Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review: can it keep up with the competition?

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold shows what manufacturers can improve within a year. With its predecessor, I felt like I was holding an unfinished prototype. It feels like Google skipped three development cycles and delivered a foldable that does a lot better than the competition. I just don’t like the name.

Design and outer display

From the front, it looks as if someone put a Pixel 9 Pro into a frame that you can open. I find the front takes some getting used to: rounded corners on one side and more angular ones on the other, with a round display. The thick bezels of the 6.2-inch AMOLED outer display are not a success either, especially since the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro have very thin bezels.

The first big leap is the form factor. Google has switched from the passport format to a normal 20:9 aspect ratio. That is why you can use the Pixel 9 Pro Fold closed like a normal smartphone. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 completely lacks that.

Inner display

The inner display is the reason you buy a foldable, and this is where Google makes the second leap. On the first Pixel Fold, the bezels were too thick and poorly finished. On the 9 Pro Fold, they are slim, unobtrusive, and well made. The OLED display measures 8 inches, the largest among foldables. The Honor Magic V3 comes in at 7.92 inches, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 at 7.6 inches.

Both displays get up to 2,700 nits bright and are easy to read in direct sunlight. The almost square format feels like opening a small book.

I find the selfie camera in the inner display clever. It sits in the top right corner and not in the middle like on Samsung and Honor. During video calls with the phone half open, it therefore sits a bit higher. The inner camera and the outer front camera both have a resolution of 10 megapixels.

Camera

	Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Wide-angle	48 megapixels
Ultra-wide	10.5 megapixels
Telephoto	10.8 megapixels, 5x optical, up to 20x digital

The camera module sticks out a full 2 mm and looks a bit glued on, but it is clearly recognizable as part of the Pixel 9 series. The hardware says little, because software and AI are everything today. Google gives it everything here. No matter how bad the conditions are, you pretty much always get good shots.

AI and performance

To me, the Pixel smartphones are currently the smartest smartphones. Gemini is superbly integrated, and I use it daily instead of Googling, as well as Circle to Search. For photo editing, the AI with “Add Me” and “Best Take” is unbeatably good. However, many announced features are still missing, at least here in the EU. For me, Google is the undefeated number one in smartphone AI, and I’m looking forward to everything that is still to come.

You pay a hefty price for that, though, for the AI-optimized Tensor G4 and the 16 GB of RAM. We have already bought the expensive racehorse, we’re just missing the rider.

Weight, battery and features

• Weight: 257 g, 18 g heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and 31 g heavier than the Honor Magic V3. It is slimmer than the Z Fold 6, though.
• Design: high-quality, modern flat edges, rounded corners, sturdy matte glass back.
• Battery: 4,650 mAh, fairly small compared to the competition.
• Other: no stylus support, but extremely good speakers. 7 years of software and security updates.

Verdict

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is an extremely successful upgrade over its predecessor. At a €1,899 RRP, it is definitely far too expensive, because with the outer display bezels and the small battery, it is not at the top of what is technically possible. Still, it fills a niche: with the AI features that will hopefully come to us soon, the outstanding camera software, and the form factor. With the new Pro Fold, I would say for the first time that I want to use the device for as long as possible. I’m curious about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, hopefully with a new name.