Mini-review: Using the Pixel Fold as Google’s smallest phone

Abner Li | Aug 8 2023 - 2:30 pm PT

Google has put out some relatively small phones, but they were never really true mini or compact devices. Rather, they were just on the smaller side of average, with the new design language introduced by the Pixel 6 increasing the display dimensions. I’ve mostly been using the Pixel Fold as Google’s smallest phone (by screen size) in the current lineup, and it’s been interesting.

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The market has spoken, but I still prefer small phones and don’t have too much use for a big mobile display. The Pixel 4a was great, with its 5.8-inch display and fairly minimal bezels. The Pixel 7 is fine but could be smaller.

An experiment I’ve been running is to just use the Pixel Fold closed. Its wide 5.8-inch screen has been great, and overall, the body is very stout. The width is something I can get used to, but it’s certainly different and unexpected at first. I’d say that the Pixel Fold (coming from a Pixel 7) is as if you subtracted an app icon row (from the homescreen launcher) worth of space. I haven’t encountered any issues with that shrinkage.

Then there’s the thickness of what’s essentially two Pixel 7 Pros stacked together. While I do find extremely thin devices to be futuristic, I am more than willing to accept a few more millimeters for better battery life and other improved specs. The Pixel Fold is obviously too thick if it didn’t unfold, but it’s surprisingly livable and even pocketable (more on that below). You can say the exact same about the weight. It’s too heavy to be considered anything but that. If it were just a tiny bit lighter, you could argue the heft felt premium. In all, I’d much rather hold a candybar-style phone any day of the week.

The wider screen makes the Pixel Fold feel like a different type of device. When you factor in the weight and thickness, it’s very clearly a foldable. However, if you consider the width alone, the Pixel Fold feels like it could be in a different category, which I’d consider to be a small paper notebook, like a Moleskine, or (note)pad. (We previously reported “Pixel Notepad” was an in-consideration name.) It feels much more like a very small tablet than a phone.

The width, thickness, and weight contribute to making the Pixel Fold physically feel like something I haven’t experienced in the realm of consumer tech. The thing I keep going back to, for whatever reason, is the gadgets that appear in older sci-fi shows, specifically Star Trek, where the so-called futuristic technology (tricorders) is still quite thick and large. It’s very odd, and that’s my best estimation. Meanwhile:

I’m continuously surprised that the Pixel Fold fits in any pair of pants, including regular jeans. Problems would emerge if it were even a hair heavier, wider, or thicker.
I absolutely love how much taller the power button is compared to other Pixel phones. The extra 1.5x to 2x of height is obviously needed for the fingerprint sensor (which is more accurate than the Pixel Tablet’s implementation), but it should really be the default size. That’s especially for people that use it to launch Google Assistant, though the corner swipe behavior is ingrained in me. Meanwhile, after using one for the past two years, I’d prefer an under-display fingerprint scanner. The side reader is not as easy to access, and I’ve come to enjoy tapping the literal unlock UI to get access.
Coming from a Pixel 7, the nearly 500 mAh of additional battery has been nice when I don’t use the inner display. While I don’t need to recharge the Pixel 7 in the afternoon to get to bedtime, I do so anyway for safety. That hasn’t been the case in my use of the Pixel Fold as a small phone. Meanwhile, the USB-C port not being centered and instead lower than usual is so annoying that I plug in the cable by turning the Pixel Fold to its rear.
I’m ambivalent about high refresh rates, but 120 Hz is certainly easier to distinguish than the 90 Hz I’m used to.
Surprisingly, I think I’ve felt going from 8 GB to 12 GB of RAM much more prominently than I expected going in. Apps feel like they stay in memory much longer with fewer reloads.
Having a telephoto lens is a delight in a return to the Pixel 4 era, while this is my favorite iteration of the camera bar compared to the Pixel 6 and 7, especially when you come into contact with the rounded corners. It’s also slightly more Material You-esque for some nice hardware/software synergy.

Anyway, the Pixel Fold makes for an absurd “small” phone from a physical dimensions perspective. However, it serves as an amusing what-if.