Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review

Well-rounded camera system

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a competitive camera system, as far as foldables go and even edges out some of the direct competition from Samsung. In addition to the 48MP main unit, the device sports a 10.8MP periscope telephoto camera capable of 5x optical zoom. A 10.5MP snapper with an ultrawide lens is also around, providing a pretty wide 127-degree field of view.

This is the same camera setup from the previous Pixel Fold generation, but the two selfie cameras are replaced with a 10MP unit with AF which, however, takes 9MP photos for some odd reason. You will find an identical punchhole selfie cam on both the external and internal screens.

• Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.7, 25mm, 1/2.0", 0.8µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS; 4K@60fps
• Ultrawide: 10.5 MP, f/2.2, 127˚, 1/3.4", PDAF; 4K@60fps
• Telephoto 5x: 10.8 MP, f/3.1, 112mm, 1/3.2", dual pixel PDAF, OIS; 4K@60fps
• Cover/Internal camera: 10 MP, f/2.2, 23mm, 1/3.94", PDAF; 4K@30fps

But you you can always use the main camera or the ultrawide one for better-looking selfies, as is the case with foldables in general.

The camera menu isn't all that different from the rest of the Pixel phones except that it allows you to do rear-camera selfies, as we already mentioned, you can use both screens for viewfinders simultaneously or display some animation presets on the cover screen while taking shots. We can't think of a use case for this, but it might help with toddlers or pets who aren't paying attention to the camera pointed at them.

Daylight photos

Main camera

The main camera snaps good photos, but far from impressive. Some of the photos we tool look even somewhat soft. Sharpness could definitely be better. Generally, Google's latest foldable doesn't perform to today's flagship standards. On the other hand, it's acceptable as far as foldables go.

Main camera samples

A few properties make the 9 Pro Fold's photos stand out and have more to do with post-processing. In typical Pixel style, the shots have a little extra contrast, making the shadows a bit darker, while the color temperature tends to be warmer. It gives the scene somewhat a cozy vibe.

The camera seems consistent enough indoors and maintains the same level of quality for the most part.

Here are a couple of portrait-style shots in the standard 1x Photo mode.

Portraits in Photo mode

2x zoom

The camera app has a default 2x toggle and it crops from the main sensor. However, the limitations of the rather small sensor are quite obvious and the 2x zoom photos come out pretty soft and unimpressive. We've seen better implementations.

2x crop zoom samples

The portraits in both Photo and Portrait modes are also nothing to write home about. Additionally, the camera app forces you to shoot in 1.5x and 2x zoom modes, with no 1x option. This ultimately leads to softer photos in general. The Portrait mode has very aggressive background blur that often spills onto the subject.

1.5x zoom: Normal • Portrait mode

2x zoom: Normal • Portrait mode

5x telephoto camera

The 5x zoom photos aren't all that bad. They are even likable. We noticed that post-processing takes it easier on the contrast compared to the main shooter and sharpness is pretty decent. You can spot fine detail on the buildings from afar, but the warmer color temperature is very much a thing here as well.

5x telephoto camera samples

The indoor samples are noticeably softer, though.

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide is also far from impressive. Stills have more limited dynamic range, they look softer and you can even spot some noise in good light. Colors can be washed out at times, but the warm color temperature and boosted contrast are retained.

Ultrawide camera samples

Since the ultrawide camera supports close autofocus, it supports macro-level photography. "Macro" in smartphone terms, at least. And to our surprise, the results are pretty good. Samples are detailed and sharp.

Macro samples

Selfies

As long as the lighting conditions are favorable, any of the two punchhole selfie cameras will produce nice photos that are detailed enough. The processing renders lively colors and a natural skin tone.

Selfies with selfie cameras

If you are inside, however, we suggest resorting to the back camera instead. It resolves considerably more detail and it's a lot sharper.

Selfies with the main camera

Low-light photos

Main camera

As usual, we shot the low-light samples with the Auto Night Sight toggle turned on. We noticed that the software preferred the Night Sight for all of our scenes, even for the brighter ones. No matter the camera, the camera app asked us to stand still for at least two seconds, sometimes even more. Definitely not the fastest dedicated Night mode around.

Main camera samples

But even with the Night Sight active, we've seen better night-time photos elsewhere. The scenes are well exposed with plenty of detail in the shadows but occasionally, highlights get clipped. Then again, some of the scenes turned out better than others for no apparent reason. It seems performance can be inconsistent.

2x zoom

Seeing the daylight 2x crop zoom samples, we didn't expect much from the low-light ones either. They are even softer with more noticeable blown highlights and even noisy in the dark areas of the scene.

2x crop zoom samples

5x telephoto camera

The 5x telephoto samples aren't particularly impressive, but they do look better than the 2x zoom ones.

In general, the 5x zoom photos at night are on the soft side, but the dynamic range looks fine.

5x telephoto camera samples

Ultrawide camera

The ultrawide photos at night look as if they are out of focus and extremely soft. At least the dynamic range looks good for this sort of camera.

Ultrawide camera samples

Video recording

The handset's video recording capabilities cap at 4K resolution recording can go up to 60fps. You can record 2160p clips with all of the cameras on the back as well as with the two selfie cameras.

There is also a Night Sight mode for low-light videos, but it's limited to 1080p resolution.

Stabilization is available in all cameras in 4K, but there are some limitations. The Pixel has three stabilization modes - Fixed, Standard and Active. The Fixed one is suitable for tripods and it's very gentle, Standard is suitable for most cases and it's basically standard EIS, while Active caps the video resolution to 1080p and provides more stability than usual, action camera-like.

Video sample playlist

You can check out the playlist below, which includes multiple video samples.

Now off to the actual footage. We start off with the main camera's 4K clip, which isn't up to the snuff. As is the case with the "regular" Pixel 9s, the Pro Fold record rather soft videos without much fine detail and you can even notice some noise in some areas, if you look closely enough. On the other hand, colors are rather accurate, contrast is good and dynamic range is wide.

Although ultrawide videos are usually softer and with less-than-stellar dynamic range, this one isn't flagship-level for sure. Noise is more easily noticeable, and fine detail is virtually non-existent.

The 5x zoom footage isn't bad, though. It's ever so slightly fuzzy, but resolves fine detail nicely and matches the main camera's overall rendition. Dynamic range is good and it's slightly brighter than the rest of the cameras, which is in line with our observation of the photos.

Low-light videos from the main cam are not very impressive, mainly due to their softness. Dynamic range is otherwise fine.

Strangely, the Night Sight video are even softer and mushier. It could be due to the 1080p resolution.

As for the stabilization videos, it's evident that the Active stabilization provides excellent smoothness, and it's a level above the Standard stabilization mode. The latter looks solid as well.