Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the successor to the original Pixel Fold in everything but name. Rather than stuffing a Tensor G4 chip inside and calling it a day, Google took some of the biggest design leaps we’ve seen in a single year. With it comes a form factor that might be the absolute best for the vast majority of users.
A small history lesson
Foldables phones have, in reality, not been around for all that long. Samsung released the first Galaxy Fold in 2019. Looking back, that device looks almost prehistoric. The cover display didn’t take up nearly the entire front, and the camera array on the back looked dated even then.
The influence of that first foldable really hasn’t left Samsung’s design plans. It takes on a very narrow silhouette, something we see consistently on Samsung’s newest foldable. Take the Galaxy Z Fold 6, for instance. It only spans 68.1mm across. This is wide compared to previous versions, but it still feels far smaller than even small slab-style phones. For context, the Galaxy S24 is 79mm across, while the base Galaxy S24 is closer to 70mm with its much smaller display.
That slim design essentially dominated the market – largely because hardly anyone was competing with Samsung – until Oppo took a stab at the concept. The Oppo Find N introduced the foldable market to a new form factor. It was a stubby little device that sacrificed cover display height for more real estate on the inner display. Even at a max height of 132.6mm, it was a well-loved device, in part because it offered a new aspect ratio that didn’t feel cramped, at least not laterally.
The Oppo Find N was the spark that foldable manufacturers needed, eventually evolving into the Find N3. Soon after, the sister company of Oppo, OnePlus, developed the Open. The OnePlus Open debuted in 2022 and has been touted as one of the best devices to hit shelves, taking after the Find N3 in almost every physical aspect. A big reason for that love is because of how well OnePlus handles multitasking on the phone. Another reason is the form factor.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold crams years of advancement into one
OnePlus – through Oppo – figured out that by adding an extra few millimeters across the front panel, the foldable becomes a full average-sized smartphone when closed. Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, it only has a lateral 5mm of extra room, but that makes all the difference. By widening the front out, not only are you making the internal display feel much bigger, but you’re also getting a much nicer experience when the phone is closed, almost like a normal slab phone – just with secrets.
It took years and six generations of devices for Samsung to figure out – or admit – that widening the phone would be better for users in the long run. It’s absolutely not as easy as making the chassis and panels bigger, but Samsung had to be the trialist in order to let this market innovate. Now, Google is benefitting from that long process and has essentially taken one device cycle to incorporate years of consumer reactions and tech into a new foldable.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is even wider than the OnePlus Open. At 150mm across, the internal footprint is almost a perfect 1:1 aspect ratio. Now, 1:1 doesn’t sound great for content like movies or gaming purposes, but it really shines in multitasking. The general rule of thumb is that if the front of the foldable is wide enough for one app, then the internal display will house two perfectly.
The Galaxy Z Fold series always felt way too narrow for normal apps, though it has improved over the years. However, the form factor has always left Samsung’s otherwise excellent multitasking feeling just a bit constrained. The OnePlus Open subsequently felt much nicer and provided more breathing room both on the outside and inside. With a little more space on the front display, it seems like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold might provide the perfect device size in the foldable market.
Of course, that all depends on a couple of things. First, it matters much more now than ever that Google’s hardware is able to stand up to long-term use. One of the major complaints we’ve had with the Pixel Fold was the build quality. We didn’t see any degradation of parts or anything of the sort, but it didn’t really feel premium. The small camera island mixed with massive inner bezels all pointed to “first device” growing pains. Second, Google needs to improve multitasking can get better, whether that’s through Pixel Feature Drops or changes in Android down the road. In all reality we’ll never see something like what Samsung is doing, but OnePlus’ Open Canvas proves there’s a lot of room left for experimentation. Plus, Google is toying around with advancements for the big screen.
If Google can nail down a couple of the small things, it’s not so crazy to assume that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold turns out to be the best form factor in the foldable space. It’s ultimately a good thing Google threw out the original design and opted for something that resembles a normal phone when closed. The key to making something like that pocketable is not by stretching it out, it’s by making it thinner. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is only 10.5mm thick. Compared to the Pixel 9, that’s a 2mm difference. At that point, it’s genuinely just splitting hairs.
We made a more direct comparison with each of these devices, and that’s absolutely worth checking out. This is simply a nod that Google is heading in the right direction and making such a significant jump in a mere year.
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