Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

First Impressions

As distinctive as its predecessor was, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is a welcome reboot that’s a lot nicer to make use of for prolonged intervals. Each screens are (principally) nice, the construct is thinner and lighter and the whole lot simply feels extra high-end.

Introduction

Google has determined in opposition to releasing the Pixel Fold 2, with the Pixel 9 Professional Fold taking its place.

That is greater than only a identify change to deliver the foldable in step with different fashions within the 9 Professional sequence, it’s an entire reboot of what a folding Pixel is.

I’ve spent the previous couple of days with the £1749/$1799 Pixel 9 Professional Fold, and earlier than I give my last scored verdict, listed here are my preliminary ideas.

Is that this the brand new foldable cellphone to beat? Or is the OnePlus Open nonetheless the king?

Design and Screens

Giant 8-inch inner screenSmaller 6.3-inch 20:9 display screen on the outsideBig redesign over the primary Pixel foldable

The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold is a giant departure from the design of the unique Pixel Fold. The squat form has been ditched, changed by a physique not too dissimilar to the wonderful OnePlus Open. 

In consequence, it’s thinner, lighter and simpler to carry and, despite the fact that I used to be charmed by the odd passport look of the unique Fold, there’s no denying that the up to date mannequin is an enchancment – even when it lacks these distinctive appears to be like.

This can be a very skinny foldable. When it’s closed up, it’s roughly the identical thickness as an iPhone 15 Professional Max inside considered one of Apple’s circumstances, and all through the few days of testing thus far it has sat effectively in my pocket with out feeling irritating. I used Google’s first Pixel Fold for a number of months and that was a heavy machine, sagging down pockets and making itself very noticeable.

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold feels inflexible and durable too, with a hinge that really lets the display screen fold fully flat – one thing the unique did not do with out some power.

Google has upgraded the screens throughout the entire Pixel 9 vary, and these two shows are nice. The outer 6.3-inch panel feels identical to an ordinary, small Android cellphone and it’s principally the identical measurement because the Pixel 9 Professional. The 20:9 facet ratio is welcome too, avoiding that tall, slender design that’s such a divisive characteristic of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold vary.

With any iteration of the Samsung Z Fold, I might all the time shrink back from utilizing the outer show as I discover it too restrictive. Apps look bizarre being all squashed, and the panel is simply too slender for video or mild video games. 

Except I’m typing out a fast message or answering a name, I might all the time open up the Z Fold. By having a extra conventional outer display screen, my use circumstances with the Pixel 9 Professional Fold change fully. I open the cellphone much less, and it simply seems like I’m utilizing the Pixel 9 Professional – till I need to watch a YouTube video or play a sport on the bigger inner canvas.

That inner display screen is large at 8 inches, with a 1-120Hz refresh charge and a pointy 2076 x 2152 decision. It’s a really sq. panel, so you’ll get hefty black bars on both facet of the 16:9 video however on the entire, it’s nice. I a lot want opening up a Google Doc or Excel spreadsheet or replying to an e mail or Slack message on this display screen than on a standard cellphone show.

One large difficulty with the unique Pixel Fold was the way in which apps would battle with the inner facet ratio, displaying incorrectly or sticking to their cellphone model and leaving a great deal of area wasted. With the tweaked facet ratio, and an additional yr of app growth, the difficulty doesn’t appear as noticeable now.

Google has actually upped the brightness over its first foldable entry, with this mannequin in a position to hit 2700 nits in sure conditions and a extra sustained 1600 when enjoying again HDR video. The replace makes an actual and noticeable distinction, each for common on a regular basis use (out of doors visibility is great) and for video playback.

My largest difficulty with the display screen is similar difficulty I’ve had with numerous foldables, together with the Z Fold 6 – the crease. Google, like Samsung, hasn’t managed to observe the lead of Xiaomi and OnePlus in eradicating the seen fold that runs down the center of the display screen.

I’ve all the time discovered emotions in the direction of the crease on foldable telephones differ relying on private desire. Some can merely look previous it and transfer on, whereas others discover it the only largest difficulty with these sorts of telephones. I’m definitely within the latter camp.

The crease right here is annoying. It’s annoying while you run your finger throughout it and really feel the bobble and it’s annoying while you’re trying on the display screen at an angle and the solar displays off it. The truth that the display screen and its plastic protecting decide up fingerprints and oily smudges far faster than an ordinary glass panel can also be annoying. I perceive why the crease is there, however when others have managed to engineer it out, it’s arduous to swallow when the 9 Professional Fold is so costly.

Efficiency

Tensor G4 chipset runs the show16GB RAM, as much as 512GB storageFeature-rich software program

Apart from the design and a few points of the digicam, the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold is simply one other member of the Pixel 9 Professional household. It has the identical Tensor G4 chipset because the Pixel 9 Professional XL, that means it’s a succesful performer that impresses in AI efficiency however not a lot in GPU grunt, and the identical 16GB RAM.

In our Pixel 9 Professional XL assessment, we mentioned “I believe the hole has widened even additional with the Snapdragon competitors in benchmark testing, with outcomes extra in step with final yr’s Tensor G3 than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped competitors. Does it actually matter although? I’d argue not. In real-world use, the Pixel 9 Professional XL feels extraordinarily fast and responsive”.

Whereas I haven’t spent lengthy sufficient with the cellphone but to totally render a verdict on the efficiency, lots of what Lewis mentioned above matches my emotions in the direction of the 9 Professional Fold.

In benchmarking checks, it comes a transparent second to telephones working Qualcomm’s newest silicon, and the A17 Professional chipset contained in the iPhone 15 Professional Max is just not far off doubling the multi-core take a look at ends in Geekbench. The 9 Professional Fold, just like the Pixel 9 Professional XL, will get sizzling gaming even throughout brief bouts of primary titles. In additional graphically intensive titles, a 20-minute spherical of gaming can go away the steel sides feeling noticeably heat. This appears to have a detrimental impact on the battery life too, although I might want to use the cellphone for a bit longer to guage battery life absolutely.

The place efficiency is snappy is throughout AI duties. The Pixel Studio picture generator can whip up photographs in a couple of seconds, and the varied AI picture enhancing methods end up with none lengthy waits.

I’ll delve extra into the software program, notably the Gemini Stay assistant and the opposite AI expertise, within the full assessment. Or you possibly can learn our Google Pixel 9 XL Professional assessment for an in-depth take a look at all of those points. Google nonetheless guarantees seven years of updates, which is welcome.

The 4650mAh battery is giant, albeit smaller than the cell inside the unique Pixel Fold, and all through my preliminary testing, it has been getting by way of the day – although solely simply. Coming from the Pixel 9 Professional XL the place I used to be getting effectively into day two – even with heavy use – it is a little disappointing to see, however not unusual for foldables.

Digital camera

Not the identical array because the Pixel 9 ProDuo of 10MP selfie camerasExcellent picture processing

The cameras on the Pixel 9 Professional Fold aren’t the identical as those on the opposite two 9 Professional sequence telephones. Area stays tight on such a skinny machine, and that’s clearly led to sacrifices having to be made.

There’s a most important 48-megapixel f/1.7 digicam on the again, however the ultrawide and telephoto zoom cameras are 10.5MP and 10.8MP, respectively, placing them under the 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL. 

In my testing (which I stress remains to be in its early levels), the largest loss is the zoom high quality the place the decrease megapixel sensor has to depend on AI extra to maintain photographs detailed. Nonetheless, all three cameras are very succesful – and Google’s unbelievable picture processing ensures element is sharp and distinction is punchy.

There are two 10MP selfie cameras (one on the within, one on the duvet display screen) each of which have the identical specs, so you should utilize them each relying on the state of affairs with out sacrificing high quality.

Early Verdict

I used to be actually taken with the design of the Google Pixel Fold, and was barely irked at first that that blueprint had been ditched for one thing extra akin to the OnePlus Open. 

After a couple of days of use, all of it is smart. As distinctive as its predecessor was, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is a welcome reboot that’s a lot nicer to make use of for prolonged intervals. Each screens are (principally) nice, the construct is thinner and lighter and the whole lot simply feels extra high-end.

Points stay, not least with the plain display screen crease and inefficient chipset, however there’s each probability this might be the very best foldable cellphone we’ve examined this yr.