Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold review: The smartphone that grew up, but forgot to have fun
Google’s newest foldable feels solid, reliable and built to last. The problem? It’s also heavier, safer — and a bit less daring than before
When Google unveiled the Pixel 9 Pro Fold last year, it was instantly clear as to what the company was trying to achieve with it. After a first attempt at a foldable phone that felt distinctly work-in-progress, Google hit it out of the park last year with a phone that felt like it wasn’t just a proof of technological abilities—much like the Nokia communicators from two decades ago, it felt like a phone that suited boardrooms and expensive suits. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold, launched by Google earlier this month, does more of the same—yet, it doesn’t quite feel the same.
There are two main reasons for it, and they are both linked to what one may make of the innovation journey that companies are taking. In July this year, Samsung launched a new take on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. While its tall aspect ratio and narrow in-hand fit isn’t ideal for conventional ergonomics, Samsung’s new take on the foldable felt refreshing, ideal and suitable: all thanks to how slim the phone is. Yet, Samsung made little to no compromises with the Galaxy Z Fold 7: it still got a flagship-grade processor and camera.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, meanwhile, makes it clear that Google has a different idea for the foldable form factor. Instead of making it slim, Google is likely viewing the foldable phone as a differentiated offering: one that would be used by those who don’t mind the heft, and in fact even embrace it. This, in turn, creates a few problems.
Incrementally new
On first glance, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold looks and feels almost identical to its previous version. A closer inspection tells you that the new one has a slightly larger outer display—literally 1% bigger than its predecessor. Does it make a difference? Truth be told, you’re unlikely to even notice it.
Other features include a new hinge design that feels undeniably more reassuring, an official IP68 durability rating against dust and splashes for the first time on any foldable phone, a bigger battery, a new generation processor, and faster charging (both wired and wireless). All of this makes one thing clear: Google thinks the design is on point for its vision of a foldable phone (at least for now), and now it wants to iron out the creases.
Does it work? In some ways, yes. The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold still feels like a well-built device, and for the most part, is undoubtedly premium. The hinge design in particular feels smooth, with the closing of the foldable display working very well. It also feels sturdier than before—after a year’s usage, the hinge on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold does make a faint ‘click’ sound when it is opened or closed. The new one, with its gearless hinge design, feels less prone to potential damages.
The durability rating, while difficult to ascertain in quality, is reassuring to have. Almost all phones today come with the IP68 durability rating, and while the end-user may not get to see this feature in action, it makes a phone all that more durable and resistant to an accidental drop into water, or when taking photos through a beach trip. The one aspect that is clear about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is that it is very well engineered—in a way, it was expected that Google would be the first to crack the foldable durability conundrum.
In other areas, the battery is incrementally better in the real world too, but still isn’t the very best. But, at least it can be charged faster than before—and than its main competitor, the benchmark-setting Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. As for its performance, the Tensor G5 processor does not match Apple’s A19 Pro or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite’s smoothness of performance, which is evident even in everyday apps.
Yet, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold may feel slightly sluggish by comparison, you don’t experience stutters and lags in your daily use of social media applications, browsing through photos, multitasking with music streaming and navigation, emails and typing (which is key on the larger display), and other such chores—which is good enough for the most part.
The burden of innovation
Yet, if you’re spending close to ₹1.7 lakh on a phone, chances are that you’ll try to find the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 at your nearby electronics stores, and get a feel of them in-hand, before making a purchase. When you do that, there’s no denying that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold feels very heavy in hand.
Due to its slim chassis, Samsung’s new foldables also feel premium, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold may find it difficult to convince buyers that its incremental heft may actually be a good thing in the long run.
There is literally no change to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s camera over the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which doesn’t feel the best because there was clearly room for improvement. While it does well enough in standard daylight settings, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold doesn’t have the best low-light camera—something that was once Google’s strength. Samsung, on the other hand, has a better overall camera.
And, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has a more superior ‘astrophotography’ mode, the latter is not something you’d use everyday. Google’s prime competitor also offers a faster phone, and for the most part, also runs on Google’s Gemini AI platform to make the two phones comparable feature-wise.
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