Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold review: Losing the battle, but winning the war
The Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold seemed like it could’ve been dead on arrival.
It’s frenemy Samsung has already garnered all the spotlight in the foldable scene with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its wide-body form factor, while its biggest rival Apple is already set to announce its own foldable iPhone very soon. Even Google’s own marketing push for the Pixel 11 series was heavily slanted towards the base Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro, with its foldable more like an afternote than anything else.
And yet, despite all that, I actually really like the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. So much in fact, that I’ve actually kept my SIM in the Pixel 11 Pro Fold rather than switch back to the Galaxy Z Fold 8, even though we have both devices in the office.
Pixel perfect user experience
It’s no secret that when using a foldable smartphone, most of the time is spent on the cover screen, and it’s in this regard that I think Google has nailed it out of the park.
The 6.5-inch FHD+ OLED display feels right in the sweet spot in terms of size, not being too big to use while still being large enough that watching content or typing on it feels great in hand. It’s not just the size though as it also gets comfortably bright to where you can use it fine outdoors, with a peak brightness of 3,600nits. If this was the display of a regular slab phone, it would be one of the best around.
Unfolding the Pixel 11 Pro Fold meanwhile unveils its 8.0-inch OLED panel pushing a 2076 x 2152 resolution, with the same high refresh rate and brightness as the cover screen. This screen feels fairly last generation as the crease is a lot more noticeable compared to foldables from the likes of Oppo or Samsung. That being said, we do see a lot of these new devices all the time; for someone’s first foldable or upgrading from one a couple of years old, you’ll probably stop noticing it fairly quickly.
When using the device folded, it felt near-identical to using a regular smartphone, thanks to the cover screen’s nice middle of the road approach in size. When using the main display though, it definitely doesn’t hit the same as the wider form factor of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 when watching movies or binging on YouTube videos.
However, and I’ll explain more about this in a bit, I actually think the Pixel excels in productivity and multitasking.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold comes with a Google Tensor G6 system-on-chip under the hood, with 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. It’s good enough of a flagship chipset that I didn’t really notice any lags or stutters in day-to-day usage, even when I have a multitude of apps open at the same time.
What truly makes the Pixel 11 Pro Fold—and the rest of the Pixel lineup—stand out is really its UI. It comes with Android 17 out of the box, and the Pixel Launcher over it is simply one of the best. It’s a really nice mix of fun and pragmatic design choices, with a very intuitive user experience making it easy to pick up and adapt to, while still giving me that feeling of amusement and delight of discovering a new device. Switching to this from the Z Fold 8, One UI just felt a bit dated and rigid in comparison.
For all the drawbacks of the main display in terms of content consumption, I actually have a newfound appreciation for this squared off form factor, helped in large part by the Pixel UI’s features. I mentioned in our Galaxy Z Fold 8 review that while it’s great for watching content and doomscrolling, using it split screen and trying to type out a long word doc felt a little claustrophobic, due to the short and wide aspect ratio.
In contrast, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold lets you go into split screen mode just fine, while the addition of Bubbles really won me over here. These app bubbles are basically like floating chat heads that let you quickly access a bunch of other apps over your display, and then minimise it once you’re done.
This means that, if I’m out of office away from my laptop and say working on an article, I can have both my word document and email or press release open on split screen, while other apps like WhatsApp, Waze or Spotify can sit neatly minimised in my Bubbles taskbar, and easily accessed whenever I need it.
It’s not all perfect though. Some apps still don’t display properly on the main display due to the aspect ratio—something not as bad on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It’s especially bad in games, such as in TFT: Teamfight Tactics where the UI gets cut off on the left and right.
That being said, I actually ended up playing TFT in split screen mode a lot on the main display, as it lets me check guides and cheatsheets easily while playing, almost like using two monitors when gaming on a PC. And because half the main display is essentially the same size as the cover screen, the UI resizes just fine this way, letting me go top 8 in TFT no issue whatsoever.
Not all new additions to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold as good as Bubbles though. HiLight is fairly forgettable, with only five colours available at launch and only usable with Gemini or favourite contacts. Battery life meanwhile is okay enough, with the 4,806mAh giving a full day’s worth of use no issue, but I’ve found myself regularly ending the day with 20% of battery or less on particularly heavier days.
Lastly, one fantastic thing to see—something I also complimented Samsung for—is the long software support policy. Google is guaranteeing 7 years of OS, security and Pixel Drop updates, giving you plenty of time to enjoy the Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
Arguably the best cameras on a foldable
You never get a foldable smartphone for its cameras, but the Pixel 11 Pro Fold certainly has some of the best cameras that you can get in this category. They aren’t as good as the Pixel 11 Pro of course, but instead the Pixel 11 Pro Fold comes with the same main camera and telephoto as the Pixel 11.
Specifically, we’re looking at a 48MP, f/1.7 main camera using a 1/1.56″ sensor flanked by a 10.8MP, f/3.1 telephoto offering 5x optical zoom and a 10.5MP, f/2.2 ultrawide, while a pair of 10MP, f/2.2 front cameras are tucked away on each display.
Right off the bat, I can tell that this will be a reliable shooter, with the classic Pixel look of vibrant, clean and clear photos on nearly every shot. I say reliable, because for the most part they’re iterative upgrades, but Google’s devices have always offered great cameras anyway. The best part is how versatile they are, as beyond having both an ultrawide and a telephoto, the software has improved too.
Camera Looks in particular is a nice software feature added that makes the Pixel 11 Pro Fold a lot more versatile beyond just having the three rear cameras. If you’re tired of the same, clean processing that nearly every smartphone camera delivers these days, Camera Looks gives you different types of shots that don’t just feel like a filter is being applied.
They let the user decide if they want the typical Pixel quality, softer and more natural shots, darker photos with shadows that pop, black and white images or even just remove as much processing as you can for a 2014-esque shot with its minimal processing look. It’s a great touch of personalisation that to me at least makes the Pixel 11 Pro Fold a stand out choice for cameras on a foldable.
Jack of all trades
Overall, while the Pixel 11 Pro Fold loses the spec war, it’s actually a very competent foldable that would probably be up there as one of the better devices around if it was in a vacuum. Unfortunately, the wide-body form factors have stolen some of the limelight away, making the Pixel 11 Pro Fold seem a little boring in comparison, but sometimes boring is good.
It’s not cheap, starting at RM7,999, but to be fair none of these high end foldables are. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is cheaper sure, but you’re giving up a telephoto camera there, plus it’s not even the same form factor. For a true comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra starts at RM8,099, while the Oppo Find N6 goes for RM8,699. The Huawei Mate X7 is perhaps the more wildcard pick, starting at RM8,688.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is like a Toyota in that sense. It doesn’t have the most exciting design or bleeding edge specs, but everything about it is reliable, practical and versatile. While Samsung—and soon Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei—are now pushing foldables towards the wider form factor, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like a safe choice that is surprisingly easy to live with, which is probably what convinced me to keep my SIM in it.
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