Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold will be bigger, brighter, and thinner than Galaxy Z Fold 6

Ben Schoon | Aug 1 2024 - 12:10 pm PT

The foldable wars are on, and Samsung continues to face tougher competition. And, according to leaks, one of its biggest competitors in the US will be Google’s upcoming Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which will be bigger, brighter, and much thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

We’ve learned a lot about Pixel 9 Pro Fold so far, including a lot of its software tricks in line with Google’s continual focus on AI. But even on a hardware level, Google’s next foldable seems a whole lot more exciting than its being given credit.

According to numerous recent leaks, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will be one of the thinnest foldables on the market – in fact, the single thinnest sold in the US. That’s with a measurement of 10.5mm, 1.6mm thinner than both the previous Pixel Fold.

Meanwhile, Google is also upping the inner screen’s specs considerably. The panel itself no longer has big bezels at the top and bottom, and also measures in at 8 inches. That also makes it the biggest book-style foldable sold in the US, and bigger than a lot of options sold in other countries too.

That display will also be ultra-bright at 2,700 nits, a drastic improvement over the original Pixel Fold’s mere 1,450 nits. We’d take this one with a grain of salt, though, as other leaks mention peak brightness at 1,600 nits (but that leak is only referencing HDR brightness, where the original Fold peaks at 1,000 nits).

If all of this comes to pass, though, it’s quite the impressive achievement for Google over Samsung’s recent Galaxy Z Fold 6. Compared to that still great, but overall disappointing foldable, Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold would have a bigger, brighter display, all while being thinner. Google would also win out on battery with 4,650 mAh in the Pixel to Samsung’s 4,400 mAh, as well as cameras, with the Pixel retaining the same setup as last year’s Fold which beat out the also-unchanged setup from Galaxy Z Fold 5. Plus, Google’s setup will support secure face unlock.

9to5Google’s Take

With last year’s Pixel Fold, I was simply impressed that Google put together a foldable that was cohesive, and not really flawed in many deal-breaking ways. Ultimately, the biggest problem with the device was simply the Tensor G2 chip inside, which couldn’t hold up to the heat, quite literally, of being inside of a foldable smartphone, as we discussed in our review.

But even the first Pixel Fold was technically very impressive. It had the thinnest profile, briefly, of any foldable in the US, and still has one of the best cameras on a foldable too. With the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the still poorly-named sequel to the Pixel Fold, Google is just doubling down on those wins.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold really reinforces what we’ve been saying about Samsung lately, with the company simply ignoring its former role as a foldable innovator. It’s one thing for Samsung to fall behind that of its competition in China, but it’s another for the company to fail to beat out Google, which is merely on its second-generation foldable release.

Samsung put foldables on the map, but a lack of ambition leaves it dead in the water

Of course, it remains to be seen if the Pixel will stick the landing. The problem with the original Pixel Fold was that Google didn’t have experience or pain points to fix. As such, the super-reflective display, annoying crease, heavy weight, and poor heat management of the Pixel Fold left the Galaxy Z Fold 5 a better overall option.

This year, though, feels different…