Discover how the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold harnesses its flexibility and adaptability to be a portable gaming device filled with potential.
When I first got my hands on the Google Pixel 9 line-up with the 9 Pro XL I referred to it as the company’s most confident smartphone so far. While that opinion hasn’t changed, it’s also true of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Much like the rest of 9 Pro line-up, the 9 Pro Fold is a device that learns from and improves upon its predecessor in so many ways, despite the fact that it never actually landed on our shores. It’s also a beast of a device for media consumption, multitasking and gaming potential. But what makes it so special?
It all starts with the underlying design. On the front of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a full-screen 160 mm Actua display that’s rocking a 1080 x 2424 OLED panel. It can handle HDR and is capable of up to 120 Hz, meaning it’s about as powerful as you’d expect from your average flagship. But that’s only the beginning of the story because once you open up the phone it transforms into a mammoth 204 mm Super Actua Flex LTPO display with a 2076 x 2152 OLED panel.
Transitioning from the slab phone into the full panel is (and back again) is an incredibly seamless process thanks to a sturdy hinge that allows the unit to sit fully flat when opened (fixing a major bugbear from the original model). No matter which open you choose though it’s impressively thin and lightweight considering the tech being housed within. But truly, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a thing of beauty when on full display, looking and operating like a tablet.
As you might expect then, gaming on the larger screen is an absolute hoot. Booting up the likes of Command and Conquer Rivals, for instance, it’s immediately apparent how useful the extra screen real estate can be. Managing units and gaining a sense of the battlefield is naturally easier and more efficient when everything isn’t squished onto a smaller screen. Likewise, being able to better survey the battlefield in Call of Duty Mobile is a huge help, especially if you choose not to hook up a controller (I flipped between a Backbone One, GameSir X2 Bluetooth and DualSense and all functioned flawlessly) – allowing the touch controls not to clutter up the actual action.
Boot up racers like Asphalt Legends Unite and Disney Speedstorm on the other hand and you can make use of the 9 Pro Fold’s tabletop mode – triggered by unfurling the phone but not all the way – which showed the action on the top screen and map information and controls on the bottom. It’s incredibly smart functionality and gives off some strong Nintendo DS vibes.
Rounding out the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s gaming offers I dabbled with both Xbox Cloud Gaming and PlayStation Remote Play and both ran without a hitch, easily allowing me to log into my account and my respective console (Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered looked especially pretty). But outside of some strange slowdown with the likes of Marvel Snap, it’s a similar story for most gaming tests I attempted. Everything trucked along without a hassle, helped along by the Tensor G4 chip, even if though it may not be as powerful as some others on the market.
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But while I loved the sheer gaming versatility the Pixel 9 Pro Fold offers, its biggest hurdle, at least for now, is compatibility. While you might expect developers to jump at the chance to showcase their titles on a much larger display, that simply does not seem to be the case. Boot up Diablo Immortal for example, and even though the game takes up the entirety of the 9 Pro Fold’s screen, in reality it’s simply been blown up to fill the space. As a result, the game looked far less defined and slightly fuzzier. Close things back up and you’ll instantly note the crisp visuals you’d expect meaning you may need to decide if the extra screen real estate is a worth a resolution trade-off.
Alternatively, some titles like Braid Anniversary on Netflix can adjust and increase its resolution, but keep black bars on the top and bottom of the content, (as does both Xbox Cloud Gaming and PlayStation Remote Play), but even that feels like a rare find at the moment.
But while developers might not be making full use of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s wonderful display, there’s still plenty of other flexibility at play here. Emulation for example is an absolute dream on this device. The variety of software available on the Google Play Store makes getting set up a dream and actually utilising the wider display, both in a single large form factor or two-screen setup is an absolute game changer. I focused mainly on trialling DraStic and was impressed with how simple it was to get up and running and how well the dual-screen implementation functioned, both with touch controls and a connected controller.
If you’re not playing games you’ll likely be watching media so the good news is that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold performs equally admirably. Being able to throw on Netflix or a rental in tablet mode is great, and while the inherent screen ratio means that you may not get dramatically larger content than using the full screen of the 9 Pro XL, what it does allow for is flexibility. Due to the multitasking nature of the 9 Pro Fold if you want to have YouTube take up the left side of the phone while you browse the web on the right, you can. Alternatively, take the largest option and you can have it floating around while you close off a few last-minute emails. Multitasking is where this device comes into its own and if you haven’t used a foldable phone before, it’ll make your smartphone experience feel brand new and exciting again.
Outside of gaming and entertainment, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold easily nails the fundamentals. The existing Pixel software is polished and refined to a point that it could easily lure away hardcore iPhone users and the battery comfortably saw me through to the end of each day despite some hardcore usage.
The one slight downgrade is the camera system, which although strong for the foldable market, does pale in comparison to the bigger Pixel 9 Pro XL. I was still able to capture some stunning shots in good lighting conditions with the triple rear camera system( including a 48 MP wide, 10.5 MP Ultrawide and 10.8 MP telephoto lens), but the front-facing camera did struggle a little compared to its bigger brother (with a 10 MP offering vs 42 MP on the Pro XL). It’s understandable given the tech and hinge mechanics Google is trying to squeeze into the 9 Pro Fold, but is still disappointing given the steep $2,699 asking price.
That price is going to play a big factor when considering the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. While I absolutely adored my time with the unit and can easily see it becoming my new daily driver thanks to its sheer multitasking magnificence and gaming flexibility, whether or not you fit that bill will be a case-by-case basis. But for anybody looking to jump into the foldable market right now, there might not be a better option right now than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is available now from $2,699 from the Google Store here.
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