Unveiled alongside its non-foldable brothers and sisters almost a full month ago and properly released just last week, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is... not a perfect phone. That's obviously true for every mobile device known to man since the beginning of time, but some of this bad boy's imperfections might catch you completely off guard, being hard to accept at a retail price of $1,799 and up.
Apart from curiously lacking support for a key modern accessory made by none other than Google, the search giant's latest and greatest foldable phone even more bizarrely seems to refuse to connect to the latest cellular technology supplied by one of the top wireless service providers in the US for a concerning number of early users.
Enjoying that 4G LTE life like it's 2013 again!
That may sound like a joke or an unnecessary dig at AT&T, but one of the carrier's customers rocking a Pixel 9 Pro Fold with unexpected connectivity issues very seriously claims to be enjoying his mobile experience with "just LTE."
The user in question is none other than the initiator of a Reddit thread from five days ago that has since amassed a good couple of dozen comments from various Pixel 9 Pro Fold owners in the same situation, a few of whom are much more bothered by their inability to access AT&T's 5G network.
AT&T's nationwide 5G promise is currently little more than a dream for Pixel 9 Pro Fold owners. | Image Credit -- AT&T
That's not exactly a huge number of complaints, but it's certainly not insignificant either, especially when relating to such a basic problem in this day and age as non-existent 5G speeds. As frustratingly inconsistent as those can be on AT&T, some people undoubtedly rely on the technology right now, so being permanently stuck with an outdated 4G signal must feel a thousand times more frustrating.
While the mobile network operator has clearly been made aware of the issue over the last few days, this is without a solution at the moment. Despite the best efforts from AT&T tech support reps and the patience of affected Pixel 9 Pro Fold users, no "upgrade" from 4G LTE to 5G connectivity has happened for anyone just yet.
Even convoluted workarounds like taking the SIM card out of Google's second-gen foldable, putting it in another 5G-capable handset, and then back into the Pixel 9 Pro Fold are only proving efficient for a limited time, leading some to speculate that AT&T has "soft locked" the phone out of 5G without telling anyone.
Is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold still worth buying?
That's definitely a complicated question to answer with one word, but if you like how the Tensor G4-powered foldable looks on paper and use a different carrier than AT&T, you should probably still go through with your purchase.
AT&T, mind you, is the only one of America's top wireless industry dogs that doesn't officially carry (read sell) the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is obviously no excuse for the current lack of 5G support on the network of unlocked devices sold by the likes of Amazon or Best Buy.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is certainly not a bad phone right now, but it could get a lot better soon enough.
Hopefully, Google and AT&T will work together to fix this unacceptable issue as soon as possible. Until that happens, it's certainly important to take this potential inconvenience into consideration if you're thinking of getting an unlocked Pixel 9 Pro Fold from one of those aforementioned US retailers, especially with Google's killer pre-order offers in the rearview mirror.
With Amazon's second Prime Day sales event of the year around the corner, it might be wise to wait at least a few more weeks for some new deals and potentially a happy ending to this (mini) 5G debacle.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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