I went into the Pixel 10 Pro Fold ready to fall under its spell. On paper, it should be the most put-together Pixel foldable to date, launching on Google’s newest software, with a big inside display and a maturing hardware design. In real-world use, I can’t actually find enough reasons to recommend it over last year’s model or Google’s non-folding flagship. The updates are a bit more thoughtful than they are bold, and the price is still very much up in pinnacle territory.
It’s not that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a terrible phone. It’s not that everything is the same old phone in a shiny new badge. Familiar doesn’t really cut it at this price.
Software That Dazzles But Often Disappoints
In the world of its foldable tries, Google software’s play is quite nice. And the 90:10 multitasking presentation finally feels like it was designed with a book-style device in mind, allowing you to pin one app while floating another without the fiddly windowing that some rivals are still wrestling with. The generous inner display allows tools like Help Me Edit room to breathe, and the Instant View camera roll makes culling and sharing shots swifter than on a slab.
But none of that adds up to the 10 Pro Fold feeling like a must-have. A lot of the experience is what you’d get on recent Pixels: NotebookLM integration for summarizing documents, a neatened My Pixel app that offers tips and general support and more of the same clean Material design. Certain features you’d think would feel like must-haves — Pixel Journal and Magic Cue — end up feeling more like nice-to-try novelties than daily drivers. The best quality-of-life features that make Pixels great — Now Playing, call screening and regular Pixel Drops — don’t demand a new $1,799 foldable to experience.
If you already own the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, or step into a Pixel 10 Pro, you’re already getting almost all of the major software benefits without paying that premium tax.
Hardware Changes You Can Just Barely See
Stand the Pixel 10 Pro Fold next to its predecessor and you’ll play a maddening game of spot the difference. The good news: last year’s ergonomics are already excellent. The friendlier width of the cover display still tops tall-and-skinny alternatives for typing, and the aluminum frame gives a mature rather than experimental feel.
The really new stuff is largely imperceptible. The IP68 rating is a new bar for book-style foldables, with actual dust protection and compelling water resistance that’s significantly better than the IP48 class you usually see elsewhere. Magnetic accessory mounts are another quality-of-life win; the phone gets along with Qi2-style chargers, ring stands and magnetic wallets. These are nits that matter — just not $1,799 worth of matter.
Performance is reliably smooth, with Tensor G5, 16GB of RAM and fast UFS 4.0 storage aiding its performance. Apps launch swiftly and the phone seldom stumbles. Oh, and speed parity with Google’s slab flagship doesn’t set the two apart. It just isn’t a reason to avoid buying.
Cameras That Pause the Case for Upgrading
It’s in this area that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold most obviously spins its wheels. The camera hardware — 48MP main, 10.8MP 5x telephoto, 10.5MP ultrawide — is the same as last gen’s. In a vacuum, it’s fine. In context, the stagnation hurts. Google’s slab flagships are going even harder with long-range zoom upgrades and clean computational tricks, but this foldable is banking on a setup that seems more Pixel 6 Pro-era than Google’s current imaging aspirations.
You will still have access to the classic Pixel color science and solid processing, but the small telephoto sensor means reach and detail are lacking in ways that become apparent very quickly at any sort of zoom above mid-range. If this is the company’s halo foldable, matching last year just isn’t going to be good enough.
The Price Issue In A Mature Foldable Market
Foldables are no longer prototypes. Analysts at Counterpoint Research estimate that they represent a low single-digit share of smartphone shipments, and IDC has said buyers are holding on to phones longer, which puts pressure on high-end devices to motivate upgrades with obvious, generational leaps. At $1,799, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold needs to have a really clear reason for being. It doesn’t.
Value math favors other options. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold gets you almost the same hardware and most of the same software for less money, while the Pixel 10 Pro provides superior cameras and speed in a more practical body for many people. If you’re after the “Pixel way” and adore tablet-sized screens, the 10 Pro Fold will do that for you. If you need reasons to justify spending this much, it falls short.
What Would Change My Mind About This Foldable
There are three adjustments that would take this thing from “nice” to “no-brainer.”
- A real camera upgrade — bigger sensors and a more ambitious telephoto — that justifies the price tier.
- A hardware refresh: lighter, brighter inner panel and even tighter hinge mechanics.
- Software that takes advantage of the form factor beyond fundamentals: richer desktop-style modes, smarter automation that consistently kicks in when it should in context, broader optimization from third-party apps for 90:10 layout.
Until then, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a much-improved sequel to a phone I already liked, not the next chapter I can’t put down. I want to love it. I just can’t get enough of them.