Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Review Round-Up: Flaunt Your AI

The first ever foldable smartphone from the Google stable to launch in India—Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold—has created ripples since it launched. It’s been called the “normal phone,” until it opens up, and then it isn’t. It delivers a genuine smartphone experience when it’s folded and lets out a few “oohs” and “whoas” when it unfolds into a slim, gorgeous-looking square tablet. Its enhanced artificial intelligence features, powered by Gemini Advanced, have been much deliberated about in tech circles. But with a price tag (details later) at the pinnacle of the flagship range, is it a best buy?

Let’s take a look at what tech watchers have to say about the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

This Pixel 9 Pro Fold is designed to blend in seamlessly with the other Pixel 9 series devices, with its same metal finishes and colours. Having said that, it is a significant departure from the original Pixel Fold, which was somewhat wider when unfolded and slightly shorter when closed.

The device folds together nicely, with no gaps when shut, and the metal frame and hardware feel ultra high-end. The power button is also a fingerprint reader, and the buttons are set conveniently. The device does well to repel fingerprints, especially the Obsidian version. Google has traversed the extra mile in ensuring that the finish of the device is spot on, and considering that the phone is just in its second generation, it sure comes across as “a grown-up foldable.”

The 9 Pro Fold's front display is exactly the same as the Pixel 9's, neither larger nor smaller. When you unfold the device, you'll find the “largest screen ever hidden” in a foldable phone—or any phone, for that matter. With a screen size of 8 inches, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold offers more screen space than the 8.3-inch iPad mini because of the iPad's narrower design. At the same time, Google has managed to make 9 Pro Fold extremely thin—at 5.1 mm, it is thinner than most tablets and one of the thinnest foldable phones around. And unless you’re especially going after it, you won’t notice its middle crease.

The cover screen of the 9 Pro Fold boasts a variable refresh rate of 60-120 Hz and a higher peak brightness of 2,700 nits. This is a significant improvement over 1,550 nits in its predecessor, the Pixel Fold. Add to that a higher contrast ratio, and even sunny days won’t stop you from reading or watching on the 9 Pro Fold.

Although you can drag the centre bar between the two apps to make one appear more ribbon-like and the other to have an expanded screen for the main app, there aren’t any other options in the 9 Pro Fold. Other foldables let you view multiple apps simultaneously, which makes multitasking that much better. For instance, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold’s multi window feature, you can open apps in spilt screen and pop-up view.

In the unfolded view, when the apps fill the screen, you can’t feel a single user experience even with Google's own app suite, forget third-party apps. Apps—such as Gmail, Contacts, Settings and Calendar—and their content take up different spaces on the screen. While some take a scrolling strip form on the left, others awkwardly fill the whole screen; some offer details on the right, others on the left. In short, the user experience for a full-screen app when the 9 Pro Fold unfolds is a hit and miss. 

Pixels are renowned for their camera, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold carries on the successful legacy. It sports a triple-camera setup, consisting of a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide lens and a 10.8MP periscope telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, along with a pair of selfie cameras.

The camera boasts good exposure in various conditions, with low noise even in low-light situations. Colours come out nice, and the autofocus is quite fast and accurate. The telephoto lens offers good details in long-range shots, but not quite so much in close-range tele shots. Video stabilisation is great, but you can sense a bit of noise under some conditions.

With a Pixel, users want the best camera experience and overall, the 9 Pro Fold has performed very well in camera tests, with one of the best camera setups in a foldable form factor.

With a 9 Pro Fold, you get Gemini Advanced out-of-the-box, which offers access to Google's most capable AI models. You can do a lot, ranging from summarising unread emails; transform and edit pictures using Magic Editor, Reimagine, Pixel Studio and other AI tools (even allowing you to get into a group photo through an Add Me feature); get AI-generated weather summaries, and more.

For a detailed perspective on the AI-driven features available on the Google Pixel series, see our review of the Pixel 9 Pro XL—we were impressed with what Google has to offer.

Foldables don’t yet allow smartphone makers economy of scale. Their production is limited and, owing to the niche technology, components are high-priced. So, unless there is a huge surge in demand for such foldables, assembly lines for smartphones like this are likely to be quite small and the price—well—quite high.

And so is the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s. Its price in India starts at Rs. 172,999 for the 256 GB model. It even leaves the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra behind with its price tag. But for the smartphone so unique, those who want to flaunt an ultra-cool form factor with exceptional looks, superb build quality, cutting-edge tech and advanced AI may not think twice about it.