Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold review: The ultimate Google phone

Google delivers another phone that is slightly better than its predecessor—is that enough?

See full article...

 

[Missing Minute]

I could see how a folding phone could be nice, but I can't possibly justify the expense even if I had the money, I'd rather get another 3D printer, a better gpu, a new tv, a sound bar for that TV, a cheap tablet or two, and a steamdeck.

I'm pretty sure I could get most, if not all of that, for the price of a new foldable phone, I'll stick to my keycera echo.

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

Google's new Pixel 10 Pro Fold retains the $1,800 price tag of last year's model, and while it's improved in several key ways, spending almost two grand on any phone remains hard to justify.

It'd be a lot easier to justify if I believed that the phone would physically survive and remain technologically viable for use for anything close to the

Seven years of update support

that are promised. I spent, what, $1400 on my 13 Pro Max? I've gotten nearly four years of use from it so far, on the original battery. And while I don't feel like it owes me any money, I'm definitely hoping to get a few more years of use out of it as a secondary phone.

Now, $1800 (actually $1920 for an Apples-to-apples storage comparison) is a bit more than $1400, even factoring in inflation and the novelty and enhanced functionality of the larger second screen. Am I going to get four years out of it? Even three? How many new screens and hinges will I need in that time? How much will I pay for GoogleCare+ and service fees ($340 for two years of coverage, $0 for screens and batteries, $50-100 for a hinge, unsure if you can switch to monthly after paying for two years of coverage up front)?

It undeniably looks slick as hell, though.

 

[Lexus Lunar Lorry]

Dropping the internal gears allegedly helps make the mechanism twice as durable. Google claims the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's hinge will last for more than 10 years of folding and unfolding.

Do they say how they came to this number? It would be nice to see a YouTube video of a test rig folding a phone 100,000 times and showing what the phone looks like afterwards.

 

[plectrum]

I could see how a folding phone could be nice, but I can't possibly justify the expense even if I had the money, I'd rather get another 3D printer, a better gpu, a new tv, a sound bar for that TV, a cheap tablet or two, and a steamdeck.

I'm pretty sure I could get most, if not all of that, for the price of a new foldable phone, I'll stick to my keycera echo.

Just wait. The 9 Pro Fold launched at £1749 but can now be bought used (with warranty) for ~£600. The depreciation on these is even worse than used car prices.

 

[Fatesrider]

Google delivers another phone that is slightly better than its predecessor—is that enough?

Define "enough".

Personally, I look at it and don't think physics will allow a phone like that with normal usage to survive the 7 years it's supposed to be supported. EVEN IF the repairs are fast, you're still phoneless for a period of time because a folding phone doesn't make physics sense. It adds a huge amount of entropy in a system that doesn't NEED it t function well.

And don't get me started on the price.

So, it's a value judgement left to the buyer, as most phones are. I wouldn't own one if you gave it to me. I foresee the issues that it will have eventually. With a slab, they have issues, too, but FAR fewer than the foldable phone has, at a price point that doesn't make people like me gasp in appalled shock and go, "You paid HOW much for that?!"

If you want a status symbol, in THESE times, that's a choice. Maybe you even need a phone like this (though I'd be highly skeptical about THAT logic without compelling arguments supporting it). But even if you make that choice and need it, it's still gonna break sooner than the slab will with the same use.

Physics is a harsh mistress. Personally, I try not to tempt her ire anymore. But some life lessons need to be experienced to be learned.

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

Google claims the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's hinge will last for more than 10 years of folding and unfolding...the Pixel 10 Pro Fold [is] the first foldable with full IP68 certification for water and dust resistance.

This strikes me as fairly impressive, but the real question is, for how many of those ten years will the hinge maintain its dust and water resistence? To quote another, unrelated part of the article out of context...

We expect that gap to widen...

 

[Deleted member 221201]

In the days of Old
When phones did not Fold
And reviews less complicated
Ron would splurge
On Android's feature girth
And readers left contented

 

[Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer]

Define "enough".

Personally, I look at it and don't think physics will allow a phone like that with normal usage to survive the 7 years it's supposed to be supported. EVEN IF the repairs are fast, you're still phoneless for a period of time because a folding phone doesn't make physics sense. It adds a huge amount of entropy in a system that doesn't NEED it t function well.

And don't get me started on the price.

So, it's a value judgement left to the buyer, as most phones are. I wouldn't own one if you gave it to me. I foresee the issues that it will have eventually. With a slab, they have issues, too, but FAR fewer than the foldable phone has, at a price point that doesn't make people like me gasp in appalled shock and go, "You paid HOW much for that?!"

I'm an Apple guy these days, but I gotta say, if someone gave me this phone, I'd own the $#!+ out of it. It wouldn't be my primary phone, but I'd definitely stick my Verizon prepaid SIM in there. I'd rather it run iOS but I'd definitely get some use out of it. And I wouldn't have to worry about being phoneless while it was being repaired.

 

[sword_9mm]

I could see how a folding phone could be nice, but I can't possibly justify the expense even if I had the money, I'd rather get another 3D printer, a better gpu, a new tv, a sound bar for that TV, a cheap tablet or two, and a steamdeck.

I'm pretty sure I could get most, if not all of that, for the price of a new foldable phone, I'll stick to my keycera echo.

Guy I work with uses one.

I've seen it once or twice when he was showing a picture of whatever or whatever.

Not my bag at all but I guess he likes it.

 

[willdude]

As an Apple user who’s never used a foldable, I’m a little surprised that the book style hinge is the way they’re going. I kinda have a hard time picturing the use case for it being open wide like that, especially when you basically get a regular smartphone when it’s closed. Seems like “regular smartphone that folds like a flip phone” makes more sense.

 

[Deleted member 221201]

As an Apple user who’s never used a foldable, I’m a little surprised that the book style hinge is the way they’re going. I kinda have a hard time picturing the use case for it being open wide like that, especially when you basically get a regular smartphone when it’s closed. Seems like “regular smartphone that folds like a flip phone” makes more sense.

Introducing the all new iPhone Air Flip

 

[Sheep Disorder]

I could see how a folding phone could be nice, but I can't possibly justify the expense even if I had the money, I'd rather get another 3D printer, a better gpu, a new tv, a sound bar for that TV, a cheap tablet or two, and a steamdeck.

I'm pretty sure I could get most, if not all of that, for the price of a new foldable phone, I'll stick to my keycera echo.

So who are you going to call on the gpu?
An RTX5090 is the same price as this or more.

This is one of those things that you do not understand until you have one. My Fold has been one of my best purchases. So just ignore me when I am laughing because someone messed up their game or can't show people information because of the small screen.

 

[poochyena]

Can you remove the search bar on the bottom and the time on the top row though? Or is basic home screen customization too much to ask for on a $1,800 phone?

 

[itfa]

I'm a general dentist, and as you can imagine most people play on their phones while waiting for me, so I see phones from a few thousand people including these foldable phones that companies have been putting out over the past few years. I'll admit that I'm impressed the screens don't look worse than they do, but at the same time even relatively new ones look worse than my 2 year old phones screen. I doubt I'll ever get on board with this design because of that.

 

[Missing Minute]

So who are you going to call on the gpu?
An RTX5090 is the same price as this or more.

This is one of those things that you do not understand until you have one. My Fold has been one of my best purchases. So just ignore me when I am laughing because someone messed up their game or can't show people information because of the small screen.

Considering I'm running a 1070 I wouldn't expect to be spending more than about 1-2 hundred plus the money I get from selling the 1070 to get a decent upgrade.

 

[Ploroxide]

I'm an Apple guy these days, but I gotta say, if someone gave me this phone, I'd own the $#!+ out of it. It wouldn't be my primary phone, but I'd definitely stick my Verizon prepaid SIM in there. I'd rather it run iOS but I'd definitely get some use out of it.

The EU hasn’t gotten around to that one yet, but maybe soon.


Seriously, is it time yet to drop the annual releases?

 

[epid.nerd13]

I love the idea of a foldable. I love my Fold 6. The screen makes me smile every time. I enjoy it right up until the software wakes up.

I hate protecting it from Google and Samsung from vacuuming up my data. I hate the god awful cameras. I hate the glitchy interface of Samsung once you start to customize it beyond the Samsung approved apps. I am very worried about the new stupid Play Protect verification garbage.* I don’t like that I have to use ADB and app lists from GitHub to strip the ad riddled preinstalled apps Verizon decided to bless curse me with. Samsungs software update cycle is haphazard at best and I’m left with features I loved removed while new features I don’t want are thrown in my face. I also am frustrated I don’t actually own my device - the bootloader is locked down - so I’m stuck with whatever Samsung and/or Google decide is best for me them.

I doubt I’ll get another foldable due to either Google’s garbage** or Samsungs insistence on making the experience less than stellar. It’s sad, as I really liked it at first but the annoyances continue to build.

* Every user installed app is installed via Aurora, F Droid, Obtainium, or Git repos.
** They are even making FOSS projects like /e/ and Graphene unappealing by making source code access delayed and opaque.

 

[muchtolearnyoustillhave]

Count me as among those that doesn't 'get' a folding phone, though I can definitely see the usefulness of being able to 'open' your phone to a screen twice the normal size for productivity, reading, or sharing a document with someone next to you.

That being said, I wonder if this form factor is somewhat missing the mark, or if there's at least another viable option... when on the go, we often don't need the full functionality of our phones. Often, we glance at an update, an email, a text message, or make/receive phone calls. In those common (?) situations, we don't need full device functionality; I often respond to message notifications in iOS by pulling down on the notification and iOS provides a simple text box to type a quick reply.

In that vein: could a folding phone be made with a nice big screen on the inside, but a rather simple and smaller external display, one just large enough to glance at - and respond quickly (briefly) to - notifications with a minimal UI? This would certainly conserve battery life and the hinge itself, since (depending on your use) you are likely not going to be opening the hinge as often nor do you need to power an entire high-res external display. It would certainly appear as quite a slick device externally, with only a half-display on one side and the camera bundle on the other, the rest being mostly slab.

I'm not a designer, but this is something that occurred to me when this form factor became more prevalent. Who am I kidding, nobody would buy this

 

[theetommyt]

There are many comments on the usefulness, or lack thereof, especially at the price. I have had a folding phone for the last 2 years as my phone, tablet, and desktop. It's an amazing experience to use one device. I just plug into a dock for desktop use and I have monitor, keyboard, mouse, ethernet, external ssd all ready to go. It's not a use case that works for everyone because of some software applications missing, but I think there are a large number of people who could take advantage of it. I am not the average user so I can get even a little further running linux apps on android so I have my 3d printer software a solid development environment.
For $1200, (what I spent on my Fold 6) I have had an incredible amount of value.

 

[lonesock]

This might come off as unhinged (hyuk hyuk), but Pixelsnap is the most exciting thing about the Pixel 10 series to me (not just the pro fold). Being able to stick your phone to a stand or accessory without fiddling with a clamp seems like such a minor improvement, but it adds up very quickly. MagSafe is the best design change made to the iPhone in a long time, and I'm glad Google is making their own version.​

 

[Unimportant]

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold has a big 8-inch flexible OLED inside, clocking in at 2076×2152 pixels and 120Hz. It gets similarly bright, but the plastic layer is more reflective than the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover screen. While the foldable screen is legible, it's not as pleasant to use outside as high-brightness glass screens.

Where it refers to the "cover screen" - does that mean the outside screen when the phone is folded?
Who makes the glass on the large screen - is that Corning? What does "plastic layer" refer to?
Presumably the OLED is on some sort of foldable substrate - is that glass or plastic?
Do the glass and plastic take all the stresses or does the metal case provide strength at the hinge?
Does 7 years of support = 7 year warranty or just software support

Thanks for any answers folks can provide!

P.S., if it's Corning glass, I wonder if they're making as much money here as they do with flat panel TVs -- Corning makes more profit per TV than the end manufacturer does. Kind of like the old days of Intel's "Intel Inside" dominance when the PC makers were just sharecroppers for Microsoft and Intel.

 

[Mustachioed Copy Cat]

It was certainly a choice to provide a background with lots of weighted noise that resembles cloudy cracks in a screen.

When I saw the header image I assumed the phone had been damaged because someone had closed it on some debris, and this would be an indictment of the form factor.

 

[Lorentz of Suburbia]

Still only seeing the Android true-believers with these foldables, and a few generations in, nobody is expressing real confidence in either the mechanism or the use-case.

And yet, wonks and "influencers" still keep repeating rumors that Apple is going to dive into foldables too.

This all seems like the SDI solution to the Cold War: keep making noise about your space warfare advances while your competitors throw money at it. Best case, competitor finally nails it, and then everyone else reaps the learning without the investment and middle-years of customer dissatisfaction.

Perfected, I still don't see the need for an almost-tablet sized viewport in a pocket device, except consuming media: and you're only going to use maybe half of the screen if you render any film content on it.

Games developers, assuming there is a future where there's any serious mobile game development in this space, certainly aren't going to bend over backwards to try and make use of this 1:1 (?) ratio.

Not sure what that leaves as the raison d'être for this form factor other than brief sense of consumer cachet.

That's a lot of hmmmmmm for something requiring so much engineering and equipment to achieve.

EDIT: This low down in the comments, it's guaranteed to only be true believers still following up on their missions.

 

[close]

Will the crease on this phone look like dogshit after a bit of usage? Or did foldable screen tech evolve past that? A colleague has a Samsung Flip and it looks absolutely terrible. The crease is wrinkly and with bubbles under the plastic foil. I would love the extra screen real estate but I don't want to look at such a crease on the screen every time I use the phone even if I got it for free.

 

[willdude]

Introducing the all new iPhone Air Flip

I mean, yeah - if Apple’s first foldable is basically an Air that folds down like an old flip phone, then sign me up. (Ideally with more camera lenses…)

 

[Murry Wilson]

The only thing I care about is some incredibly battery breakthrough. Otherwise discussing phones is really boring. They've been basically fine for so long at this point.

 

[bernstein]

I know 10mm thick phones were the norm in 2010. And in 1995 the 2110 was just as heavy. But when i look at this

Folded: 154.9×76.2×10.1mm; Unfolded: 154.9×149.8×5.1mm; 258 g

and compare it with that

MatePad Mini (8.8", 2025)

198.6 x 127.3 x 5.2 mm

260 g

i'm forever thinking, how many people actually want a tablet that fits in a pants pocket?

to me the only advantage of a smartphone vs a tablet of is: it's pants pocket-able.

it used to be weight and a size that fits normal sized single handed grip, but with the 17 pro max at 233g and 78mm width that's both long gone. Obviously there's also the software, for instance iPads don't come with the phone app.

yes i'd kill for a device that magically transforms from a 150g pocketable smartphone into a 14.6" galaxy tab s11 ultra. But such a device doesn't exist. and it won't ever.

 

[sbradford26]

This might come off as unhinged (hyuk hyuk), but Pixelsnap is the most exciting thing about the Pixel 10 series to me (not just the pro fold). Being able to stick your phone to a stand or accessory without fiddling with a clamp seems like such a minor improvement, but it adds up very quickly. MagSafe is the best design change made to the iPhone in a long time, and I'm glad Google is making their own version.​

So you don't need to get a Pixel 10 to get that advantage. I got a case with the magnets in it for my Pixel 9 Pro XL and it allows me to use MagSafe mounts and QI2 chargers.

You don't get the higher charging rates that PixelSnap/QI2 gets you, but the magnetic mounting was most of what I wanted. If I need faster charging I just plug in a cable.

 

[jwbaker]

The price is out there. If my bank account was overflowing with excess funds I might consider it, but even with all the Google Fi discounts and a trade-in, it's still well over $1200. That is just a little too much for my taste, even though the concept is vaguely enticing.

 

[red_shift_limited]

There's better things I could do with $1800. Plus phones aren't meant to last for more than 3-5 years and I'm not getting on paying $300-400/year to own a phone not including service.

It's a neat device that reminds me of the halo car concept as something that stands out and drives sales of the regular Pixel line.

 

[cfenton]

I don't understand how the Tensor is so far behind the Snapdragon in performance, but still uses just as much power. The original Tensor in the Pixel 6 was disappointing, but they really should have fixed it by now. I know it doesn't matter much today, but three years from now could be a different story and it's not like they are offering a cheap product in exchange for lower performance.

 

[RamboIT]

I know 10mm thick phones were the norm in 2010. And in 1995 the 2110 was just as heavy. But when i look at this

and compare it with that

MatePad Mini (8.8", 2025)

198.6 x 127.3 x 5.2 mm

260 g

i'm forever thinking, how many people actually want a tablet that fits in a pants pocket?

to me the only advantage of a smartphone vs a tablet of is: it's pants pocket-able.

it used to be weight and a size that fits normal sized single handed grip, but with the 17 pro max at 233g and 78mm width that's both long gone. Obviously there's also the software, for instance iPads don't come with the phone app.

yes i'd kill for a device that magically transforms from a 150g pocketable smartphone into a 14.6" galaxy tab s11 ultra. But such a device doesn't exist. and it won't ever.

iPads don't come with phone apps. But, you can FaceTime calls on Wi-Fi, install Google Voice for conventional calls, etc. Wi-Fi is prevalent these days.

 

[antibolo]

Foldable screens will never look like a good idea to me, it just screams "let's add a major mechanical point of failure so it breaks down faster just for the sake of being neat looking"

The last thing we need is phones becoming more brittle and creating more e-waste.

 

[yumegaze]

wish i liked book-style foldables. even if i ignore the price, i don't want or need larger screens on phones. i have a laptop, anyway. i get that this is a godsend to users who do absolutely everything with their phones, but it's a bummer (to me!) that every company is placing their bets on books instead of clamshells.

 

[equals42]

Even if Apple comes out with a foldable, I’m not sure I’d really like the form factor. It’s like a hot tub. You might end up with something you hardly use after a while. (Source: many of my neighbors.) And with the much higher price tag, I’d want to be sure it’s something I want before I spend that much and take whatever additional compromises come from the form factor.

 

[melgross]

Count me as among those that doesn't 'get' a folding phone, though I can definitely see the usefulness of being able to 'open' your phone to a screen twice the normal size for productivity, reading, or sharing a document with someone next to you.

That being said, I wonder if this form factor is somewhat missing the mark, or if there's at least another viable option... when on the go, we often don't need the full functionality of our phones. Often, we glance at an update, an email, a text message, or make/receive phone calls. In those common (?) situations, we don't need full device functionality; I often respond to message notifications in iOS by pulling down on the notification and iOS provides a simple text box to type a quick reply.

In that vein: could a folding phone be made with a nice big screen on the inside, but a rather simple and smaller external display, one just large enough to glance at - and respond quickly (briefly) to - notifications with a minimal UI? This would certainly conserve battery life and the hinge itself, since (depending on your use) you are likely not going to be opening the hinge as often nor do you need to power an entire high-res external display. It would certainly appear as quite a slick device externally, with only a half-display on one side and the camera bundle on the other, the rest being mostly slab.

I'm not a designer, but this is something that occurred to me when this form factor became more prevalent. Who am I kidding, nobody would buy this

Folding phones began with that small screen on the outside and people didn’t like it. So the screen began to get bigger until I covered the entire surface, just as on a tombstone phone.

The problem is that many people use the outside screen most of the time. I’m not sure what the use case is for folding phones for the majority of people who do buy them.

 

[TheFerenc]

I still want a Courier. The folding form factor is what I want in a reading/note-taking realm. Maybe ReMarkable will get there eventually. For a phone, other than ebooks and multitasking, I don't see the benefit.