Google's Pixel 9 phones have just been released – real-life “The Three Musketeers” with their own D'artagnan. The latter is the new Pixel Fold – now called the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, symbolizing that it's been welcomed into the… herd. Hey, at least you know this text isn't AI-generated.
The new Pixel 9 Pro Fold has been slightly redesigned. It is slightly taller and narrower – its external screen now has a 20:9 aspect ratio and a diagonal of 6.3 inches – as does a Pixel 9 Pro! The new Pro Fold is also a bit thinner than its predecessor – the idea is of course to be able to use it like a “normal phone” when folded. Inside there is an 8-inch, almost square display.
The camera module of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold missed out on the whole “upgrade treatment” that its other Pro siblings got – that's kind of disappointing. But it should still be good, with the same specs as last year – 48MP main camera, 10.5MP ultra-wide, 10.8MP 5x telephoto. It has the Video Boost feature, so you can have Google's AI boost your clips for jaw-dropping quality.
- Multimodal integration – You can ask Gemini to pull data from several of your Google apps and services and use it to perform tasks. For example, “Find my resume in Drive, summarize it in one paragraph” or “What day next week do I have time to go to the movies?”.
- Twins Live – natural conversations with the assistant. Chat easily, discuss ideas or ask multiple questions. Interrupt and change the subject spontaneously!
- Add me – When taking group photos, take a group photo and then swap it with someone else. Pixel AI can stitch a photo together as if you were all in it
- AutoFrame – Part of the Magic Editor. Edits and changes the framing of photos based on what the AI knows about good photography practices
- Re-introduce – Edit a photo using text prompts. Type what you want to see and let the AI edit selected parts of the photo for you
- Video amplification – scales videos up to 8K resolution. Now works twice as fast
- Weather app – Gemini Nano now gives you a quick summary of weather conditions
- Magic List – Ask the phone to automatically create complex shopping lists. “Plan a taco dinner for 6, vegetarian option”
- Screenshots app – Use Gemini Nano to quickly sort and recall old screenshots you once took to remember something. Only on-device processing
- Call notes – appears after a voice call with a short summary of your conversation. On-device processing thanks to Tensor G4
Whether these are in the old PixelFold — we can't say. However, we'd bet most won't. Google says these will be powered by the brand new Tensor G4 chip for their private on-device AI support. And the OG PixelFold is 2 generations back with the Tensor G2.
The good news is that the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is priced at $1,799 and yes, it gets the 7 years of software updates promised by Google. A bit pricey, but at least you have the peace of mind that Google is thinking about your foldable device for years to come.
Pre-order bonuses are valid until August 28th, pre-orders themselves are possible until September 7th, at which point shipping should begin!