Google’s inclusion of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold foldable in the Pixel 9 series must have been a massive surprise if you weren’t paying attention to all the Pixel 9 rumors that preceded Google’s big press event on Tuesday. The name isn’t the only big change coming to Google’s second-gen Pixel Fold model.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a much better design than the first-gen version. It’s also significantly thinner than the Pixel Fold and even thinner than the recently launched Galaxy Z Fold 6, one of its main rivals.
The improvements don’t stop there, as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold features better specs than last year. The new foldable is almost as good as the Pixel 9 Pro phones, as it rocks the same hardware for the most part. The camera doesn’t match the Pixel 9 Pro, but that’s only because Google wanted to keep the handset as thin as possible.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold design
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is 5.1mm thick when unfolded and 10.5mm thick when folded. That’s a significant reduction in thickness compared with the Fold, which had a profile of 5.8mm and 12.1mm, respectively. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures 5.6mm when folded and 12.1mm when folded.
Google’s achievement here is impressive. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is almost on par with the Honor Magic V2 and V3 phones, which are thinner than 10mm when folded. To put things in a different perspective, the Pixel 9 Pro phones are 8.5mm thick.
When it comes to weight, the new foldable weighs 257 grams, which is significantly lighter than its predecessor’s 283 grams. The Fold 6 is the winner here, at 239 grams.
Google pulled off the new design by employing an all-new stainless steel hingle and an aerospace-grade high-strength aluminum cover. The phone will also unfold perfectly flat, which was one point of contention with its predecessor.
Unfold the phone, and you’ll find another design fix. Google removed the thick, ugly bezels that were on the Pixel Fold. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold features significantly thinner, symmetrical bezels.
Specs and software
Speaking of displays, we’re looking at Super Actua OLED panels here. The cover screen measures 6.3 inches, matching the display size of the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro. The Full HD display supports a variable refresh rate of 60-120Hz, just like the Pixel 9. The brightness goes up to 1,800 nits (HDR) and 2,700 nits (peak). The screen has a Corning Gorilla Glass Victos 2 cover glass on top.
According to Google, the foldable screen measures 8 inches, making it the largest display on a foldable device. The Smooth Display refresh rate drops to 1Hz instead of 60Hz. However, the brightness is slightly worse, at 1,600 nits (HDR) and 2,700 nits (peak).
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold features the same Tensor G4 and 16GB of RAM as the Pixel 9 Pro phones. It packs double the starting storage at 256GB. But it comes only in two options, the other being 512GB.
Even though the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a larger footprint than the Pixel 9 Pro XL, it features a smaller battery. We’re looking at a 4,650 mAh pack that supports 45W fast charging. This should be enough for the new foldable to last a full day. The Extreme Battery Saver mode gets you up to 72 hours of battery life.
Google had to make sacrifices in the camera department compared to the camera module on the Pixel 9 Pro phones. We’re looking at a 48-megapixel wide camera, 10.5-megapixel ultrawide camera, 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, and 10-megapixel selfie camera.
Google explained during a briefing that it couldn’t go for better camera hardware as it wanted to make the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as thin as possible. However, the software and the Gemini AI features should compensate for the lack of additional megapixels.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold will run Android 14 out of the box, with an Android 15 upgrade probably imminent. The foldable will support seven years of Android, security, and Pixel Drop updates. That’s assuming you can hold on to a foldable phone that long.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s Gemini AI power matches the other Pixel 9 phones. You get a Gemini AI assistant that’s a button-press away. Gemini works with multiple Google apps to provide information. Gemini also offers contextual information about the information on your display. With Gemini Live, a new voice mode launching on Tuesday, you can use the next-gen voice mode of Gemini that lets you conduct voice conversations that resemble talking to a person. Google demoed the feature back at I/O in May.
The new foldable also supports Google’s new Pixel Screenshots app that lets Gemini process data from your screenshot on-device to help you recall information more quickly and securely. Similarly, the new AI editing features available on the Pixel 9 phones, including the Add Me camera capability, will be available on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
How much does it all cost?
Unlike the Pixel 9 phones, which are more expensive than their predecessors, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has the same price as the first-gen model. The handset starts at $1,799 and is available for preorder immediately. You can get it in Porcelain and Obsidian or white and black. It’ll launch in stores on September 4th.
Like the Pixel 9 Pro phones, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold comes with two years of free Gemini Advanced access via the Google One AI Premium Plan. You’ll need Google’s best Gemini model to enable Gemini Live on the foldable. Even if you don’t want AI on your phone, the subscription comes with 2TB of cloud storage.
All of that makes the Pixel 9 Pro Fold a more compelling alternative to Samsung’s Fold-type foldables than its predecessor.
