A visual redesign, very decent specs upgrade, and all the AI you can stomach is what makes the Pixel 9 Pro Fold exciting, but it's also quite pricey. Is it the best new Pixel around?
Well, the new Pixel 9 Pro XL would have a word. That one is also pairing Google's top-end software with some pretty decent hardware, and is objectively the best-spec'd new Pixel around. It's also significantly cheaper, so it's clear where it's all heading to…
Which should you get, the standard top flagship or the trendy foldable phone?
Google Pixel 9: Get at Amazon
Snatch the Pixel 9 with fancy new Gemini AI features at Amazon. The latest non-Pro model with a G4 chip is currently available at its standard price. This is the model in Obsidian.
You get twice the screen real estate with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (Image by PhoneArena
Google's foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold has scored a significant redesign. Gone are the proof-of-concept rudimentary lines of the first Google foldable phone, substituted for a rather eye-catchy foldable phone that looks extremely premium.
Unlike the previous Pixel Fold, which was more rectangular when unfolded and wide when folded, the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is much more squarish in comparison, with a taller cover screen that makes the phone extremely versatile and usable, while also achieving a much more.
The new Google foldable is also significantly lighter and easier to handle, resulting in a phone that's so much nicer to use.
Another important change is the camera island at the rear. Gone is the older camera strip at the rear that spanned side-to-side, as Google treats us to a massive camera island. This change definitely distances the new foldable from the older Pixel Fold, helping the Pixel 9 series establish a coherent design language between so many different-sized phones.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold isn't that much thicker (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the other hand, is a traditional candy bar phone with a matte rear back panel and glossy flat side frame, which inherits the general design language of older Pixel flagships, but with some influential changes. The 3D Visor of older Pixels is also gone here, substituted for a slightly different camera island at the rear.
Colors-wise, the foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold is available in Obsidian and Porcelain colors, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL comes in Obsidian, Porcelain, Rose Quartz, and Hazel.
In terms of display specifics, the Pixel 9 Pro XL boasts a 6.8-inch Super Actua screen with 1-120Hz dynamic refresh rate. It's an OLED one and can hit 3,000 nits of peak brightness, building upon the 2,400 nits that the Pixel 8 Pro could achieve.
Meanwhile, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has two screens, an 8-inch internal and 6.3-inch cover screen. The outer screen is a 20:9 one with 60-120Hz smooth refresh rate and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on top; meanwhile, the inner screen has a 20:18 nearly square 8-inch display, with smoother 1-120Hz refresh rate and with Ultra Thin Glass on top.
And yes, there's a display crease here, not as prominent as the one on the first Pixel Fold, but still extant here.
Although it has two screens, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is easily outshined by the regular flagship in terms of screen properties (Image by PhoneArena)
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set(area)of colors that a display can reproduce,with the sRGB colorspace(the highlighted triangle)serving as reference.The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x:CIE31' and 'y:CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance(balance between red,green and blue)across different levels of grey(from dark to bright).The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones,the better.
As per our display tests, the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a better screen than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The foldable achieves a slightly lower peak brightness, but still gets very bright under the correct lighting conditions. The color temperature is also slightly better and closer to the ideal measurement on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
The same applies to the contrast and gamma. If you want the best display, it's the Pixel 9 Pro XL that you should go for; if you can stomach an OLED screen that's not as impressive, but folds, then the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a good bet.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL has an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner embedded right into the display, and it works pretty accurate and quick, unlike older Pixel phones. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, on the other hand, has a capacitive fingerprint scanner embedded into the power button, which works just as quick and is just as accurate as the one on the other device.
Performance and Software
Tensor G4, reporting for duty
Both the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Pixel 9 Pro XL come with the same Google's Tensor G4 chipset.
Built on a 4nm manufacturing node, the Tensor G4 is Google's AI-centric chipset that power the whole Pixel 9 series. What separates the Tensor line of chips from most other mobile chipsets like Qualcomm's Snapdragon, Apple's Bionic, and Samsung's Exynos is that Google's chips are not focusing on raw performance, but are tightly specialized in AI and machine-learning processing.
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And indeed, all Pixel 9 devices arrive with Gemini Nano with multi-modality, which is exclusively run on the Tensor G4. Google says this one is the most capable on-device AI model, which is capable of not only understanding text and speech, but also images and audio.
In our synthetic tests, both phones perform similarly, achieving decent single- and multi-core results in the Geekbench 6 tests. Graphics-wise, the performance is also similar, except for the Pixel 9 Pro XL's 3DMark Extreme tests, which throttles slightly more and achieves a lower result. The larger size of the foldable possibly helps it dissipate heat slightly better.
Both phones come with 16GB of RAM, which is a critical hardware requirement for on-device AI. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is available with either 256GB or 512GB of storage, but you can get the Pixel 9 Pro XL with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage.
Both phones will receive major Android updates, Feature Drops, and security patches for seven years, or until summer 2030.
Android 14 is available on both out of the box, but Android 15 should already be rolling out for either device.
Camera
The Pixel camera experience
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a similar camera setup as its predecessor. The new Pixel 9 Pro Fold arrives with a 48MP main camera with an f/1.7 aperture and average 1/2" sensor. The 10.8MP telephoto offers a 5X optical zoom, while the ultra-wide is a 10.5MP one with a 1/3.4" sensor. There are dual selfie cameras on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, both weighing in at 10MP. You can use either to unlock your phone.
As a refresher, last year's Pixel Fold came with a very familiar 48MP main camera, a 10.8MP ultra-wide, a 10.8MP telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom, and two selfie cameras, a 9.5MP external and an 8MP internal one.
That's a lot of cameras (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro XL has a better camera setup, all things considered. We get a 50MP main camera with an f/1.68 aperture and large 1/1.31" sensor. The ultra-wide and 5X telephoto are both 48MP cameras, with fairly large apertures of f/2.8 and f/1.7, respectively. Thanks to sensor-cropping and hybrid zoom, the Pixel 9 Pro XL offers optical-quality zoom at both 2X and 10X despite lacking dedicated cameras for those specific zooms, which definitely boosts the versatility of the camera package.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold can achieve a maximum of 20X Super-Res Zoom, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL goes further to 30X. This hybrid zoom mode delivers very decent long throw despite either phone lacking a dedicated periscope.
The company has shown time and time again that it can squeeze out way more "image quality" out of the same hardware setup with software and algorithm intergenerational upgrades, so we have high hopes for either device.
AI will also play a pretty big part in either camera. Both will come with the following features: Pro controls, Add Me, Macro Focus, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Portrait Mode, Face Unblur, Long Exposure, Action Pan, Real Tone, Panorama, Top Shot, and Frequent Faces. Both devices also support the AI-powered Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, Best Take, Photo Unblur, Zoom Enhance, and Portrait Light.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold also gets Tabletop mode that lets you take hands-free shots, Dual Screen Preview, and Rear Camera Selfie (which should deliver better results than either of the 10MP selfie cameras).
In terms of video, the Pixel 9 Pro XL allows 8K video capture at up to 30fps thanks to Google's cloud-based Video Boost service, which has reportedly been improved considerably. Natively, the phone still maxes out at a native 4K@60fps video capture.
Now to the most important question––which takes better photos? Well, not that we are surprised, but the Pixel 9 Pro XL fared much better than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in our new camera quality benchmark test. The flagship is awarded a total score of 150.5, while the foldable achieves only 139 points in our combined photo/video tests.
Main Camera
< Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL >
For regular situations, both phones will produce lovely photos that will stand out with the signature Pixel camera style, now finely tuned and evolved in the right direction. However, it's the Pixel 9 Pro XL that's decidedly the more capable camera phone. It resolves details much better without suffering from over-sharpening, which the Pixel 9 Pro Fold does.
< Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL >
At night, the difference mostly stems to the way each phone renders color. The Pixel 9 Pro XL creates a much more vibrant scene, with saturated clouds and better dynamics, resolving details in the shadows much better.
Zoom Quality
< Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold 3XGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL 3X >
Zoom-wise, both devices do a pretty decent job at the short range, but we'd have to hand it out to the Pixel 9 Pro XL here––it delivers better details. Fortunately, the foldable phone isn't too far-off, which is great news.
< Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold 5XGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL 5X >
At 5X, which is the native zoom level for either phone, both devices deliver mostly similar image quality, with lots of detail and dynamics.
< Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold 10XGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL 10X >
At 10X, the situation is similar on both phones.
Ultra-wide Camera
< Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL >
Although the ultra-wide cameras have different hardware specs, a very consistent image quality has been achieved between the two devices. The details, dynamics, and colors are all extremely similar.
< Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL >
The same applies to low-light images taken with the ultra-wide camera, but the Pixel 9 Pro XL once again outputs more vibrant photos. The Pixel 9 Pro XL deliver slightly more realistic and moody photos, which is objectively great.
Selfies
< Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldGoogle Pixel 9 Pro XL >
Selfies are great on either new Pixel phone, there are little to no differences, and the two sample images are both objectively great.
Battery Life and Charging
Sorry, foldable
The standard flagship boasts much faster charging (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold boasts a 4,650mAh battery, which is sadly noticeably smaller than the 4,821mAh battery inside the original Pixel Fold. The Pixel 9 Pro XL, on the other hand, ups the ante to 5,060mAh.
How do the two phones fare in our custom battery tests?
Unsurprisingly, the Pixel 9 Pro XL easily beats its foldable peer. In the PhoneArena web browsing test, which simulates a regular browsing experience with the screens set at 200 nits, the Pixel 9 Pro XL ekes out nearly 19 hours of battery life, a noticeable upgrade over the foldable Pixel's 16 hours and 25 minutes.
An even starker difference is seen in the video streaming test, in which the Pixel 9 Pro XL lasts for more than 9 hours, while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold only lasts for slightly below 6 hours.
In our gaming test, conducted at 60Hz, both phones performed similarly.
Once again, the Pixel 9 Pro XL has the clear upper hand: it's equipped with 37W wired and 23W wireless charging support, a pretty serious upgrade over the foldable phone's support of a measly 21W wired charging and the inexcusable in 2024 7W wireless charging. Unsurprisingly, the Pixel 9 Pro XL charges much faster, even though it has a larger battery on board.
Just be sensible and get the regular Pixel 9 Pro XL (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Pixel 9 Pro XL are certainly Google's top phones for 2024. From a software and AI perspective, the two phones offer the same experience; however, when it comes to hardware, it's the Pixel 9 Pro XL that's decidedly the better phone.
Let's summarize––the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a better display, better camera, much better battery life, and much faster charging. On top of it all, it's way more affordable than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which carries a hefty price tag.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold surely elevates Google's foldable phone game, but it's the Pixel 9 Pro XL that's arguably the best new Google device. It offers the best features and is the most advanced among the Pixel 9 bunch.
So, there's really no room for comparison here: it's the Pixel 9 Pro XL that is the superior Pixel device to get this year.
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Peter, an experienced tech enthusiast at PhoneArena, is captivated by all things mobile. His impartial reviews and proficiency in Android systems offer readers valuable insights. Off-duty, he delves into the latest cryptocurrency trends and enjoys sci-fi and video games.
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