The Google Pixel Fold, Google’s first venture into the foldable phone market, offers an impressive hybrid tablet/phone experience. Despite some minor software hiccups, the phone is well-built and delivers exceptional selfie camera performance. However, its high price tag puts it out of reach for most consumers.

Design and Display: The Pixel Fold features a responsive 5.8-inch exterior touchscreen that opens up to reveal a large 7.6-inch interior display, resembling a small tablet. While the visible crease in the middle is similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4, users quickly adapt to it. Both displays offer excellent brightness and color reproduction, with smooth on-screen motion.

The stainless steel hinge is sturdy and ensures easy opening and closing. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Pixel Fold closes completely, providing a more streamlined look and better screen protection when carried.

User Experience: The wider design of the Pixel Fold, compared to the narrow design of Samsung’s foldable phones, enhances usability. The exterior screen offers a comfortable experience for tasks like email writing, video watching, photography, and gaming, without the need to unfold the device. In contrast, the narrow screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 limits functionality without opening the phone.

Battery Life and Performance: Google claims the Pixel Fold can last between 24 to 33 hours on a single charge, which aligns with real-world testing. Heavy usage, including streaming, gaming, and multimedia consumption, resulted in approximately 16% battery life remaining after two days. Lighter usage provided around 30 hours of battery life, outperforming many flagship Android phones.

Powered by Google’s Tensor G2 chip, the Pixel Fold delivers solid performance. However, the optimized version of Android 13 for foldable phones lacks support from several popular apps, leading to black bars around the interface. While Google’s first-party apps and a few others are optimized, the lack of full-screen optimization is a drawback compared to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4.

Camera Performance: The Pixel Fold’s camera system, although not on par with the Pixel 7 Pro, still captures excellent photos. The 48-megapixel main sensor, 10.8-megapixel ultrawide sensor, and 10.8-megapixel telephoto sensor produce accurate colors, good contrast, and sharp images in various lighting conditions. The telephoto images may lack the sharpness found on the Pixel 7 Pro. The selfie cameras on the Pixel Fold perform adequately, but the main camera lenses provide better-quality selfie photos.

Conclusion: The Google Pixel Fold is an impressive foldable phone that delivers a unique hybrid experience. However, its high price of $1,800 puts it out of reach for most consumers who can find equally satisfying alternatives at a lower cost. While the Pixel Fold’s design, usability, and camera performance are commendable, the lack of full-screen optimization for popular apps and the hefty price tag remain significant drawbacks.

Pixel Fold Overview