Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold review: more than a Pixel, less than the Galaxy…

TechRadar

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold gets by on great looks, charming software personality, and a more durable build than any other foldable on the market. Too bad about those cameras, and it’s not going to be a cheap honeymoon with this foldable tablet, but great software and new magnetic charging features save the day.

Transcript

00:00The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold is finally here, and although it looks almost identical to last

00:09year's Pixel 9 Pro Fold, there are some notable upgrades worth highlighting. In this video,

00:13we'll be running through each of those upgrades and comparing the Pixel 10 Pro Fold to its biggest

00:17competition in all the areas that matter. So, let's get into it.

00:23If you were to put the Pixel 10 Pro Fold next to its predecessor, you'd honestly have a hard

00:26time differentiating the two, and in fact, the newer phone is a few millimetres thicker when folded

00:31and unfolded. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold was one of the thinnest foldable phones around, so in principle,

00:35it's hard to criticise Google for making a more refined, more durable version of that phone in

00:39the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Unfortunately, in the interim, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 arrived and redefined what we

00:44expect from a foldable phone. It's both thinner and lighter than Google's latest effort, as are

00:48pretty much all of the Chinese-made foldables available in other markets. But dimensions

00:52aside, the 10 Pro Fold does have a more eye-catching design than a lot of its rivals. It's got gently

00:57curved corners, rounded edges, and a beautifully machined camera block, with colour options that

01:01are among the best on the market. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is also the only foldable at the time

01:05of recording to boast an IP68 rating, which means its hinge and ports are protected against dust and

01:10sand. That's probably not enough of a reason to buy a Pixel's foldable over others, but Google

01:13deserves kudos where it's due.

01:18Both of the displays on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold are excellent. Specifically, you'll get a 6.4-inch

01:22120Hz OLED on the outside and an 8-inch 120Hz OLED on the inside. That outer screen is pretty much

01:28the same display as you'll find on the non-folding Pixel 10 Pro. It's the exact same size and

01:32resolution, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which still uses an unusually narrow cover display.

01:37As a result, it feels natural to use the front screen on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, whereas on the

01:41Samsung, the front display is more like an appetizer for the big main course inside.

01:45Mind you, the inner screen on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is also enormous. It's a great display for reading,

01:49while web pages get blown up so much bigger than on a normal flat phone that it's an entirely

01:53better experience. The camera also has more dual-screen features than any other app,

01:57so you'll enjoy snapping pictures using the Pixel 10 Pro Fold in its unfolded form.

02:03First things first, we are huge fans of Google's Pixel software, from the way it handles

02:07notifications to the way it screens phone calls to find out who's calling and why.

02:11The latest Android 16 version of the Pixel interface is gorgeous yet refined, with bubbly

02:15clocks and other widgets that change colour to match your wallpaper, then get subtly darker

02:19as the sun goes down. And we're just scratching the surface here. We really like what Google is

02:23doing with Pixel. As for what Google is doing with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold specifically,

02:27not so much. There just isn't that much here that takes advantage of the 10 Pro Fold's extended

02:31screen. During our testing, we couldn't find a single widget that would span the entirety of

02:35the phone's display. Take the calendar app for instance. You can place a widget showing an entire

02:38month, but it will only occupy one side of the bigger screen. You can't stretch it any further.

02:43This is convenient when you close your phone and only have half of the area to work with,

02:46but it would be nice to get a handful of full screen widgets to really take advantage of the

02:50Pixel 10 Pro in unfolded mode. Again, that's not to say that Google's software is bad,

02:54it's actually quite the opposite. Instead, we just want to see more features that make

02:58the Pixel 10 Pro Fold feel truly special. Right now, it's easier to recommend the cheaper

03:02Pixel 10 Pro if you're keen on Pixel phones for their cutting edge software. And you should be,

03:06because that's what Pixel phones are all about.

03:10In the past, we might have been more forgiving of subpar camera hardware on a foldable phone,

03:14but Samsung had to destroy expectations by slapping its full-grown 200-megapixel sensor

03:19on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. So, now we want all $2000 foldables to deliver similarly excellent

03:24camera specs, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold kind of delivers here. Google's latest foldable uses

03:28the same sensors as last year's 9 Pro Fold. You'll get a 48-megapixel main lens,

03:32a 10.5-megapixel ultrawide lens, and a 10.8-megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom.

03:38What we do like about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is that Google seems to be carefully tuning its pixel

03:42cameras so that they produce images that all look alike. A photo taken with the Pixel 10 Pro XL will

03:47have the same color balance and lighting as a photo taken with the Pro Fold. And that's a good thing,

03:51because we love the images you can get from Google's latest non-folding phones.

03:54The problems start to arise when you zoom in close. Google applies a heavy dose of AI

03:58enhancement to its photos, and when you zoom in on a photo, especially ones taken at night,

04:02it can look smoothed out and painted over. On the phone's display, images look clearer than

04:06they might do on something like the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but when you zoom in, that clarity starts

04:10to look a tad artificial. Still, if you don't need the absolute best photos from your smartphone

04:14camera, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold does have a fascinating new Pixel feature that could make you a better

04:19all-round photographer. When you have your shot lined up, instead of pressing the shutter,

04:22press the Camera Coach button, and Google will use its AI software to analyze your photo and offer

04:26advice. And it's not just simple advice either. Camera Coach is more like an AI instructor. First,

04:31it gives you three or four suggested themes for your photos. Then, it takes you step by step through

04:34the shot. It highlights the right camera mode to select, and it tells you where to move for the best angle.

04:39In the end, it really did help us take better photos if we were willing to take the time to

04:42walk through the steps. Camera Coach is one of Google's newest and most advanced AI features,

04:46and it's something you won't find on any other folding phone at the time of recording.

04:52Pixel phones aren't known for top performance, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is unimpressive if you

04:56rely on benchmark scores alone. In our real-world testing, we found the Pixel 10 Pro Fold to be

05:00smooth and responsive, especially when switching between apps back and forth between the outer and

05:04inner displays. But that doesn't mean there weren't hiccups. Google's biggest performance

05:08offense is letting the camera lag. If you have too many features enabled, the camera shutter button

05:12will stop working between one photo and the next, while the phone thinks about what to do.

05:15This happened to us fewer times on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold than on the Pixel 10 Pro,

05:19but that's probably because the Fold doesn't have as many megapixels to count.

05:22We also saw things slow down considerably when we tried to use some of Google's new AI features.

05:26Perhaps someday, these AI tools will be a natural extension of the Android OS, but for now,

05:31using them feels like an event. An event with a line out front and a bouncer who has to check your name

05:35of a list. This isn't an experience killer, but hopefully we'll see these response times

05:38improve as more AI tasks are handled on the phone itself.

05:44We'll start this section by saying that Google makes it especially easy to charge the Pixel 10 Pro

05:48Fold on the go. The company's PixelSnap magnetic charging technology means the Pro Fold is the

05:52first foldable that will stick to existing MagSafe charging gear without a special case.

05:56And that makes a difference if you've already got a load of wireless chargers lying around.

06:00Magnets aside, the battery life on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold isn't terrible,

06:03but a smaller battery is the second sacrifice that every foldable makes after the cameras.

06:07Well, the phone actually has a 5050mAh battery, which is pretty large,

06:11but having two displays will drain that juice quickly.

06:13In our lab tests, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold lasted 12 hours and 16 minutes.

06:17The Galaxy Z Fold 7 lasted only 10 hours and 44 minutes,

06:20but remember that the Pixel Fold comes with an ounce more weight and an extra millimetre around the

06:24waistline. It's also worth noting that the iPhone 17 Pro Max is thinner than a closed Pixel Fold,

06:29weighs more than an ounce less and managed 5.5 extra hours of battery time in our testing.

06:33So whichever way you slice it,

06:35you're still making a big battery life sacrifice by choosing a fold over a regular smartphone.

06:41Overall then, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a very good phone in some areas and a big compromise in others.

06:46It's extremely expensive and you don't get the best battery life,

06:49the best cameras or the best performance for that money.

06:51What you do get are two beautiful displays,

06:54industry-leading software and a handful of foldable firsts in that IP68 rating

06:58and compatibility with magnetic charging accessories.

07:00For most people, the non-folding Pixel 10 Pro is probably the better option,

07:04but if you're convinced by the foldable form factor and you're willing to embrace AI,

07:07then you won't be let down by the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

07:10Do you like the look of Google's latest foldable? Let us know in the comments.

07:13And for the latest deals on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, check out the description below.

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