I wanted to love the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but Google hasn’t given me enough reasons to

I’ve never been shy about the fact that I’m a Pixel fanboy. Pixels are the only phones I’ve ever bought with my own money, and they’re the reviews I most look forward to writing each year. I want to try the latest software wrinkles, and I just have to know what the new hardware feels like in my hand. And usually, I’m willing to give Google a lot of grace, because I almost always want to find a reason to like its latest updates.

For once, though, I feel like Google has taken the idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” just a little too far. Google had a perfect window to grace its book-style foldable with the right mix of updates, leapfrogging the Galaxy Z Fold 7… but it didn’t. Instead, it’s given the Pixel 10 Pro Fold the bare minimum, and I just can’t get excited about it.

Usually, when I start a new phone review, I do so with a sense of almost-blind optimism. I try to go in thinking that it will be an improvement over the previous model and that it’ll be easy to find things I like. However, in the case of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, I’d already spent my wonder and mystery on the Pixel 10 Pro XL — I already knew what I was going to like and what was going to leave me wanting more. So, we’re already off to somewhat of a tricky start.

On the bright side, at least I knew what to look for; I knew which features I hoped would adapt best to life on the 8-inch Super Actua Flex display. I was eager to give Help Me Edit the space it needed to breathe, and I looked forward to using Google’s new 90:10 multitasking UI, which feels much more like the Open Canvas experience I loved on the OnePlus Open from a few years back. And honestly, both of those features were just as good as expected, as was the Instant View camera roll that populated on the left side of the foldable display as I snapped to my heart’s content.

Unfortunately, though, I’d already made up my mind on several of Google’s other shiny new features. I’d already figured out that I prefer a paper journal over Pixel Journal, and that it was much too hard to trigger Magic Cue in a way that I could actually rely on it for information. I knew the Camera Coach would only be useful for showing off here and there, as I’d basically forgotten about it on my Pixel 10 Pro XL.

But hey, the addition of NotebookLM is nice, and the My Pixel app consolidates all of Google’s best tips and tricks in one helpful place — surely that’s worth $1,800, right? Well, not to me, it isn’t.

Instead, I’m realizing that almost everything I actually like about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s software was already on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold — a phone I’ve had for months. I want Google’s new multitasking to reach the older generation, but I had no problems living without Pixel Journal and Magic Cue when I already had useful tools like Pixel Studio, Now Playing, and Google’s robust calling infrastructure at my disposal.

I do, however, want to clarify one thing: I still like Google’s software. Pixel UI remains my go-to, and I think Material 3 Expressive is a nice step forward. Everything else, such as timely updates and long-term support, is also good; you just don’t need to buy a brand-new foldable phone to get them. Instead, you could snag last year’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold and get most of the way there, or you could pick up a Pixel 10 Pro and treat it like you have the cover screen of this phone in your pocket.

Speaking of hardware, this is probably where Google took “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” the most literally. Seriously — if you hold up the Pixel 10 Pro Fold next to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, I challenge you to find the differences. To an extent, the similarity is fine. I never thought the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was too thick or too heavy, and I actually liked the way its rounded front display sat in its aluminum alloy frame — it beats the sharp corners of the Galaxy Z Fold series any day.

That said, it’s hard to get excited about seeing the same thing twice, no matter what it is. Rewatching a movie? Still fun, but you know where the jump-scares are and when the jokes are going to land so that you can brace yourself ahead of time. That’s what it feels like to hold the Pixel 10 Pro Fold after using Google’s previous foldable phone. It’s good, but the excitement isn’t quite the same. Or, at least, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s most exciting design changes aren’t readily visible — sorry to anyone hoping for camera upgrades.

Before I get to Google’s good tweaks, I should, unfortunately, address the one thing we’ve all been hoping for since the first Pixel Fold: new cameras. There aren’t any. Despite equipping its Pixel 10 Pro series with 100x Pro Res Zoom, which, in my opinion, brings the most significant upgrade from about 30x to 50x zoom, the ultra-expensive Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the same as its predecessor.

It packs a 48MP (and kind of small) primary sensor, a 10.8MP (and definitely small) 5x telephoto sensor, and a 10.5MP (and even smaller) ultrawide sensor, and it just expects would-be buyers to be fine spending nearly $2,000 on a phone that’s closer to the Pixel 6 Pro than it is to other members of its own series. My colleague Joe was less than impressed with the “new” trio of cameras, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

The good news, though, is that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the most durable foldable phone I’ve ever used — at least in terms of IP rating. It’s the first to ship with robust IP68 protection, which is as resistant to dust as it is to water, easily surpassing the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s IP48 certification.

Also, unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is cool with magnets. Yes, it supports Pixelsnap, Qi2, and all that good stuff — though it stops short of the Qi2.2 of the Pixel 10 Pro XL. So far, I’ve paired my Pixel 10 Pro Fold with everything from the Pixelsnap ring stand to the Pixelsnap charger with stand and the Peak Design wallet, which has accompanied me from one phone to the next for the last two years or so.

Sorry, Google, this one hurt. I wanted to love the Pixel 10 Pro Fold — I figured it would be far and away the best Pixel foldable ever made. I suppose it probably still is, but it’s not the slam-dunk value I was expecting. It’s not actually that much different from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which makes it much harder to get excited about. Maybe I’ll change my tune after a bit more time with the phone, but right now I can’t shake the feeling like I’ve been here before.

On the bright side, though, since Google hasn’t fixed what wasn’t broken, I can simply sit here and tell you to buy last year’s phone instead. Just do it — buy the Pixel 9 Pro Fold ($1799 at Amazon). Yes, you’ll miss out on the first generation of Pixelsnap accessories, but you’ll get the same camera experience, almost all of the same software experience, and nearly identical hardware. Even better, you won’t have to come as close to $1,800 to make it yours.

I, of course, could eat my words over time. Google could roll out new Pixel Drops that breathe new life into the Pixel 10 Pro Fold and its software. It could lean into the Tensor G5 chip and bring back the Daily Hub with a new coat of polish or fine-tune Magic Cue so that it, well, cues when it’s supposed to. If it does, I might change my tune on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but for now, I’m sticking with what I know and recommending you save yourself at least a few bucks.