Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: quick preview

Forget everything you knew about the Google Pixel Fold. The new – deep breath – Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold shares perhaps one thing with its predecessor: the 'Fold' in the name, and that is for the better.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold renders the original Fold a prototype at best. The aspect ratio that didn't work for some popular apps like Instagram, too-large black bezel around the main screen (all to accommodate the selfie camera), and the phone's inability to lie completely flat when unfolded are mercifully gone.

Google's new Fold is taller, much thinner, and noticeably lighter than its first attempt. Where the Pixel Fold reminded me – and not necessarily in a good way – of Microsoft's failed Duo device, the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold reminds me of a Pixel 8 flagship. In fact, the 6.3-inch cover screen is a duplicate of the one you'll find on the new Google Pixel 9.

It's not just the screen. Folded and turned on its side, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is just 2mm thicker than the Pixel 9. Unfolded, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is 5.1 mm thick, which matches the iPad Pro 13-inch's thinness, and beats the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 by 0.5mm. It weighs just 257 grams, which is 27 grams less than the Pixel Fold (but still heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 6).

If there's one compromise with that lovely touch-and-hold frame, it's that you lose a little bit of battery, with the capacity reduced from the Pixel Fold's 4727mAh to 4650mAh. I won't know the impact of that loss until I've tested the Pixel 9 Pro Fold over an extended period.

The buttons are all clean, brushed aluminum, and the power button also houses a fingerprint reader. The mobile phone now also supports unlocking with facial recognition. Face Unlock was unavailable on the original Google Pixel Fold.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: price and availability

Google announced the Pixel 9 Fold Pro alongside the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL on August 13. It's on pre-sale now and arrives on store shelves on September 4, 2024.

It starts at $1,799 / £1,749 for a 256GB model with 16GB of RAM, and is available in Obsidian and Porcelain (off-white). I prefer the Obsidian which offers a deep, inky black that could only be described as sexy.

Those prices make Google's new foldable cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, although not by much. A multi-purpose foldable phone will remain a considered purchase for some time to come.

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Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: hands-on experience

Clearly, Google got the message: it's not just specs that win the game, it's eye-popping, delightful design. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold has that in spades. If the original Fold had a slightly plasticky look and feel, the new model favors premium materials, flat surfaces, and understated design cues. The clear and sharp look is a winning combination of recycled aluminum, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and that multi-alloy steel hinge.

It's not just the look of it. I could tell from the moment I unfolded the Pixel 9 Pro Fold that Google had completely re-engineered the hinge system. Folded, the two halves of the phone sit flat against each other with barely a gap between them. I could open the phone at almost any angle, and when I opened the phone completely it snapped satisfyingly flat. If you're familiar with foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, you might say, "That's nice." But if you remember the Pixel Fold and its inability to lie flat, you know it's a big deal.

As for durability, the phone has an IPX8 rating, which means it can handle being dropped into a few feet of water for 30 minutes. There's no mention of a dust or debris rating, so I would be extra careful if you plan to bring it to the beach.

The flexible, Actua (a marketing term for Google's bright OLED screen tech) display unfolds as cleanly and surely as you'd hope. When the large 8-inch display is flat it looks as if it might have the best crease in the business. By that I mean it's very close to unnoticeable. Still, I'll need to see it side-by-side with the other best foldable phones to know if that initial impression holds up.

Eight inches stands as the largest folding phone screen on the market, and Google has achieved this by putting the camera behind the screen (with an uncovered punch hole) and by switching back to an aspect ratio (20:9) that more closely matches competitors from Samsung and OnePlus. The original Fold had a 6:5 aspect ratio that didn't play nice with some major apps. The more squarish aspect ratio means that standard apps will look more normal and not be cut off on the main display, but that larger main screen size also pays a dividend with the cover display. At 6.3 inches, it's full-flagship size and, for as much as I like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 which also has a 6.3-inch screen but one that is taller and narrower, having the extra cover display width makes using the screen more pleasurable to use, and I expect it will make it easier to type. It also makes the Fold 9 Pro look almost indistinguishable from a regular smartphone.

Looking at the screen front-on, the only giveaway that this is a foldable is the squared-off left side, which accommodates the hinge, where the right side is curved; it's a bit of interesting asymmetry. I also noticed that the bezel around the Pixel Fold 9 Pro's cover screen is slightly thicker than that of the Pixel 9, but without making the screen size any smaller.

In my brief hands-on session with the phone I only spent a little time exploring each core feature, but I did hold onto and play with the device for over an hour, and I didn't want to put it down.

If there's a downside to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's new look, it's the new camera array. I've never loved the Google Pixel Fold's metallic camera band, but I like the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold brushed metal camera array box less. The curved rectangle is too big, and lacks the elegance of the rest of the device, although this is a minor niggle.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: cameras

Speaking of cameras, I used all five (!) of them, but not enough to draw any conclusions. Here's what you get with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold: 

• Main wide: 48 MP f/1.7 Quad PD
• Ultra-wide: 10.5MP f/2.2 Dual PD 127 FoV
• Telephoto: 10.8MP f/3.1
• Front camera: 10MPf/2.2
• Inner camera: 10MP Dual PD

I know, that's a lot of cameras. I do like that Google didn't skimp on the main-screen camera – 10MP is more than double the megapixels you'll get with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6's main-screen camera. As for why we have such odd telephoto and ultra-wide pixel counts, Google would only say that it made some allowances for fitting the cameras into what is admittedly a very thin system.

Still, none of these numbers are huge upgrades over the previous camera array. The cover and main-screen cameras got a small MP upgrade. The Ultra-wide jumps from a 121-degree FoV to 127 degrees. I'm also glad Google didn't downgrade from the 5x optical zoom to 3x zoom.

I briefly tried all these lenses, and the photos looked fine, but I'll have more to say when I conduct a full review.

We did, by the way, get a chance to try one of the new photo-editing tricks Google's touting for the entire Pixel line: 'Add me'. It let me take a photo of two fellow TechRadar team members, and then add myself. All I had to do was walk into the frame after taking the initial photo and, with guidance from someone taking the photo (and an on-screen augmented reality guide), position myself appropriately. The final result makes it look as if I was in the original shot – I think Pixel 9 Pro Fold owners are going to love this.

I also saw a demonstration of a Fold-specific camera feature called 'Made you look.' The concept is simple: you display on the cover screen something distracting or entertaining for your subject (typically a child) to look at while you try to take a picture of them. You choose this setting in the camera app, and on the cover screen, an animation appears of, for instance, smiling cartoon birds. Yes, the image makes you smile – and that's the point. A child will look at it and laugh, and you'll get a great photo of them. Meanwhile, the main screen on the other side is still a big, unobstructed viewfinder. It's a small but clever and fun little photography feature.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: specs and performance

As with most other core features, I don't have much to say about performance at this stage. Inside the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is Google's new Tensor G4 chip. Google claims the chip is capable of 45 ToPs or Tokens Per Second, and that it's 20% faster for web browsing and 17% faster on app launching. Benchmarks will help me see how it compares to Apple's A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

I am pleased that Google has squeezed in 16MP of RAM, especially because a chunk of that is apparently devoted to handling onboard AI tasks.

One of those AI tasks will be powering Google Gemini, and especially features like Gemini Live (available with the Gemini Advanced subscription). This adds a conversational AI chatbot that can answer questions in a natural-sounding voice, and handles interruptions better than some people I know. In my chat, I asked Gemini about getting better sleep, and how caffeine intake might impact my sleep. As it answered, I interrupted and asked if I could drink Coke. It told me I could, but warned me that Coke has caffeine and drinking it might impact my sleep. As it droned on, I interrupted and said I had to go. It paused and said. 'Okay, goodbye." Pretty impressive.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold ships with Android 14 and a promised seven years of OS, security, and Pixel Drop updates. That's quite a commitment, especially for a phone with moving parts. If your phone holds up, the updates will be there to support it.

Battery life is rated for 25 hours, which would be considerably more than you could expect from the Pixel Fold (15 hours). That's surprising considering the battery is slightly smaller, but Google is claiming that its Tensor G4 mobile CPU is more efficient – I'll know better once we run some tests. The phone ships with a USB-C cable, but you'll need to supply your own adapter. The device also supports Qi-based wireless charging.

The dual-SIM (nano and eSIM) 5G phone supports Bluetooth 5.3 and, notably, up to WiFi 7 for some future-proofing,

The name of this phone might seem long and less than memorable, but I think it's accurate. This is a folding premium or Pro phone. Instead of standing apart from all the Pixel 9 phones, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold fits in well with the rest of the lineup.

Overall, this is a redo done right. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold looks like a regular smartphone when closed, and opens into a mini tablet. The screens are sharp and bright (2,700 nits for the pair), and appeared responsive. The cameras are decent if not ground-breaking, but as an overall dual-purpose package with a lot of baked-in AI, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will, even at $1,799 / £1,749, probably appeal to a lot of would-be foldable phone buyers, who should keep an eye out for trade-ins and other deals that will lower the price-barrier to entry. I would not be surprised if it ends up near the top of our best foldables list.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold preview: also consider

First previewed August 2024

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: hands-on review

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is available for pre-order now for $1,099 / £1,099, and it will be on shelves August 22, the same day as the Pixel 9. Google is holding the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Fold a bit longer, until September 4, so if you want a new Pixel as soon as possible, the XL is the best phone you can choose.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is 99% the same phone as the Google Pixel 9 Pro. If you think that makes sense, you haven't been following the world of smartphones, because phone makers like Apple and Samsung always save one or two special tricks for the biggest phones they make. If you want the best cameras, or all of the hidden features, you must buy the biggest phones.

Not so with the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Every feature that you'll find on the Pixel 9 Pro XL is also available on the smaller Pixel 9 Pro, even (especially!) the 5x zoom camera. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has two distinct hardware advantages over the Pixel 9, but neither of them are completely clear, and both are related to the larger size. 

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Pixel 9 Pro XL display advantages

First of all, the Pixel 9 Pro XL gets a larger, 6.8-inch Super Actua display. It's much bigger than the 6.3-inch screen on the Pixel 9 Pro, and it packs more pixels, offering a higher resolution.

So, is the Pixel 9 Pro XL screen better? Not exactly. Both displays can reach the same eye-burning 3,000 nits peak brightness. Both displays use LTPO technology for a low-power, always-on display that runs at an astonishing 1Hz. Both offer 24-bit color, and the same contrast ratio and other specs.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL has more pixels, but with a larger screen area the pixels get a bit more room to spread out. Because the Pixel 9 Pro packs its pixels more densely, we'd say that screen is marginally sharper, with a higher pixel density.

In truth, the difference is probably invisible to human eyes, and both phones are more sharp than any iPhone or Galaxy phone you can buy right now. Google makes the best displays for a smartphone, whether you get the big one or the small one.

The cameras are the same on the Pixel 9 Pro... no, really

And this is the entire point of the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL. The only choice to make is big one or small one. You don't have to wonder whether you really need a 5x zoom camera, like the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers, instead of only 3x zoom, as you get with the iPhone 15 Pro.

Apple is being kind to Pro buyers. With Samsung, if you want the best cameras, you can't just buy the larger Galaxy S24 Plus (Samsung has no Pro models). That phone has the same cameras as the Galaxy S24. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the real step up, and it's a huge step up to 200MP on the main sensor, a 5x zoom lens (instead of 3x), larger sensors all around, and more.

Oh, and if you buy the Galaxy Ultra phone you have to take the S Pen. Samsung doesn't make a phone with the best cameras and no pen for those who don't want or need it.

Besides the screen, the Pixel 9 Pro XL has better 'power'

When I asked Google to spell out clearly the differences between the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, I got two answers. The first was the display, as mentioned. The second was a more cryptic "power." I assumed Google meant a larger battery inside, but there's something else going on. 

The Pixel 9 Pro XL does indeed have a larger battery. The XL phone comes with a battery that's around 5,060mAh, while the Pixel 9 Pro uses a cell that's only 4,700mAh, the same capacity as the battery in the Pixel 9. 

Charging speed has been improved to 45W, and Google says these phones charge faster than any Pixel that came before. That's not a very lofty claim, but I do appreciate fast charging. Unfortunately, you'll have to find a fast charger, because Google doesn't include a new-fangled plug in the box. 

Here's where things get weird. The Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro can both use a 45W charger, just like the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Google says the smaller phones will charge up to 55% in about 30 minutes. So, they will fill around 2,600mAh of battery in 30 minutes. 

The Pixel 9 Pro XL will reach up to 70% charge in about 30 minutes, using the same 45W charger. Google claims that it will charge more than 3,500mAh in the same time the Pixel 9 Pro takes to charge 2,600 mAh, with the same 45W charger. I'm very curious about this, and I'll investigate during my full review. 

The bottom line, below the screen and power

Other than the larger screen and the apparent power differences, there really is no other difference between the Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Pixel 9 Pro. This is an unusual development, but quite welcome, as I think it will make the Pixel 9 family as a whole much easier to explain to potential buyers. 

You can read about all of the features coming to the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL in my hands-on look at the former two phones. The Pixel 9 misses out on some new AI video enhancement features, in addition to the 5x zoom lens found on the Pro models. Google's new Gemini Live Conversation tool also won't be coming to the Pixel 9, so far as we've heard. 

If you're considering the Pixel 9 Pro XL, it's an easier choice this year. You don't have to pay more just because you wanted the best cameras. If that's all you needed, you can save money and order the smaller Pixel 9 Pro without hesitation. If you mostly wanted a larger display, the Pixel 9 Pro XL gives you the best big display you'll find on a smartphone today. It's bright and colorful, a real winner with great low-power LTPO features as well. 

There was no XL model last year, but I should note that the Pixel 8 Pro went on sale within a month of launch, to coincide with the end-of-year shopping season. This year's Pixel 9 family launches months earlier, but I'd still anticipate aggressive sales to come before the year ends. If you don't need this phone right away, it wouldn't hurt to wait for a deal.