Earlier this year, Google announced their latest new mobile phone offering in the Pixel range - the Pixel Fold.
It was released to be a rival to Samsung’s foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold range. But how does the Google Pixel Fold stack up?
Join us as we take a dive into Google’s foldable phone, giving our Google Pixel Fold review including the specs and price, as well as a comparison with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5.
About the Google Pixel Fold
The Google Pixel Fold was announced on the 10th of May this year and released six weeks later on the 27th of June.
There is just one version of the fold, unlike the Samsung Galaxy range which features a fold and a flip version (the flip is like the standard flip phone).
The Pixel Fold opens up like a book to turn the phone into a small tablet. It also boasted a design that made it the thinnest foldable phone on the market at the time.
Google Pixel Fold: Specs
The Pixel Fold is essentially a foldable version of the Pixel 7, which is to say a tablet version of one of the best phones on the market right now - even after the release of the Pixel 8.
It features a 5.8-inch screen when folded and a 7.6-inch screen unfolded, which is the same size as the Galaxy Z Fold5 unfolded. It was also the thinnest foldable phone on the market at the time of release, being just 12.2mm thin when folded.
As for the display, it is FHD+ 1080 x 2092 OLED with Smooth Display offering up to 120Hz and HDR is supported.
The cameras are of good quality, featuring three different cameras; front, rear and inner.
The rear camera features a primary lens, an ultrawide lens and a telephoto lens, just like on the Pixel 7. Here are the specifications for the rear camera:
- Primary: 48MP sensor, 0.8μm pixels, f/1.7 aperture lens, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS
- Ultra-wide: 10.8MP sensor, 1.25μm pixels, f/2.2 aperture lens, AF, OIS
- Tele: 10.8MP sensor, 1.22μm pixels, f/3.05 aperture lens, Dual Pixel AF, OIS
The front camera is also respectable, with a 9.5 MP sensor, 1.22 μm pixels, f/2.2 aperture lens and Dual Pixel.
The inner camera is slightly worse but still good, with an 8 MP sensor, 1.12 μm pixel width and f/2.0 aperture.
Video quality is also very good, with the rear camera capable of 1080p and 4K quality with 30 or 60 FPS, the outer front capable of the same and the inner front capable of just 1080p at 30 FPS.
It also includes all the great features that improve picture quality and editing that feature on other Pixel phones, such as Night Sight, Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and Real Tone.
It’s all powered by the impressive Google Tensor G2 with 12GB RAM and now comes with the new Android 14 updated OS.
Is the Google Pixel Fold waterproof?
The Google Pixel Fold features IPX8 Water Resistance, which is the same as the Pixel 8. This means that it can be submerged in water up to 1.5m for up to 30 minutes.
What is the battery life of the Google Pixel Fold?
The Pixel Fold features a 4821 mAh battery that Google claims to give it beyond 24-hour battery life. This claim was upheld during testing for the phone, with the average battery life being 33 hours.
With Extreme Battery Saver on, the life can be extended with an up to 72-hour battery life. However, this will depend on usage.
Google Pixel Fold: price
Let’s rip the plaster off - the Google Pixel Fold starts from £1749.
No one said foldable phones would be cheap. Considering that the Pixel Fold is essentially the Pixel 8 Pro on steroids, it should come as no surprise it has a hefty price tag.
There are two storage options for the phone; 256GB and 512GB. This is what makes the price difference, with the 256GB costing £1749 and the 512GB costing £1869.
Google Pixel Fold vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5
Samsung has been in the foldable phone game for a fair while longer than Google, with the former now onto their fifth generation of the Fold and Flip ranges.
Despite this, Google’s first foray into foldable phones holds up incredibly well and does a great job at shining in places where Samsung failed in their previous four iterations.
When the Pixel Fold was brought out, it first rivalled the Galaxy Fold4, as the Fold5 was yet to be announced, with that reveal coming a couple of months later.
That comparison saw the Pixel Fold come out as the convincing winner. But then when the Galaxy Fold5 was introduced, it put Samsung back on top ever so slightly.
Let’s take a look at the specs for each phone and see how they weigh up against one another:
Is the Google Pixel Fold worth it?
Having looked at everything and made the comparison with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5, it’s fair to say that the Google Pixel Fold is more than worth it if you’re interested in going for a foldable phone.
While the price is rather high (which it is for all fold phones), what you get for the money is a solid phone. As mentioned, it is like a mini tablet version of the Pixel 7, which is a fantastic phone, so you can imagine the Fold is just as good, if not better.
What we will say is, we're not the biggest fan of the screen when unfolded not being edge-to-edge like the Samsung. But in terms of how the phone is and everything else you get, it is an absolute dream.
For the fact that this was Google’s first iteration of a foldable phone, they really hit the ball out of the park with it, and we’re excited to see how they will expand upon it next year.
