I Could Never Afford a Pixel 9 Pro Fold — and These Spec Leaks Make Me Glad I Can’t

I’ve been using my current phone, the Pixel 6 Pro, since launch, and I’ve known for a long time that it was nearing the end of its life. After deciding not to upgrade to the Pixel 8 Pro last year, I made the firm decision to buy one of the three upcoming Pixel 9 Pro models — one of which is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

I won’t lie, I’ve been thinking about whether or not to buy the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google did a great job with the original Pixel Fold, which is one of the best foldable phones out there, and there are some pretty high expectations for its successor. The only problem is the damn price. The Pixel Fold started at $1,799 at launch, and we fully expect the 9 Pro Fold to cost at least that much — maybe more if Google can pull off Samsung.

That price tag is the main reason I probably won’t buy the new foldable Pixel. Non-foldable phones are already expensive enough, and I can’t justify spending that much on a smartphone. Thankfully, some of the leaked specs, especially the camera, make me quite happy I don’t have that kind of cash to spend.

Pixel 9 Pro Fold camera specs disappoint

Earlier this month, we heard a rumor based on the Camera App FV-5 device database that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold would have a 48MP main camera lens and a 10MP selfie camera, which isn’t exactly impressive. The original Pixel Fold offered 48MP, and while 10.5MP is a bit better than 9.5MP, it still doesn’t compare all that well to phones with 42MP, 35MP, or even 12MP selfie cameras.

The database didn’t reveal any details about the ultra-wide or telephoto lenses, which means Google could still surprise us by ditching the Pixel Fold’s original pair of 10.5MP lenses. That would certainly be a good thing, but depending on what the upgrades are, the cameras could still fall behind the other two Pixel 9 phones.

There’s no single factor that determines the phones I buy, but camera performance is one of the most important. Before the Pixel 6 Pro, I was a dedicated OnePlus user, but I got burned too many times by mediocre camera performance and decided to upgrade to something better — while still maintaining a clean Android experience.

Google Pixels regularly rank high on our list of the best camera phones, with a solid combination of high-quality hardware and software working in tandem. And since I prefer an optical zoom lens over relying solely on digital, that led me to the Pro models. In my case, the extra cost was worth it thanks to that camera lens (and the larger screen).

Of course, camera hardware isn’t everything, and the Google Pixels are a great example of that in action. Google was one of the last major phone companies to adopt a multi-lens camera, adding a second lens to the Pixel 4 only in 2019. Previously, the company had insisted that its software was so good that a second camera wasn’t needed, and there was no denying that those cameras were very good.

Plus, these days, thanks to advances in AI and machine learning, those photos should come out better than ever — all thanks to software. So while we can’t say for sure how much better or worse the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera might be compared to the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, the fact that the main camera might not be the same as the non-foldable models doesn’t fill me with confidence.

Costs continue to make it difficult to justify the latest foldable devices

If I’m going to pay more for a foldable phone, I expect at least parity with its flagship counterpart. Ideally, something better would help make that price more worthwhile, but that might be asking too much. Just look at the difference in camera hardware between the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

Thankfully, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is rumored to not fall into the same traps as its predecessors and should feature similar hardware — like the Tensor G4 chipset, 16GB of RAM, and a 6.3-inch display.

The question remains whether the addition of a larger 8-inch foldable internal display is worth the rumored $1,799 price tag, especially when foldable devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and OnePlus Open offer additional features like S Pen support or the best multitasking interface we’ve seen in a smartphone. But when you think about it, the price always comes down to the foldable screen.

It’s a gimmick, there’s no doubt about it, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. But it’s a cool gimmick. There’s something cool about having a tablet-sized display without having to carry the tablet around. But is the gimmick worth nearly $1,800? Not by itself.

Therein lies the main problem with foldable phones — the astronomical price tag. Not only are they almost twice as expensive as many non-foldable flagships, but they don’t necessarily seem to offer two phones’ worth of stuff to justify it. Just a hinge and an extra big screen.

Costs are falling in some places. OnePlus Open The starting price was recently reduced to $1,399 and the Motorola Razr 2024 and Motorola Razr Plus 2024 continue to keep their prices below $1,000. But on the other hand, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has raised its price by $100 and now starts at $1,899. So the high-price issue is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

Summary

I’ve used foldable phones a number of times and generally have good experiences with them. But would I ever buy one for myself? I might be tempted to buy a flagship flip phone like the 2024 Motorola Razr Plus, but I’d still have to consider whether my money would be better spent on a non-foldable phone. As for larger, book-style foldable phones like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Not only do I not have enough money to buy such a pricey device, I wouldn’t be able to justify it if I did. Plus, the fact that the specs of foldable phones are still disappointing compared to their non-foldable cousins means that I’m much less likely to ever want to spend that much money on one.

Hopefully, phone makers including Google will get the message in the next few years and start offering more incentives to spend that much money on a single device.