Big display, flat housing: Google presents the Pixel 9 Pro Fold

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Google revealed a poorly kept secret at the “Made by Google” event and introduced its second foldable smartphone. Similar to the sibling model presented at the same time, it is called the Pixel 9 and has the added “Pro Fold”. Compared to its predecessor, it does a few things differently.

The most notable change concerns the angular camera module, which now consists of two strips arranged one below the other. Google is making the Fold 9 Pro flatter, narrower and longer than its predecessor (folded: 155.2 × 77.1 × 10.5 vs. 139.7 × 79.5 × 12.1 mm) and also thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 (12.1 mm). However, the benchmark in this respect remains the flat Honor Magic V3 (thickness 9.3 millimeters when folded, without the camera bump). Although Google has successfully put the Fold on a diet (257 grams instead of 283 grams), it still remains a heavyweight among foldables. The front and back of the device are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2. According to IPX8, the housing is protected even from short-term immersion in fresh water, but not from dust.

large indoor screen

The difference immediately visible in Google’s drastic start: the 9 Pro Fold’s 6.3″ front display is in the narrow 20:9 format, which many non-foldable smartphones also use. That means there’s more space in height, but less in width on the screen. The result: the narrow device can be better operated with one hand when folded and the 8-inch, almost square screen is slightly larger than the Honor Magic V3’s internal display and significantly larger than the main screen Samsung Fold6.

Smartphone: Google Pixel 9 comes in three variants

According to Google, the screen achieves a very high peak brightness of up to 2700 cd/m². It will be slightly brighter than the Fold6’s brilliant display, but we were usually not able to fully measure the manufacturer’s specifications in subsequent tests. The color OLED panels achieve a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz for smooth performance of scrolling activities or in games that support high frame rates. However, according to the data sheet, only the internal display regulates the frame rate to 1 Hz if necessary to save battery, for example if only the time is displayed in always-on mode. The external display, which is usually used in always-on mode, always displays at least 60 Hz. Both displays achieve a dot density of around 400 dpi.

When it comes to the SoC, Google skips a generation and switches directly from the Tensor G2 to the fourth generation. The G3 already outperformed its predecessor by 20 to 30 percent in terms of both CPU and GPU performance, but was far behind the competition from Apple and Qualcomm. The processor can rely on up to 16 GB of RAM. Depending on the variant, the flash memory is 256 or 512 GB and cannot be expanded.

Camera change difficult

While the SoC will probably have enough performance reserves for years to come, the Fold’s runtime will be improved. The predecessor’s performance was extremely low, especially under load. When we played a 4K/120fps video on the internal display, the lights went out after just 6.2 hours. For comparison: the Samsung Fold5 and 6 lasted 11 and 12 hours respectively in this scenario. Just looking at the data sheet doesn’t give much hope: To make the device attractive, Google also had to work on the foldable’s battery. It now has a 4650 mAh battery instead of the predecessor’s 4821 mAh battery. It charges at a maximum of 45 watts via cable and 15 watts wirelessly on the Qi shell.

The cameras on the foldable are almost unchanged. As usual, Google is putting five on the device, two of which are primarily responsible for selfies and video calls. Both the outer and inner displays have wide-angle 10-megapixel lenses. There are three cameras in attractive stripes on the back of the smartphone. The wide-angle 48-megapixel main camera (82°, f/1.7) is accompanied by an ultra-wide angle (127°, f/2.2, 10.5 MP) and a telephoto (23°, f/3.1, 10, 8 MP) to the side. Compared to most high-end smartphones, the Fold’s lenses expose smaller sensors. Google uses a 1/2″ sensor for the main camera.

The Fold comes to the market with Android 14 and not version 15, which Google will release later. Google guarantees operating system and security updates for the next seven years. The Fold, which can be pre-ordered now, costs 1,899 euros in the 256 GB version; for double the storage Google charges 2,029 euros.

(RBR)

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