Pros & Cons
-
- Excellent cameras
- Fantastic screens
- High-quality, durable hardware
- Gemini AI
-
- Bigger and heavier than competing foldables
- Expensive
Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold Specs
| Battery Life (As Tested) | 13 hours, 42 minutes |
| Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) | 48MP, 10.5MP, 10.8MP; 10MP, 10MP |
| CPU | Google Tensor G5 |
| Dimensions | 6.11 by 3.00 by 0.43 inches folded, 6.11 by 5.92 by 0.20 inches open |
| Operating System | Android 16 |
| Screen Resolution | 2,152 by 2,076 pixels |
| Screen Size | 8 |
The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold ($1,799) is a welcome, if relatively minor, update. Compared with the 9 Pro Fold, the external screen is brighter, the hardware is more durable, and it has the best cameras I've used on a folding phone. It also features a wholly new Tensor G5 processor, a longer-lasting battery, faster radios, and the ability to run AI calculations on-device, including impressive new Gemini AI tools such as Live Voice Translation and Instant View. If you're looking for a Google-first folding phone, the pricey Pixel 10 Pro Fold holds considerable appeal. That said, the $1,999.99 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a slimmer and lighter design, faster performance, equivalent AI capabilities, and more powerful multitasking software, so it remains our Editors' Choice winner.
Design: Tougher Through and Through
Except for the colors, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is visually indistinguishable from its predecessor at arm's length. It's available in Jade (pale green) or Moonstone (gray). I received the Moonstone color for review, and I prefer it to the Jade. I like the matte finish of the glass and the rounded edges of the metal frame. It's only upon inspecting the new and old phones side by side that you can spot any real differences between them.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The 10 Pro Fold and 9 Pro Fold are identical in size, shape, and weight. Closed, the 10 Pro Fold measures 6.11 by 3.0 by 0.43 inches (HWD), and open, it measures 6.11 by 5.92 by 0.20 inches. It weighs 9.1 ounces.
In comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 (below right) measures 6.24 by 2.87 by 0.35 inches when folded and 6.24 by 5.64 by 0.17 inches when opened, and weighs 7.58 ounces. The Z Fold 7 is taller, but narrower, thinner, and significantly lighter.
Visually, Samsung's Galaxy phone is a bit more impressive to behold (especially in the blue color). So are competing foldables from Honor and Oppo, which are also thinner and lighter. Next to these, Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold appears bulky and utilitarian, which doesn't do it any favors. To me, the biggest issue is the weight. It's a seriously heavy phone.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Google is using a different high-strength aluminum frame that is more durable than the older model. It also pulled all the gears out of the hinge, which is made of steel and relies on fewer internal parts. Google continues to protect the hinge with a polished outer aluminum shield. The front features Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover glass, while the rear utilizes the first-generation Victus glass.
Altogether, these improvements mean the phone should be able to handle more daily perils than before. Perhaps most importantly, Google says it meets the IP68 rating for protection against dust and water, making it the first folding phone to achieve this level of protection. The Z Fold 7 has an IPX8 rating, which means it is waterproof but cannot keep out dust particles smaller than 1mm.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Functionally, the phone remains unchanged compared with the 9 Pro Fold. The combined power button and fingerprint reader are on the right edge and work flawlessly. Training the fingerprint reader took but a moment, and it unlocks the phone instantly. You can opt for face unlock using the selfie camera, and Google has made this method as secure as the fingerprint, so it works with financial apps. The volume toggle is a little small, but it has a precise feel to it.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)Holes for the stereo speakers and microphones are located on the top and bottom edges, as are the SIM card tray (located on the top) and USB-C port (located on the bottom). The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the only member of the Pixel 10 family to have a SIM card tray in the US; the other Pixels are eSIM-only. There's no 3.5mm headphone jack and no tray for memory cards.
I like the stacked look of the Pro Fold's camera module on the rear panel. At a glance, it appears to be a quad-camera array, although only three cameras are tucked under the glass. However, the prominent module means the phone doesn't sit evenly on a flat surface and wobbles when touched.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)I appreciate the small upgrades Google has made here—the improvements to durability are clutch—but I wish the company had also been able to slim things down a little. At least you're getting the quality you're paying for.
Displays: More Nits for Better Visibility
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold's outer screen is 0.1-inch bigger than the 9 Pro Fold's, while the inner screen remains the same.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The outer screen's bezels are slightly thinner, allowing Google to fit a 6.4-inch display into the same space as last year's 6.3-inch screen. The 10 Pro Fold features a resolution of 2,364 by 1,080 pixels, resulting in a density of 408 pixels per inch (ppi) and a 20:9 aspect ratio. It features a variable refresh rate ranging from 60Hz to 120Hz, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and support for HDR content at 24-bit color depth. Google has also pushed the peak brightness from 2,700 nits to 3,000 nits—an improvement of approximately 11%.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The 10 Pro Fold's inner Super Actua display is basically the same as the 9 Pro Fold's. It measures 8.0 inches across the diagonal, has a resolution of 2,152 by 2,076 pixels at 373ppi, features a variable refresh rate of 1Hz to 120Hz, and achieves a similar jump from 2,700 nits to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. Google says that additional layers of anti-impact film make it slightly more impervious to damage.
In practice, both screens are great. Google's push to improve brightness really helps with visibility outdoors, and I appreciate the slight increase in size of the outer screen. The inner display is also impressive, providing more than enough room for multitasking, and is easy to see even under sunny skies. The Galaxy Fold's screens aren't quite as bright.
Performance: Quick, as Expected
Three versions of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold are available. All include 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and either 256GB ($1,799), 512GB ($1,919), or 1TB ($2,149) of UFS 4.0 storage.
Google has made significant changes to the processor of the Pixel 10 series. Last year's phones relied on the Tensor G4, a variant of the Samsung Exynos chip. This year, Google tasked TSMC with building the Tensor G5. Taiwan Semiconductor relied on its 3nm process for the G5, which Google claims generates 34% faster speeds and 34% more efficient performance. In addition to the fresh CPU architecture, the G5 also has new DSP, GPU, ISP, and TPU components. Together, these mean the Pixel 10 can handle a broader array of AI calculations locally on the phone, rather than relying on the cloud. Local calculations are typically faster and more secure.
(Credit: GFXBench/PCMag)As always, Google notes that it designs the chip to push the Tensor processing unit and AI algorithms rather than to run benchmarking apps quickly. As it did with the other Pixel 10 phones, Google has blocked most benchmarking apps from running on the 10 Pro Fold ahead of its public on-sale date. But we can share the results we achieved with the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which has the same RAM and G5 processor.
On Geekbench 6, the Pixel 10 Pro XL scored 2,340 on the single-core test and 6,430 on the multi-core test. On the PCMark Work 3.0 test, it scored 15,722, and on the GFXBench Aztec Ruins benchmark, it pushed 75 frames per second (fps). The 10 Pro Fold actually runs GFXBench, and it scored 66fps—the same as the 9 Pro Fold got last year. We don't know how the phone will perform on the other tests yet, but we expect similar numbers to the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 runs these same tests at 3,024 and 9,468 (Geekbench), 18,015 (PCMark), and 88fps (GFXBench).
In practical terms, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold feels as fast and smooth as any other modern phone. It doesn't stutter, lag, or slow down for anything. It easily handles two side-by-side apps with a third window floating on top. It runs videos without problem, plays games without frame drops, and, crucially, handles all of Google's AI features without struggling.
Battery: A Clear Improvement
The outgoing Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a 4,650mAh battery that Google says lasts 24 hours. In our tests (streaming video over Wi-Fi with the screen brightness set to maximum), it ran for 10 hours and 15 minutes.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)The new model features a 5,015mAh battery, which Google claims will stream video for 30 hours—25% longer than the previous model. In the same rundown test, it lasted 13 hours and 42 minutes. That's excellent, and about 30 minutes longer than Samsung's Z Fold 7 lasted in the same test, but still falls short of Google's claim.
The 10 Pro Fold supports 25W wired charging and 15W Qi2 wireless charging. More importantly, the phone is compatible with Google's new Pixelsnap wireless charging accessory ecosystem. Pixelsnap works similarly to Apple's MagSafe, allowing chargers to magnetically snap to the rear of the phone. Samsung doesn't have this, though it does support the Qi2 standard for faster charging rates.
Recharging the 10 Pro Fold with a 45W charger takes 1 hour and 25 minutes, which is approximately 5 minutes faster than the Z Fold 7 and 15 minutes faster than the 9 Pro Fold.
Similar Products
Our Current Picks for The Best Folding Phones for 2026: Google, Motorola, Samsung, and More
Connectivity: Fast, Pro-Grade Radios
The 10 Pro Fold features the same radios as the rest of the Pixel 10 series (as well as the 9 Pro Fold), ensuring it is as up-to-date as possible from any phone.
It handles sub-6GHz 5G, specifically the C-band spectrum used by most US carriers, as well as mmWave 5G. It has Bluetooth 6 (the latest standard), dual-band GPS, NFC, and Wi-Fi 7 (also the latest standard). The phone supports one physical SIM card and one eSIM card, allowing you to run two cellular connections simultaneously.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)In testing on T-Mobile's UC network in New Jersey, the 10 Pro Fold reached speeds as high as 1.21Gbps down and 207Mbps up. When tested in the same location, it easily outperforms the Z Fold 7 (909Mbps down and 87.3Mbps up).
The phone delivers outstanding Wi-Fi speeds. It hit 755Mbps down and 234Mbps up when tested near my Wi-Fi 6E access point. The Z Fold 7 attained similar speeds of 734Mbps down and 217Mbps up. When I moved both phones to the far reaches of my Wi-Fi network, the 10 Pro Fold peaked at 222Mbps down and 65Mbps up, and the Z Fold 7 posted 191Mbps down and 62Mbps up.
I didn't encounter any Bluetooth blips in testing. The phone easily paired with and connected to a handful of different accessories. The GPS radio appears to provide accurate location details, and the NFC radio worked flawlessly for tap-and-go mobile payments at retail terminals.
Audio: Excellent in Most Respects
The 10 Pro Fold has stereo speakers, and Google was smart about positioning them. When holding the phone closed, one speaker is on the bottom edge and the other is on the top. This is normal. However, the bottom edge speaker is positioned on the rear half of the phone, while the top edge speaker is on the front half of the phone. This does a couple of things. First, it makes it harder to accidentally cover both when you rotate the phone sideways, and it also lets the speakers project in different planes, which fills more space with audio.
(Credit: Eric Zeman)For phone calls, the earpiece sounds great. It reaches volumes of 73.4dB, while the speakerphone tops out at 86.7 dB. Both are plenty loud. People I spoke to said I sounded like I was "in the next room," while the phone did a great job of removing background noise.
Music through the stereo speakers sounds sharp and crisp, though the bass is a little thin. Our test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," has a bumping background rhythm that gets a little lost, but here the mids and highs shine through nicely. Videos sound really good and have a surprising amount of clarity. As always, a Bluetooth speaker will sound better.
Cameras: A Folding Photo Phenom
It appears that Google did not change the camera hardware at all when you compare the 10 Pro Fold with the 9 Pro Fold. As it does each year, Google updates the image signal processor in its Tensor chip and rewrites its photography algorithms.
The phone features three rear-mounted cameras: a 48MP main camera with an f/1.7 aperture and an 82-degree field of view (FoV); a 10.5MP ultra-wide camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 121-degree FoV; and a 10.8MP telephoto camera with an f/3.1 aperture and a 23-degree FoV, offering 5x optical zoom and 20x Super Res Zoom. The two selfie cameras are also the same, with 10MP sensors at f/2.2 and an 87-degree FoV.
Before getting to Google's special, AI-assisted camera features, I'm going to tell you straight up that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold produces the best photos I've seen from a folding phone, including the Z Fold 7, and better than most other phones in general.
All you need to see is the series of photos below of the Empire State Building, one taken in the early evening and the other taken at night. These shots showcase the range of photos available with 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, and 20x zoom, both in regular lighting and in darkness. The clarity and lack of noise, particularly in the 20x Super-Resolution Zoom photos, are outstanding.
In terms of color and other aspects, such as sharpness, exposure, and more, the camera is spot on.
There are three ways to take selfies, though most people will likely default to the two selfie cameras on the outer and inner screens. They have the same specs and produce images of approximately the same quality.
The Pixel 10 Pro supports 4K video capture at 24, 30, or 60fps with any of the three rear cameras. You can get 8K30 if you use Google's Video Boost tool, which upgrades your video once it is uploaded to Google Photos, but the front shooters record 4K at only 30 or 60fps. Video results were mostly fine in my tests. I noticed a bit more grain than I wanted, and the dark spots visible in photos are also reproduced by the video camera.
The phone carries over older Pixel photo tools, such as Made You Look (an attention-capturing tool for babies) and Dual Screen Preview, but adds more to the list. First, it includes all the features from the rest of the Pixel 10 series, which include Add Me (put youself in photos), Ask Photos (use voice suggestions to edit your pix), Auto Best Take (blends multiple group photos with the best facial expressions), Camera Coach (teaches you how to frame photos), and Guided Frame (uses audio feedback to guide your framing). This last tool is meant for visually impaired users. These all work as well as they do on every other Pixel we've tested this year.
The most important addition for the Pixel Fold is called Instant View. It's a variation on Dual Screen Preview. Rather than letting you see a photo before taking it, Instant View shows you the photo you just shot before you take the next one. It requires using the main camera with the phone in the unfolded, open position. Furthermore, you must enable this feature to view it. It's best put to use when you're after a specific type of shot and want to make sure you get it before moving on to take another.
As always, the folding nature of the Pixel Fold allows you to take advantage of its unique form factor, such as using it as a makeshift tripod or utilizing it as a compact laptop, enabling you to take posed selfies without needing an assistant.
Software: Android 16 and Gemini Lead the Way
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold ships with Android 16 and all the latest software treats from Google. The phone will get seven years of OS upgrades, feature drops, and security updates, which matches the support commitment you get with Samsung's Galaxy phones.
Like the camera, the Pro Fold features the same basic software and AI tools as the other Pixel 10 phones. This year, Google debuted Magic Cue (searches your communications for real-time suggestions) and Voice Translate (live, in-call language translations). We thoroughly tested these features in our other Pixel reviews, but I'll share a few key points here. Since I was able to test the 10 Pro Fold for over a week, Magic Cue really started to become useful after the first few days. I noticed small cards pop up in the Messaging app when I needed to confirm reservations or other details that I had previously discussed.
(Credit: Google/PCMag)And Voice Translate is simply magic. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is capable of translating between two languages in real-time during a live voice call, while accurately imitating the callers' vocal intonations.
Like all folding phones, Google reserves several features for the unique folding nature of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The most important is split-screen multitasking. You can run two apps side by side, plus a third media app (such as Spotify or YouTube) in a window that floats above the other two. This is great, but the Z Fold 7 supports three concurrent apps and two floating apps.
The phone's biggest advantage over other Pixels is its drag-and-drop functionality. It is dead simple to grab a file, photo, or other content and drag it from one app into another. You can do this between browsers, Gmail, social media apps, and more.
Google was also committed to collaborating with gaming companies to deliver unique gaming experiences on the Fold. Some allow you to use the phone as a mini laptop with thumb controllers on the lower half of the screen, while others adopt the entire screen for expanded gameplay.
The biggest shortcoming of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is that it trails Samsung's Z Fold 7 in advanced multitasking capabilities. Notably, the Z Fold 7 supports DeX, a Windows-like desktop user interface that significantly enhances productivity. Samsung's phone also offers more ways to mix and match which apps appear on the larger inner screen, as well as a multitude of shortcuts that make launching apps and app pairs a breeze. On the flip side, many of Samsung's Galaxy AI features are powered by Google's Gemini. The Pixel ships with Gemini Pro, which allows you to access Gemini Live and engage in real-time conversations with Gemini when creating or planning.