The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is on the way – here’s what Google needs to learn from the Galaxy Z Fold 6

Samsung unveiled its new foldable device, the Galaxy Z Fold 6, this month, and the phone hits stores in just under a week on July 24. Hopefully Google has been paying attention throughout the launch process, because there are plenty of lessons there for how the company should approach the next iteration of its foldable phone.

That would be the successor to the Pixel Fold, which will apparently be folded — sorry — into the Pixel 9 line and will be renamed the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google has a Made by Google hardware event scheduled for August 13, and that’s where we’ll see the new foldable.

Any changes Google plans to make with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold are likely set in stone at this point. Still, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 release does have a few Dos — and one super big Don’t — that I’m hoping Google follows with its foldable Pixel.

Add some AI features specific to foldable devices

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 Sketch to Image Feature in Photos

Galaxy Z Fold 6’s Sketch to Image feature in action (Image credit: Future)

There’s no doubt that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will have AI capabilities. That’s kind of the Pixel line’s calling card, along with delivering excellent mobile photography. And with the new foldable phone launching as part of the Pixel 9 lineup, that means the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will likely have a Tensor G4 chipset that enables a bunch of new AI-powered capabilities.

Let’s hope some of those capabilities acknowledge that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has multiple screens and can fold in half. Because several Galaxy AI features introduced with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 certainly do.

Interpreter Mode isn’t a new Galaxy AI feature per se, but Samsung has adapted it for both the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 to take advantage of the phones’ internal and external displays. Now, when you’re in a conversation with another person who speaks a different language, each person can see the real-time transcript appear on their respective displays.

Sketch to Image takes advantage of the Galaxy Z Fold 6’s S Pen support and extensive drawing space, turning sketches you make into richer illustrations using generative AI. Google Gemini can appear on the phone’s cover screen and answer your questions without ever having to open your Z Fold 6.

Will the Pixel 9 Pro Fold deliver something similar? That’s difficult to say at this point, since rumors have suggested that AI features coming to Pixel 9 phones, like Add Me for improving group photos and the ability to search through screenshots, would work just as well on a regular phone as they do on a foldable phone. Pixel 9 Pro phones could come with a year of free access to Google Gemini Advanced, and the Fold would presumably be included in that offer. But again, that’s not something that’s necessarily specific to a foldable phone design.

Let’s hope the Made by Google event sheds more light on Google’s AI plans, particularly as it relates to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Improve battery life

Google Pixel Fold shown in hand

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

The original Pixel Fold’s battery life was OK — it lasted 10 hours and 21 minutes during our battery life test, which allows us to charge phones until they’re empty via mobile internet. The Pixel Fold’s time was a marginal improvement over the average smartphone result, which isn’t bad considering the Fold has to keep a massive 7.6-inch display moving.

Samsung’s Galaxy Fold phones suffer from a similar issue, though the Z Fold 6 made a modest leap forward in this area. The new phone delivered an average result of 10 hours and 35 minutes. That’s only a slight improvement over what the Galaxy Z Fold 5 was able to do, though the extra battery life came without any increase in battery size.

That same challenge now applies to Google and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold: improve the battery life of the original Pixel Fold in whatever way possible. Maybe that means a bigger battery than before. Maybe the Tensor G4 is more power-efficient than its predecessor. But however Google pulls it off, it’s crucial to squeeze more battery life out of its new foldable phone.

Solve your display problems

Google Pixel Fold shown in hand

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Perhaps the biggest complaint about previous Galaxy Z Fold models concerned the phone’s external display — specifically, its narrow aspect ratio. The slim screen proved difficult to type on, especially compared to devices like, well, the Pixel Fold, which offered a wider cover display.

Samsung has addressed that problem with the Galaxy Z Fold 6, increasing the size of the cover display from 6.2 inches to 6.3 inches. The result is a slightly wider display that’s a little easier to work on than before. Our Z Fold 6 review certainly found the screen to be less claustrophobic.

There’s nothing wrong with the Pixel Fold’s cover display, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other areas that need attention. I’m thinking of the bezels surrounding the inner display on the original Pixel Fold, which are simply too thick for a phone that’s supposed to have a modern look.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Teaser Image Showing White Version of the Foldable

(Image credit: Google)

We won’t know how well Google will fix these issues until we get our hands on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but early indications are promising. The image above is taken from a video teaser Google itself posted ahead of the launch event, and the bezels definitely look slimmer.

Make it lighter

Google Pixel Fold 2

(Image credit: SmartPrix)

Samsung appears to be continuing its efforts to make its super-sized foldable phone easier to carry around. With last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung adopted a Flex hinge that made the foldable phone slimmer than its predecessor; that switch also helped the Z Fold 5 shed 0.3 ounces. The weight loss continued with this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 6, as the new phone weighs half an ounce less than the Z Fold 5.

If there’s any phone that needs an aggressive weight loss program, it’s the Pixel Fold. That device weighs in at 10 ounces — 1.5 ounces more than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. I don’t know if Google has plans to tweak the Fold’s design to make it slimmer, but making a foldable device that’s more portable seems like a top priority.

Don’t increase the price

And now there’s one thing Samsung has done that Google absolutely should do: not do — more questions for its Pixel Fold successor. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 costs $100 more than its predecessor, starting at $1,899.

Samsung likely has its reasons for raising the price, but it hasn’t really articulated them. “The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 set a new standard for mobile innovation for us and are our best foldable series yet, enhanced by new Galaxy AI capabilities,” is what Drew Blackard, vice president of mobile product marketing at Samsung, told my colleague Mark Spoonauer when asked about the Galaxy foldable’s price increases. The problem with that approach is that it leaves buyers wondering whether these kinds of improvements are really worth an extra $100, and sometimes the answer they give doesn’t match Samsung’s.

Google shouldn’t take that risk, and it shouldn’t make the same mistake twice. When the Pixel Fold debuted a year ago, one of the things that immediately took the wind out of the new phone’s sails was Google’s decision to match the Galaxy Z Fold’s starting price. By holding the price steady this year — or better yet, slightly reducing the Pixel Fold’s starting price of $1,799 — Google can create more of a distinction between its new phone and the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

And in this way, Google could teach Samsung a thing or two about foldable devices.

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