Google Pixel Fold
The Pixel Fold is Google’s first attempt at a foldable smartphone. It packs flagship-grade specifications, including the company’s Tensor G2 chip, a 7.6-inch primary display, and a 5.8-inch cover display. It runs on Android 13 and has a triple rear camera setup.
Google Pixel 7 Pro
The Pixel 7 Pro is Google’s 2022 flagship, and unlike the Pixel Fold, it has a traditional smartphone design. But it shares several specifications with the Pixel Fold, including the Tensor G2 chip, Android 13, and 12GB of RAM.
With years of refinements and a host of novel features under its belt, Google’s now responsible for some of the most advanced smartphones on the market. Its 2022 flagshipPixel 7 Proproved a winner in nearly every aspect, much like thePixel 8 Proafter it.
But while Google advanced its industry-leading slab phone, other manufacturers dug further into a novel market to release somegreat foldable phones. Only in June 2023 did Google enter the fray, releasing thePixel Foldwith an even more spacious form factor than the competition. Google doesn’t seem to have learned much from those competitors' previous mistakes, however, leaving the Fold with too many flaws and questionable design decisions to recommend for the average smartphone fan.
Pricing, specs, and availability
Foldable phones aren’t cheap, and the Pixel Fold’s $1,800 list price is no surprise. You can, of course, get various trade-in discounts, and you can sign a contract in exchange for anAT&T installment planthat ends up saving you about $800. But that’s quite the chunk of change any way you slice it, which gives us pretty high expectations right off the bat.
The Pixel 7 Pro isn’t exactly budget-friendly, either, but its $900 price is pretty standard for a recent flagship. Despite the release of the Pixel 8 Pro, the 7 Pro hasn’t seen a ton of big discounts lately (it’s still sold at list price on the Google Store, for example), but third-party retailers do occasionally have it on sale. It’s also reasonable to expect further discounted opportunities once Pixel 8 Pro sales start to pick up steam.
In a telling bit of foreshadowing, though, release availability for the two devices differs significantly. The Pixel 7 Pro hit the ground running in a breadth of markets worldwide, including the first Pixel release in India since 2018. We’d consider that a vote of confidence, and it looks like it paid off after the phone’s success.
By contrast, the Pixel Fold released in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and that’s it. This limited availability, coupled with the results of our in-depth review and long-term updates, make this seem more like a test run than a truly competitive high-end foldable.
Same design language, different build
If you look carefully, you’ll notice one particular design choice that sets these two phones apart: The Pixel Fold is considerably larger and folds in half, while the Pixel 8 Pro is the size of a normal smartphone and doesn’t fold at all. Other than that obvious distinction, they clearly share the Google aesthetic.
The Fold’s rear camera bar resembles the 7 Pro’s, although it doesn’t reach all the way to the phone’s edges, and they share similarly rounded corners and an obvious relation overall. The Fold’s polished steel frame also immediately reminds us of the 7 Pro. A couple minor departures from the Pixel 7 Pro aesthetic include the Fold’s matte rear glass, which looks nicer and hides smudges and fingerprints significantly better.
Compared to its closest competitors, the Fold’s slimmer and more comfortable to hold than the Z Fold 5 and especially the Z Fold 4. There’s also no annoying hinge gap when it’s closed. Its outer screen also offers more function than many other foldables', and frankly, looks about as great as the Pixel 7 Pro’s display.
But at a certain point, the Fold’s design and build quality start to show their true colors. For starters, it’s not actually that easy to unfold. Opening it naturally, without applying undue pressure, results in a not-quite-flat device that won’t sit flush on your desk. It took an unexpected amount of pressure to get the thing all the way open and sitting flat.
As if that weren’t enough,some reviewersand consumers alike have drawn attention toPixel Fold durability issues, like units arriving broken or malfunctioning soon after setup. It’s an unfortunate reputation for a nearly $2,000 device.
Three displays, but only two great ones
It’s easy to talk up the Pixel 7 Pro’s screen, which competes directly with the likes of Samsung as one of the best in the industry. It produces up to 1,500 nits at peak brightness and leverages LTPO technology for an adaptive refresh rate of 10 to 120 hertz. Its pixel density of 512 ppi is among the best, and it delivers some of the best HDR results possible with supported media.
Neither of the Fold’s displays are quite as good as the Pixel 7 Pro’s, unfortunately. The cover screen’s almost there, but it’s locked to 120 hertz and it’s not as big. The inner display, while boasting a potentially useful 6:5 aspect ratio in 7.6 inches, doesn’t live up to its admittedly great specs. Sure, it’s reasonably bright at 1,000 nits, and pretty crisp thanks to a 380 ppi pixel density, but it just doesn’t look all that good. The coating materials dull the colors somewhat while also introducing glare problems. Actually using the touchscreen is a noticeably inferior experience compared to other foldables — and, more relevant to this discussion, to the Pixel 7 Pro. It even picks up smudges and dust like nobody’s business, and certainly doesn’t feel very scratch-resistant.
To make matters worse, the inner display’s crease is roughly as evident as the ever-present wrinkles that plagued the earliest folding phones. You’d think Google would’ve taken some inspiration from Samsung’s near-instant recall of the initial Galaxy Z Fold and continued complaints, redesigns, and tweaks to minimize crease and hinge issues.
Google’s poor material choices and lack of attention to detail give the Pixel 7 Pro a big win over the Pixel Fold from a display standpoint, since the 7 Pro is patently free of hinge and crease problems. After all, the biggest draw of a foldable is a large, high–quality inner display, which leaves us wondering why Google apparently didn’t prioritize that.
Google’s Android OS experience
While they both currently run the same version of Android (and will continue to, until after the 7 Pro’s final full update, expected in 2025), the experience is understandably different. Unlike other popular Android implementations, Google’s is a little more locked down, and personal preference leads some users to dislike its comparatively limited customization.
In terms of foldable software, though, Android’s still experiencing growing pains. Those aren’t exactly exclusive to the Pixel Fold, but they are especially noticeable. Google’s done a good job of optimizing its first-party tools to work swimmingly in fullscreen mode, but third-party apps struggle to rearrange their interface to fit the unconventional aspect ratio and utilize the extra space. Not all is lost, though, as the Pixel Fold is excellent for multitasking, and at least you’ll notice the crease less in splitscreen mode.
Again, a lot of these large-screen issues exist with all similar foldables, but it’s an important highlight here because the Pixel 7 Pro’s traditional form factor means it takes perfect advantage of today’s most popular and streamlined apps.
Good performance with machine learning perks
Finally, we can (mostly) stop dragging the Pixel Fold through the mud. Its Tensor G2 chipset and 12 GB of RAM match what’s in the Pixel 7 Pro, and provide enough processing power to satisfy all but the most demanding users. That “almost” caveat’s due to the fact that the Tensor G2 doesn’t quite meet the standards of its contemporaries, particularly the widespread Snapdragon 8 series.
Don’t get us wrong, as it’s not slow by any means. In our testing, neither phone presented any major slowdowns or other hardware inadequacies. A little more juice might make Pixel Fold multitasking a little quicker, but the experience was generally snappy and free from frustration. However, given the Impressively upgraded Tensor G3 SoC found in the more recent Pixel 8 Pro, we can’t help but ask “what if” and wonder where the Pixel Fold would stand with that next-generation processor, instead.
A much-needed win for battery life
In a stunning turn of events, both the Pixel Fold and 7 Pro deliver above-average battery life. Thanks in part to Android’s Adaptive Battery optimizing memory and hardware match your usage over time, all-day battery life is easily obtainable with either phone. The Pixel Fold will run out faster due to the higher pixel count and, presumably, tendency to encourage multitasking, but with several hours of screen-on time we still comfortably made it through the day without usually needing a top-up.
The Pixel 7 Pro fares about the same, despite only one display to drive and about 200 mAh more battery capacity. We wouldn’t attempt to use it for two days without a charger, but you shouldn’t have any problem making it home at night with some power left.
Charging speed’s also pretty much a wash. The Fold’s rated for 21 watts and the 7 Pro for 23, but they can both go from empty to 100% in about 90-100 minutes usingthe right charger. They also both offerwireless chargingfor convenient top-ups, but that is, of course, even slower. While below-average charging speed isn’t the end of the world, it’s disappointing that these flagship devices lag so far behind their competition when it comes to fast charging standards.
Pixel smartphones basically live at the top of the list ofbest smartphones for photography. Not only do the Fold and 7 Pro use top-quality primary image sensors, they also take advantage of Google’s already-great yet ever-evolving imaging algorithms. These algorithms include such supposedly AI-powered features as Face Unblur and Eye Detection, in addition to a slew of other advanced editing tools that can feel practically magical in the right situations.
But the Pixel Fold lags behind the 7 Pro as soon as you get past the primary sensor. Its telephoto lens offers 5X optical zoom, but the 10.8MP resolution lacks pixel binning and pales in comparison to the Pixel 7 Pro’s 48MP, 5X telephoto lens. The Fold’s ultrawide also takes a small loss here, with a slightly lower resolution and field of view. The Fold does still take great pictures, but it’s notably limited compared to the Pixel 7 Pro’s hard-to-beat camera configuration.
Which is right for you?
We loved the Pixel 7 Pro upon release, and it’s still one of today’stop Android phones. If you’re really into cutting-edge hardware, you can always look to the newer 2023 Pixel 8 Pro, but you’re also likely to find increasingly better discounts on the 2022 model instead. And when compared to the Pixel Fold, it’s a no-brainer: The Pixel 7 Pro delivers a more consistent software experience, more durable construction, and better display quality than Google’s relatively disappointing foldable.
A streamlined interface, advanced algorithm-driven features, and some of the best phone cameras in the world make the Google Pixel 7 hard to pass up. While it’s not a foldable, it outperforms the Pixel Fold in nearly every way.
Despite all our disparagement, the Pixel Fold isn’t a terrible device. It’s held back by a subpar display and rare but real quality control and durability issues, but it is still a powerful and useful smartphone-cum-tablet. Software shortcomings aren’t unique to the Fold by any means, and should slowly disappear as developers better tailor their apps to the wider screens of foldable phones. In that light, there’s one group of people who should actually consider buying the Pixel Fold. If you absolutely love Google’s streamlined Android implementation and AI tricks, but want a full-fledged tablet instead of a boring, old slab phone, the Pixel Fold’s a worthwhile choice — if you can stomach the high price or find a deep discount.
If you want a veritable tablet and multitasking beast but can’t stomach the thought of abandoning the Google ecosystem, the Pixel Fold’s currently your only choice. It can’t compete with other late-model foldables, but it sports Google’s advanced feature set and great imaging.
