Google needs to rethink its foldable Pixel phones

I recently wrapped up my review of the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and it’s a phone I found immensely frustrating. As a longtime Pixel user and a fan of folding phones, I’m the target audience for Google’s latest foldable. Google’s Pixel UI, exclusive software features, and reliable cameras in a folding form factor? That should be an easy win.

Last year, it largely was. The year-over-year jump Google made from the first Pixel Fold to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is still hard to believe to this very day. And compared to other foldables released in 2024, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold stood out as something special.

But the foldable landscape has changed dramatically in a very short amount of time. Folding phones are getting thinner and lighter while simultaneously seeing big camera, battery, and charging upgrades. All except for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

I largely enjoyed my time with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but as a phone I’d recommend to others or spend my own money on, I don’t think there’s a strong case for it. And to change this, Google needs to rethink its approach to foldables.

There are ultimately two core issues with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold that I think are symbolic of Google’s foundational struggles with folding phones — one that impacts the Pixel experience and one that impacts the core foldable experience.

The first of those is camera quality. The cameras on Google’s folding phones have always lagged behind their non-folding Pixel Pro siblings. This sort of made sense with the first Pixel Fold, and again with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, given how dramatic a hardware upgrade it was in every other regard.

However, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold now marks the third foldable Pixel with cameras that trail Google’s slab phones. And, more importantly, the camera sensors are largely unchanged from the ones we saw on the OG Pixel Fold.

I was willing to give Google some leeway with its first two folding phones, but after another year of no improvement with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, I’m worried this lacking camera quality is indicative of what Google thinks is appropriate for a folding Pixel. And if that’s the case, that line of thinking needs to change.

As I said in my Pixel 10 Pro Fold review, the phone’s cameras aren’t necessarily bad, but they are a notable downgrade from the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL — both in terms of image quality and features. They aren’t representative of the camera experience I expect on a $1,799 Pixel.

This is especially frustrating when you remember that other companies are leaving Google in the dust. Samsung crammed a 200MP primary camera on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 this year, while vivo included 50MP periscope telephoto and ultrawide cameras on the vivo X Fold 5 — making the 10.8MP telephoto camera and 10.5MP ultrawide camera on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold look pitiful by comparison.

One of the main advantages a Pixel foldable should have is the full Pixel experience in a folding form factor. Cameras are a huge part of that Pixel experience, and after three generations, Google still hasn’t figured out how to replicate its flagship cameras on a folding phone. I had hoped 2025 would be the year this changed, but I’m now worried this crippled camera experience is by design.

Switching to higher-quality camera sensors is (hopefully) an easy fix for Google, though I can’t say the same about the other roadblock facing Google’s foldables: Tensor chips.

This year’s Tensor G5 is a good piece of silicon. For day-to-day app use, multitasking, and casual gaming, its performance is great. It also runs cooler than any Tensor chip before it, which is a significant and important improvement.

I’m not one to stress over benchmark numbers or mobile gaming graphics/frame rates, but those things are much more relevant for a folding phone like the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. If you’re buying a foldable, you should get one that’s as performant as possible. One that can handle the most graphically intense games with ease and put up impressive benchmark numbers, so you can be confident in its horsepower for years to come. You deserve a chipset that can take full advantage of that big inner display.

While I think the Tensor G5 is an excellent chip for most people, I don’t believe it’s a good fit for a foldable. There’s a very clear performance gap between the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and that all comes down to the phones’ choice in chipsets.

When you’re spending close to $2,000 on a foldable, there shouldn’t be any question about its high-end performance — yet there is with the Tensor G5. And pending any dramatic performance boosts with future Tensor chips, it’s difficult to see folding Pixels ever overcoming this particular hurdle.

I haven’t mentioned the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s bulky design or buggy software, as I think those are easier things for the company to address. Google showed us last year that it can make significant design changes and has a good track record of squashing bugs when needed. What we haven’t seen is evidence that Google can tackle the camera and performance challenges its folding phones have faced for a few years now. That’s where the biggest changes in Google’s foldable strategy need to happen.

In concluding my Pixel 10 Pro Fold review, I say that it isn’t the best folding phone you can buy, nor is it the best Pixel you can buy. Other foldables, namely the Z Fold 7, better execute the strengths of the folding form factor. Meanwhile, the non-folding Pixel 10 Pro handsets do a better job of delivering a flagship Pixel experience.

For the Pixel 10 Pro Fold to make sense, you need to want a folding Pixel so badly that you’re OK with sacrificing the camera quality of a Pixel and the performance of a nearly $2,000 foldable. Those aren’t sacrifices you should have to make, yet Google demands them if you want to own the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

And that’s ultimately what Google needs to address with the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Pixel 12 Pro Fold, and so on. If Google keeps making folding Pixels — which I hope it does — it needs to find a way to deliver cameras and performance deserving of a $1,799 (or higher) price tag. We’ve yet to see that three generations into Google’s foldables, and we’re now at a point where that change has to happen.

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold isn’t a bad phone, but it is a misguided one. I hope Google recognizes this and uses this next year to fix as much as it can, because a foldable Pixel with a flagship-grade camera system and chipset could be unstoppable.

Google’s work is cut out for it, and all that’s left for us to do is to wait and see if the company puts in the effort to get the job done.