Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold hands-on: new design, bigger screens, and ...

• ✅ ???? A bigger, better, and lighter design

• ✅ ⚙️ Faster performance than ever before

• ✅ ✨ Google Gemini gets deeper integration

• ✅ ???? Seven years of software updates

• ❌ ???? Smaller battery than before

• ❌ ???? Worse camera than the regular Pixel 9 Pro XL

• ❌ ???? Still really expensive

• ❌ ???? Samsung still has a lead in refinement and reliability

One of my favorite phones is the original Pixel Fold. It was Google’s first attempt at its own foldable phone with a big inner display, great performance, and a design that felt like you were carrying around a passport. At the company’s Made By Google event in Mountain View, we got our first look at Google’s next foldable called the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and while it makes all the generational upgrades you’d expect, it also gives the device a complete redesign that’s eerily reminiscent of a folding phone from a totally separate company.

We got to spend some time with the device ahead of today’s announcement, and I’ll be honest with you, I’m pretty hyped about it.

Best Buy: 9 Pro Fold + $350 giftcard

• ???? Release date: September 4

• ???? Price: $1,799

• ???? Screen size: 8-inch inner / 6.3-inch outer

• ????️ Resolution: 2152 x 2076 inner / 2424 x 1080 outer

• ????‍♂️ Refresh rate: Up to 120Hz inner/outer

• ???? Brightness: 2,700 nits inner/outer

• ???? Main camera: 48MP

• ???? Ultra-wide camera: 10.5MP with 127° field of view

• ???? Telephoto camera: 10.8MP with 5x optical zoom, 20x Super Res Zoom

• ???? Selfie cameras: 10MP front, 10MP inner

• ⚙️ Chipset: Google Tensor G4

• ???? RAM: 16GB

• ????️ Storage: 256GB/512GB

• ???? Speakers: stereo (and no headphone jack)

• ???? Battery: 4,650 mAh

• ???? Wired Charging: 45W

• ⚡ Wireless Charging: Yes, 15W

• ???? Connectivity: 5G sub6 and mmWave, WiFi 7

• ????️ Biometrics: Side-mounted fingerprint reader

• ⚖️ Weight: 257 g

• ???? Colors: Porcelain, Obsidian

• ???? OS: Android 14 (seven years of software upgrades)

• ???? Durability: Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on front and back

• ???? Waterproof: IPX8

???? A revamped design. When I walked into the hands-on area Google set up, I immediately darted for the section with the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold on display. I picked it up and was impressed with the new design. It’s a lot different than the original Fold; the previous model was much shorter and denser, while this new model is taller and a lot lighter. It uses aluminum with a satin finish for the frame and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back. The hinge is made of stainless steel with aluminum on top for extra durability, and Google even gave it an IPX8 rating for water resistance. There’s still no dirt or dust protection, however.

Best Buy: 9 Pro Fold + $350 giftcard

???? Bigger, better screens. I’m a big fan of the passport shape of the original Fold, but I realize that’s not practical for a lot of people who want a normal-feeling phone when it’s closed, and the 9 Pro Fold closes that gap substantially. The 6.3-inch AMOLED screen on the front is a lot bigger and more spacious than the stout 5.8-inch panel of yesteryear, so you can have all the normal phone interactions you want with the device closed.

Open the phone and you’re greeted with an 8-inch Super Actua Flex display, a notable upgrade from the 7.6-inch screen on the previous Fold. The bezels are a lot thinner, the selfie camera is moved to the corner of the display, and the crease isn’t as pronounced as before. In my limited time with the phone, I could tell that it’s a big upgrade over the original Fold, and I’m excited to put it through its paces. Plus, it’s 80 percent brighter, reaching 2,700 nits instead of 1,550 nits, which will be great for using the screen outdoors.

If you’re familiar with the world of folding phones, you may be experiencing a case of deja vu when looking at the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. That’s because it looks strikingly similar to the OnePlus Open, which debuted nearly a year ago. It has a similar size and shape to the Open, and it even uses a similar metal frame which I immediately picked up on when I grabbed the 9 Pro Fold for the first time. While some will call it a ripoff of OnePlus’ design, I honestly don’t care. The Open nailed it and set a new standard for what folding phones should look and act like, and I’m glad Google took heed and brought that design to the Pixel series.

???? Upgraded cameras with lots of capabilities. Flip the phone around and you’ll find a few cameras in a couple of pill-shaped in a larger housing. Compared to the previous Fold, the 9 Pro Fold has a few nice camera upgrades like a 10.8MP 5x telephoto camera and a wider 127-degree ultra-wide lens, while the 48MP main camera remains almost unchanged. Of course, the company is promising overall better image and video quality with this model, but we’ll need to test it in the real world to know for sure.

⚙️ Top-tier specs. As you’d expect, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold gets a nice upgrade in the spec department. It swaps the Tensor G2 processor for Google’s new Tensor G4, and it’s paired with 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. There’s a 4,650mAh battery inside (slightly smaller than the 4,821mAh cell in the regular Fold) that works with 45W fast charging and wireless charging.

Best Buy: 9 Pro Fold + $350 giftcard

✨ Google AI is everywhere. Since it’s a brand-new phone, you’ll get the best performance ever from a Pixel phone with the 9 Pro Fold. But instead of raw horsepower, Google really wants you to focus on–you guessed it–AI.

All of this year’s Pixel phones come with Gemini pre-installed, and it’s gotten a pretty big upgrade. Most notably, Google now lets you converse with the chatbot through Gemini Live, allowing you to have full-blown conversations to learn new things, figure out problems, and more. It’s part of a completely new assistant-like experience that Google built into Gemini, which allows it to understand your intent and train of thought during your conversation.

Gemini can also be brought up over any app you’re using to ask questions about what’s on your screen (like learning more about a movie or YouTube video you’re watching), and you can generate images on the fly and drop them into conversations you’re having in apps like Gmail or Google Messages.

On the Pixel 9 series, a lot of these AI features can run locally thanks to Gemini Nano, which runs directly on the device without having to send anything to the cloud. To further highlight that, Google is introducing some features that are Pixel 9-exclusive which, according to the company, require the Tensor G4 to operate. There’s Pixel Screenshots which is an app that stores your screenshots and lets you look up information from them on the fly (e.g. type in “cheeseburgers” or “Jason’s Wi-Fi password” to find relevant screenshots you’ve taken using AI), and there’s Pixel Studio which generates images from your own prompt and lets you customize them with text, effects, and more. I got to demo both of these new experiences and I was left impressed, although I’ll need to use them longer to figure out how helpful they can be.

There’s also a new camera-centric AI feature called Add Me, which is low-key creepy. You take a picture of your friend(s) in front of the scene of your choosing, then have them take a picture of you in the same setting, and your Pixel will merge the two and add you to the frame so no one is left out of the final shot. I saw some of my colleagues playing with it during my demo at Google’s headquarters and it worked surprisingly well, although it’s one of those features that can rub you the wrong way if you aren’t a fan of AI in photos.

If you want more AI, Google will be offering a free one-year subscription to the Google One AI Premium Plan, which includes access to Gemini Advanced, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, and 2TB of cloud storage.

???? Android 14 with all the foldable fixin’s. Of course, the software experience doesn’t end with AI on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Like the original Pixel Fold, the new model has features like a floating taskbar, split-screen, tabletop mode (a.k.a. kickstand mode), and more so you can spread out and take full advantage of its big 8-inch screen. There’s also a new multi-view mode for YouTube TV coming to the 9 Pro Fold that’ll let you stream multiple shows at once.

You can also use the cover display as a viewfinder for higher-quality selfies, place video calls and use both sides of the device to include everyone in the conversation, use each screen for translations through Google Translate, and lots more. It’s all built into Android 14, which will be supported for seven years down the line with software upgrades.

???? Let’s get this review started. I had a blast toying around with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at my hands-on, and it left me curious whether Google has nailed the idea of a book-style foldable phone. It has the right size cover screen, the software is packed with multitasking and AI prowess, the specs are top-tier, and you’re getting seven years of software upgrades. This has all the right ingredients to be one of the best foldable phones not just of 2024, but over the past five years completely.

Best Buy: 9 Pro Fold + $350 giftcard

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is available to pre-order now with pricing starting at $1,799 for 256GB of storage. The new Google foldable phone ships and will be widely available starting September 4.