I can’t overstate how good it feels to make use of the Pixel 9 Professional Fold’s interior display screen. I’ve by no means felt so smug utilizing all my little apps on the espresso store on an enormous display screen, folding it in half, and placing it in my pocket.
Google nailed the {hardware} this time round. The entrance display screen seems to be like, nicely, a traditional telephone display screen. I can’t say the identical in regards to the earlier Pixel Fold’s entrance display screen or six generations of Samsung’s Z Fold. The Pixel 9 Professional Fold can also be mild sufficient that I can neglect I’m utilizing a folding telephone for entire stretches of time. Think about!
Google solved lots of the primary Fold’s issues, however it hasn’t solved all of them. Fortunately, those which might be left are simply folding telephone issues. The cameras aren’t pretty much as good because the cameras on the common Pixel 9 sequence. It’s nonetheless thicker and heavier than even the largest slab-style telephones. It received’t be as straightforward to restore, and it’s twice the worth of a garden-variety flagship telephone. In the event you’re in search of causes to speak your self out of a $1,799 buy, you’re welcome.
However for somebody who’s feeling adventurous and isn’t involved with the drawbacks of folding telephone life, I’m sorry to say, it is best to in all probability spend $1,800 on this telephone. It’s that good.
Google took precisely the suitable cues from OnePlus, splitting the distinction between the earlier Pixel Fold and the Open. The entrance display screen looks like utilizing a traditional display screen. It’s not a lot heavier than a traditional telephone. The interior display screen is large. All the pieces is the best way it needs to be.
This Pixel Fold could also be a “Professional” telephone, however it shares display screen specs with the usual Pixel 9 and never the Pixel 9 Professional. All three units have a 6.3-inch OLED, however the common 9 and the 9 Professional Fold have 1080p resolutions and prime out at 1,800 nits in peak brightness mode. The 9 Professional’s display screen is just a bit sharper and brighter, in order that’s a tradeoff you’ll must make if you would like the Pixel that folds in half.
The outer display screen isn’t fairly as “Professional” because it could possibly be, however the interior display screen is the place the cash’s at, and it’s a lot brighter this 12 months. That’s an vital enchancment on a tool that’s presupposed to, you realize, go outdoors with you on a regular basis. What’s the enjoyable in flexing that large show sitting outdoors of the espresso store if it’s important to squint at it? The boosted peak brightness of two,700 nits makes it far more comfy to make use of outdoors than the earlier era’s display screen.
There are some digital camera {hardware} tradeoffs. The common Pixel 9 telephones all have a nicer 50-megapixel important digital camera with an even bigger sensor in comparison with the 9 Professional Fold’s 48-megapixel digital camera. There’s not an enormous distinction, however you may squeeze a bit extra element in low-light photographs out of the common Pixel 9’s digital camera. The foldable Pixel’s telephoto lens isn’t fairly pretty much as good, both, and low-light images in comparison with the usual Pixel 9’s 5x zoom are noticeably softer.
It’s a minor function, however “Made You Look” — which makes use of the outer show to indicate an cute animation to catch a child’s consideration — works precisely as marketed. But it makes use of the outer display screen’s selfie digital camera, which isn’t nice in low mild. Don’t get me improper, it is a good digital camera system total. But it surely’s an space the place mainly all foldables lag behind slab telephones, what with all the inner house wanted for shifting elements. We will’t have all of it — a minimum of not but.
And sorry to maintain being a bummer, however you’ll need to contemplate sturdiness in case you’re shopping for a folding telephone versus a slab telephone. Its IPX8 ranking means the 9 Professional Fold can stand up to water immersion, however you’re by yourself if a grain of sand works its method into the hinge. Finest to determine within the additional $279 for Google’s prolonged care plan with the acquisition value of this already dear telephone.
Now, sufficient of the much less enjoyable stuff! Let’s discuss the most effective a part of this telephone: utilizing the massive display screen. The telephone’s new, taller format — together with improved rendering from some apps — makes for a significantly better interior display screen expertise. You’ll be able to view two apps on the display screen directly, which is nice for cross-referencing Google Maps and Eater, however that’s the restrict.
I get why Google does this, and also you type of must be a weirdo like me to need to run three or 4 apps directly in little tiles. However Samsung’s foldable UI permits you to do that, and I’m just a bit unhappy that I can’t have a tiny Spotify participant within the nook of the display screen whereas I run two different apps like I can on the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Nonetheless! Utilizing the massive display screen is a pleasure. I’m extra inclined to make use of the 9 Professional Fold for advanced duties that will be annoying on an everyday telephone. Opening Chrome and seeing all my tabs in a row on the prime of the display screen fills my coronary heart with pleasure. I can confer with a web page on Icy Veins whereas I prepare my paragon factors in Diablo IV, slightly than squinting at a bit display screen. These little issues add up.
I’ve additionally been impressed with the 9 Professional Fold’s battery life. It’s not fairly as sturdy as the usual Pixel 9 fashions, however it comfortably lasts by means of a reasonable day with a lot of GPS navigation, hotspot use, and time on the interior display screen. Even on these days, I at all times had a minimum of 40 p.c left within the tank by bedtime.
The Pixel 9 Professional Fold makes folding telephones make sense to me. It’s extra like a traditional telephone than ever, however it’s additionally not utterly like utilizing a traditional telephone. By choosing a telephone that folds, you’re nonetheless making tradeoffs, significantly within the digital camera {hardware}. The telephone’s long-term sturdiness can also be an unknown — actually nobody has owned a Pixel folding telephone for greater than a 12 months at this level. Foldable possession isn’t for the faint of coronary heart.
However the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is probably the most rewarding folding telephone I’ve ever used. Utilizing the telephone whereas it’s closed feels method much less cumbersome and far more regular than the earlier Pixel Fold or a Galaxy Z Fold. That makes utilizing the massive interior display screen really feel that rather more rewarding; I don’t really feel like I’m placing up with a cumbersome telephone the remainder of the time to get that have.
This foldable comes with its tradeoffs: the downgraded digital camera {hardware}; sturdiness issues; and oh yeah, the eighteen hundred US {dollars} it prices. However I feel Google made the suitable tradeoffs right here to optimize the interior display screen expertise. It’s an expertise that I’ll miss after I swap again to the following slab-style telephone that I take a look at — one which foldable followers and the foldable-curious will discover very rewarding, too. As a result of god rattling, it is a good telephone.
Pictures by Allison Johnson / The Verge