There’s also a new foldable phone. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, as it’s called, has a taller, thinner, and lighter design than last year’s squatter Pixel Fold. The inner 120Hz OLED panel now measures 8 inches (up from 7.6 inches), while the outer display measures 6.3 inches instead of 5.8 inches. (The latter makes the device look more like a standard Pixel 9 when folded.) Both screens can reach a peak brightness of up to 2,700 nits, which is a significant increase overall. Google says the phone can lie completely flat when unfolded, with a stainless steel hinge and matte glass back. Durability is always a question with foldables, and only time will tell how this new design holds up; we found our Pixel Fold unit to be sufficiently sturdy. The camera bulge on the back has also been redesigned – it’s not quite as elongated as on the other Pixel 9s, but it’s still pronounced.
Inside, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold uses the same Tensor G4 chip and 16GB of RAM as the other new Pro series devices. Battery life is still rated at “24+ hours,” although the actual battery capacity is slightly less than the last Fold.
The triple camera system on the back doesn’t look significantly different from last year’s model on paper: there’s a 48MP main camera, a 10.8MP telephoto camera, and a 10.5MP ultrawide camera that’s a little less sharp than before but has a slightly wider field of view. That’s not the worst thing considering the last Fold’s overall photo quality, but the setup here seems a step back from those on the other Pixel 9 Pros, particularly when it comes to the telephoto and ultrawide modules. Both the front and interior cameras have been bumped up slightly to 10MP, though again the selfie cameras on the non-foldable models should be better. They still get Google’s suite of “pro” camera controls, though. And like its siblings, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold gets seven years of software updates and support for satellite SOS calling. The bundled Google One AI Premium offering mentioned above applies here too.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold costs $1,799 for a 256GB unit, which is the same price as the last Pixel Fold but puts the phone in a higher-priced niche than the standard Pixel 9. A 512GB model is also available. The device is available for pre-order now from Google’s online store and comes in either Obsidian or Porcelain finishes. Official sales begin on September 4.
