Google Pixel Fold long-term review: A bold first step, but not the right one

It still amazes me that Google has managed to get into the foldable game so early, but the original Pixel Fold was always better than it should have been, and far from perfect. With its sequel just over the horizon, the Fold’s distance from greatness seems to have only grown, but the foundation Google has built has opened the door for a sequel that can actually close the gap.

The original Pixel Fold was a breath of fresh air in markets like the US that were starving for flip-style foldables. Samsung’s tried-and-true Galaxy Z Fold form factor needed some real competition, and Google’s Pixel Fold arrived as something different and exciting. Google’s design was an exciting change of pace and a bold step into the foldable space.

This was largely due to Google’s display choices. The Pixel Fold was the first mainstream foldable to focus on a horizontal aspect ratio—Oppo had tried this before, but only on devices released in China.

It’s a decision that has its advantages, but ultimately I think it was a bad move on Google’s part.

The inherent benefit of a foldable with a wide horizontal display is that it’s great for multitasking, tablet apps, and media. But that quickly runs into the law of diminishing returns. Multitasking on a wide display is great, but there’s really no inherent benefit to screen width. And when you go full-screen, things don’t work well. Android apps are getting better in tablet layouts, especially Google apps, but more often than not, the Pixel Fold’s internal display ends up showing an app with huge black borders along the sides simply because that app is useless on such a wide aspect ratio. It’s pretty frustrating, especially when it’s an issue mostly unique to Google’s foldable. That doesn’t happen with the OnePlus Open or Samsung’s foldables. Even after nearly a year, it’s still a major issue and a major dampener on the experience.

Another issue I raised with the Pixel Fold’s width in my original review was the typing experience. On the internal display, the screen was so wide that typing became cumbersome. That hasn’t changed much.

The benefit of Google’s aspect ratio choice, though, is that external display. The 5.8-inch panel is still incredibly delightful to use. It’s wide and short, sure, but it’s such a pleasure to use in a world of big, flat phones. Our Abner Li has mostly used a Pixel Fold, a similarly small phone, rarely opening it, and this external display makes it a really interesting use case.

That said, the Pixel Fold’s other big hardware issue is its weight. While I’m not one to complain about a heavy phone most of the time, the Fold’s 283g weight makes it feel like a brick. A thin brick, considering it’s the same thickness as Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6, but a brick nonetheless. I still really love the hardware and design here, but as the rest of the foldable market gets thinner and lighter, the Pixel Fold hasn’t aged well.

Of course, we also have to address the elephant in the room. The crease.

The Pixel Fold’s display crease was fairly subtle at launch, but it’s only gotten worse with use. The crease here is more of a crater-like shape. I still prefer it to the old days when Samsung’s crease was tight and distinct, but again, while the rest of the foldable market has improved, this aspect of the Pixel has aged poorly. Likewise, I can’t get past the ultra-reflective finish on the internal display. It just makes a bad situation worse. The hinge hasn’t aged well either, with the already non-flat hinge only drifting further away from 180 degrees over time. But that’s an inherent problem with all foldables, really, with even the best hinges succumbing to losing a couple of degrees over time.

The last hardware problem is the biggest.

Tensor.

Google’s timing for the Pixel Fold’s launch has unfortunately been pushed or pushed back, depending on how you look at it. As a result, the device has lost out on the notable improvements made in the Tensor G3, leaving the Fold with the worst heat issues of any Pixel device. That’s not necessarily As soon as because of the Tensor G2, but rather because the Fold is what it is. Foldables inherently get hotter than regular smartphones because the parts of the device you’re holding are literally closer to the heat-producing elements. The Tensor G2 was totally bearable in the Pixel 7 series simply because those flat phones were thicker.

The heat issues on the Pixel Fold are simply unbearable in my mind. The device gets excessively warm during normal use, and uncomfortably hot if you push it further. More irritating to me were the times when the heat was completely inexplicable. Just in the days I was revisiting the Fold, I ran into so many times where looking at text and static images in an app would randomly cause the device to get extremely hot.

Tensor is also the cause of my main issue with the Pixel Fold in this review, which is battery life. It was simply atrocious. This is likely due in part to the fact that I’ve been running the latest Android 15 Beta on this device, but battery life has never been Great on the Pixel Fold. It was acceptable at launch (even pretty good when mainly using the cover display), but now I feel like it’s draining just looking at it.

These are the bad things, and there are many, but what about the good ones?

For me, the main reason I still find the Pixel Fold so interesting is, of course, the software.

The Pixel experience is simply stellar, and I firmly believe it works wonderfully on a book-style foldable. While Samsung’s One UI is chock-full of features, the Pixel experience is simple and smart. Sure, you can only use two apps at a time, but it’s easy to do so and fluid. I think Google’s choice of form factor with the wider canvas makes the choice of two apps make more sense, as three would feel a bit cumbersome. Even when using something like the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the vast majority of my multitasking time is spent using just two apps, rather than the virtually infinite number that Samsung technically allows. There’s absolutely an argument to be made for more multitasking functionality on a foldable, and it’s one I agree with. After all, I’m a Galaxy Z Fold owner myself. But when you look at the rest of the experience, the joy and sophistication of Google’s interpretation of Android is clean, simple, and just plain beautiful.

Just to give you an example of the “delight” in the Google experience, I still absolutely love the little vibration the Pixel Fold makes every time you open or close the display. It’s such a nice, unexpected touch.

There are also the cameras, which are still among the best on a foldable today. They take sharp, consistent, and easy-on-the-eye images that I love. And especially in a world where Samsung hasn’t quite nailed that second point (even on non-foldable phones), that’s a big plus.

And really, I think the aspect ratio deserves credit here, too. Google tried something new, and while I ultimately think the apps and Android itself aren’t ready for it, it was a good idea. There’s something unique about the large internal screen and the external “passport” screen. Whether they’re good or bad, I think it’s really up to you, at least looking past the software issues that come with them. If Google could manage the same level of impressive hardware quality on the original Fold as it did on the sequel, I think a lot of the complaints would simply evaporate.

Almost a year after its birth, the Pixel Fold is a device that Truly you want to love it, but it’s pretty clear that this was just a stepping stone to something better. Google took a big, bold risk with this device, and I think it was a good one. But at the end of the day, I don’t think many will look back on this first generation with much affection. Just like they did with the original Galaxy Fold. It’s good, it’s better than many expected, but it needed a little more time in the oven.

The sequel is much better because it learned from the mistakes of the original.

Google apparently plans to continue selling the original Pixel Fold, too, but we’re still waiting to hear what price it might land at. If it’s anywhere near $1,799, though, you might just want to go with the new one.

Learn more about Pixel:

Follow Ben: Tweet/X, DiscussionsAND User profile