How Google’s foldables stack up

Pixel 9 Professional Fold

A extra refined providing

Google’s Pixel 9 Professional Fold goals to resolve the unique Pixel Fold’s key points due to its thinner and lighter design, Tensor G4 chip and extra fluid hinge.
Professionals

Improved hinge

Higher general build-quality

Sleeker trying
Cons

Nonetheless an expensive smartphone

Nonetheless has a visual crease

Does not have the identical digital camera setup because the Pixel 9 Professional
Pixel Fold

Google’s first foldable

Google’s first foldable is a strong machine that is sadly held again by software program points and minor build-quality complaints.
Professionals

An amazing first foldable

Cowl show is a superb dimension

Nice digital camera outcomes
Cons

Software program and build-quality are lacklusture

It is costly

Middling battery life

At its current Made by Google {hardware} keynote, the eponymous tech big unveiled its second-generation stab on the foldable phone market, which it is calling the Pixel 9 Professional Fold. This new machine supersedes the unique Pixel Fold from final 12 months, and it is now obtainable for pre-order for an eye-watering $1,700.

Google’s new pocketable pill is not formally being marketed because the Pixel Fold 2, but it surely’s very a lot a direct successor product. With that in thoughts, let’s examine each generations of Google foldables, and see precisely the place the corporate has made modifications for this 12 months’s providing.

9:01

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Worth, specs, and availability

All the basics

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold is priced at $1799, and is slated to ship in September 2024. It comes with the brand new Tensor G4 processor and 16GB of RAM. The unique Pixel Fold, against this, was launched in Might 2023, and runs utilizing the older Tensor G2 chip and 12GB of RAM.

Each foldables launched on the similar value level, and provide 256GB of storage within the base configuration. IPX8 water resistance, ultra-wideband (UWB), and NFC are current on each fashions, however solely the newer Pixel 9 Professional Fold comes with the iPhone-esque Satellite tv for pc SOS help.

	Pixel 9 Professional Fold	Google Pixel Fold
Model	Google	Google
SoC	Tensor G4, Titan M2 safety processor	Google Tensor G2
Show	Inner display screen – 2076 x 2152 pixel decision OLED at (373 PPI), exterior show – 1080 x 2424 pixel decision OLED (422 PPI), 1800 nits (HDR), 2700 nits (peak brightness)	5.8-inch, OLED, 2092 x 1080, 120Hz (cowl) / 6.7-inch OLED, UTG, 2208 x 1840, 120Hz (fundamental)
Battery	4650 mAh	4821mAh, 30W quick charging, Wi-fi charging
Working System	Android 14	Android
Entrance digital camera	10-megapixel f/2.2, 10-megapixel interior digital camera	9.5MP, f/2.2 (cowl) / 8MP, f/2.0 (fundamental)
Rear digital camera	48-megapixel f/1.7 broad, 10.5-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, 10.8-megapixel f/3.1 telephoto	48MP f/1.7 fundamental, 10.8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, 10.8MP f/3.05 telephoto
Dimensions	Folded – 155.2 top x 77.1 width x 10.5-inches depth, Unfolded – 6.1 top x 5.9 width x 0.2-inches depth	139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1mm (folded), 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8mm (unfolded), 283g
Colours	Obsidian, procelain	Obsidian, Porcelain
Weight	9.1oz (257g)	283g

Design and construct

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold {hardware} makes the unique Pixel Fold seem like a beta launch

As a book-style foldable telephone inside the broader Pixel 9 lineup, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold appears and feels the half to a tee. The overall Pixel design language is unbroken right here, and the machine carefully resembles the unique Pixel Fold for essentially the most half.

As with the opposite new Pixel 9 handsets, there is a concentrate on angularity and an general sharper construct than what we have seen up to now. The digital camera array stays distinctly ‘Pixel’ in look, however the lenses are actually separated into two distinct sections that resemble extra of a rectangle than a conventional bar form.

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold launches in Obsidian and Porcelain colorways, matching that of the first-generation Pixel Fold. Sadly, extra expressive Pixel colours like Bay Blue or Coral Pink are usually not on provide right now.

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Show

Google’s new foldable is brighter than the earlier technology

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold’s interior and outer shows are much like these of the unique Pixel Fold from a technical perspective. The interior OLED display screen is available in at a 2076 x 2152 pixel decision, with the exterior OLED coming in at 1080 x 2424 pixels. These are barely completely different panel resolutions than the outgoing mannequin, which has an 1840 x 2208 inside show and a 1080 x 2092 cowl show. General, pixel density is roughly comparable throughout each gadgets.

Google quotes a peak of 2700 nits of brightness for the primary show, which is up from the height of 1450 nits within the outgoing mannequin. This may seemingly be essentially the most hanging change when taking a look at each shows side-by-side.

With out even turning on the show, nevertheless, the most important change that is instantly noticeable is the dramatic discount in show bezel dimension. The Pixel Fold has comparatively massive bezels when in comparison with different foldables available on the market, such the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, so these new slimmer ones are an enormous step up in each esthetics and screen-to-body ratio.

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Internals

Google’s new Tensor G4 processor launches with the Pixel 9 Professional Fold

Google/Pocket-lint

For $1,799, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold ships with 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and the brand new Google Tensor G4 chip that it shares with the opposite new Pixel 9 handsets. As talked about, final 12 months’s Pixel Fold runs on the older Tensor G2 paired with 12GB of RAM.

We’ll have to check the G4 out in the true world, in addition to utilizing simulated benchmarks, to get a greater concept of how way more performant it’s in comparison with final 12 months’s chip. Sadly, from a brute {hardware} perspective, it would not seem like Google’s processor can be solely aggressive with the robust competitors from each Qualcomm and Apple.

The Pixel 7a being held in front of a vase of flowers.

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Cameras

Even with ‘Professional’ in its title, the digital camera {hardware} stays a step down from the corporate’s slab telephone choices

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold is fitted with a triple rear digital camera setup, identical to the unique Pixel Fold. Particularly, we’re getting a 48-megapixel broad, 10.5-megapixel ultrawide, and 10.8-megapixel telephoto setup right here, which carefully matches the digital camera {hardware} featured in final 12 months’s mannequin.

As with the unique Pixel Fold, it stays disappointing that Google is not placing its top-of-the-line digital camera {hardware} into the package deal, as an alternative reserving it for the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional slab-style telephones. Inner area constraints are prone to blame right here, however contemplating the asking value, it is nonetheless lower than supreme.

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Verdict: Is the Pixel 9 Professional Fold a worthy successor to final 12 months’s Pixel Fold?

Worth proposition

At a beginning value of $1,799, Google’s new Pixel 9 Professional Fold is not low-cost within the slightest. Fortunately, the value hasn’t risen when in comparison with final 12 months’s Pixel Fold, but it surely additionally hasn’t decreased in any respect.

Prime Choose

Pixel 9 Professional Fold

Google’s Pixel 9 Professional Fold goals to resolve the unique Pixel Fold’s key points due to its thinner and lighter design, Tensor G4 chip and extra fluid hinge.

Greatest Worth

Google Pixel Fold

The Pixel Fold takes Google’s telephones in a brand new route, embracing the next-gen display screen tech and presenting a premium Pixel possibility. It is a terrific high quality telephone, but it surely’s clear there’s nonetheless work to be carried out on app optimisation to reinforce the expertise.

For foldable Android telephones to actually take off, it is abundantly clear that costs want to return down by a very good margin. With this being Google’s second technology Fold product, the corporate seems to be emphasizing polish and high quality of life enhancements absent from the unique Pixel Fold launch.

Hopefully, as soon as Google begins to hit one thing of a stride inside the foldable market phase, we’ll see costs steadily lower. In the intervening time, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold appears to be a strong enchancment over the Pixel Fold, evoking a way of bodily refinement over the corporate’s earlier providing.