Final yr’s Pixel Fold was a valiant first try at a foldable telephone by Google, but it surely wasn’t excellent. In comparison with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold and the OnePlus Open, the Pixel Fold was shorter and wider, which made it a extra snug phone-to-tablet expertise.
That stated, it was additionally a lot heavier than the competitors, which diminished the phantasm of it being a compact system. It had the looks of a passport, but it surely felt like a bible in your hand.
This yr’s Pixel 9 Professional Fold fixes the ergonomic problems with the unique, after which some. In doing so, Google has additionally shifted from the boxier, extra conventional facet ratio to a 20:9 scale that is just like the OnePlus Open. I personally know some Pixel Fold customers who will likely be disillusioned by the change, however primarily based on my hands-on time with the most recent mannequin, I feel it is for the higher.
Tack on a bigger, brighter show (as much as 2,700 nits at peak brightness), 16GB of RAM, the corporate’s newest Tensor G4 chip, and a bunch of AI options as a result of that is a requirement for any piece of tech in 2024, and you’ve got a contender for finest foldable telephone this yr.
Discover that I stated “the very best foldable telephone” and never “finest telephone general.” That is as a result of I am nonetheless struggling to advocate foldable telephones, with their hefty value tags, over the extra conventional iPhones, Samsung Galaxies, and even Google Pixels.
The excellent news is that the Pixel 9 Professional Fold — with all of its user-benefitting upgrades this yr — does not get a value bump like the remainder of the Pixel 9 collection. The dangerous information is that it is priced the identical as its predecessor: beginning at $1,799. It is nonetheless costly. It is nonetheless inaccessible. In case you’re contemplating the Pixel 9 Professional Fold, trade-in provides, service promotions, and vacation reductions are your finest pal.
Additionally: Every part introduced at Made by Google 2024
Pricing apart, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is seeking to be probably the greatest multitasking and leisure units you should purchase at this time. It helps that the interior show now spans a whopping eight inches, making it the most important telephone available on the market.
Once I tried it, operating break up display mode and watching YouTube movies on the Tremendous Actua Flex show was straight eye sweet, apart from the instances when the wall-sized home windows on the venue uncovered simply how shiny and glare-exhibiting these versatile screens are.
I am positive final yr’s Pixel Fold would’ve held up worse in the identical surroundings, because the measly as much as 1,450 nits made the telephone virtually unusable when outdoor. The Pixel 9 Professional Fold will get a lot, a lot brighter, and that is one thing each consumer can admire.
Additionally: Each Google Pixel 9 mannequin in contrast: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Professional, Pixel 9 XL, and Pixel 9 Professional Fold
The bigger display additionally performs nicely with Google’s newest AI options, which embrace the Pixel Studio picture generator, Gemini Stay, and Pixel Screenshots. All three can be found on the smaller, cheaper Pixel 9 fashions, too, however having a bigger canvas to doodle, immediate, and work together with Google’s AI options looks like the very best strategy. You may even run break up display mode with Google’s Gemini chatbot and drag-and-drop recordsdata for a extra collaborative expertise.
Google says the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is “the thinnest foldable you should purchase,” which is true for those who’re not in a market that features the likes of Xiaomi and Honor. When unfolded, the telephone is about the identical thickness because the iPhone 15 Professional, and I had no downside holding it up when taking the pictures you see all through this text.
Pair the thinness with an IPX8 score (that means the telephone is water resistant), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, and a brand new hinge design that I am informed is tighter and higher prevents inner elements from coming unfastened, and you’ve got a foldable telephone that must be as protected to hold round as a daily handset.
Additionally: Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold: 4 finest options that make it the foldable telephone to beat
Google had a giant alternative to leapfrog its foldable counterparts in digicam efficiency, however the Pixel 9 Professional Fold does not come off as aggressive. It fields an identical 48MP foremost, 10.5MP ultrawide, and 10.8MP telephoto digicam array as its predecessor, leaning closely on the brand new Tensor G4 chip — and nevertheless a lot backend processing it brings — to hold the photo-taking expertise. In comparison with the bigger, extra competent sensors on the Pixel 9 Professional and Professional XL, this looks like a disservice to customers committing at the very least $1,799 for the Pixel 9 Professional Fold.
After all, I am going to have to check the telephone for longer and in additional circumstances to see simply how important (or insignificant) this {hardware} distinction is. Based mostly on tech specs alone, nevertheless, I am not anticipating Google’s most costly telephone to have the corporate’s finest digicam output.
The Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold is out there for preorder Tuesday, Aug. 13, in two colours: Porcelain and Obsidian, beginning at $1,799 for 256GB of storage.