One question to ask yourself about Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold

By all counts, this week should mark a crowning achievement and a flood of fervent coverage across the tech media universe — and, heck, even the mainstream, general news media.

Think about it: At whatever point Apple decides to finally catch up and get on the foldable phone bandwagon — in 2026, 2027, 2097, or whatever the current prediction may be — we are gonna be absolutely inundated with breathless gushing about how it’s, like, totally a game-changing moment in tech innovation and a revolutionary first look at the future of the phone form.

And that’ll just be Apple’s first stab at the standard, when it’s likely still rough around the edges and far from a polished and refined-feeling experience (as is the case with most any first-gen product, from anyone). By the time we reach the third generation of the magical iFold, the gushing will become a fast-rushing river of awe-expressing adulation.

Now, back to our present reality: We’re actually in a version of that very same moment this minute — only with Google being the one at its third generation of a folding phone and reaching awe-inspiring levels of impressiveness with the form. And — outside of us Android-appreciating animals (a description that’s increasingly rare among so-called “professional” tech-focused “writers” with “thoughts” and “faces” and a “tendency” to “overuse” “air quotes”) — this moment will hardly make a ripple in the greater tech-media ocean.

The myopia of tech media in this way is more amusing than anything, honestly. But point being, this particular moment should be big. Google’s third-gen folding Pixel is officially here and shipping as of this week. And having had the opportunity to live with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold for the past several days, lemme tell ya: This is a moment when the folding phone form feels like it’s coming into its own and actually becoming something average professionals and casual tech owners alike — not only early-adopter nerds like yours truly — should be ready to consider.

Before you rush out to drop a cool 1,800 bones on a Pixel 10 Pro Fold, though, there’s one critical question you’d be well-advised to weigh over.

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The $1,800 Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold question

I won’t keep you waiting. The single question to ask yourself about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold or any other foldable phone is this:

How much do you think you’ll actually use the inner display?

It seems simple, I know. But the answer to that question will tell you everything.

Let me back up a teensy bit to tell you why. First, I should tell you this: The latest folding Pixel truly is a treat to use. From a technological perspective, this thing is a marvel of engineering — a sleek, premium-as-can-be device that looks, feels, and acts like any other more traditional phone most of the time you’re carrying it.

Google’s Pixel 10 Pro Fold, in its folded form.JR Raphael, Foundry

But then, of course, its superpower: You can unfold the Fold’s sandwichy form with minimal force and a satisfying snap — then enjoy a sprawlingly large inner screen that’s more like a small tablet, always standing by and available at a moment’s notice.

srcset='https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?quality=50&strip=all 3382w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=300%2C226&quality=50&strip=all 300w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=768%2C580&quality=50&strip=all 768w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=1024%2C773&quality=50&strip=all 1024w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=1536%2C1159&quality=50&strip=all 1536w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=2048%2C1546&quality=50&strip=all 2048w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=923%2C697&quality=50&strip=all 923w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=223%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 223w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=111%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 111w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=636%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 636w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=477%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 477w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-pixel-10-pro-fold-open.jpg?resize=331%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 331w' width='1024' height='773' sizes='auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px'>The Pixel 10 Pro Fold — unfolded and unleashed.JR Raphael, Foundry

That inner screen can be delightful for watching Important Work-Related Videos in a lusciously larger size; for reading Important Work-Related Articles (like this one!) in a spacious, spread-out surface; and for performing Important Work-Related Activities with two apps on screen at the same time, side by side, in their full-phone-form size and with some super-useful multitasking mechanisms alongside ’em.

Multitasking on the Pixel 10 Pro’s inner screen is a spectacular experience.JR Raphael, Foundry

There’s something incredibly cool about knowing you basically have a tablet in your pocket, ready to be unleashed whenever the need for a larger screen arises. It feels like you’re using a gadget from the future — some mutant combination of phone, tablet, and even computer, given how much easier it is to interact with multiple apps at the same time and even drag and drop info between ’em. The productivity potential here is massive.

And yet, I’ve consistently found in my days with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold that I use it as a regular phone —folded up and relying only on the more standard-sized outer display — the vast majority of the time.

When it’s folded, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is kind of like a heavier, chunkier Pixel 10 Pro.JR Raphael, Foundry

And here’s the thing: In that capacity, you’re essentially looking at almost the same size screen you’d have on the smaller, non-XL Pixel 10 Pro — only with lower resolution and text that’s a touch smaller, lighter, and harder to read (at least by my old-man-eye standards). 

Outer display quality aside, in that folded-up scenario, the Fold is also meaningfully heavier and generally just clunkier-feeling than the sleek and svelte standard Pixel 10 Pro model. Obviously, right? ‘Cause it’s got that glorious screen inside of it! But the tradeoff for that inner-display awesomeness is the outer-phone awkwardness — which, to be fair, has come a long way in a short time and really isn’t that bad, all considered. But it’s still a very noticeable difference from a standard phone setup.

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold (left) and regular Pixel 10 Pro — similar screen sizes in very different phone forms.JR Raphael, Foundry

For full perspective, the official specs of the Fold show a 0.4″ thickness when folded, compared to a 0.3″ thickness on the standard Pixel 10 models. So we’re really obsessing over minutia when it comes to the actual measurements. But in terms of the feel, it’s significant. It’s less the thickness itself, even, and more the overall weight, the bulk, and the way the thing feels in your hands that’s striking.

To Google’s credit, this latest Fold sports some impressive improvements over its previous folding Pixel effort, and they’re all welcome refinements that make it a more polished, complete-feeling, and ready-for-mainstream-adoption-seeming experience than ever. It’s packin’ a new, more powerful processor, for instance, along with a redesigned hinge that’s made of steel and supposedly much more resistant.

The Fold’s inner screen has more layers of anti-impact film for protection from damage, too, and the entire device has a higher protection rating — IP68 (pronounced “ip-six-eighter, roger”) compared to last year’s IPX8 (pronounced “errr…..huuuh?!”) — which basically means it should be fine even if it comes into contact with smaller dust particles.

Plus, you get the same support for MagSafe-style magnetic accessories as you’d find on the rest of the Pixel 10 line.

But the rest of the Pixel 10 line is what I keep coming back to in my reflections — and the reason I keep returning to that one pressing question we posed at the start of this conversation.

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs. regular Pixel 10 Pro experience

There’s no way around it: Compared to the non-folding Pixel 10 Pro models, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has some very noticeable day-to-day-use drawbacks.

Namely:

It feels clunky and heavy compared to those devices, particularly the non-XL Pixel 10 Pro. I mentioned this a minute ago, I know, but it really is the biggest compromise I keep contemplating in my own day-to-day adventures with the Fold and my personal assessments of whether it’s a device I’d buy.

Its generally-quite-exceptional camera doesn’t have the same wildly impressive 100x zoom that the other Pixel 10 Pro models offer. This might not be a productivity-oriented feature, per se, but it’s a surprisingly cool capability to have at your fingertips — and once you get used to having it available, it’s a bit of a bummer to try to zoom in on something off in the distance only to realize your zooming halts at the 20x mark with this particular Pixel 10 Pro gizmo.

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold lacks the thermometer its other Pixel 10 Pro siblings give you. I know that feature was a bit of a punchline when it showed up initially on a previous Pixel, but it’s really become a welcome convenience for me at this point. Anytime someone’s feeling under the weather, I no longer have to hunt for an impossible-to-find and infuriatingly inconsistent drug store thermometer and can instead simply whip out my phone, open the app, and have an accurate-seeming (or at least consistent!) reading within a matter of seconds.

And the Fold’s fingerprint sensor isn’t in its screen like most Pixels (and most other phones these days) but rather embedded into its physical power button, on the device’s side. It actually works quite well and much more consistently and effectively than early power-button sensors, which tended to be finicky and frustrating. But rather ironically, I’ve found it works a little too well for my purposes — as I (apparently) tend to both grab and hold my phone with my finger already in place on that button and so find myself inadvertently unlocking it and activating the screen all the time, even when I don’t actually want to.

Those caveats are why that one pressing question is so — well, pressing. Based on my time with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, I’d say without hesitation that this latest model is undoubtedly the best folding phone Google’s made to date. It’s a fantastic device — if you want a folding phone. And, given all the issues with update reliability from other device-makers (along with all the standard stuff about ecosystem consistency, overall user experience, and all of that), it’s the phone I’d suggest for most folks who are thinking about going the foldable route.

But you really have to think carefully about how much you actually want that — and if the compromises that come with it are a worthwhile tradeoff for you. And that ultimately comes down to how much you think you’ll take advantage of the Fold’s inner display.

Personally, if I had to estimate, I’d say I’m probably using the Fold in its folded-up state around 99% of the time. Whenever I do open ‘er up, it’s a delight, and I adore the experience. But much as I love the idea of a folding phone and the advantages it offers in that unfolded form, I’m finding that the less optimal experience of using the Fold in its folded-up mode compared to using a regular Pixel 10 Pro outweighs the benefit of having that lovely large inner screen once in a great while.

But that’s me.

And remember, too: The Pixel 10 Pro Fold currently costs $1,799 in the U.S. The Pixel 10 Pro (non-XL), for comparison, is selling for $849 as of this moment (marked down from its normal list price of $999). So we’re talkin’ nearly a thousand bucks difference between the two — no small chunk of change.

Is that a price you’re willing to pay for a cutting-edge two-in-one tablet-in-your-pocket experience? Will you take advantage of that inner display often enough to make the cost — both in terms of dollars and in terms of the other model-to-model compromises — worthwhile?

You’ve really gotta ask yourself about your priorities and what kind of experience you expect out of your phone right now. If the inner display is a big part of that picture, you’ll love the latest Fold and be blown away by the feats it affords you. If you think you’ll realistically end up unfolding the thing only once in a while, though — like me — you’d probably be better off with a regular Pixel and the all-around better experience it offers in most areas outside of unfolded screen availability.

The question is there and waiting. And it’s one that only you can answer.

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