Google has shown off its new Pixel 9 Pro Fold, a foldable phone that is thinner than similar book-style rivals and offers yet another option for folks seeking a large screen on the go.
The new phone, unveiled yesterday with other Pixel 9 models, comes just weeks after Samsung started shipping its Galaxy Z Fold 6, itself a sleeker and slimmed-down version of last year’s model.
With its svelte design, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold looks ready to attract new users who have stayed away from foldable phones because of their relatively large sizes.
When folded, it is just 10.5mm thick, slimmer than the 12.1mm on the Samsung flagship foldable phone. Unfolded, the new Google phone is merely 5.1mm thick.
To be fair, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 is lighter at 239g. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold will feel marginally heavier – if your hands are sensitive – at 257g.
The Google foldable’s external screen is a 6.3-inch OLED display offering sharp images at 1,080 x 2,424 resolution. It supports up to 120Hz refresh rates for a zippy interface.
The main internal OLED screen, meanwhile, is 8 inches across and supports a higher resolution of 2,076 x 2,157. It also sports 120Hz refresh rates.
Powering the new Google phone is a Tensor G4 processor, along with 16GB of memory and either 256GB or 512GB of memory for Singapore buyers.
As you’d expect, AI will be a key part of the imaging experience on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. After all, Google has been behind a lot of the computational photography advancements in recent years.
The new phone comes with a triple-camera array at the back – a 48MP wide-angle camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide camera for macro shots and a 10.8MP 5x telephoto zoom camera.
You can also zoom in on objects at up to 20x, with the enhanced Super Res Zoom feature, but that’s not optically enabled and only software-based. In other words, use only when really needed because image quality may not be as good.
To complete the imaging setup, there’s also a front camera and an inner camera, both backed by a 10MP sensor, for selfies and video calls on the go.
Unsurprisingly, Google has thrown in loads of AI features, as it has done with its Android partner Samsung. Perhaps most well-known are the Magic Editor and Magic Eraser features, which help you alter images to your liking, with AI help.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold phone, which will ship in Singapore next month, will cost S$2,399 for the 256GB version and S$2,579 for the 512GB model.
No, not cheap at all, but these seem to be the asking prices for many book-like foldables, including those from Samsung. At least users have another option now and it’s the slimmest one.
We’d be checking out the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold in a review later. Keep a lookout for it!
