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Intro
Google joined the foldable game with the original Pixel Fold, launched in June 2023, and now we have a successor - the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google decided to change the naming scheme and nest the second iteration of its foldable under the main flagship Pixel lineup.
There are changes all over the place, from the updated design in line with the other Pixel 9 devices, to the new aspect ratio, camera and overall dimensions, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold takes things to another level.
But how does it compare to the original Pixel Fold, and which one should you choose if you're new to the folding Pixel game? And most importantly, should you upgrade to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold if you already own the original Pixel Fold? We're going to answer these pressing questions and see the foldable evolution in action in our detailed Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs Pixel Fold comparison.
Get Pixel 9 Pro Fold 256GB at Amazon
The fascinating Pixel 9 Pro Fold is available at Amazon. Right now, you can only get the 256GB model. No discounts are available on the smartphone, but you can trade in an eligible device for up to $225 off with an Amazon Gift Card.
Get Pixel 9 Pro Fold 256GB at Best Buy and save $100
Alternatively, you can order the Pixel 9 Pro Fold at Best Buy. The merchant sells the advanced Google foldable at its standard price, but immediate activations help you save $100.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold flies the banner of a brand new design language, one that's been spread through the whole Pixel 9 lineup. The phone is narrower and taller than the original Pixel Fold, but also thinner and lighter. The original Pixel Fold measures 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8 mm unfolded, and 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1 mm folded, and its weight is pretty substantial at 283 grams. The new Pixel 9 Pro Fold trims down its size and weight, it's just 257 grams, and 155.2 x 77.1 x 10.5mm folded and 155.2 x 150.2 x 5.1mm unfolded.
As you can see, the new device is almost a perfect square when unfolded, and this 5mm thickness is pretty rad. As far as building materials go, we have Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covering the outer screen and the back of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and Gorilla Glass Victus on the Pixel Fold. The overall design is similar but the new phone has a square camera bump and it's a bit more angular and flat all around.
Both the original Pixel Fold and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold are available in just two color options: Porcelain and Obsidian.
Moving to the display portion of both devices, there are some changes to be mentioned. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold features a 6.3-inch OLED cover screen with resolution of 1080 x 2424 pixels and pixel density of around 422 PPI. This screen an aspect ratio of 20:9 and can do 60Hz and 120Hz (it's not an LTPO panel). Google says it can produce 1800 nits of brightness in HDR mode and up to 2700 nits of total peak brightness.
The cover screen of the original Pixel Fold comes at 5.8-inches with a resolution of 1080 x 2092 pixels, resulting in around 408 PPI. The aspect ratio here is 17.4:9 ratio, and the brightness figures - 1200 nits HDR, and 1550 nits peak. All in all, the cover screen of the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold looks like a nice upgrade over the original one.
Let's unfold the inner magic of both phones. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold sports a bigger 8-inch flexible panel inside, with 2076 x 2152 pixels and 373 PPI pixel density. This panel is an LTPO and can dynamically switch between 1Hz and 120Hz. Google upgraded the brightness of this panel as well, citing the same 1800 nits HDR and 2700 nits peak brightness.
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.
In comparison, the original Pixel Fold comes with a 7.6-inch, 1840 x 2208 pixels inner screen (378PPI), capable of refreshing 120 times per second, but not dynamically. The brightness is also a bit lower with 1000 nits (HBM), and 1450 nits (peak). In our review we were able to measure 973 nits, and looking at the display scores of the new model, Google has upgraded the panel in the brightness department. This result of 1585 nits of typical real-life brightness is just great. The other metrics are also on par with the original Pixel Fold.
Performance and Software
Tensor evolution
The original Pixel Fold launched at an odd time compared to the other Pixel releases, and consequently, it sports the Tensor G2 chipset. The inclusion of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in the regular flagship series means that the new phone comes with the latest Tensor G4 chipset. And that's a two-generation leap in terms of hardware between the Pixel Fold and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Another improvement concerns the available RAM and the type of storage. The original Pixel Fold sports 12GB of RAM and comes equipped with UFS 3.1 storage, while the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold comes with 16GB of RAM onboard and faster UFS 4.0 storage. The reason behind the bump in RAM is probably due to AI requirements.
Speaking of AI, the new Pixel 9 Pro fold is part of the "elite" Pro models that will receive on-device multi-modal Gemini Nano. This ties to the new TPU model in the Tensor G4 silicon, which is specifically designed for high performance machine learning operations (up to 48 tokens per second). Now, the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold will also receive one year of Gemini Advanced for free, and this subscription includes Gemini Live, a conversational, more advanced form of Google's AI.
The original Pixel Fold feels rather dated with its Tensor G2 silicon and can't do much of the AI magic that's available to its successor, and furthermore, with seven years of software updates, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will outlive its predecessor by a mile. The synthetic benchmark scores above also show the huge improvement in CPU and GPU performance from the G2 to the latest G4 chipset.
Camera
Software magic
The camera hardware inside the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is not much different than the one found on its predecessor. We have a 48 MP wide main camera, a 10.5 MP ultrawide with Macro capabilities, and a 10.8 MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and up to 20x Super Res Zoom.
The main improvements come from the post-processing algorithms, though. Thanks to the Tensor G4, there are new AI camera tricks onboard, including new Panorama mode, a feature called Add me (which allows people to switch while taking group photos and edit in the photographer), some new capabilities in Magic Editor, and the ability to upscale videos to 8K resolution.
This section is nothing without some empirical evidence, also known as image and video samples, so let's take a look at some.
Main Camera
< Pixel 9 Pro FoldPixel Fold >
Unsurprisingly, the samples look very, very similar. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold photo looks maybe a little softer, and the details probably pop-up more. The differences are so miniscule, though, that they can be attributed to random factors when taking the images. Both phones manage to do a great job in good lighting conditions.
< Pixel 9 Pro FoldPixel Fold >
These miniscule differences transfer to low-light samples as well. We would say that here the original Pixel Fold kind of managed the exposure a bit better, while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold produces a brighter and softer image, especially around the lights and water in the background. Again, the differences are not big at all.
Zoom Quality
< Pixel 9 Pro FoldPixel Fold >
There's a perceivable difference in the image quality when it comes to zoom samples. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold handles details and exposure much better. The original Fold displays some artifacts and halos around bright white objects, and the detail preservation and dynamic range aren't on par with the successor.
Ultra-wide Camera
< Pixel 9 Pro FoldPixel Fold >
The ultrawide sensor of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is different to the one in the original Pixel and it also sits under lens with different field of view. You can see it in the samples, the one snapped with the Pro Fold is wider, and also displays warmer color tonality.
Selfie cameras are also different between these to models and you can see this in the field of view and the respective focal length difference but the end results aren't that dissimilar. Both offer a good level of detail and natural colors.
Battery Life and Charging
Believe it or not, the battery of the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold has shrunk in comparison with the one in the original Pixel Fold. We're talking about a substantial almost 200mAh loss. The new phone comes with a 4650mAh cell, while the predecessor sports a 4821mAh battery. Both are two separate cells in the two wings of the foldables.
This battery downgrade was necessary to keep the weight and size low on the new phone. Funnily enough, the big efficiency gains the Tensor chipset was able to achieve in two generations more than offset the capacity deficiency. The results below speak for themselves. The video streaming is the only area where the old Pixel Fold has the edge over its successor, so if you like watching a lot of YouTube and Netflix, bear this in mind.
When it comes to charging, the original Pixel Fold supports only 21W of wired charging, which we won't dare to even call "fast charging," so there was room for improvement. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold comes with the same 21W wired fast charging support, and Google cites "hours of power in minutes of charge" which sounds as vague as they come. Strangely enough, the charging results are absolutely identical, even though the battery size is different, the chassis are also different, and the wired charging speed is once again different.
But we did test this a couple of times and this is it. Consistency!
Specs Comparison
Specs
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Pixel Fold
Dimensions
Unfolded: 155.2 height x 150.2 width x 5.1 depth (mm) Folded: 155.2 height x 77.1 width x 10.5 depth (mm)
Unfolded: 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8 mm Folded: 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1 mm
Weight
257 g
283 g
Screen
8-inch main screen OLED 1-120Hz 6.3-inch cover screen 60-120Hz
7.6-inch main screen OLED 120Hz 5.8-inch cover screen 120Hz
Processor
Google Tensor G4 (3nm)
Google Tensor G2 (5nm)
RAM, Storage and Price
16/256GB for $1,799
12/256GB for $1,599
Cameras
Main camera — 48MP Ultra-wide camera — 10.5MP 5x telephoto camera — 10.8MP Cover-display selfie camera — 10MP Inner display selfie camera — 10MP
Main camera — 48MP Ultra-wide camera — 10.8MP 5x telephoto camera — 10.8MP Cover-display selfie camera — 9.5MP Inner display selfie camera — 8MP
Battery Size
4,650mAh
4,821 mAh
Charging Speeds
21W Wired PD3.0 Wireless
21W wired 7.5W wireless
Which one should you buy?
The answer to this question is rather simple this time. Given the generation gap in the hardware (and software), the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the better choice here. Things get more complicated if you already own the original Pixel Fold. We advise you to find a good trade-in deal and get the new phone.
If you want alternatives, there's always the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and a bunch of Far East models that offer some amazing specs at not much higher price, such as the recently launched Honor Magic V3, Xiaomi Mix Fold 4, etc.
The foldable market is just beginning to flourish, so expect more and more companies to hop on that train (we're looking at you, Apple). And while we're all waiting for the foldable iPhone, there are plenty of choices to pick from and plug that 2-3 year hole in your dreams.
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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.
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