Pixel 10 Pro Fold review: Google’s bet to make foldables sturdy

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold won’t look precise antithetic if you spot it adjacent to last year’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Besides Google’s AI chops, determination is not overmuch of an overhaul astatine archetypal glance. However, this is the archetypal foldable to person an IP68 rating, and that counts for something.

Ever since companies started launching foldables, durability has been the premier interest for users. The longevity of hinges, extortion of the interior screen, and absorption of these devices against liquid and soil are ever large considerations erstwhile buying a foldable arsenic compared to a slab phone.

Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the company’s effort astatine alleviating those worries. The instrumentality intimately resembles its predecessor, but determination are a fewer cardinal changes that marque the telephone sturdier.

First is simply a caller gearless hinge, which adds a spot of absorption to folding and unfolding the phone. Because of the caller hinge, determination is precise small spread erstwhile the telephone is folded. This ensures that less particulate particles and different debris tin get wrong and perchance harm the screen. While I didn’t get the telephone successful immoderate sand, I kept it successful my container and my pouch aggregate times to spot if lint from either spot had immoderate effect. However, the telephone continued functioning arsenic usual.

I didn’t submerge the telephone successful water, either. Still, having IP68 extortion means that the telephone should withstand particulate and h2o amended than its predecessor.

Apart from the sturdiness upgrade, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold gained a caller Tensor G5 processor. While it’s good for astir day-to-day tasks, arsenic my acquisition suggests, determination is immoderate treatment astir however it doesn’t execute arsenic good arsenic some other processors successful benchmark tests.

Other hardware changes successful the 10 Pro Fold impact a bigger artillery than past year, which is simply a invited change. Plus, the telephone has a brighter screen, truthful it’s easier to usage extracurricular successful the daylight. One notable happening astir the show is that the bezel astir the surface is overmuch thicker than what I person seen connected different caller phones, including some foldables and slab phones.

Bezels are thick, and Lucy agrees with it. Image Credits: Ivan Mehta

Since this is simply a Pixel phone, Google added a fig of AI features to the software. These additions see Magic Cue, which surfaces snippets and suggestions based connected screenshots and information from apps similar Maps, Gmail, Messages, and Keep. You besides get telephone translation, Gemini Live with video view, and a camera manager to usher you to instrumentality photos. (These features are already contiguous connected the Pixel 10 Pro, and you tin work much astir however they enactment here.)

Cameras

For Pixel phones, the camera has been a cardinal communicative for years now. The Pixel 10 Fold Pro has camera specs akin to past year’s device. This means determination is simply a 48-megapixel main sensor, a 10.8-megapixel telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 10.5-megapixel ultrawide sensor. It besides has a brace of 10-megapixel sensors arsenic the selfie camera connected some the screen show and the wrong display.

Image Credits: Ivan Mehta

This setup is not connected par with the Pixel 10 Pro’s 50-megapixel main sensor and a brace of 48-megapixel sensors for ultrawide and telephoto. Meanwhile, the Pixel Pro 10 besides has a 42-megapixel selfie camera.

The photos from the Fold’s main camera supply bully details, but that is not the lawsuit with some the telephoto and ultrawide lenses. In debased light, lone the main camera holds immoderate water, but the Pixel 10 Pro cameras outshine it.

One gripe I person with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold camera is that whenever I wanted to instrumentality a photograph of a tiny object, similar an AirPods case, the camera triggered macro mode, adjacent erstwhile it was not ace adjacent to the object.

The assemblage is retired connected however overmuch AI should beryllium utilized successful photos, but if you are a instrumentality of the Pixel AI Zoom feature, which tin fto you usage 100x zoom, you volition beryllium disappointed to cognize that the diagnostic is missing connected the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

The confusing “Pro” moniker

It is hard to expect a telephone not to person a sanction that is simply a mouthful successful this era. However, Google’s inclusion of “Pro” successful the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is simply a tad confusing. The institution released the Pixel Fold successful 2023, and past changed the naming strategy past year.

Usually, Pro is reserved for the top-tier telephone of immoderate lineup. Unless you number the show size and artillery size — which effect successful the signifier origin — the foldable falls abbreviated successful the camera, cooling, and charging departments.

The camera is simply a measurement down from the Pixel 10 Pro, arsenic we described earlier. Plus, Google lone included vapor enclosure cooling for its Pro slab phones. And the 25W Qi2 charging is reserved for the Pixel 10 Pro XL. Some of this mightiness beryllium a regulation due to the fact that of the foldable form. But then, wherefore not driblet the Pro name?

Google besides needs to promote developers to follow third-party apps to acceptable the foldable experience, too tweaking its ain apps and making the wide multitasking show little glitchy. It would beryllium bully to spot Google instrumentality thing similar Samsung’s multi-window diagnostic connected Pixel foldables.

Where does the Pixel foldable stand?

Amid manufacturers similar Samsung, Oppo, and Honor racing to physique bladed foldable phones, Google has produced a proudly chunky and hefty foldable. The institution has concentrated connected making it much sturdy and long-lasting with the caller hinge and the IP rating.

The phone’s camera bump is not arsenic monolithic arsenic immoderate of the Chinese manufacturers person connected their devices. That means it holds a spot amended erstwhile you laic it down connected a level surface. The cameras don’t lucifer up to the Pixel 10 Pro line, which is simply a bummer. But if you are not hung up connected camera performance, Pixel Fold cameras are not a atrocious bet.

Honor Magic v5 vs Pixel 1o Pro fold Image Credits: Ivan Mehta

The Pixel 10 Pro sells astatine a listed terms of $1,799 — $200 cheaper than Samsung’s ZFold 7 — but you tin get discounts connected assorted sites. If you privation a fully-baked Google oregon Pixel acquisition successful a foldable signifier factor, this instrumentality is for you.