I don’t know what I expected when I first held the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold in my hand, but it certainly wasn’t this. On paper, there are a lot of question marks around the “Pro” aspect of this phone, so much so that my colleague Robert called out the branding as a way to hide “spec mediocrity.” And again, on paper, I do agree that this new Google foldable is more of a Pixel Fold 2 than a folding version of the Pixel 9 Pro, as its name would mislead you to believe.
But in reality, this phone feels Pro, even if the hardware specs don’t match that claim all around. Even if all the cameras are underpowered, the IP rating misses on dust ingress, the external display isn’t as bright or doesn’t go lower than a 60Hz refresh rate, the wired charging speed is slow, the wireless charging speed is ridiculously slow, and the phone doesn’t support the same Video Boost prowesses of the Pixel 9 Pro series… even with all of those shortcomings, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels like a powerful and premium Pro phone that I just can’t stop picking up, unfolding, folding, and using.