Foldables have always been about compromise. You trade weight and thickness for versatility, durability for novelty, and often, price for bragging rights. With the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, Google clearly wants to prove it can play in the same league as Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 — the undisputed king of the category. And in many ways, it succeeds. This is Google’s most polished foldable yet, with superb build quality, excellent battery life, and the kind of clean, thoughtful software experience only Google can deliver.
But here’s the rub: for a device wearing the “Pro” badge — and carrying a hefty A$2,699 price tag in Australia — it’s still missing some of the very features that would justify the name. Stack it against Samsung’s Z Fold 7, which starts at around A$2,209, and the cracks begin to show.
Design and Build: Google Finally Gets It Right
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is gorgeous. After years of trial and error, Google has finally nailed the fundamentals. The new gearless hinge feels smoother and more durable, the bezels are slimmer, and for the first time in a foldable, you get full IP68 water and dust resistance. That’s a big deal — it’s the first foldable that doesn’t feel like it needs to be babied around the elements.
In the hand, it feels dense but reassuring — like a well-engineered product rather than a prototype. The aluminium frame and Gorilla Glass panels lend it a premium solidity, and the outer display is now wide enough to use comfortably. Unfold it, and you’re greeted with an expansive 8-inch OLED panel that’s bright, vivid, and perfect for multitasking, streaming, or light productivity.
That said, it’s still chunkier than Samsung’s Z Fold 7. Samsung’s latest feels impossibly thin and light — almost indistinguishable from a standard phone when closed. The Pixel, at 258g and 10.8mm thick when folded (5.2mm open), feels more substantial. Not uncomfortable, just more noticeable in hand or pocket. Samsung still leads when it comes to effortless, refined engineering.
Displays: Dual Delight
Both displays on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold are excellent. The 6.4-inch outer screen is bright and perfectly usable outdoors, while the inner panel impresses with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness and a buttery-smooth 120Hz refresh rate. HDR content pops, games feel fluid, and while the crease is less distracting than before, it’s still not as seamless as Samsung’s.
Where Google shines is in software handling. Apps transition smoothly between the two screens, and multitasking feels intuitive. You can split two apps, resize windows, and drag them around naturally — it finally feels less like a tech demo and more like a finished product.
Still, Samsung maintains the upper hand. The Z Fold 7’s inner display feels just that bit smoother, with a shallower crease and more flexible multitasking — up to four apps at once. One UI remains the foldable benchmark, while Google’s software is about 80% of the way there.
Battery Life: Google’s Secret Win
Battery life is where the Pixel 10 Pro Fold quietly dominates. Its 5,015mAh cell, paired with the more efficient Tensor G5 chip, delivers genuinely all-day endurance. In real use, it easily lasted from morning to night, averaging 5 to 6.5 hours of screen-on time. Even under heavy loads — multitasking, streaming, or shooting video — it consistently outlasted Samsung’s Fold 7.
The new PixelSnap magnetic charging system is another win. It’s Qi2-compatible and works with MagSafe accessories, making wireless charging faster and easier. The Z Fold 7’s slimmer build sacrifices some battery capacity, and it shows. For anyone who lives on their phone — whether that’s working, travelling, or creating content — the Pixel’s stamina is a real highlight.
Cameras: Where “Pro” Starts to Falter
This is where the “Pro” label starts to feel like marketing spin. Google’s camera pedigree is legendary, but the Fold’s triple-lens setup doesn’t quite carry that legacy forward.
On paper, it’s solid — a 48MP main sensor, 10.5MP ultrawide, and 10.8MP telephoto — but in practice, it’s inconsistent. Daylight shots look great, with Google’s signature balance of colour and contrast, but in low light, the results trail behind both the Pixel 10 Pro and Samsung’s Fold 7. Samsung’s 200MP sensor simply captures more detail and handles dynamic range better, while its zoom capabilities run circles around Google’s.
The Pixel’s telephoto often looks soft, and video feels limited by hardware. It’s fine — just not “Pro.” The omission of Google’s own AI ProRes Zoom feature doesn’t help either. For a device at this price, it feels like a missed opportunity. You can’t help but wish Google had pushed the hardware as hard as its software.
Software: Google’s True Advantage
If the hardware is uneven, the software is pure brilliance. Android 16 feels tailor-made for the Fold. Dual-screen continuity now works flawlessly — start an email on the outer display, unfold, and continue without interruption. Split-screen multitasking is smoother and smarter, with adjustable windows and app-pair saving. It’s cleaner and more intuitive than Samsung’s feature-rich, sometimes-cluttered One UI 8.
Then there are the AI tools — the ones that remind you why Pixel fans stay loyal. Add Me, Magic Eraser, Video Boost, Call Screen — they all just work. Magic Cue is a particularly fun addition, offering AI-generated prompts while you’re texting or on calls. When it works, it feels a bit like the future.
Google Assistant has also grown up. It’s now conversational, context-aware, and far better at handling follow-up questions. Combine that with Live Translation, Gmail Summarise, and Call Screen, and you get a foldable that feels like a personal assistant more than a piece of hardware.
And then there’s the long-term win: seven years of Android and security updates. That’s a huge deal. Samsung matches it now, sure, but updates straight from Google always hit faster and cleaner. It’s a promise of longevity that gives the Pixel Fold a real edge.
Missing “Pro” Features
For a device marketed to professionals, there are glaring omissions. There’s no stylus support — something Samsung has offered for years — and no desktop mode like DeX, which effectively turns the Z Fold 7 into a mini workstation.
Even multitasking feels limited. You’re capped at two apps in split-screen compared to Samsung’s four, and with the Tensor G5 still lagging behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite in raw performance, it’s hard to call this a true power device.
At A$2,699, it’s competing with foldables that simply do more. The Z Fold 7 costs less and delivers broader functionality, making Google’s pricing harder to swallow.
Verdict: On the Right Track, But Not Quite There
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is easily Google’s best foldable yet — durable, beautifully built, and supported by the smartest software in the business. The displays are gorgeous, battery life is excellent, and day-to-day usability feels refined and reliable.
But “Pro”? Not yet. The cameras underdeliver, the performance trails its rivals, and the lack of stylus or desktop support makes it feel incomplete. At A$2,699, it’s a premium foldable that doesn’t quite justify its “Pro” title — especially when Samsung’s Z Fold 7 offers more power and flexibility for less.
Still, this is a huge step forward. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold proves Google can build a serious, mature foldable that finally feels ready for prime time. Now it just needs to go that extra mile — to innovate, not just iterate — before it can truly challenge Samsung for the crown.
For now, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 remains the foldable to beat in Australia. But if you prioritise battery life, durability, and clean software over bleeding-edge hardware, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold might be the smarter everyday choice.
Google Australia kindly loaned the Pixel 10 Pro Fold to PowerUp for the purpose of this review
