoC, skipping a generation from Pixel Tensor G2 to the G4. It’s worth noting that, in spite of the eye-popping $1,000 price differential between the Pixel 9 and 9 Fold, Google opted to employ the same chip across the line.

One major upgrade you do get with the Fold over the standard Pixel is an excellent tri-camera system. Don’t tell Connie, but I’ve been using the 9 Fold to take product shots for the site. It’s that good. All of the images in the Snap Spectacles story, for instance, were taken on the foldable.

The numbers haven’t changed much from the original Fold’s setup, moving from 48MP wide, 10.8 ultrawide, 10.8 telephoto, 8MP to 48MP wide, 10.5 ultrawide, 10.8MP telephoto. But Google has continued tweaking its computational imaging processing, so the quality keeps improving.

The Pixel 9 Fold had a lot to live up to after the first Pixel Fold entered the world fully formed. The new handset is a worthy successor and one of the best foldables out there.