Regarding screen brightness, I get that the Pixel *looks* brighter on camera, but it just isn't in real life. Note at 5:27 how much darker the black areas look on the Pixel. This is because the Z Fold screen protector is reflecting more light and making the true brightness basically impossible to capture on camera. Both are OLED, both should be totally black, but on camera, the Z Fold looks hazy and almost grey. That same thing is happening to the entire screen skewing the appearance on camera.
I just bought the pixel and the fold6. The pixel screen didn't look as good or vibrant. Wasn't a bad phone but for the price it's missing too many fold specific features that you get from Samsung. If it was about 1400 I would have kept it but. I couldn't justify it being more expensive than the OnePlus open when it's inferior in every way. Also Samsung trade in came to $1320 for my fold 5 while google gave me $540 and a $350 dollar gift card. The value was way too lopsided for me.
@@NuttinNyce When you consider the final price (after different promotions/deals), these three foldable phones cost around 1100-1300. Each phone has it's pro's and con's. Interested to know which phone you are keeping.
@NuttinNyce I agree 100%, as well as this poster above. The zFold6 screen has a bit more intense color which makes it more vibrant. Plus the statement about Google simply NOT having "fold" specific features. It's as if they didn't pay no attention to this device, especially the multitasking is poor, having only two apps on such a big screen with no pen support! Then we have the home screen which is basically useless, with those huge icons not being able to have more rows, and not able to move two huge widgets on the main screen. It just destroys flexibility. Lastly, the superior OnePlus open sells on AliExpress for about 800 bucks(!), which is a ridiculous value, when we realize it is still Superior in every way. Plus it's software now rivals the Samsung, so it is (for me) the perfect compromise of having most features.
@@MrMak2005 I ended up keeping the fold 6. The pixel had its good points but I think the software is a little better on the fold series. I'm a tech junkie so I'll most likely be upgrading again next year lol.
@@Maxx134a completely agree, they went all in on AI and neglected the fold features completely. I actually ordered the OnePlus Open last month but they messed up on the shipping and I was being petty and had them cancel the order smh.
Been using it since the started shipping it out. Im absolutely floored by the battery life. Its way better than the specs let me to believe. Much better than my old Pixel 7Pro
I really appreciate the fact that you do such an in depth review with comparisons to other foldables. Also love the case reviews you've been doing! Got my P9PF coming next week and i'm super stoked!
Loved this review. And I agree. Nothing ground breaking here. But they improved everything enough imo to make it so much solid all around. I've fallen for it far more than I thought I would honestly, and haven't looked at my 9 Pro XL since my Fold arrived. Still holding out hope for more foldable software features, but I could totally be okay with what it offers today. I know most, if not everyone else, will prefer something else, and that's fine. I'm good with this 9 pro fold though😂
Great review, I've been having a super hard time determining if switching from Open to P9PF but I have about the same exact feelings with Pixel devices. They're just clean, so reliable and the extra software features like Call Spam are just soo good and always draw me back to pixels.
I really enjoyed your breakdown of the benchmarks you didn't just give us the score but actually went into the details I've never seen that before so thank you!
Great video! Thank you! I'd like to share what I learned about Gemini Live. Reading and teaching from a digital book. You can upload a textbook or a manual in the chatbot window and then trigger Gemini Live and have an extensive conversation about the content. Gemini Live is restricted from doing things like controlling tech. It seems intentional to use either the chatbot window in the Gemini app or screen launch because neither have continuous conversation abilities. There are a lot of other things to make Gemini Live more useful.
So refreshing to see someone that's real. Tired of watching all the other reviewers with the same script just inserting the latest phone name "here". Got a subscribe from me.
Hey Shane. I disabled my face unlock because my son that wears glasses and has a beard can open my phone. I wear glasses and I have a mustache and goatee. I'm bummed because I really wanted to be able to use it.
what a great and unbiased review. I love that you take the extra time to explain the important things a lot of big reviewers don't. I love the deep dive reviews. You earned a follow from me good sir! Keep it up!
A great in-depth, intelligent and honest review! My own assessment is very similar having come from Pixel 6 Pro -> Galaxy Z Fold 4 -> Pixel 8 Pro -> Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I do miss the Dex on the Galaxy and disappointed that Google haven't replicated this on tne Pixel, given their existing ChromeOS capability.
First video I was able to find this in depth and for someone like my self that’s switching from an iPhone and never experienced a pixel at all 🙌🏻 w video
This is the best actual user experience on TH-cam. Thanks for the great review. Hope Pixel 10 Pro fold will get below five improvements: 1. Bit rectangle display - Less height and bit more width 2. Weight reduction - by 20-25 grams to be around 230 grams 3. TSMC made Tensor G5 chip 4. Better display - LTPO cover screen, screen quality on par with Samsung 5. Camera/Sensors/Lenses - on par with Pixel 10 Pro
@blinsmaslom3263 well, I'm gonna be honest with you. I own the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and I don't find anything elegant in their hardware. Share the pixel 9 pro fold does have some extra space in the cover display that could have been used. Find screen real estate, but in my opinion, that foldable Has brought fun into the US market is thinner and if you've never tried a foldable ball from Samsung, then you wouldn't understand what I'm talking about, I've had the Fold4 and I skip the 5th Generation fold because it looks similar to the fold and I went with the candy. Bar style And yet I got their new foldable And it looks the same with minor changes to the fold 5. When I compared mine to the one they had on this plague at my local Best Buy, and at 1 mm screen real. Estate on the cover display means nothing when you compare Samsung's foldable option. To the OnePlus open and what Google offers. Samsung is falling far behind in the hardware department that you even have the company honor making fun of them because even though their software is exceptionally amazing. They're so far behind in the hardware department that I myself, and this is my opinion, regret upgrading to another Samsung Fold. As i pick there S23 Ultra. Over the 5th Generation fold because the design language of Samsung is definitely turning into the design language of apple very complacent and people want foldable phones are fun and will make you want to have it and coming next September. I'm pretty sure Google's gonna offer an amazing foldable. And I will end up switching and leaving Samsung behind like I told you. I've used several of their foldables in the design language in the hardware department. It's definitely turning into apple with minor changes, and at the price they're asking for it's not worth it. You can go watch mister mobiles. Review on the Z Fold 6 and believe me, he will explain to you call lackluster. Samsung has become with their foldables and how related They look every generation
If you're into foldables, this might be one of the better ones out there! I just switched to it from my P6, and I've had a pretty mixed experience for it being my first foldable. There's clearly some compromises around the board, and the aspect ratio of the internal display makes watching most media and games on it an awkward experience that either stretches uncomfortably, or just doesn't use most of the display, so it's down to how much you would use multitasking or Google's app suite. I also notice that when people talk about these phones, there is always the "for a foldable" caveat added to any outstanding remarks. (Ie, best battery for a foldable, great cameras for a foldable). So if you get good use out of the internal display enough to make the high price point worth it, then it's probably a great package! I don't think I'm personally a foldable kind of guy myself though, especially with the price tag and the additional compromises. Might end up returning it!
I really like their approach, one thing I would like to see is having two different home screen customization. I like how Samsung can have different layouts if the phone is open or closed
On the multi-tasking discussion, i really wish we could all get a fund going to comission a deceloped to build a surface duo launcher. One that would allow you to open apps on half the screen and leave the other half as the home screen. I would love that so much. I miss that ease of multitasking. Samsung got close with gestures on the fold, but the p9pf is lacking in ease of use for multitasking.
I must say that the strangest thing is that in the split window mode turning the phone does NOT turn the frames so you cannot achieve side-by-side view in a horizontal position... I known it is technically a square screen but still a few pixels more are available in the horizontal mode and in the split screen, it is lost. I did not notice it on the original Fold as it was horizontal at opening and I had no need to turn it. It would be nice if Google fixes that...
13:08 The performance is superfluous for a typical user daily task. There's no lags, jittering or malfunctions to upset your work process or entertainment consumption. 19:28 Assistant Typing on the Gboard is phenomenally good. The way that you can interrupt the Assistant Typing tool to manual type, and then revert to the Assistant Typing tool fluidly without any jitters, is just magical. And the grammar correction feature within the Assistant Typing tool, it truly adds a valuable component to the tool with massive benefits. 29:34 The 5X Zoom on the Telephoto camera is much more ideal for zooming into objects. The 5X Zoom creates a much better experience for your phone camera. 😎💯💪🏾👍🏾
Great review as always! Would love to see an in depth comparison of all 3 in terms of Hinge Quality, performance, battery life, camera, and multi-tasking. Am a power-user and I’ve been wanting to buy a foldable for some time now because of the multi-tasking features but I’m super skeptical of the previously mentioned categories because it just feels wiser to use something like the s24 Ultra without having to compromise on build quality (hinges), camera reliability, software bs, battery life or performance… Would be great to multitask more but that means nothing if am paying more $ for a compromise in any one of those areas.
I'm not a fan of not being able to change the orientation on some apps like TH-cam, TH-cam and keep notes. It is true that TH-cam opens up in landscape. However, I can't rotate the device to change the orientation. Same with the keep notes app. I used to be able to do this on the original fold. I hope they fix this in a software update or maybe it will be changed when Android 15 is released.
Google needs to refine the look of the Google fold. The large bezels and curvy corners make it less appealing in my opinion. I think the ZF6 is a way better looking device..
Great review, this is my first pixel device so that was helpful to see a couple of hints on how to use the device more effectively. My one complaint so far on this device has been the speaker volume, it is noticeably lower than any other phone I have had. I do miss the one UI experience a bit, just seemed more intuitive and had some extra customizations but the larger outer display makes up for that.
I really want to love the Fold, but man, I canceled my order, and decided to wait and see some reviews and I am glad I did. I sold my Thinborne case as well, and decided to keep my OnePlus Open for now. Better looking from the front, better multitasking overall, although I gotta say I dont use 3 apps at the same to often, but I do and like the option. I may change my mind, more due to the pixel UI and some of the little touches you mentioned but for now, think I will stay put. If I didn’t have my Open, I would absolutely go for it.
I've been really impressed with the the battery life on the pixel 9 pro fold coming from the z fold 3. Yesterday i got around 5 hours SOT with 50% remaining with (for me) a pretty average day of usage. The z fold 3 couldnt crack 7 hours SOT when it was new let alone the potential of 9-10 i'm getting now!
The front bezels sorta remind me of the older LG dual screen case phones. That said it wouldn't stop me from purchasing it. I'm currently passing on it because I really liked the original Pixel Folds size. As always... GREAT WORK Shane!
Note at 5:27 how much darker the black bars look on the Pixel. What you're seeing and what is making this so hard to capture on camera is the Z Fold screen being more reflective on camera.
I take your word that the Fold is brighter, but would suggest comparing colored areas instead of black ones. Comparing black areas on an OLED panel is probably not a good indicator of brightness since individual pixels handle their own backlighting and on true black OLED pixels backlighting should be off.
I think you're misunderstanding my point. You have two screens that are showing black, both are OLED and should be truly black, yet on camera the Z Fold's black looks like gray because it's reflecting more light on camera. Extend that same hazy reflectiveness to the rest of the screen and it might appear to be dimmer than the less reflective screen, even though it isn't.
There is a bug with the auto brightness mode. If you turn off auto brightness outdoor and manually turn the brightness all the way up, it is much brighter.
Had it for about 8 days and decided to return it. I like the feel and form factor of my OnePlus better. I also like the inner and outer screen on my OnePlus better, especially the inner screen has far less crease.
I just ordered one from VZ, going to store today to pickup. I hope I made the right choice, the last pixel fold to me was a dog, not bright enough, crooked screen, usual pixel issues (slooow charging, overnight updates, heating)
Was not expecting the John Cena diss at the end. Lmfao! I just got my Pixel 9 Pro Fold a couple hours ago. Upgrading from the original Pixel Fold and I'm still setting it up, but so far, the only minor nitpick I have is the form factor. I liked the shorter passport style of the original Pixel Fold. The 9 Pro Fold isn't bad by any means, but I thought the shorter form factor of the original made it a bit easier to use, especially one handed. It also made the cover display feel a bit wider and less cramped. Especially compared to how skinny the cover display is on the Galaxy Fold. Anyways, great video!
For me the best thing is the Pixel Fold is very fast in every application I use. super snappy, no weird behavior so far. Much faster than my Sony 1V and even faster than my OPPO in standard situations. The cameras are better than expected. Battery can carry you through the day even with large screen.
Great review! I noticed the OnePlus Open had a pinkish white point when compared to the other two devices with the benchmarking scores. Is that how it looks in real life or just the camera picking that up?
Another good review shane. The overlying theme seems to be consistent. The pixel is on par with other foldables. Your review seems to press the point of personal choice and usability. Too many people focus on the top end with little or no regard with usability... How you actually use the device. I've used zfolds with 4 or 5 open apps and felt useless. The pixel fold fits what i do. It does it well. I'm not asking myself how much happier I'd be with 4 tinier windows open at the same time. When i watch your videos, I'm thinking I'm watching a normal real world review by someone doing sensible tests of what normal people do. You're not throwing your phone 16ft in the air and regarding about the breakage. Your not running 4 screens with it world saving data and watching the phone melt. You review the phone doing what i think most people do. You compare real life action and results. Regardless of what specs say. Thanks for that. This is a real good phone. It does a lot of things we'll. A few things great, and very few things not so great. I'm not returning mine.
Great video as always man! Super detailed and easily the go to video for anyone even remotely considering a foldable or the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Agree with many points here, especially the flagship level statement around 27:31. The outer display being a flagship level 'normal phone' in use and then having that massive inner display is excellent for when it's needed is just an overall great combo. I think it's definitely the best foldable (in the US) that you can get right now and daily, but totally agree with you as well, it's not weird/exciting enough to stand out as much as the passport design of last years. I hope we see some more exciting form factors coming in 2025. Excited to see as well how the pixel fold series continues to evolve from here (especially if they change the name again haha). Take care!
@@Maxx134a unfortunately most in the US still don’t even know who oneplus is 😆 so for most this will be the better option , but to each their own for sure . All subjective.
@@drewlippsif you let people see both and put in their hands the one plus just looks and feels better to hold. The ability for multi tasking in the open is better then the 9 pro fold. I have both and going to return the pixel.
I sent my pixel 9 pro fold back. It just couldn't compare to my OnePlus Open. The charging speed, the multitasking, the weight of the phone, the thinner bezels, even the camera is better on the OPO. I gave it a shot but it felt like a downgrade to me. I do miss the pixel features though.
I'm concerned about the long term performance of the fold. I love the 7 years of updates, but how will it perform in years 4 plus? OnePlus has always put the top processor in (at the time of release) and way more top spec memory in than needed. My 4+ year OnePlus still runs smooth and has about the same amount of memory as other flagship phones currently on the market.
A friend has recently bought the 9 Pro Fold and he is struggling to get through a day with moderate use. He also games on his phone and has to turn the settings down to get a decent and stable frame rate. I think Google need to drop the old Exynos chips next gen.
Im really swonging between this and the fold 6. I like the fold 6's looks more but i like the ability to root the device/ flash custom kernel. I could live without it but im not sure which i prefer.
Another great review Shane. If you are spending the amount of money this phone costs, I think boring, reliable, predictable is a good thing. I don't like bad surprises.
I bought the honor magic v3 because no AI Features In Germany right now and the device is better in nearly every department. Btw greetings from overseas to you. Love your Videos 😊
Honor has amazing bundle deals for every country EXCEPT USA. If these China don't want to sell to USA, it's no big deal as OnePlus Open 2 will come and beat all competition completely.
At 13:54, we see the horrid "At a Glance" widget taking over thw whole top of the screen, and the Google search bar widget stuck on bottom, leaving no space for actual icons, which are forced into folders that have to be opened first. So to say that this phone performs well is a smoke screen for the headaches of its limited UI, which also only does 2 apps multitasking and no stylus support on such a big screen.
If you really hate both of those things, then using another launcher immediately solves that. No stylus support is however a shame, but we could still see updates in the future that add more multitasking capabilities. It's not a great concern of mine though.
@Mark-ns3jo I was living in bliss with original Pixel Fold until I switched over to OnePlus Open and it still shocks me just how light as a feather this unit is. Lighter than zFold6 still, and bigger. I could hold up one handed resting on my pinky. The effective Outer screen area looks almost same width as 9Pro as they have smaller outer screen. In this video it looks at 9:45 it looks better. The real benefit was charging speed and battery life . New 9Pro Fold should have better battery life than original, but poor charging. That would be the main worry.
Bro I love the pixel 9 pro fold . I got it cuz it looks amazing.. wish there was a good lock version for it though.. especially to customize the inner display from the outter
I'm enjoying mine, mainly as I do love pixel experience and camera. I've found a really nice and cheap case via AliExpress and battery life is better than my previous Motorola phone and comfortably lasted me as 13 hour day travelling a distance work office and back. I'm sure we'll get a few improvements via updates too. But plenty of competition so can be a hard choice for many. Oh, and seems my 9 year old daughter is a huge fan of the Gemini chat. I think it's her new bff 😂
100% agreed, love the phone as a pixel lover I am glad that we finally have a competitive foldable but it just feels like its missing something, feels a little bland.
Getting this phone today, and cant' wait! I traded in a Pixel 8 Pro and getting 700 for it, plus an additional 520 in Store Credit. I just wish Google would let me transfer that to the phone balance. Guess ill just get a Pixel Watch and possibly the buds.
Great Review , Tremendous effort Thanks for the attention to the detail in the review. I am going to wait till next year ,so that product gets more mature and with the advent of next Gen Chips by Google. John Cena refrence was hillarious .
Been waiting for this, i can change phone every 90 days and was thinking of swapping from the Z Fold 6 for the Pro Fold. I think im going to stick with the Z Fold 6 now, maybe the pro fold 3 next year will be worth it. Also, give me a slightly thicker fold design with proper cameras and a bit more battery, the race for thinness is not for me
The one to beat? Eh. Design-wise it's pretty much identical to the OnePlus Open. The weirdly large hinge space and bezels on the front do detract from it, and the camera bump is up to personal preference but imo it's ugly compared to the OPO. Hardware wise it falls behind in the camera, crease, charging speed, and front screen (and apparently bend durability if you watch the JerryRigEverything video) Software wise it does normal slab phone things better but both Samsung and OnePlus have it beat as foldables.
I Always felt 8 inches was going to be the perfect size for a foldable on the interior. So hopefully they don’t ever get any bigger or smaller ever again.
my hinge after one week has some humps as You run a finger down, at specific angle it looks like I can see that hinge mechanism sticking through display a bit 🤔
I was in the tmobile store earlier and I notice this phone...it's bigger but slimmer than samsung fold 5... unfortunately they don't have available phone in the store.. but I'll be getting this phone soon..
So i curious we've seen camera comparisons between the other foldables, and there's others comparing it to the iPhone 15 pros, but hows it go against something like the s22/23 ultras photos. I did ultimately end up going with a 9 pro fold over the z fold 6 mostly for being able to take macros and gigachad zoom photos, because it also seemed like a good upgrade over my z fold 4. But I also had a Stent with an s22 ultra so just curious.
Seems like a great device. I think its the Fold to beat. For me the OG Pixel Fold had the better design/Form Factor. Upgrading to the 9Pro Fold is a software upgrade but not really a hardware upgrade.
I just switch to the new pixel fold and I switched back to iphone. I'm using it now because the folding experience is amazing but it's missing the iPhone experience to make it perfect. I'll ship it back on Monday. If you're a life long iPhone user and you're invested in the apple ecosystem, don't waste your time. Just wait for apple to do a folding device. Also with the whole RCA texting, I might be doing something wrong but if you're in a group chat with from your iPhone and someone in that chat sends a text you won't receive it and if you send a text to that group chat from the pixel, it will start a new group chat for everyone else
So are you finally leaning to this over the original Pixel fold? I too MUCH prefer the form factor. However, just check online on a 2 yr contract the previous version saves me just $7 a month. So making my decision to go for the previous Gen Pixel Fold almost impossible to justify!
If you want to play shooting games where you have to run around…it’s gonna lag for sure. But regular games like sniper games or candy crush style games its fine.
Bought a refurbished Fold 1 instead. The new Fold was way too expensive for a phone reviewed at 8 at best on many websites so I'll trade my fold for gen 3 for sure
Beautiful aussie. My Australian shepherd is 12yrs old and in good shape. Smartest dog i ever had. Is it full aussie? Thinking about upgrading to pixel 9 pro fold from my pixel 6. Im only worried about durability and if it will last a couple years. Hows your fold holding up as of now?
She's full Aussie and too smart for her own good lol. Hope yours stays healthy a long time more! Just posted this video on the subject of your question. th-cam.com/video/9P5QROmnMOU/w-d-xo.html
Regarding screen brightness, I get that the Pixel *looks* brighter on camera, but it just isn't in real life. Note at 5:27 how much darker the black areas look on the Pixel. This is because the Z Fold screen protector is reflecting more light and making the true brightness basically impossible to capture on camera. Both are OLED, both should be totally black, but on camera, the Z Fold looks hazy and almost grey. That same thing is happening to the entire screen skewing the appearance on camera.
I just bought the pixel and the fold6. The pixel screen didn't look as good or vibrant. Wasn't a bad phone but for the price it's missing too many fold specific features that you get from Samsung. If it was about 1400 I would have kept it but. I couldn't justify it being more expensive than the OnePlus open when it's inferior in every way. Also Samsung trade in came to $1320 for my fold 5 while google gave me $540 and a $350 dollar gift card. The value was way too lopsided for me.
@@NuttinNyce When you consider the final price (after different promotions/deals), these three foldable phones cost around 1100-1300. Each phone has it's pro's and con's.
Interested to know which phone you are keeping.
@NuttinNyce I agree 100%, as well as this poster above. The zFold6 screen has a bit more intense color which makes it more vibrant.
Plus the statement about Google simply NOT having "fold" specific features.
It's as if they didn't pay no attention to this device, especially the multitasking is poor, having only two apps on such a big screen with no pen support!
Then we have the home screen which is basically useless, with those huge icons not being able to have more rows, and not able to move two huge widgets on the main screen. It just destroys flexibility.
Lastly, the superior OnePlus open sells on AliExpress for about 800 bucks(!), which is a ridiculous value, when we realize it is still Superior in every way. Plus it's software now rivals the Samsung, so it is (for me) the perfect compromise of having most features.
@@MrMak2005 I ended up keeping the fold 6. The pixel had its good points but I think the software is a little better on the fold series. I'm a tech junkie so I'll most likely be upgrading again next year lol.
@@Maxx134a completely agree, they went all in on AI and neglected the fold features completely. I actually ordered the OnePlus Open last month but they messed up on the shipping and I was being petty and had them cancel the order smh.
Best Pixel Fold coverage on YT. I upgraded from Fold and love it.
Agreed best coverage. Great job!
Which fold you coming from?
Im thinking of upgrading from a fold4 - worth it? i keep looking at the 6 and the open
Coming from an iPhone 15 pro the form factor is pretty new and exciting 😉
Been using it since the started shipping it out. Im absolutely floored by the battery life. Its way better than the specs let me to believe. Much better than my old Pixel 7Pro
Same . It's actually decent good
My first fold ever. I love this thing. The hinge on the left doesn't bother me. But I'm using it while opened all the time!!!
I really appreciate the fact that you do such an in depth review with comparisons to other foldables. Also love the case reviews you've been doing! Got my P9PF coming next week and i'm super stoked!
By the way - congrats to exceeding 50k followers, it signs the fact that you do a good job...
Thank you!
Great video as always. I'm enjoying my 9 Pro Fold as well, and agree on most of your points. Continue crushing it.
Loved this review. And I agree. Nothing ground breaking here. But they improved everything enough imo to make it so much solid all around. I've fallen for it far more than I thought I would honestly, and haven't looked at my 9 Pro XL since my Fold arrived. Still holding out hope for more foldable software features, but I could totally be okay with what it offers today. I know most, if not everyone else, will prefer something else, and that's fine. I'm good with this 9 pro fold though😂
Hopefully I'll be comparing the Pixel 9 Pro XL here soon too lol
Great review, I've been having a super hard time determining if switching from Open to P9PF but I have about the same exact feelings with Pixel devices. They're just clean, so reliable and the extra software features like Call Spam are just soo good and always draw me back to pixels.
I really enjoyed your breakdown of the benchmarks you didn't just give us the score but actually went into the details I've never seen that before so thank you!
Great video! Thank you! I'd like to share what I learned about Gemini Live.
Reading and teaching from a digital book. You can upload a textbook or a manual in the chatbot window and then trigger Gemini Live and have an extensive conversation about the content.
Gemini Live is restricted from doing things like controlling tech. It seems intentional to use either the chatbot window in the Gemini app or screen launch because neither have continuous conversation abilities.
There are a lot of other things to make Gemini Live more useful.
So refreshing to see someone that's real. Tired of watching all the other reviewers with the same script just inserting the latest phone name "here". Got a subscribe from me.
Hey Shane. I disabled my face unlock because my son that wears glasses and has a beard can open my phone. I wear glasses and I have a mustache and goatee. I'm bummed because I really wanted to be able to use it.
He is indeed his father's son 😂
what a great and unbiased review. I love that you take the extra time to explain the important things a lot of big reviewers don't. I love the deep dive reviews. You earned a follow from me good sir! Keep it up!
Glad it was helpful!
A great in-depth, intelligent and honest review! My own assessment is very similar having come from Pixel 6 Pro -> Galaxy Z Fold 4 -> Pixel 8 Pro -> Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I do miss the Dex on the Galaxy and disappointed that Google haven't replicated this on tne Pixel, given their existing ChromeOS capability.
First video I was able to find this in depth and for someone like my self that’s switching from an iPhone and never experienced a pixel at all 🙌🏻 w video
This is the best actual user experience on TH-cam. Thanks for the great review.
Hope Pixel 10 Pro fold will get below five improvements:
1. Bit rectangle display - Less height and bit more width
2. Weight reduction - by 20-25 grams to be around 230 grams
3. TSMC made Tensor G5 chip
4. Better display - LTPO cover screen, screen quality on par with Samsung
5. Camera/Sensors/Lenses - on par with Pixel 10 Pro
Ddfaw
In a world of office exec, almost industrial looking Folds, its nice that Google made one that looks so elegant to contrast them.
@@Randomness662 As happy a Pixel 9 Pro Fold owner, I do think the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is much more elegant.
@blinsmaslom3263 well, I'm gonna be honest with you. I own the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and I don't find anything elegant in their hardware. Share the pixel 9 pro fold does have some extra space in the cover display that could have been used. Find screen real estate, but in my opinion, that foldable Has brought fun into the US market is thinner and if you've never tried a foldable ball from Samsung, then you wouldn't understand what I'm talking about, I've had the Fold4 and I skip the 5th Generation fold because it looks similar to the fold and I went with the candy. Bar style And yet I got their new foldable
And it looks the same with minor changes to the fold 5. When I compared mine to the one they had on this plague at my local Best Buy, and at 1 mm screen real. Estate on the cover display means nothing when you compare Samsung's foldable option. To the OnePlus open and what Google offers. Samsung is falling far behind in the hardware department that you even have the company honor making fun of them because even though their software is exceptionally amazing.
They're so far behind in the hardware department that I myself, and this is my opinion, regret upgrading to another Samsung Fold. As i pick there S23 Ultra. Over the 5th Generation fold because the design language of Samsung is definitely turning into the design language of apple very complacent and people want foldable phones are fun and will make you want to have it and coming next September. I'm pretty sure Google's gonna offer an amazing foldable. And I will end up switching and leaving Samsung behind like I told you. I've used several of their foldables in the design language in the hardware department. It's definitely turning into apple with minor changes, and at the price they're asking for it's not worth it. You can go watch mister mobiles. Review on the Z Fold 6 and believe me, he will explain to you call lackluster. Samsung has become with their foldables and how related They look every generation
Great review! I was between the galaxy fold and pixel fold as my next phone and this review sold me on the pixel! Thank you.
If you're into foldables, this might be one of the better ones out there! I just switched to it from my P6, and I've had a pretty mixed experience for it being my first foldable.
There's clearly some compromises around the board, and the aspect ratio of the internal display makes watching most media and games on it an awkward experience that either stretches uncomfortably, or just doesn't use most of the display, so it's down to how much you would use multitasking or Google's app suite. I also notice that when people talk about these phones, there is always the "for a foldable" caveat added to any outstanding remarks. (Ie, best battery for a foldable, great cameras for a foldable).
So if you get good use out of the internal display enough to make the high price point worth it, then it's probably a great package!
I don't think I'm personally a foldable kind of guy myself though, especially with the price tag and the additional compromises. Might end up returning it!
Thank you for your comprehensive coverage on the fold since the beginning ... it has been informative and entertaining :) !!
Glad it was helpful!
I really like their approach, one thing I would like to see is having two different home screen customization. I like how Samsung can have different layouts if the phone is open or closed
On the multi-tasking discussion, i really wish we could all get a fund going to comission a deceloped to build a surface duo launcher. One that would allow you to open apps on half the screen and leave the other half as the home screen. I would love that so much. I miss that ease of multitasking. Samsung got close with gestures on the fold, but the p9pf is lacking in ease of use for multitasking.
I must say that the strangest thing is that in the split window mode turning the phone does NOT turn the frames so you cannot achieve side-by-side view in a horizontal position... I known it is technically a square screen but still a few pixels more are available in the horizontal mode and in the split screen, it is lost. I did not notice it on the original Fold as it was horizontal at opening and I had no need to turn it. It would be nice if Google fixes that...
lol the only guy I was waiting on for this review - and yes, I got meself one too as well.
13:08 The performance is superfluous for a typical user daily task. There's no lags, jittering or malfunctions to upset your work process or entertainment consumption. 19:28 Assistant Typing on the Gboard is phenomenally good. The way that you can interrupt the Assistant Typing tool to manual type, and then revert to the Assistant Typing tool fluidly without any jitters, is just magical. And the grammar correction feature within the Assistant Typing tool, it truly adds a valuable component to the tool with massive benefits. 29:34 The 5X Zoom on the Telephoto camera is much more ideal for zooming into objects. The 5X Zoom creates a much better experience for your phone camera. 😎💯💪🏾👍🏾
Great review as always! Would love to see an in depth comparison of all 3 in terms of Hinge Quality, performance, battery life, camera, and multi-tasking. Am a power-user and I’ve been wanting to buy a foldable for some time now because of the multi-tasking features but I’m super skeptical of the previously mentioned categories because it just feels wiser to use something like the s24 Ultra without having to compromise on build quality (hinges), camera reliability, software bs, battery life or performance… Would be great to multitask more but that means nothing if am paying more $ for a compromise in any one of those areas.
I'm not a fan of not being able to change the orientation on some apps like TH-cam, TH-cam and keep notes. It is true that TH-cam opens up in landscape. However, I can't rotate the device to change the orientation. Same with the keep notes app. I used to be able to do this on the original fold. I hope they fix this in a software update or maybe it will be changed when Android 15 is released.
My best use for Gemini Live is while driving. It's pretty in depth for sports updates and stats for recent games and players.
Google needs to refine the look of the Google fold. The large bezels and curvy corners make it less appealing in my opinion. I think the ZF6 is a way better looking device..
I have had it for 2 days and I love it. Perfect size
Great review, this is my first pixel device so that was helpful to see a couple of hints on how to use the device more effectively. My one complaint so far on this device has been the speaker volume, it is noticeably lower than any other phone I have had. I do miss the one UI experience a bit, just seemed more intuitive and had some extra customizations but the larger outer display makes up for that.
The camera bump is big but with the official case, it basically disappears. I love that case a lot. Similar texture as the pixel tablet. Perfect.
Very good, thorough and honest review. Thanks Shane!
cant wait for your review i bought a duo 2 because of your videos
I really want to love the Fold, but man, I canceled my order, and decided to wait and see some reviews and I am glad I did. I sold my Thinborne case as well, and decided to keep my OnePlus Open for now. Better looking from the front, better multitasking overall, although I gotta say I dont use 3 apps at the same to often, but I do and like the option. I may change my mind, more due to the pixel UI and some of the little touches you mentioned but for now, think I will stay put. If I didn’t have my Open, I would absolutely go for it.
You definitely aren't going to go wrong with the OnePlus open
I've been really impressed with the the battery life on the pixel 9 pro fold coming from the z fold 3. Yesterday i got around 5 hours SOT with 50% remaining with (for me) a pretty average day of usage. The z fold 3 couldnt crack 7 hours SOT when it was new let alone the potential of 9-10 i'm getting now!
The front bezels sorta remind me of the older LG dual screen case phones. That said it wouldn't stop me from purchasing it. I'm currently passing on it because I really liked the original Pixel Folds size. As always... GREAT WORK Shane!
The Pixel looks brighter
Note at 5:27 how much darker the black bars look on the Pixel. What you're seeing and what is making this so hard to capture on camera is the Z Fold screen being more reflective on camera.
I take your word that the Fold is brighter, but would suggest comparing colored areas instead of black ones. Comparing black areas on an OLED panel is probably not a good indicator of brightness since individual pixels handle their own backlighting and on true black OLED pixels backlighting should be off.
@@scaryifliteralBut if the Fold is more reflective, so pixel is even better on showing colors and contrast
I think you're misunderstanding my point. You have two screens that are showing black, both are OLED and should be truly black, yet on camera the Z Fold's black looks like gray because it's reflecting more light on camera. Extend that same hazy reflectiveness to the rest of the screen and it might appear to be dimmer than the less reflective screen, even though it isn't.
There is a bug with the auto brightness mode. If you turn off auto brightness outdoor and manually turn the brightness all the way up, it is much brighter.
Had it for about 8 days and decided to return it. I like the feel and form factor of my OnePlus better. I also like the inner and outer screen on my OnePlus better, especially the inner screen has far less crease.
Nice video. I still take samsung for the best features. Its a phone/tab/computer when connected to a screen. Does Google have something like DEX?
So do you think this if the foldable to get? Or wait on the Oneplus Open 2?
I just ordered one from VZ, going to store today to pickup. I hope I made the right choice, the last pixel fold to me was a dog, not bright enough, crooked screen, usual pixel issues (slooow charging, overnight updates, heating)
This was a super insightful review. Thank you
Was not expecting the John Cena diss at the end. Lmfao! I just got my Pixel 9 Pro Fold a couple hours ago. Upgrading from the original Pixel Fold and I'm still setting it up, but so far, the only minor nitpick I have is the form factor. I liked the shorter passport style of the original Pixel Fold. The 9 Pro Fold isn't bad by any means, but I thought the shorter form factor of the original made it a bit easier to use, especially one handed. It also made the cover display feel a bit wider and less cramped. Especially compared to how skinny the cover display is on the Galaxy Fold. Anyways, great video!
For me the best thing is the Pixel Fold is very fast in every application I use. super snappy, no weird behavior so far. Much faster than my Sony 1V and even faster than my OPPO in standard situations. The cameras are better than expected. Battery can carry you through the day even with large screen.
Great Review 👍
I can't wait until mine gets shipped😢
Great review! I noticed the OnePlus Open had a pinkish white point when compared to the other two devices with the benchmarking scores. Is that how it looks in real life or just the camera picking that up?
Camera makes it worse
Another good review shane. The overlying theme seems to be consistent. The pixel is on par with other foldables. Your review seems to press the point of personal choice and usability. Too many people focus on the top end with little or no regard with usability... How you actually use the device. I've used zfolds with 4 or 5 open apps and felt useless. The pixel fold fits what i do. It does it well. I'm not asking myself how much happier I'd be with 4 tinier windows open at the same time. When i watch your videos, I'm thinking I'm watching a normal real world review by someone doing sensible tests of what normal people do. You're not throwing your phone 16ft in the air and regarding about the breakage. Your not running 4 screens with it world saving data and watching the phone melt. You review the phone doing what i think most people do. You compare real life action and results. Regardless of what specs say. Thanks for that.
This is a real good phone. It does a lot of things we'll. A few things great, and very few things not so great. I'm not returning mine.
Great video as always man! Super detailed and easily the go to video for anyone even remotely considering a foldable or the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Agree with many points here, especially the flagship level statement around 27:31. The outer display being a flagship level 'normal phone' in use and then having that massive inner display is excellent for when it's needed is just an overall great combo. I think it's definitely the best foldable (in the US) that you can get right now and daily, but totally agree with you as well, it's not weird/exciting enough to stand out as much as the passport design of last years. I hope we see some more exciting form factors coming in 2025. Excited to see as well how the pixel fold series continues to evolve from here (especially if they change the name again haha). Take care!
Thanks Drew!
You must have amnesia, because the best foldable in the US, is the OnePlus open.
@@Maxx134a unfortunately most in the US still don’t even know who oneplus is 😆 so for most this will be the better option , but to each their own for sure . All subjective.
@@drewlippsif you let people see both and put in their hands the one plus just looks and feels better to hold. The ability for multi tasking in the open is better then the 9 pro fold. I have both and going to return the pixel.
I sent my pixel 9 pro fold back. It just couldn't compare to my OnePlus Open. The charging speed, the multitasking, the weight of the phone, the thinner bezels, even the camera is better on the OPO. I gave it a shot but it felt like a downgrade to me. I do miss the pixel features though.
Very good review (and channel)
Thanks!
Great review! You really need to review the Honor Magic V3 next! Cheers 🍻
I'm concerned about the long term performance of the fold. I love the 7 years of updates, but how will it perform in years 4 plus? OnePlus has always put the top processor in (at the time of release) and way more top spec memory in than needed. My 4+ year OnePlus still runs smooth and has about the same amount of memory as other flagship phones currently on the market.
Currently watching this on a Samsung Fold 4. Really considering upgrading....
First phone was an iphone 4 then Had samsungs and lgs then s10 to 13 pro max to this phone and I love this phone worlds more than any Ive ever had
A friend has recently bought the 9 Pro Fold and he is struggling to get through a day with moderate use. He also games on his phone and has to turn the settings down to get a decent and stable frame rate. I think Google need to drop the old Exynos chips next gen.
Im really swonging between this and the fold 6. I like the fold 6's looks more but i like the ability to root the device/ flash custom kernel. I could live without it but im not sure which i prefer.
Another great review Shane. If you are spending the amount of money this phone costs, I think boring, reliable, predictable is a good thing. I don't like bad surprises.
I bought the honor magic v3 because no AI Features In Germany right now and the device is better in nearly every department. Btw greetings from overseas to you. Love your Videos 😊
Honor has amazing bundle deals for every country EXCEPT USA.
If these China don't want to sell to USA, it's no big deal as OnePlus Open 2 will come and beat all competition completely.
Loving mine so far!
👌🏻
that hinge on the left is disgusting lol
beautiful phone shane!!
if apple ever makes one, it would probably look like this one
At 13:54, we see the horrid "At a Glance" widget taking over thw whole top of the screen, and the Google search bar widget stuck on bottom, leaving no space for actual icons, which are forced into folders that have to be opened first.
So to say that this phone performs well is a smoke screen for the headaches of its limited UI, which also only does 2 apps multitasking and no stylus support on such a big screen.
If you really hate both of those things, then using another launcher immediately solves that. No stylus support is however a shame, but we could still see updates in the future that add more multitasking capabilities. It's not a great concern of mine though.
@Mark-ns3jo I was living in bliss with original Pixel Fold until I switched over to OnePlus Open and it still shocks me just how light as a feather this unit is. Lighter than zFold6 still, and bigger. I could hold up one handed resting on my pinky. The effective Outer screen area looks almost same width as 9Pro as they have smaller outer screen. In this video it looks at 9:45 it looks better.
The real benefit was charging speed and battery life . New 9Pro Fold should have better battery life than original, but poor charging. That would be the main worry.
Go Titans! Also ordered my Pixel 9 fold.
Titan Up!
Bro I love the pixel 9 pro fold . I got it cuz it looks amazing.. wish there was a good lock version for it though.. especially to customize the inner display from the outter
I'm enjoying mine, mainly as I do love pixel experience and camera. I've found a really nice and cheap case via AliExpress and battery life is better than my previous Motorola phone and comfortably lasted me as 13 hour day travelling a distance work office and back.
I'm sure we'll get a few improvements via updates too.
But plenty of competition so can be a hard choice for many.
Oh, and seems my 9 year old daughter is a huge fan of the Gemini chat. I think it's her new bff 😂
100% agreed, love the phone as a pixel lover I am glad that we finally have a competitive foldable but it just feels like its missing something, feels a little bland.
Getting this phone today, and cant' wait! I traded in a Pixel 8 Pro and getting 700 for it, plus an additional 520 in Store Credit. I just wish Google would let me transfer that to the phone balance. Guess ill just get a Pixel Watch and possibly the buds.
I haven’t noticed my P9PF feeling warm at all. I don’t game… but with the Fold 1, I definitely felt it get warm quite often.
Great summary of the P9PF! ⭐
Great Review , Tremendous effort Thanks for the attention to the detail in the review. I am going to wait till next year ,so that product gets more mature and with the advent of next Gen Chips by Google. John Cena refrence was hillarious .
Amazing really enjoyable review. Great job.
Been waiting for this, i can change phone every 90 days and was thinking of swapping from the Z Fold 6 for the Pro Fold. I think im going to stick with the Z Fold 6 now, maybe the pro fold 3 next year will be worth it.
Also, give me a slightly thicker fold design with proper cameras and a bit more battery, the race for thinness is not for me
I hate where the speakers are especially when open because whatever way it's held part of my hand covers it most annoying when playing codm
Yeah, and it’s heavy. It’s still a couple generations away. I returned mine 😢
The one to beat? Eh.
Design-wise it's pretty much identical to the OnePlus Open. The weirdly large hinge space and bezels on the front do detract from it, and the camera bump is up to personal preference but imo it's ugly compared to the OPO.
Hardware wise it falls behind in the camera, crease, charging speed, and front screen (and apparently bend durability if you watch the JerryRigEverything video)
Software wise it does normal slab phone things better but both Samsung and OnePlus have it beat as foldables.
I Always felt 8 inches was going to be the perfect size for a foldable on the interior. So hopefully they don’t ever get any bigger or smaller ever again.
my hinge after one week has some humps as You run a finger down, at specific angle it looks like I can see that hinge mechanism sticking through display a bit 🤔
I was in the tmobile store earlier and I notice this phone...it's bigger but slimmer than samsung fold 5... unfortunately they don't have available phone in the store.. but I'll be getting this phone soon..
So i curious we've seen camera comparisons between the other foldables, and there's others comparing it to the iPhone 15 pros, but hows it go against something like the s22/23 ultras photos. I did ultimately end up going with a 9 pro fold over the z fold 6 mostly for being able to take macros and gigachad zoom photos, because it also seemed like a good upgrade over my z fold 4. But I also had a Stent with an s22 ultra so just curious.
The pixel was definitely brighter. It was very clear in the video.
Seems like a great device. I think its the Fold to beat. For me the OG Pixel Fold had the better design/Form Factor.
Upgrading to the 9Pro Fold is a software upgrade but not really a hardware upgrade.
lol the dog hat screenshots are awesome though
I just switch to the new pixel fold and I switched back to iphone. I'm using it now because the folding experience is amazing but it's missing the iPhone experience to make it perfect. I'll ship it back on Monday. If you're a life long iPhone user and you're invested in the apple ecosystem, don't waste your time. Just wait for apple to do a folding device. Also with the whole RCA texting, I might be doing something wrong but if you're in a group chat with from your iPhone and someone in that chat sends a text you won't receive it and if you send a text to that group chat from the pixel, it will start a new group chat for everyone else
I'm still on a Surface Duo 2, would you say this is the next next thing?
I agree will everything you said ! Great Video
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold porcelain looks awesome!.
I like the way it looks.
So are you finally leaning to this over the original Pixel fold? I too MUCH prefer the form factor. However, just check online on a 2 yr contract the previous version saves me just $7 a month. So making my decision to go for the previous Gen Pixel Fold almost impossible to justify!
Form factor, no. Virtually everything else, yes.
If you want to play shooting games where you have to run around…it’s gonna lag for sure. But regular games like sniper games or candy crush style games its fine.
Buy this one or wait for one plus open 2? I'm sad my OPO1 has dead pixels
Bought a refurbished Fold 1 instead. The new Fold was way too expensive for a phone reviewed at 8 at best on many websites so I'll trade my fold for gen 3 for sure
Beautiful aussie. My Australian shepherd is 12yrs old and in good shape. Smartest dog i ever had. Is it full aussie?
Thinking about upgrading to pixel 9 pro fold from my pixel 6. Im only worried about durability and if it will last a couple years. Hows your fold holding up as of now?
She's full Aussie and too smart for her own good lol. Hope yours stays healthy a long time more!
Just posted this video on the subject of your question.
th-cam.com/video/9P5QROmnMOU/w-d-xo.html
Hey Shane, which screen protector did you use/are you using...?
Caseology
Def agree about the speakers, fold 6 is also louder. That said i havent even look at my fold 6 since sept 4 when i got the.pixel lol.
What is your best choice the fold 6 or the Google pixel fold in the market just a tough decision
I'm loving mine, but the Blue Tooth is a bit lacking compared to my S24. Range and ease of use.
That's interesting. I routinely walk around the house with my Pixel Buds in and my phone left on my desk with no issues.
Great review
Great music choice...Matchbox Twenty loaded on your TH-cam Music app!