Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold assessment: in nice form

I can’t overstate how good it feels to make use of the Pixel 9 Professional Fold’s inside display screen. I’ve by no means felt so smug utilizing all my little apps on the espresso store on a giant display screen, folding it in half, and placing it in my pocket. 

Google nailed the {hardware} this time round. The entrance display screen appears to be like like, nicely, a standard cellphone 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 gentle sufficient that I can overlook I’m utilizing a folding cellphone for entire stretches of time. Think about!

Google solved a number of the primary Fold’s issues, but it surely hasn’t solved all of them. Fortunately, those which are left are simply folding cellphone issues. The cameras aren’t nearly as good because the cameras on the common Pixel 9 sequence. It’s nonetheless thicker and heavier than even the most important slab-style telephones. It received’t be as straightforward to restore, and it’s twice the value of a garden-variety flagship cellphone. For those who’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 cellphone life, I’m sorry to say, it is best to most likely spend $1,800 on this cellphone. It’s that good.

Google took precisely the best cues from OnePlus, splitting the distinction between the earlier Pixel Fold and the Open. The entrance display screen appears like utilizing a standard display screen. It’s not a lot heavier than a standard cellphone. The inside display screen is huge. Every part is the way in which it ought to be. 

This Pixel Fold could also be a “Professional” cellphone, but it surely 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 in order for you the Pixel that folds in half.

The outer display screen isn’t fairly as “Professional” because it may very well be, however the inside display screen is the place the cash’s at, and it’s a lot brighter this 12 months. That’s an essential enchancment on a tool that’s purported to, you recognize, go outdoors with you on a regular basis. What’s the enjoyable in flexing that huge 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 snug 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 primary 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 possibly can squeeze a little bit extra element in low-light pictures out of the common Pixel 9’s digital camera. The foldable Pixel’s telephoto lens isn’t fairly nearly as good, both, and low-light pictures 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 lovely 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 gentle. Don’t get me improper, this can be a good digital camera system total. Nevertheless it’s an space the place principally all foldables lag behind slab telephones, what with all the interior area wanted for transferring components. We are able to’t have all of it — at the least not but.

And sorry to maintain being a bummer, however you’ll need to think about sturdiness should you’re shopping for a folding cellphone versus a slab cellphone. Its IPX8 score means the 9 Professional Fold can face 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 cellphone.

Now, sufficient of the much less enjoyable stuff! Let’s speak about the perfect a part of this cellphone: utilizing the massive display screen. The cellphone’s new, taller format — together with improved rendering from some apps — makes for a a lot better inside 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 form 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 might be annoying on an everyday cellphone. 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 discuss with a web page on Icy Veins whereas I prepare my paragon factors in Diablo IV, somewhat than squinting at a little 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 strong as the usual Pixel 9 fashions, but it surely comfortably lasts by a average day with a number of GPS navigation, hotspot use, and time on the inside display screen. Even on these days, I all the time had at the least 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 standard cellphone than ever, but it surely’s additionally not utterly like utilizing a standard cellphone. By choosing a cellphone that folds, you’re nonetheless making tradeoffs, significantly within the digital camera {hardware}. The cellphone’s long-term sturdiness can also be an unknown — actually nobody has owned a Pixel folding cellphone 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 cellphone I’ve ever used. Utilizing the cellphone 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 inside display screen really feel that rather more rewarding; I don’t really feel like I’m placing up with a cumbersome cellphone 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 best tradeoffs right here to optimize the inside display screen expertise. It’s an expertise that I’ll miss once I change again to the subsequent slab-style cellphone 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, this can be a good cellphone.

Pictures by Allison Johnson / The Verge