My Pixel Fold is just a small phone – I really don’t open it

My initial thoughts about the Pixel Fold were focused on how I love it as Google’s smallest phone and that what’s next for me would be using the foldable screen more.

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Having used the Fold for a few more weeks now, I find that I easily use the cover screen 95% of the time. My primary use for the foldable display is just side-by-side multitasking, like using it in place of video picture-in-picture or when needing to do a lot of copying and pasting from one app to another.

Don’t get me wrong – after chronicling Google’s tablet optimizations for over a year now (first on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and then the Pixel Tablet), I thought I’d jump to use large-screen apps on the go. But I’m just not and am perfectly content with a single column. I triage a lot in Gmail but don’t find myself wanting to see the list of all available emails next to messages. Same in Google Keep, with single-screen UIs being more than enough for me.

In terms of the foldable screen providing additional real estate (7.6” vs. 5.8”), I’m the kind of person who actually prefers reading books and articles on a phone-sized screen. The narrowness makes digesting lines of text very fast. This probably explains why I like small phones, including the iPhone 13 mini (RIP), so much.

I don’t consider the Fold’s inner screen to be in tablet territory. This is despite the fact that I use a Pixel Tablet daily to browse full (desktop) web pages in Chrome. I consider that experience to be equivalent to that of a laptop.

(Tangent: Back to the cover display for a moment, I feel the wider screen is particularly well suited for two-thumb typing and that I’m more proficient on this than anything else I’ve used. However, given that the screen is not very tall, Google didn’t bring over the ability to swipe down on the gesture bar from anywhere in the OS to open the notification shade.)

At the end of the day, foldables aren’t for everyone. I think it speaks to how slab-style smartphones with screens around 6.5 inches have become the personal computing device for the world. It’s enough to get work done.

Some people will definitely find immense value in having a bigger screen on the go and will take full advantage of the multitasking possibilities, but I don’t think the appeal is universal by any stretch.

From my experience alone, I wouldn’t yet extrapolate that foldables are a niche. They could easily occupy the premium end of the smartphone space and thrive. I just don’t think foldable screens are inevitable or poised to take on the mantle of the default form factor.

In other extended observations:

• I absolutely love having a telephoto lens again and don’t think I’ll go back to a phone without one. You just can’t match the zoom quality otherwise.
• The Fold fits into jeans but not comfortably. I’ve officially given up trying to make it work, and I got a cross-body bag just for this phone. This Adidas one is good, but the thing you should be on the lookout for if you choose to go down this semi-ridiculous path is to make sure the straps are on the back of the bag rather than the sides, as it makes slipping the foldable in and out much easier.
• The Pixel Fold is appreciably heavier than any other phone I’ve used. Going back to a regular phone is a big difference, but the weight is a non-issue in use. You adjust to it in short order, and I really like how dense it is.
• As of the beta, Android 14 on the Fold is unremarkable. I’m still using the default lock screen clock, though I’m definitely taking advantage of customizable shortcuts.

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