Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era

The foldable telephone marketplace is successful the mediate of a immense transformation, but nary 1 told Google.

Last year, Samsung transformed its Galaxy Z Fold 7 pinch a dramatically thinner design. This year, it made its phones thinner and lighter again, almost eliminated the crease, and introduced a caller passport-sized shape facet that feels for illustration the future. Next month, Apple is expected to participate the marketplace pinch a foldable iPhone that, rumor has it, includes each of the supra and adds iOS too.

In the look of each that flux, Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold has hardly changed a thing.

Like the different Pixel 11 phones, this is an iterative hardware upgrade, but dissimilar the others its creation feels dated already. It’s a small thinner and lighter than past year’s phone, the main camera is simply a spot better, the screens a touch brighter. But it’s mostly the aforesaid hardware, boosted by package updates for illustration Camera Looks, multitasking Bubbles, and Creator Suite tools.

This isn’t a bad telephone astatine all. The IP68 standing makes it tougher than Samsung’s latest, and the triple camera and coagulated package are some large draws. Perhaps not changing the creation will moreover activity successful Google’s favor: The 11 Pro Fold’s facet ratio sits successful betwixt the 2 extremes of Samsung’s 2026 lineup, its stocky Z Fold 8 and skinny Z Fold 8 Ultra, and contempt a value hike still feels competitively priced pinch either.

That’s capable to mean the 11 Pro Fold still feels for illustration a smart acquisition correct now, but I’m worried it won’t do for long.

At $1,899, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is $100 much than last year’s phone. Unlike connected the different Pixel 11 models, that’s not masking a retention bump: This has the aforesaid 256GB starting retention arsenic past year’s model. You tin salary an other $120 to get 512GB storage, and a further $230 to get 1TB. Every type comes pinch 16GB of RAM.

That $100 hike gets you a fistful of hardware improvements connected past year’s phone. The chipset has been upgraded to the caller Tensor G6; some OLED displays tally a spot brighter, now peaking astatine 3,600 nits; the 48-megapixel main camera uses a larger image sensor; and the Qi2 magnetic wireless charging now runs astatine 25W, up from 15W.

That’s conscionable astir it successful position of existent capacity upgrades. There person been somewhat bigger changes to the creation though. This year’s telephone is 0.7mm thinner erstwhile closed and weighs 19g less. That doesn’t sound for illustration a full lot, but holding the 2 generations broadside by broadside you tin easy show the difference, and the 11 Pro Fold is much comfortable to usage for extended periods.

Still, it mightiness beryllium excessively little. Last year, Samsung slimmed its Z Fold 7 down dramatically, and pushed that moreover further this year, echoing likewise slim designs from Chinese rivals Oppo and Honor. Google’s foldable still feels large and bulky by comparison, for illustration hardware that’s a procreation behind.

The aforesaid is existent of the display’s crease, which is beautiful evident moreover head-on, and easy noticeable erstwhile swiping from broadside to side. Oppo and Samsung person some worked miracles to make their creases almost invisible unless the light’s conscionable right, and it feels for illustration Google has a batch of catching up to do.

The almost quadrate main show is well-suited to multitasking, helped by Bubbles, a caller Android 17 characteristic that’s disposable connected each Pixel but comes into its ain connected the foldables. Multiple apps tin beryllium opened successful floating bubbles, allowing speedy entree to a smaller model that tin beryllium minimized conscionable arsenic easily. On the 11 Pro Fold’s larger display, those bubbles tin float perpetually successful a dedicated dock successful the bottom-right area for unobtrusive access. It’s perfect for hopping into Spotify to skip a song, diving into Todoist to tick disconnected a task, aliases pulling up WhatsApp to reply to a message, each earlier getting backmost to immoderate you were moving on.

But successful the aftermath of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, this quadrate surface feels a small down the times. The manufacture seems to agree: Huawei has adopted the aforesaid design, Apple is expected to, and some Honor and Oppo are rumored to person wide foldables successful the works. I enjoyed Samsung’s passport-sized shape facet for its pocketability and earthy consciousness erstwhile reference aliases watching TV and miss it while utilizing this. By contrast, the 11 Pro Fold is gangly erstwhile closed, and boxy erstwhile open. I do find it much comfortable than the unnaturally skinny Z Fold 8 Ultra though, and anyone divided betwixt Samsung’s 2 shapes whitethorn find this a happy medium.

Still, the 11 Pro Fold has its ain advantages. Unlike those phones, it has an IP68 standing for dust- and water-resistance, pursuing the akin people connected the 10 Pro Fold. For a telephone that tin costs upwards of $2,000, that other level of protection is worthy much than specified bid of mind. Google besides boasts that the caller solid fibre composite backmost is 3 times much durable and “nearly intolerable to crack.”

Google’s foldables stay the only ones to support Qi2 magnetic wireless charging, present upgraded to faster 25W speeds. The basal magnets are portion of why the telephone is thicker than rivals, a tradeoff which will make consciousness for some.

This whitethorn person Qi2, but it doesn’t person a silicon-carbon battery, dissimilar Samsung’s caller foldables. As a result, successful slimming the phone, Google besides shrunk the battery. The 4,806mAh capacity is only a small smaller than the 10 Pro Fold’s 5,015mAh though, and artillery life itself has been fine, routinely lasting until the extremity of the time pinch a small spot to spare. This is still an all-day phone, it conscionable isn’t particularly adjacent to being a two-day one.

The biggest creation tweak is HiLight, Google’s effort to reinvent the notification ray by repurposing the camera flash into a multicolor LED. As a semipermanent notification ray stan, I was excited to spot Google resurrect it, but if this shambling corpse is the result, it should person stayed dead.

HiLight is presently only utilized for 2 things: a multicolor glow erstwhile you talk to Gemini, and a monocolor glow erstwhile 1 of your favourite contacts calls. Neither useful unless the telephone is lying level and face-down pinch the surface off, and customization is constricted to a measly excavation of 5 colors for telephone alerts. Support for connection notifications is coming later, Google says, pinch nary connection connected whether it will ever beryllium usable for notifications astatine large, service arsenic a charging indicator, aliases connection deeper customizability. If HiLight was going to beryllium this basic, why did Google moreover bother?

More worthwhile is the azygous camera upgrade. The caller 48-megapixel main camera sensor is the aforesaid arsenic connected the regular Pixel 11, and the 2 phones stock matching 5x telephoto lenses too, pinch akin (though not identical) ultrawide and selfie cameras. Broadly speaking, the 11 Pro Fold camera is astir the aforesaid arsenic the 11’s and — connected paper, astatine slightest — a measurement down from the Pro phones’.

I’ve enjoyed shooting pinch this camera, particularly connected the main and telephoto lenses (the ultrawide shows its limits more, successful some move scope and detail). The main sensor is large capable to present coagulated results moreover successful dim lighting, helped by Google’s typically tin processing. The 5x telephoto is crisp astatine a distance, though fuzzy erstwhile pushed anyplace adjacent its 30x maximum. Google hasn’t confirmed the telephoto’s minimum attraction distance, but it feels for illustration a fewer feet aliases so. Combined pinch the smallish sensor, which doesn’t present the earthy bokeh of larger periscope sensors, this isn’t a awesome lens for closeups; alternatively the inferior ultrawide camera handles macro photography here. Still, pinch Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 dropping the telephoto entirely, having immoderate 3rd lens present — and a beautiful bully one, astatine that — is now a large boon for the Pixel foldable.

Google has bolstered the camera app pinch a full suite of package upgrades, which mightiness matter much than the hardware changes. I won’t spell into them successful excessively overmuch item here, since my workfellow David Imel does a awesome occupation of precisely that successful his Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL review, but I’ll springiness you the gist.

New Camera Looks are the biggest tweak, akin to the Film Simulations popularized connected Fujifilm cameras. There are 4 default looks, which subtly alteration the style of an image, and different six pinch much melodramatic effects, and each tin beryllium further tweaked pinch nonstop power complete contrast, vibrance, sharpness, and more. These aren’t simply station hoc filters — they alteration processing astatine the infinitesimal of capture, and truthful person a tangible effect connected the accusation the camera captures.

Also caller is Magic Capture, a clever camera mode that records video and uses AI to prime retired the champion frames, giving you a video clip and photos without having to deliberation astir both. It’s a awesome action erstwhile you conscionable want to seizure kids and pets successful action, and aren’t excessively stressed astir lining up a cleanable shot. Then there’s the Creator Suite, a group of devices specifically designed for contented creators, including an onscreen teleprompter and the action to prevention videos and photos straight into task folders for easier organization.

Software improvements elsewhere are focused connected AI. Rambler is simply a dictation instrumentality tin of interpreting meandering monologues and creating concise summaries instead. The bigger summation is Proactive Assistance, an upgraded type of Magic Cue that pops up pinch prompts for tasks it tin thief with. When it works, that is; the characteristic isn’t disposable successful the UK astatine all, truthful I haven’t been capable to trial it, and my US-based colleagues reviewing the different Pixel 11 models recovered it difficult to reliably trigger.

With Samsung rejigging its foldable lineup, and Apple’s first foldable iPhone seemingly imminent, Google mightiness person picked the incorrect twelvemonth to beryllium iterative. I wrote successful my reappraisal that Samsung’s wider Z Fold 8 feels for illustration the early of foldables; by extension, this mightiness beryllium the past.

The 11 Pro Fold is acold from obsolete though. This is still, for now astatine least, this year’s only foldable pinch an IP68 standing and magnetic charging. Including a triple rear camera astatine the aforesaid value Samsung offers a double is simply a awesome trading point, and the suite of package updates — particularly Camera Looks and Bubbles — mightiness tie maine backmost to this telephone complete either caller Galaxy. Whether they’re capable to compete pinch immoderate Apple is astir to connection is different mobility entirely.

Photography by Dominic Preston / The Verge