The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold won't be released until September 4. But there's no better time than now to decide whether Google's upcoming foldable phone should be your next mobile device. With the highest price tag of any new Pixel 9 model, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold requires a pretty big commitment, so you'll have to consider whether its various features match what you're looking for in a phone.
We haven't had a chance to fully test the new device yet, but we've had enough time testing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold to form our first impressions. And they're mostly positive when we look at the changes Google has made to the Fold's design as well as the more advanced AI capabilities introduced with this new edition.
Given our first look at the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, here are the arguments for buying this new foldable, as well as some reasons why you might want to consider a different phone.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: reasons to buy it
This is a thinner and lighter foldable model
Having a big screen is one of the main reasons to buy a foldable phone, but the expansive screen space usually comes at a price: foldables can be a pain to carry around. The original Pixel Fold was no exception, with a 283g weight that proved to be a heavy burden for users on the go.
Thanks to a few design tweaks, including a new hinge, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold sheds some of that weight. At 250 grams, it’s still heavy for a phone, but it’s nearly 28 grams lighter than its predecessor. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is also thinner when fully opened — so thin, in fact, that it has the thinnest profile of any foldable phone available in the US. Samsung, which touted the thinness of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 when that phone arrived a month before the new Pixel, must be furious that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold beats it by just 0.5mm.
Screens have gotten bigger
With a 5.8-inch external display and a 7.6-inch main display, the original Pixel Fold wasn't cramped. But in a case where bigger is definitely better, both of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's panels are significantly larger than their predecessors without a corresponding increase in device size.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's Cover Display is now 6.3 inches, the same size as the Pixel 9's display. To accommodate the extra screen space, Google has changed the aspect ratio, so the display isn't as wide as it was on the original model. Thankfully, it's still easy to type on.
As for the main display, Google found enough extra space to stretch the panel to 8 inches, giving the Pixel 9 Pro Fold the largest display among its main rivals. The increase in screen size came to address one of our biggest complaints about the original Fold: the bezels have shrunk significantly.
Screens are also getting brighter
The Pixel Fold's displays were bright enough for when that phone came out over a year ago, but phone makers aren't exactly holding back when it comes to screen brightness. Instead, each subsequent phone release seems to promise an even brighter display than before as device makers look to outshine the competition.
Google is hoping to continue that momentum with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Both of the phone's displays promise a peak brightness of 2,700 nits in ideal conditions. We're unlikely to see that in normal usage, but when we do get a chance to break out our light meter, we'd expect a brighter result than the 1,172 nits reading we got from the Pixel Fold's inner display. The real question, though, is whether the Pixel 9 Pro Fold can challenge the Galaxy Z Fold 6's 2,317 nits reading when we tested Samsung's latest foldable.
Really Useful AI Features
With the Pixel 9 lineup, Google wants to remind everyone that it's been building AI features into its phones long before its rivals jumped on the hottest mobile trend. And the Pixel 9 Pro Fold benefits from that AI focus, with new features powered by its Tensor G4 chipset and 16GB of RAM.
Some of these new features are focused on photography, like the Add Me tool that merges multiple photos so that anyone taking a group photo can also appear in the final image. Reimagine lets you edit the photos you take using text prompts, while Pixel Studio generates images entirely from your ideas.
But Google isn’t just using AI to enhance your photos. Call Notes records and transcribes phone calls on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, producing a summary of the transcript for your quick reference. Pixel Screenshots is smart enough to search through all the screenshots you have stored on the Fold to find specific content. And, of course, Google Gemini is there, with a one-year subscription to Gemini Advanced to use AI to perform truly complex tasks.
These various AI features are all interconnected: they're convenient additions that you'll likely integrate into your regular phone experience. So if you're wondering whether AI is a fad or not, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold seems designed to make it an integral part of your mobile experience.
It's a compelling rival to the Galaxy Z Fold 6
These days, you have choices when it comes to foldable phones, and as my colleague Mark Spoonauer has argued, you can make a pretty compelling case for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold over another recent release, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6. We'll have to do some head-to-head testing with both phones, but in several key areas we've already highlighted (particularly thinness and AI features), Google's new phone could have Samsung's number.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is also more affordable than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, as Samsung has increased the price of its foldable device by $100. That means you'll now have to pay $1,899 to get your hands on a Galaxy Z Fold 6, compared to $1,799 for a Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Sometimes, you just get ahead by staying put.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: Reasons to ignore it
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold remains expensive
When I said the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was relatively cheaper than Samsung’s latest foldable, “relatively” is kind of an Olympic gold medal. While Google deserves credit for keeping its foldable phone priced down (especially in light of the higher prices of some Pixel 9 models), $1,799 is still a steep price for a phone.
The high price tag is even more apparent when you consider that the OnePlus Open costs less than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 6, and it happens to be the best foldable phone in our opinion. (To be fair to the Pixel, those rankings could change once we finish evaluating Google's phone.) In other words, you don't need to pay up to $1,799 — and certainly not $1,899 — to get a great foldable phone.
Our advice? Keep an eye out for the best Pixel 9 Pro Fold pre-order deals if you're considering buying Google's new phone and try to get that price down.
No major camera improvements
That might be a bit of a nitpick, as we imagine the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will perform well in our camera tests given Google's strong track record in mobile photography, but don't expect any major camera improvements over the original Pixel Fold. There's a new ultra-wide sensor that enables macro photography, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's front-facing cameras get some minor resolution bumps. But Google is essentially relying on the same hardware as before, especially when it comes to the phone's 48MP main sensor and its 10.8MP telephoto lens.
It's a bit odd that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the most expensive of all the Pixel 9 phones without offering the best camera setup. The Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL both have more powerful ultra-wide cameras, with 48MP sensors capturing images. The front cameras on both of these Pixel 9 Pro models also offer sharper resolution.
The Fold's battery has become smaller
This is one area where Google has backtracked: The Pixel 9 Pro Fold's battery is smaller than the 4,821mAh cell that powered the Pixel Fold. For its new phone, Google thinks a 4,650mAh battery is up to the task.
Longevity isn’t just about a big battery, but a bigger power pack usually helps. And foldable phones need all the help they can get, given the larger screens they need to stay powered. The Pixel Fold lasted 10 hours and 21 minutes in our battery test, which is a bit better than the average for the phones we’ve tested. But to get that result, we had to turn off the adaptive refresh rate on the Fold’s main display.
It’s possible that the Tensor G4 manages power better than the G2 in the original Pixel Fold, so the Pixel 9 Pro Fold could post a better battery test result even with its smaller cell. But the chances are slim that this phone will join other long-lasting devices on our list of the best phone battery life.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold preview
Google certainly listened to feedback from the original Pixel Fold when it came time to make a sequel, with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold incorporating some pretty significant changes to its looks and features. We won't be able to fully assess whether these changes are enough to propel the new Fold to the top of the foldable phone rankings, but it's certainly in the conversation with other devices from Samsung and OnePlus.