Google’s third foldable options loads of enhancements from its second, from a world-first IP68 score to magnetic Qi2 charging, brighter shows, and an even bigger battery. However one space it hasn’t improved is the dimensions and form — in truth, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a gram heavier and a fraction of a millimeter thicker than final yr’s 9 Professional Fold.
In equity, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was noteworthy for the way skinny and lightweight it felt by foldable requirements. However the business strikes quick, leaving its successor one of many thicker new folding telephones in the marketplace.
Over the past yr, Oppo, Honor, and — most significantly — Samsung have all traded blows in pursuit of the “world’s thinnest foldable” title, whereas Google by no means stepped into the ring. However I’ve used all of these super-thin foldables and reviewed a pair, and after every week with the Pixel 10 Professional Fold, I’m completely satisfied to say: it could be the thickest, however it’s nonetheless skinny sufficient.
Google’s new foldable measures 5.2mm thick when open, and 10.8mm when closed. Unfolded, that’s sufficient to really feel undeniably skinny — it’s slimmer than all however probably the most slender tablets — however the query is how the telephone feels when it’s shut.
One of many criticisms foldables have confronted for the reason that starting is that they really feel a bit like two telephones taped collectively. The ten Professional Fold actually isn’t that dangerous, however it’s thicker than simply about each slab telephone in the marketplace. That’s the place rivals just like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 make the distinction felt — at 8.9mm thick, that telephone is just a hair thicker than the 8.8mm iPhone 17 Pro Max and fewer than a millimeter thicker than Google and Samsung’s personal flagship telephones. It’s an edge that the Pixel 10 Professional Fold merely lacks.
Over the previous week or so, I’ve used the brand new Pixel foldable each as-is and in Google’s official Pixelsnap case — a skinny, snap-on plastic protector which provides just a bit additional depth to the machine. Both means, I can’t say its dimension has ever actually bothered me. Held aspect by aspect with a telephone just like the Honor Magic V5, presently the thinnest foldable in the marketplace, the distinction is obvious. However day after day, with the telephone in my denims pocket or in a single hand on the bus, I’ve by no means as soon as thought it felt too thick.
The one factor that offers me pause is the load. At 258g, the Pixel is sort of 50g heavier than the Z Fold 7, and that will get on my nerves just a little. It’s simply sufficient to make the telephone uncomfortable after a practice journey spent holding it in a single hand, or for my arms to drop half an inch as I hoist it above my head in mattress.
After all, the tradeoff for dimension and weight is identical on each counts: battery dimension. The 5,015mAh battery within the Pixel comfortably outclasses the Z Fold 7’s 4,400mAh and has saved me from battery anxiousness completely — I’ve had 40 p.c left going to mattress most nights, leaving sufficient wiggle room for heavy utilization days and inevitable degradation. It’s nonetheless not a patch on the battery capability of Oppo and Honor’s thinner telephones, however they’re getting the good thing about energy-dense silicon-carbon batteries that the US market has been much slower to adopt.
I’ll be the primary to confess that earlier than utilizing the telephone, I bought this incorrect. Reviewing the Honor Magic V5 two months in the past, I slammed the ten Professional Fold’s design for feeling “outdated” earlier than it had even launched, however I’ve since modified my thoughts. Telephones like Honor’s, Oppo’s, and Samsung’s actually really feel like the way forward for foldables, however the fractionally thicker Pixel feels simply superb for now. That’s partly as a result of I stand by my declare that thinner phones are going to give us diminishing returns — we’ve reached the endpoint, a minimum of till we’re all able to ditch USB-C and go portless. Google could not have gotten there simply but, however it’s not too far behind.