What Google’s Pixel 9 Professional Fold Must Maintain Up With Samsung

Google acquired rather a lot proper with the Pixel Fold, particularly its spacious cowl display and high-quality rear digital camera system. However Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 simply went on sale, and its sleeker design and a lighter construct makes me need extra from Google’s subsequent foldable, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold. 

The search big will introduce the Pixel 9 Professional Fold at an occasion on Aug. 13, throughout which we’re anticipating to be taught extra about Google’s smartphone plans. Above all else, I would like Google to do what no foldable telephone maker has achieved but: Invent compelling new software program options particularly for foldable telephones. 

I could sound like a damaged report. However as the discharge of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 reveals, telephone makers nonetheless have not progressed a lot when it comes to software program that takes benefit of a number of screens. Whereas the power to prop open the machine to take a photograph or view apps in break up display mode is useful, I need to see extra inventive methods to utilize the 2 screens you get with a foldable telephone.

The Pixel 9 Professional Fold is anticipated to reach simply because the foldable telephone market continues to develop, though it nonetheless represents a small portion of the general telephone market. In a report supplied to CNET, the Worldwide Knowledge Company said that foldable shipments grew 33% year-over-year within the first quarter of 2024.

A brand new processor and a few design tweaks are probably in retailer for Google’s subsequent foldable, the latter of which Google has already confirmed by pictures posted on its web site. However here is what the Pixel 9 Professional Fold must preserve tempo with Samsung and tackle my largest criticisms in regards to the unique Pixel Fold.

Learn extra: Galaxy Z Fold 6 vs. Z Fold 5: Testing Samsung’s New Ultrawide Digital camera Sensor

Extra progressive software program options

If you are going to pay prime greenback for a foldable telephone, you need an expertise that feels notably totally different from that of an everyday, bar-type telephone. For some, the good thing about having each a tablet-sized inside display and a phone-sized display could verify that field. However now that foldable telephones have been broadly accessible for round 5 years, I hoped to see extra from corporations like Google in the case of the software program.

We’re nonetheless treating book-style foldables as in the event that they’re simply bigger smartphones when there’s a possibility for them to be a brand new sort of machine solely. I lately wrote that Samsung ought to undertake a characteristic much like Apple’s Standby mode for the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s cowl display, and I feel Google ought to do the identical. 

The truth is, it is in a fair higher place to take action. Not solely is the Pixel Fold’s entrance display wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s, however Google can draw from its expertise with the Pixel Pill to create a sensible display-style interface for the quilt display. 

There’s additionally room for Gemini to evolve on a tool just like the Pixel 9 Professional Fold. Provided that Google is emphasizing Gemini’s multimodal capabilities — i.e. its capability to course of varied inputs reminiscent of speech, pictures, textual content and extra —  I am curious to see whether or not that may be utilized in fascinating methods by Google’s foldable. 

Not like a conventional telephone, a tool just like the Pixel Fold does not want a separate kickstand or tripod to be propped up. That makes it simpler to function the digital camera and display concurrently with out having to carry the machine. I’m wondering what it may imply for Gemini sooner or later as Google leans extra deeply into its multimodal nature. 

Regardless, it will be good to see a particular model of Gemini tailor-made to the Pixel Fold’s twin screens. Google is already fascinated by this; the Gemini overlay that seems while you summon the digital assistant will quickly have the ability to run in multiwindow mode on the Z Fold 6. It appears believable that Google would bake the identical performance into its personal foldable. 

We’ll probably hear rather a lot about Gemini throughout Google’s Aug. 13 occasion, as implied by Google’s Gemini-heavy placeholder product web page for the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional Fold. 

A thinner and lighter design

Now that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has arrived, it is time for Google to step its recreation up when it comes to design. At 283 grams, the Pixel Fold is notably heavier than the 239-gram Galaxy Z Fold 6, and it is also a bit thicker than the Z Fold 6 when opened (5.8 millimeters versus 5.6mm). Honor and Xiaomi are even additional forward on this regard; the Honor Magic V3 is 226 grams, whereas the Xiaomi Combine Fold 4 is simply 4.59mm when unfolded. 

Measurement and weight will not be crucial parts of a telephone, however making the Pixel 9 Professional Fold extra compact would go a good distance in making it really feel much less burdensome and extra pure. The Galaxy Z Fold 6’s lighter design was the very first thing I seen about it upon selecting it up, and I am hoping that Google’s subsequent foldable machine will depart an identical impression. The Pixel Fold simply feels clunky compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Design issues extra for foldables than it does for normal telephones. The thinner and lighter these gadgets get, the much less they really feel like two telephones sandwiched collectively. Plus, their unconventional appears to be like already entice consideration, making their aesthetics all of the extra vital. Primarily based on Google’s pictures, it appears to be like just like the Pixel 9 Professional Fold will certainly get a makeover in comparison with its predecessor. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether or not the telephone might be slimmer or lighter. 

An improved inside display

The Pixel Fold’s inside display may use an improve, notably if Google desires to maintain up with Samsung. As I wrote in my overview, the bezels framing the Pixel Fold’s show are noticeably thick, which may make that tablet-sized display really feel much less immersive. The crease can be noticeable on the Pixel Fold, particularly alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open.

I am skeptical that the crease will ever truly disappear from foldable telephones normally, not simply these made by Google. However the extra discreet it’s, the extra it begins to really feel just like the phone-tablet hybrid it is meant to be. 

The pictures on Google’s web site trace that the corporate has made some adjustments to the bezel framing the display, however we’ll know extra as soon as Google pronounces the telephone. 

Extra years of software program updates

The Pixel Fold will get new variations of Android till 2026, roughly three years following its launch. It’s going to additionally obtain safety updates for 5 years from its launch. 

Nonetheless, Google raised the bar final 12 months when it assured seven years of Android updates for the Pixel 8 technology, so I am hoping it continues that pattern with its subsequent foldable telephone. A tool as costly because the $1,800 Pixel Fold ought to obtain updates for longer than three years. (Its versatile show and physique ought to final simply as lengthy, too.) 

A lower cost

There is not any sugarcoating it; foldable telephones are costly. That is very true for book-style foldable gadgets such because the Pixel Fold. Maybe it is unrealistic to suppose that Google may make all of the enhancements listed above whereas additionally decreasing the Pixel 9 Professional Fold’s worth. Nonetheless, the Pixel Fold’s $1,800 worth continues to be noticeably greater than the common promoting worth for a smartphone in North America within the first quarter of 2023, which was $790 in accordance with Canalys. 

Samsung, in the meantime, simply raised the worth of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 by $100 in comparison with the Z Fold 5. If Google can proceed to undercut Samsung on worth whereas introducing enhancements, the Pixel 9 Professional Fold may find yourself being the extra attractive possibility. 

We’ll know extra about Google’s subsequent foldable telephone on August 13. However I’ve acquired my fingers crossed for a sleeker design, thrilling software program options and a lower cost.