Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs Pixel Fold: Night and Day

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Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs Pixel Fold: Night and Day

Intro


Google has lifted the curtain before its latest Pixel family – the Pixel 10 series. Along with all other non-foldable models, the third generation of the Pixel Fold, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold made its debut.

The name might be a little misleading, as Google rebranded the Fold last year and shuffled the Pro lineup to make room for the XL, but the really interesting comparison is the one with the original Pixel Fold.

In this article we will try to see how far the foldable Pixel has come in the past couple of years. There are some exciting differences in all areas, including the main and cover displays, the processor inside, and the camera system. How good is the new Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and should you consider it if you're a fan of foldables? Let's find out!

Pixel 10 Pro Fold: pre-order at Amazon

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold brings an improved foldable experience, featuring the latest Tensor G5 chip, Android 16 out of the box, and two gorgeous screens. You can pre-order the phone at Amazon without discounts. Shipping is set to begin on October 9.
Pre-order at Amazon

Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs Google Pixel Fold differences:


Table of Contents:

Design and Size

Similar to last year

When Google entered the foldable game, the company decided to go against the grain and offer a different design. The original Pixel Fold was wider and shorter than most of the foldables at the time, with a 5.8-inch cover screen and a squarish 7.6-inch inner display.

The phone was comfortable to work with both folded and unfolded, but the weight of nearly 300 grams made handling for extended periods tiring.

The second generation changed things around and opted for a more Galaxy Fold-like aspect ratio and size, and the same design is present on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

The dimensions are very similar to the previous generation, which, compared to the original Pixel Fold, would mean a narrower and taller device once again. When it comes to weight, the new phone comes in at around 258 grams—substantially lighter than the first generation.


The building blocks of a modern smartphone haven't changed in the past couple of years, and the same goes for the Pixel Fold and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Both phones use aluminum and glass for their construction.

The original Pixel Fold uses Corning Gorilla Glass Victus over the cover screen, and the Pixel 10 Pro Fold upgrades this protection to Gorilla Glass Victus 2. When it comes to IP ratings, the Pixel Fold launched with IPX8 protection, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold features a proper IP68 dust and water resistance.


Color-wise, the Pixel Fold is available in just two hues – Porcelain and Obsidian, Google's take on the black and white colors. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold, on the other hand, scrapes these usual hues of black and white and goes for the new colorways this year - Jade and Moonstone. These are available on other Pixel 10 devices as well with Moonstone being a graphite-like gray, and Jade representing a pastel green.


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Display Differences


The original Pixel Fold launched with a very interesting aspect ratio that mandated different screen sizes (compared to the Galaxy Fold, for example). The phone featured a 7.6-inch main screen and a 5.8-inch cover screen.

Google changed the approach with the next generation, and this change has been carried over to the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold as well. The main screen is an 8-inch OLED with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. In comparison, the main screen of the Pixel Fold is rated at 1,450 nits only.

We need to measure Google's claims in our lab, and for comparison, the Pixel Fold managed 973 nits at 100% APL—a pretty decent result at the time. Interestingly, the pixel density is in favor of the original Pixel Fold, which sports a 1840 x 2208 pixel resolution, resulting in around 378 PPI, while the new model boasts a 2076 x 2152 pixel resolution and 374 PPI. Not a big difference, but it's there nonetheless.

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Regarding the cover screen, things are again different. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold comes with a 6.4-inch cover screen, brighter at the same 3,000 nits of peak brightness as the main display. 
The cover screen of the original Pixel Fold was able to go up to 1,550 nits only. Both phones feature a 120 Hz display refresh rate across their main and cover screens.

Stay tuned for display tests.

Performance and Software

Steady evolution

The Pixel Fold was launched in a separate window from the other Pixel phones, which is one of the main reasons the phone has a Tensor G2 processor on board. It's already three generations older than the brand-new silicon inside the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

The aforementioned Pixel 10 Pro Fold has the latest Tensor G5 chipset, built using 3nm technology. This chipset is promising because Google has moved from its partnership with Samsung and doesn't use Exynos as a base architecture for its Tensor chips anymore.

The new Tensor G5 is manufactured by TSMC and features a different architecture. Google says it will be 60% faster than the Tensor G4 when it comes to AI tasks and 34% better in all-around CPU performance.


We will run those two against each other when the Pixel 10 Pro Fold lands in our lab, but for early comparison purposes, the G2 managed 1483 and 3568 in Geekbench's single- and multicore tests, respectively, while the Tensor G4 inside the last-gen model scored 1962 and 4405 in the same tests. 34% on top of that means scores around 2400 and 6000 points in single- and multi-core tests, respectively. 

In terms of RAM, the Pixel Fold has 12GB LPDDR5 on board, while the Pixel 10 Pro Fold mimics the RAM of the previous generation, featuring 16GB of the same LPDDR5 RAM on board. The storage on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold caps at 1TB, while the original Pixel Fold has only two storage options—256GB and 512GB.

Camera

Some improvements?

The original Pixel Fold launched with a pretty potent camera system. It included three cameras on the back and two selfie cameras. The main camera uses a 48MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture, coupled with a 10.8MP ultrawide camera, and the trio is completed by a 10.8MP telephoto with 5x optical zoom.

Google tweaked this system on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold but not by much, and we have the same hardware on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.


The Pixel 10 Pro Fold features a similar camera system to its predecessor, including a 48MP primary camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide, and a 10.8MP telephoto with a 5X zoom. 

This system looks similar on paper not only to the last generation but also to the one found on the original Pixel Fold, but Google's software optimizations may result in higher image quality, as post-processing algorithms and AI are all the rage nowadays in smartphone photography. 

There are a slew of new AI features baked into the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, such as the brand-new Camera Coach. This system will analyze the shot for you and suggest the best settings. Google has also tweaked the Best Shot feature and upgraded the Add Me option, all supported by Gemini.

We will include comparison samples once we lay our hands on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

Battery Life and Charging

Where's my silicon-carbon?

The original Pixel Fold launched with a pretty hefty battery (for a foldable). The two cells inside have a combined capacity of 4,821 mAh, which promises good battery life. Sadly, the Tensor G2 isn't the most efficient silicon out there, and the phone was only able to score 5h 23m, which grants it 118th place for phones tested in the past 2 years in our battery benchmark.

Now, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold got a bigger 5,015 mAh, and coupled with the 3 nm Tensor G5 chipset, it should perform better than its granddad. We have to test the phone when it arrives in our lab, so stay tuned for that.

 
In terms of charging, the big news is the support for the Qi2 standard. All new devices from the Pixel 10 family got this certification. It not only allows for faster wireless charging (15W on the vanilla and the Pixel 10 Pro and 25W on the Pixel 10 Pro XL) but also opens the possibility for a wide variety of accessories thanks to the magnet system (similar to MagSafe).

The original Pixel Fold supports 21W wired charging and is able to fill its battery from zero to full in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

Specs Comparison


Here's how the Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs Pixel Fold specs compare. Be sure to follow the link for a detailed comparison. 


Summary


Even at this early stage it's plain to see that the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the better phone compared to its granddad, the original Pixel Fold. There are little to no reasons to opt for the older mode, apart from nostalgia for the unique form factor.

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is faster, brighter and more capable at photography. It will also be supported much longer thanks to the seven years of major OS updates Google is offering on its flagships. Bear in mind, though, that you'll need to pay $1,799 for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, which is not pocket money. If you're persistent, you can find the original Pixel Fold for much less.

So, if you want to get a taste of the foldable smartphone menu and lean toward Google's offerings, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is the better choice. The same goes for all of you that want to upgrade from a Pixel Fold or other older foldable.

We will update the comparison with some hard numbers, benchmarks and samples once the Pixel 10 Pro Fold lands in our lab.

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