Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

This super-smart foldable includes a huge 8in display and good battery life, but the price is too high

- JOHN VELASCO

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is Google’s second stab at a folding phone, but there’s enough here that’s new and improved over last year’s Pixel Fold (see issue 348, p44) that it feels like a fresh start. As well as a name change to better align with the rest of the Pixel 9 family, it brings the largest folding display we’ve yet seen, Google’s Tensor G4 chip and all of the Pixel 9 series’ new AI features.

Design-wise, it’s a huge improvement over the Pixel Fold. The wider aspect ratio, subtler crease and smaller bezels all look smarter; I also prefer the new rectangular camera cutout to the old horizontal bar. It’s more solid, too, with a reassuring IPX8 rating, yet is one of the lightest and skinniest foldables around, weighing 257g and measuring 10.5mm thick folded and 5.1mm unfolded. It’s available in tasteful Obsidian and Porcelain finishes, although there are no coloured options for those wanting more personality.

Display of power

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s headline feature is the inner screen. It’s almost square, with a native resolution of 2,076 x 2,152, and measures a full 8in across the diagonal. This makes it bigger than the displays on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold6 (see issue 360, p72), the OnePlus Open (see issue 351, p60) and Honor Magic V3 (see p62), and the wider shape works brilliantly when you want to run two apps side by side.

That width also means the outer display isn’t too skinny; it’s a 6.3in panel with a 20:9 aspect ratio. Despite recent improvements on the Z Fold series, its narrower design makes using it as an everyday phone irritating.