Just a year after first entering the foldable phone game, Google has already made a substantial upgrade. This version has so many changes over the original, it probably should have a different name, and maybe that’s why Google’s calling it the Pixel 9 Pro FOLD. In this review I’m going to get hands on with the 9 Pro Fold ahead of its public launch (and YES, it’s now available in Canada!), and I’ll take a look at what’s new, improved, and different from the original version. I’ll test out its special features myself, and then I’ll wrap things up with the overall pros and cons and let you know if I think this might be a good folding smart phone for you.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review
I’d also like to say thank you to Google for gifting me this phone so I could review it hands-on. While company has provided it to me, they have not asked for nor received permission to contribute to, change or influence the review in anyway. These thoughts are all mine.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Summary
This is a really fun phone that is a legitimately major upgrade over its predecessor, and I don’t have any hesitation when I say if you have the ability to trade up from the original fold to the new one, you should absolutely do it.. That it doubles has both a regular size smart phone and a substantially bigger tablet in one device may justify its hefty price tag.
Pros
- Sharp screen
- Noticeably brighter
- Worth trading up for
- AI tools built in
- Great camera
- Fun software features
- Crease is minimized
- Sits flatter
- Thinner, lighter
Cons
- Hard to use one-handed
- Pricey
- Longevity?
Watch my video review of Pixel 9 Fold
What you get
Let’s get a closer look.. With a 6.3” external display, and 8-inch internal dual screen, this is bigger all the way around, than the original. Even so it’s thinner and lighter, and the screen is much brighter compared to the previous generation, which is actually no longer available.
Original Pixel Fold, left, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold on right.
When you take a look at these two phones side by side, the improvements are obvious. And while the original has more of a book shape that is taller than it is wide, the 9 Pro fold is more of a true square shape when unfolded.
Gemini AI built in
The other significant upgrade is one you can’t see as clearly, and that’s that the 9 Pro Fold is Google’s first folding phone packed with all of its new Gemini AI features.
In a nutshell, Gemini gives you AI powered assistance over many tasks and even alive assistant you can talk to in conversation form. I’m not going to get too deep into the inner workings of Gemini AI on Pixel in this video. The Gemini app is on the phone, and if you do want to go deeper, you can check out my Google pixel 9 review, or my video that explains all about Gemini and it’s ChatGPT-like cousin Gemini Live. Those videos are here on the channel linked in the Description and will be ready to play for you if you stick around until the end.
Let’s dive into the hardware and design of this new model and then I’ll layout some of the new software toys, including Add Me, which lets you insert yourself into photos, Made You Look, which can help you take better photos of babies, Dual Screen preview which shows the person you’re photographing what their picture looks like, Tabletop photo mode and tabletop video player.
Design
The outer screen is a full size phone screen, meaning you can do a lot with it before you even open it up.
The hinge mechanism is upgraded; in the old one it created kind of a bridge between the halves, but here, it’s practicaly seamless.
The crease is noticeable, but it seems perhaps less so than the original, possibly because the phone actually opens and sits much flatter.
There is a large protruding camera array on the back of the phone which means when it is folded closed and sitting on its back it leans at a slight angle.
The edges of the phone are extremely rounded and one early annoyance I did find is that that makes it very slippery and somewhat awkward to open the phone to its tablet configuration. Most of the time I opted to jam a fingernail in there to help pop it open, but it seemed like the nail was getting caught a bit on the screen edge so that did concern me. Plus, not everyone has nails.
Despite those minor annoyances I’d still give the overall design an 8 out of 10, because this type of technology still absolutely impresses me, and because it really appears that Google’s design team has taken so much care with every aspect.
User experience
Let’s talk about the user experience here. Using this phone does take some getting used to for those of us who have been using smaller standard single screen devices. But I will say as someone whose eyesight is not the best, the ability to have a bigger screen instantly at hand when I need one is a huge plus.
Some of the motions on the phone can be a little bit awkward to get used to simply because of its size but I think I can get used to this with time.
Pixel fold also comes with fingerprint unlock and the fingerprint sensor is embedded into the power button. This actually opens the phone screen extremely fast and conveniently. Face unlock, which I also enabled, is even quicker.
Like before, you can use the Taskbar to switch between your apps or drag a compatible app into splitscreen mode to multitask with two apps side-by-side. When in splitscreen, you can drag and drop files across different apps, like Google Photos to Messages and Slides. Plus Google made the Taskbar dynamic, meaning it will disappear when you’re done using it so it doesn’t take up screen real estate.
When it comes to overall user experience, it’s hard to find things to complain about. The things I would consider griping about are simply gripes because I am not used to using them on such a large and versatile device. If some of the hand motions are awkward it’s because I’ve never made them before.
The screen is noticeably brighter and makes a huge difference when outdoors in bright light.
Hardware
The hardware specifications of the Google Pixel Fold are impressive. The external 6.3-inch display offers a 1080p 120Hz OLED panel with over 2700 nits peak brightness.
On the inside, there’s that 8-inch OLED display also featuring a 120Hz refresh rate and improved resolution.
The phone is powered by Google’s upgraded Tensor G4 chip. It also has an improved 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.
Battery & Charging
The battery is actually a smidge smaller than its predecessor; this one clocks in at 4650mAh, which may present a potential concern given the larger and brighter display. True battery performance can only be accurately assessed through real-world usage, and I’ve only had this for about 5 days before launch.
I used the phone more intermittently during my testing, so I was able to get a couple days out of a charge, but I’ve read some reports from colleagues about thier battery testing and saying it actually seems to last longer than the original. All of this, of course depends on what you’re doing with the phone and for how long.
Durability
Many of us are apprehensive about folding phones and their potential longevity. While I have not had this phone long enough to be able to judge whether or not it will be able to withstand years of opening and closing, I would definitely be interested in your thoughts and experiences. Post what you know in the comments here on the channel.
Good news for 9 Pro fold owners is that protective cases are available that protect not just the back but the front screen as well.
Water resistance
Somewhat amazingly, Pixel 9 Pro Fold holds its IPX8 rating for water resistance, meaning it is (basically, without going into a detailed explanation on IP ratings) waterproof, but not dirt and dustproof.
Camera: nips & tucks
Making judgements on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera should really come down to the quality of photos we take. If you want the specs, Google has made only minor tweaks to the triple-lens rear camera system, but in almost all cases it sized things down; likley to create that thinner and lighter overall form factor. There’s a 48MP main sensor (actually down from 50 on the Fold), a 10.5mp ultravwide lens with macro (down again from 12MP) and 20X super Res zoom.
The front-facing camera is a 10 MP lens (again, down from 10.8MP).
So are you actually going to notice these tiny nips out of the camera lenses? Probably not. Google Pixel phones have always had among the best cameras in the industry and in my opinion even making a few nips and tucks to what delivered here still put it above competition like the iPhone.
Of course this phone can now also take advantage of many of the AI photo and editing tools that now come bundled onto all the new Pixel phones.
I’m talking about now familiar faves like Night Sight, Portrait Mode, and Magic Eraser. Night Sight is a feature that allows you to take sharp, clear photos in low-light conditions. Portrait Mode is a feature that allows you to blur the background of your photos, giving them a professional look. Magic Eraser is a feature that allows you to remove unwanted objects from your photos.
But built into the pixel nine Pro are all of the new Gemini powered toys including Pixel Studio AI-image generator too.
Shooting photos on with the Pro Fold open to its tablet configuration makes it super easy to frame shots perfectly. You definitely get an eye full and you can really capture exactly the photos you want because you can see them a lot better.
Software toys
I like the way the video interface has evolved. When you’re holding the phone upright it gives you a standard vertical video window. But if you turn it sideways it gives you a properly cropped horizontal aspect ratio so you’re getting more of a true view and resolution.
Photo quality and comparison
Made You Look
A neat feature that’s bound to be a hit with new parents is called Made You Look. This tool lets you choose an animated cartoon that will appear on the outward facing screen to capture the attention of little ones… And it’s also kind of helpful for Pets. Between the bright colors, animation, and sound effects, it’s a good way to coax a smile out of a reluctant subject.
Dual Screen preview
Another helpful photography trick is dual screen preview. This allows you to show what you’re seeing in the viewfinder, on on the outward facing screen too, so your subject will know exactly what you’re capturing
Rear Camera Selfie
Rear camera selfie lets you take a selfie with the higher resolution forward facing camera. It does this by switching the selfie view to the front screen and letting you still frame yourself properly, while keeping access to all the camera controls.
Tabletop view
Table top review also let you fold the pixel nine Pro fold in half to essentially prop it up on a table or a surface to more easily take a photo or video. This drops the camera controls onto the lower part of the screen. Very convenient for selfies or if you want to run and get in the shot also. I used it for selfies, and also to make a video at my dog training class…
Add Me
I took a look at Add Me in my full review of the Google Pixel 9. This is a cool feature but one that still requires some practise to get good at.
Add me essentially lets you take a photo and then handoff the phone to another person, join the photo, and have the AI powered smart stitch the image together.
Tabletop View for YouTube
Similarly tabletop view also works with something like YouTube or for video watching where you can place the video window on the upper half of the folded device and the controls will sit on the base. It means you don’t need to worry about finding a way to prop up your device; it sits up all on its own.
You can also watch multiple events on one screen in multiview on YouTube TV. When watching in multiview on YouTube TV, you get up to four (4) predefined live streams simultaneously on one single screen without switching between channels.
Software
The Pixel Fold runs Android 14 out of the box. Google has also been continuously working on optimizing Google-based apps for the foldable display, collaborating with developers to ensure apps make the most of the larger screen real estate. While there have been concerns about the software experience on Android tablets in the past, Google has done well to manage these issues, with things like side-by-side multitasking and introducing new app management features.
Overall Review: Google Pixel 9 PRO Fold
Overall this is a really fun phone that is a legitimately major upgrade over its predecessor, and I don’t have any hesitation when I say if you have the ability to trade up from the original fold to the new one, you should absolutely do it.. That it doubles has both a regular size smart phone and a substantially bigger tablet in one device may justify its hefty price tag.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold: Canada Review
The Google Pixel Fold sells for $1,799US, which is the same price as the original so hallelujah for that. This phone is now also available in Canada too, priced at $2399CAD . At this price point, it competes with other premium foldable smartphones on the market, but there’s no denying it’s an investment.
Since it is a hefty investment, let’s go over the pros and cons carefully so you can evaluate whether this is going to be the right device for you.
On the pro side, I think the screens are beautiful and the enhanced brightness is absolutely noticeable, making them much easier to read in bright light. And with adaptive brightness the phone can adjust all on its own to different light conditions.
The phone actually feels surprisingly durable and solidly built for something that needs so much flexibility and movement. It takes great photos and is an extremely versatile device and I’m glad to see there are many apps that have been optimized for use on this larger screen.
Plus several of the new pixel exclusive features like made you look, dual screen preview and rear camera selfie are legitimately very useful toys.
When it comes to the downsides you’ve already heard the big one; it’s the price tag. But for shoppers who might be inclined to pick up both a new smart phone and a new tablet, bundling them together and just getting one device may actually be an economical choice.
Also, I can’t speak about the longevity of this device just yet or how it will fare after years of use. I can also say it’s a bit of a struggle to use this phone one-handed.
In short, I quite enjoyed my time with the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and I think Google heard a lot of the concerns about the first gen, and fixed almost all of them this time around.
I can definitely recommend it for you. Google dropped a whole boatload of new products this year… Like the Pixel 9. If you want to check out some of the other toys in the pixel ecosystem, I’ve got those reviews here on the blog.
