A Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold smartphone during the Made By Google launch event in Mountain View, … [+]
As I scrutinize my Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold for an upcoming review, one thing keeps happening: I forget that I am using a foldable phone.
With the blurriest of eyes first thing in the morning, when I reach over to my nightstand and grab the Fold, my mind briefly thinks I’m scrolling on a Pixel 9 before my memory eventually kicks in.
It turns out that this was exactly Google’s intention. “Even though people are interested in the new form factor and want the added bonus of the tablet-like experience, people also want to use their foldable like a regular smartphone.” A Google blog explained.
Google’s director of industrial design, Claude Zellweger, added people often used the original Pixel Fold closed and that made the design team realize that they had to “make this a phone first in terms of design.”
That is clear with the cover display. It has the same 20:9 aspect ratio as the Pixel 9 Pro and a similar finish. It is also surprisingly thin for a foldable phone. Unfurled, the Google handset is slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (5.1mm versus 5.6mm).
A Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold smartphone during the Made By Google launch event in Mountain View, … [+]
These are tiny margins on paper, but they’re clear if you’ve held both devices in your hand. That sleight build comes with some caveats, such as a compromised camera that—despite improving on the original—doesn’t match the Pixel 9 Pro’s hardware.
Folded, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold registers a thickness of 10.5mm compared to the Fold 6’s 12.1mm. The Google handset is also only 2mm thicker than the Pixel 9 Pro XL, whereas the Samsung device is 3.6mm bulkier than the Pixel 9 Pro XL and 3.5mm heftier than the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Shrinking the gap, in terms of thickness, between foldable and standard phones makes a big difference. It feels like a regular phone with a bonus tablet that seemingly appears out of nowhere. This is a shockingly simple design principle that works incredibly well. Yet Samsung has stuck with a foldable shape that has a cover display that just feels slightly off.
There are other issues with Google’s device, such as middling camera output for an expensive phone and familiar Pixel software quirks. I will expand on all of this in my full review. But on the foldable experience alone, Google has nailed it on the second try.