The best praise I pays the Pixel 9 Professional F — oh overlook it, let’s simply name it the Pixel Fold — is that I forgot I used to be utilizing a folding telephone whereas I used to be utilizing it.
Seems like a bizarre praise, proper? Isn’t the entire level of the factor that it opens up so you should utilize the large internal display screen? Nicely, type of. The entire promise of the foldable telephone is that it’s principally a small pill once you want extra display screen actual property and a daily telephone once you fold it again up. Each foldable I’ve used delivered on the primary a part of that promise. Huge display screen? We did it, Joe. It’s the small-screen expertise that hasn’t been nice.
I used to be utilizing the telephone’s outer display screen earlier than mattress, drowsily answering the minimal quantity of Duolingo questions required to maintain my streak intact, and it dawned on me: it simply felt like a regular-ass telephone.
That’s not an expertise I’ve had utilizing Samsung’s Z Fold or the first-generation Pixel Fold. They remind you each second you’re utilizing them that one thing is up. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 continues to be too lengthy and thin to really feel like a traditional telephone, and the primary Pixel Fold is so heavy, it feels like holding two telephones without delay.
This foldable is constructed completely different. It’s constructed just like the OnePlus Open, in reality, which has been my favourite book-style foldable ever since I received my palms on it. The earlier Pixel Fold was extra passport-shaped, with a canopy display screen that was wider and shorter than a typical slab-style telephone. The brand new Pixel 9 Professional Fold has a 6.3-inch outer display screen that’s formed just like the one on the Pixel 9 Professional. Crucially, it’s additionally a lot thinner and lighter than the primary Fold, so it doesn’t really feel like holding a rattling brick.
Even simply holding the brand new Fold for the primary time felt proper. It doesn’t really feel like a minor iteration of the primary Pixel Fold; it seems like a completely new telephone. That impression hasn’t modified as I’ve used it over the previous few days, although I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s identical to carrying a slab telephone. It’s nonetheless a little bit cumbersome within the aspect pocket of my yoga pants or stuffed right into a small outer pocket of my backpack. It’s simply not absurdly cumbersome.
That mentioned, the Pixel Fold nonetheless requires you to make some compromises. It’s nonetheless $1,799, which is dear as hell. The cameras nonetheless aren’t nearly as good as these of the Pixel 9 Professional or Professional XL. Lengthy-term sturdiness continues to be a query mark, and one doesn’t merely get a folding telephone repaired as simply as a slab-style telephone. Foldables have come a good distance, however they’re nonetheless not fairly prepared for the mainstream.
I’ve much more testing to do with the, sigh, Pixel 9 Professional Fold. However I’m sure of 1 factor already: {hardware} is tough, and this {hardware} is nice.
Pictures by Allison Johnson / The Verge
