Google Pixel Fold review | Good Housekeeping UK

Google took a bold step into folding phones in 2023 when it announced the Google Pixel Fold. Alongside the Google Pixel Tablet, it’s a phone that outlines Google’s ambitions to get Android apps working on larger screens.

I’ve long been a user of Pixel phones and have also tested many foldable smartphones. Folding phones come with several advantages, allowing a larger display to be contained within a more compact form factor. But what compromises are made along the way?

Google Pixel Fold: At a glance

The Pixel Fold adopts a bookstyle design, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. On the outside, the cover display is about the same size as a regular phone, but when you open it, you’re greeted with a huge 7.6inch display.

That’s the appeal of this type of device: you get a lot of screen in a compact format. It’s almost like a tablet you can fold and put in your pocket, but before I get to the experience, I want to talk about the design.

The Pixel Fold is Google’s most expensive device and also its heaviest. At 283g, it’s nearly 100g heavier than the Pixel 8 and, by way of comparison, it’s nearly 45g heavier than Samsung’s equivalent.

It comes in two colours – black and white – with rounded edges to the two halves of the phone. The oddity is that it doesn’t open flat and I find there’s a temptation to try to open it further than it should go. It just looks a little odd and means that the two halves of the phone are always at a very slight angle.

That slight angle emphasises the crease in the display. A crease is to be expected on a folding phone and the good news is that when you start browsing content, you really don’t notice it.

What you might notice, however, is the width of the thick edges around the display. Compared to Samsung’s latest phone, these are much wider and it feels a little like wasted space.

But the positive thing about the Pixel Fold is the external display. Google opted for a screen that’s wider than most folding phones and while it’s only 5.8 inches, it’s really usable. Samsung’s folding phone, by comparison, has a narrow cover screen that’s slightly odd to use – Google’s is much more conventional.

When it comes to performance, there’s an important detail to note. The Pixel Fold launched in 2023 with the same hardware as Google’s phones from 2022. So, this Tensor G2 hardware is a couple of generations old and is less powerful than the most recent devices. It still opens apps quickly and I found it fine for daytoday use, but that older hardware needs to be considered.

The software support also isn’t as good as I’d expect from Google too. The Pixel Fold will only be supported until June 2026 for Android updates and 2028 for security updates. This falls short of the sevenyear offering that Google has on more recent devices.

Folding phones are often positioned for “productivity” and the advantage they have is that the larger screen makes it easier to read documents, while viewing things like spreadsheets is much easier than on a normal phone. I found it great for viewing documents from my child’s school, for example.

They are also great for watching movies. You don’t quite get the big screen experience you do on a tablet and with a main screen that’s almost square you’ll have black bars top and bottom, like an old TV. But then you can fold it in half, put it in your pocket and jump off the train – so it’s really convenient.

It’s worth considering that for the price of the Pixel Fold, you could buy a Pixel 8 Pro and a Pixel Tablet and if it were my money, that’s probably what I’d do. The folding phone doesn’t quite match the bigger tablet experience; it’s a portable middle ground instead.

The Pixel Fold has a big advantage when it comes to cameras because it offers a 5x optical zoom lens, a rare thing on a folding phone. This is backed by Google’s great image processing, resulting in a camera that’s a great performer, whether that’s in low light or at full zoom.

The design of the phone also means you have choices, as you can use the rear cameras to take selfies, for example. While the performance is great, you don’t get all the options that you do on the Pixel 8 devices and that again comes down to the older hardware.

You can see for yourself, though, as I’ve included a gallery of sample images all shot on the Google Pixel Fold below:

Google Pixel Fold camera sample photos

Open Gallery

The Google Pixel Fold is an interesting device, but it is now showing its age. It’s expensive, it’s heavy and it doesn’t fold flat, while the bezels are wide and the hardware is now a little old.

While the experience is good, giving you convenient access to a larger display, the Pixel Fold can’t compete with Samsung’s latest devices, unless you really want that Pixel camera with its 5x optical zoom or a wider external display.

While the novelty of the folding screen is undeniable – and having access to a larger canvas for work and play (no matter where you are) has appeal – this isn’t the best folding phone available in 2024.

However, if you can find it at a lower price, Google’s first foldable phone may end up being the great value and versatile 2in1 smartphone you’re after, particularly if you’re focused on its photography capabilities.

Chris Hall is a freelance journalist who specialises in consumer technology, pursuing a passion that started over 20 years ago. In 2008 he took on a fulltime Reviews Editor position at technology website Pocketlint.com, before stepping up to EditorinChief in 2012. Chris led coverage over a 15year tenure, exposing him to every gadget, system and technology you’d ever want to know about.   

Chris left the EditorinChief position at Pocketlint.com in 2023 having published over 4,000 articles on consumer technology. His experience covers everything from smartphones and headphones to cars and computers. Chris doesn’t just test for reviews, he lives with a lot of technology, building a smart home and looking for a simpler solution to a connected home. This is much to his family’s irritation, because everything is always changing, especially the remote controls.  

As a freelance writer, Chris has contributed to The Telegraph, T3.com, TechRadar and Autocar while launching his own technology website The Disconnekt – writing news about the latest technology, guides to help people make the best choices when shopping for technology, as well as reviewing extensively.   

Chris has appeared on BBC News and Sky News, BBC Radio and The Times Radio talking technology, and even once played a part on The Apprentice. Chris has also been an expert judge at the GSMA Global Mobile Awards and the Uswitch Awards.  

When not writing about technology or rearranging the technology in his home, Chris can be found on his bike, trying to get lost in the Surrey hills.