The embargo has lifted for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and while I have it and have been using it as my primary device, it’s been less than a week, which I didn’t think was enough time to review.
I am enjoying my time with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but I still have to take many pictures to grade its camera quality, though I like the selfies I’ve been taking with the device so far.
However, even in my short time with the device, I can already tell you it’s imperfect. I’ve noticed odd auto-brightness issues when I’m in a dark room, as well as a bit of light bleed and possibly a screen burn-in. This is also only noticeable when watching content on my device and all the lights are turned off. But it’s also hard to replicate, so it seems to only appear under specific circumstances, and honestly, it hasn’t affected my experience with the device. Still, it was something I wanted to note. I’ve contacted Google Canada for more information, but it doesn’t seem to be a known issue.
What has affected my time with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is its battery life, which doesn’t seem to make it to the end of the day, dying in the evening. This is primarily one of the reasons why I wanted to give the handset more time before the full review. By default, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and other Pixel devices have a feature called Adaptive Battery, which should improve battery life over time. So, having the device for less than a week hasn’t allowed Adaptive Battery to learn my habits and optimize the power cell and experience.
Despite a weak battery life and what could be a screen burn-in issue, I like this phone. I’ve written an entire article on it, and the task was done quickly and easily with the wider screen. I was on a seven-hour flight, and while I had my iPhone 15 Pro Max and an iPad Mini, I spent the majority of the flight on my 9 Pro Fold watching seasons of content because it’s lighter to hold than my Mini and offers a bigger screen than my 15 Pro Max. I’ve been playing games on the device, such as Dead Cells, Marvel Snap, and Limbo, and each of these titles runs smoothly. And I’ve been reading a lot with the handset because of that larger screen.
I handed my buddy (another phone reviewer) the 9 Pro Fold to hold as he used the foldable Honor Magic V3. Though that device is thinner and lighter, he also quickly added how much better he thinks the 9 Pro Fold looks and that the Pixel UI is unbeatable. The handset is noticeably heavier than a regular smartphone, so keep that in mind if you’re switching to a foldable.
And even though I’m not a big fan of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s bezels, I like the handset’s full-size 6.3-inch Cover Display is much wider and better to use compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold costs $2,399, and that’s a lot of money, so before spending it, I’d check out other reviews and maybe even wait a month or two while more focused and long-form articles come out about the handset. I don’t feel comfortable giving the 9 Pro Fold a score yet, but while my enjoyment will be a pretty high score out of 10, battery life might lower the overall score of the foldable. Despite this, the 9 Pro Fold is a significant upgrade from the Pixel Fold, and I’ll find it hard to switch phones after this.
Keep an eye out on MobileSyrup for the full review coming in a few weeks while I put this phone through its paces.
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