00:00The Pixel 10 Pro Fold can't possibly compete with a thinner and lighter Galaxy Z Fold 7, right?
00:05I've been testing Google's new foldable, and to my surprise, it actually gives Samsung a real run for its money.
00:11In my Pixel 10 Pro Fold review, I'm looking past the hype and breaking down the real reasons to buy it over the Z Fold 7, or skip it altogether.
00:19If you're shopping for the best foldable phone right now, this is definitely the showdown you'll want to see.
00:25Right out of the gate, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold scores a big win with a lower price.
00:28It starts at $1,799 for 256 gigs of storage, compared to a somewhat ridiculous $2,000 for the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
00:35And here's the kicker, you can upgrade the Pixel to 512 gigs and still pay less than Samsung's 256 gig option.
00:42When you're dropping this kind of money on a phone, $200 might not seem like a massive difference,
00:46but when you start pricing out the configurations, that lower starting point matters.
00:51Now, let's talk about design.
00:52The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is clearly chunkier than the Galaxy Z Fold 7,
00:56but there's still a definite advantage to this design.
00:59The new gearless hinge has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
01:04That's a first for any foldable phone.
01:06Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is rated IP48, so small particles of dust can get in there and cause damage.
01:12So yeah, you won't see me taking that phone to the beach.
01:14While we're getting close-ups, this light green jade color is really nice,
01:19but I personally prefer the slate blue moonstone option.
01:22It's just a little more professional looking.
01:24Samsung's blue shadow, though, wins for wow factor in my book.
01:26For surfing the web, streaming Netflix, and running two apps side by side,
01:30you want it to be as vibrant as possible.
01:32And the Pixel 10 Pro Fold outshines the Galaxy Z Fold 7, literally.
01:35It exceeded 2,500 nits brightness in our testing compared to Samsung.
01:41And the front 6.4-inch screen is brighter, too.
01:44Samsung's is 6.5 inches, and it's technically bigger,
01:47but I actually prefer the Pixel's display.
01:49It's wider, which makes typing feel so much more natural.
01:52The only thing I don't like about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's display
01:55is that the crease is more prominent than on the Samsung.
01:58It's a deeper groove that you can feel and see.
02:02So, how about battery life?
02:03That's another win for Google.
02:05The Pixel 10 Pro Fold packs a 5,015 mAh battery,
02:09compared to 4,400 mAh on the Z Fold 7.
02:12And in the Tom's Guide 5G battery test,
02:14the Pixel lasted 12 hours and 16 minutes.
02:17Samsung tapped out after 10 hours and 44 minutes.
02:21And as for charging,
02:22only the Pixel has magnets for Qi 2 wireless charging.
02:25That means it works seamlessly with Google's Pixel Snap stand.
02:28With the Z Fold 7, you need a whole extra case,
02:31just for Qi 2, which kind of defeats the point, right?
02:34But let me know in the comments
02:35if that's the kind of thing that even matters to you.
02:37Now, the Pixel 10 Pro's Fold camera performance genuinely surprised me.
02:41On paper, the Z Fold 7's 200 megapixel camera
02:44should crush the Pixel's 48 megapixel lens.
02:47But in reality, I ended up preferring a lot of Google shots.
02:50Portraits came out crisper and brighter,
02:52though I'll give Samsung credit for a better bokeh here.
02:55In low light, the Pixel delivered sharper Halloween shots
02:58and brighter flowers outdoors.
03:00And zoom, well, this one isn't even close.
03:02The Pixel 10 Pro Fold has a 5x optical zoom
03:05versus 3x for the Samsung.
03:08And at 10x, Google's photos pulled way more detail,
03:11although you do get a longer 30x digital zoom
03:14for the Samsung versus 20x for the Pixel.
03:16The Z Fold 7 only really pulled ahead with macro shots.
03:20If you want to see more side-by-side camera comparisons,
03:23including video footage,
03:24I dropped the full written review in the description.
03:26Definitely check that out.
03:29One last advantage I think the 10 Pro Fold
03:31has over the Z Fold 7 comes down to AI.
03:34The Pixel 10 Pro Fold has so many AI features.
03:37Some of it feels like overkill,
03:38but features like auto best take for group photos
03:41and MagicQ for servicing info from your calendar mid-call
03:44are genuinely useful.
03:46Samsung AI also does have a lot of Gemini experiences throughout,
03:50but naturally the best and newest intelligent features
03:53are reserved for Google's own hardware.
03:55But arguably the most important feature,
03:57instant access to Gemini Live,
03:59is not exclusive to the 10 Pro Fold,
04:01just to make that clear.
04:03Fancy AI tricks only get you so far.
04:06When it comes to actually living with the foldable every day,
04:09the story changes,
04:10and if you ask me which foldable phone
04:12I'd want to carry around each day,
04:14it would be the Galaxy Z Fold 7, hands down.
04:17The Pixel 10 Pro Fold measures 5.2 millimeters thick when open
04:20and 10.8 millimeters when closed
04:23compared to 4.2 and 8.9 for the Z Fold 7.
04:26You can see that it's a pretty significant difference.
04:29And the Pixel weighs 9.1 ounces
04:31compared to just 7.6 ounces for the Z Fold 7.
04:34So for me,
04:35the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a back pocket phone
04:37and the Samsung is slim enough for the front.
04:39And you really notice the difference
04:41when you're holding these foldables for a long time,
04:43such as when you're playing games.
04:44Speaking of games,
04:47the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's Tensor G5 chip
04:49just doesn't stack up
04:50to the Snapdragon 8 Elite inside the Samsung.
04:53Playing Destiny Rising,
04:55I'm seeing gorgeous graphics and mostly smooth gameplay,
04:57but I noticed some dropped frames in heavy action scenes.
05:01Lab results back this up.
05:02The Pixel 10 Pro Fold trails the Galaxy Z Fold 7
05:05by 1,500 points in one 3D Mark test,
05:08and it couldn't even run other graphic tests
05:10that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 can.
05:12And in video transcoding,
05:14Samsung finished in 52 seconds
05:16while the Pixel took over two minutes on our test.
05:19That's a huge gap if performance matters to you.
05:22And if you're looking for more in-depth benchmarking,
05:25check out that link in the description I mentioned earlier.
05:27Now, this one is hardly a deal breaker,
05:29but I do think it's worth pointing out
05:31that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold
05:32is limited to running two apps side by side.
05:34The Galaxy Z Fold 7 can run three apps at once,
05:37so that gives you a bit more flexibility.
05:39At least it's easy to create app pairs on the Pixel
05:41and drag-and-drop content between windows.
05:46Overall, I ended up liking the Pixel 10 Pro Fold
05:48more than I expected.
05:50If I could mash the two together,
05:51my dream foldable phone would have all of the Google strengths,
05:54dustproof design, brighter displays, bigger battery,
05:57packed into Samsung's thin and light hardware.
06:00But we don't live in that world quite yet,
06:02so we gotta choose.
06:04For $200 less,
06:05the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is seriously compelling.
06:08But as my daily driver,
06:09I'd still go with the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
06:11It just feels more like a regular phone
06:13and not a foldable.
06:14And that matters.
06:16So what about you?
06:17Would you pick the Pixel 10 Pro Fold
06:19or the Galaxy Z Fold 7
06:20as your everyday foldable?
06:22Drop your thoughts in the comments.
06:23I really want to hear what you think.
06:25And don't forget to like this video,
06:26subscribe,
06:27and check out the full Tom's Guide review
06:29in the description for more photos,
06:31benchmarks,
06:31and comparisons.
06:32For Tom's Guide,
06:33this is Mark Spoonhour.
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