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Most polished foldable
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 isn’t the best in every category, but it’s undoubtedly the most refined foldable flagship smartphone on the market. Its Snapdragon system-on-chip is a powerhouse and it sports a solid camera setup. Perhaps most importantly, however, is Samsung’s OneUI software interface, which delivers the most polished and intuitive dual-screen Android experience on the market.
Pros- More powerful system-on-chip
- Smaller and lighter
- Dual-SIM capability
- Higher screen-to-body ratio
Cons- A little pricier
- 25W wired charging
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Impressive update
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the follow-up to the first-gen Pixel Fold, and it’s an excellent second effort from Google. Compared to its predecessor, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a larger screen with tighter bezels, a slimmed-down frame, and a more powerful chip. However, in contrast to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, the second-gen Pixel foldable lags behind in performance, and the dual-screen Android interface still has room for improvement.
Pros- Larger OLED display
- More RAM
- Faster wired charging
- Slightly cheaper
Cons- Less powerful CPU
- Larger and heavier
It’s pretty clear at this point that foldable phones are here to stay, and that’s not likely to change, with new releases like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold setting the bar higher and higher. They’re not cheap, but the appeal of a folding smartphone is obvious: the big, beautiful, folding display that effectively transforms your smartphone into a small tablet. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are top-tier devices for entertainment and multitasking, but considering that these retail for twice as much as standard flagship phones, you don’t want to make a blind purchase. Let’s look at these foldables side-by-side and see which is the better buy.
Price, specs, and availability
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 dropped earlier this year at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro Fold hit the market in late summer with the release of Google’s new Pixel 9 flagship lineup . Both are available for order from their official brand websites, third-party retailers (including Best Buy and Amazon), and major U.S. cellular network carriers. These are pricey phones, to be sure. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 retails for $1,900. That’s $600 more than the MSRP of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung’s premium flagship, and a $100 price hike over the last-gen Galaxy Z Fold 5. The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a little cheaper, with pricing starting at $1,799. Considering the cost of these devices, it’s a good idea to take advantage of any trade-in deals or carrier sign-up discounts you can find.
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Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 SoC Google Tensor G4 Qualcomm Snapdragon Gen 3 for Galaxy Display Cover display: 6.3-inch Actua display, OLED, 2424×1080, 120Hz, up to 1800 nits (HDR) and 2700 nits peak brightness, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2; Inner display 8-inch Super Actua Flex display, 2076×2152, 1-120Hz, up to 1600 nits (HDR) and 2700 nits peak brightness, Ultra Thin Glass 7.6-inch AMOLED main display, 6.3-inch AMOLED front display, both with 120Hz dynamic refresh rate RAM 16GB 12GB Storage Up to 512GB 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Micro SD card support No No Rear camera 48MP main camera, Quad PD, f/1.7, 82-degree FOV + 10.5MP ultrawide, Dual PD, f/2.2, 127-degree FOV + 10.8MP telephoto, f/3.1 aperture, 5x optical zoom 10MP 3x optical zoom, f/2.4, 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2, 50MP main camera with autofocus, f/1.8 Front camera Cover screen: 10MP Dual PD, f/2.2, 87-degree FOV; Inner screen: 10MP Dual PD, f/2.2, 87-degree FOV 10MP cover camera, 4MP under-display main screen camera Battery 4,650mAh 4,400 mAh Charge speed 45W wired, wireless charging 25W wired, 15W wireless, Wireless PowerShare Ports USB-C 3.2 USB-C Connectivity Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, 5G (mmWave + sub-6GHz) 5G, 4G LTE, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4GHz+5GHz+6GHz Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, UWB Dimensions Folded: 6.1×3.0x0.4 inches (155.2×77.1×10.5mm); Unfolded: 6.1×5.9×0.2 inches (155.2×150.2×5.1mm) 153.5 x 68.1 x 12.1mm (folded); 153.5 x 132.6 x 5.6mm (unfolded) Weight 9.1 ounces (257 grams) 239g IP Rating IPX8 IP48 Colors Obsidian, Porcelain Navy Blue, Silver, Pink, Black, White Operating System Android 14 Android 14 / One UI 6.1.1 Price $1,799 $1,900
Design and display
Both are more refined than the previous generation
Foldable phones are fairly mature technology in 2024, and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold exhibit the refinement we expect from devices worth the “flagship” label. Both are a bit smaller and lighter than their predecessors. They’re also quite thin, with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 measuring just 0.22-inches thick and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold measuring 0.2-inches thick (making it the thinnest folding smartphone currently on the market). Samsung’s folding smartphone is smaller overall, though, and is more than half an ounce lighter than the Pixel. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 also sports a thinner bezel and a slightly larger screen-to-body ratio, although Google did trim down the bezels a bit on its second-gen foldable.
However, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold closes the gap with its upgraded interior display. Google’s new foldable has a lovely 8-inch OLED main screen with nearly a perfect 1:1 aspect ratio. The display is larger than the 7.6-inch panel found on the Galaxy Z Fold 6 (as well as the original Pixel Fold). The Pixel 9 Pro Fold got a considerable boost in luminosity, too, and now offers a peak brightness of 2,700 nits, whereas the Galaxy Z Fold 6 interior display maxes out at 2,600 nits. All in all, both look and feel like high-quality smartphones with vibrant, high-quality displays, but Samsung’s offering feels like a more premium device, right down to its confidence-inspiring hinge design.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
Software and performance
Snapdragon and OneUI set the bar high
The gulf between the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold 6 becomes more noticeable when you compare hardware specs and the software interface. The beating heart of the Z Fold 6 is the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 system-on-chip, a serious performer that likely exceeds most users’ needs by a wide margin. It also outperforms Google’s Tensor G4 SoC (which is, ironically, manufactured by Samsung). The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 outpaces the Pixel’s Tensor G4 in a wide array of benchmark tests, delivering more processing horsepower and considerably more graphical processing muscle. It makes the Galaxy Z Fold 6 one of the best phones for entertainment, especially when paired with that big fold-out display.
Google’s Tensor G4 isn’t a bad chip and is a notable upgrade over the Tensor G2 inside the first-gen Pixel Fold. It’s just not built for performance in the same way as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is, with Google (like many smartphone brands) focusing more on generative AI capabilities. Nonetheless, the Snapdragon SoC isn’t a slouch with AI, either. On the bright side, the Pixel 9 Fold packs 16GB of RAM, in contrast to the Galaxy Z Fold’s 12GB of memory. However, that’s insufficient to bridge the gap between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and the Tensor G4.
Next comes the Android experience. We noted in our original Pixel Fold review that the software wasn’t quite where it needed to be, and while it has gotten better the second time around, the Pixel UI still doesn’t have the same level of polish for dual-screen devices as Samsung’s OneUI. Samsung has had a lot of time to fine-tune the user interface for dual-screen foldable smartphones, and it shows. Using and navigating through multiple apps is a breeze, and OneUI offers one of the best multitasking environments of any mobile UI. Opening, running, and organizing several apps simultaneously on the large main display feels fast and intuitive on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but a bit clunky on the Pixel.
Of course, these wouldn’t be 2024 smartphones without some AI features. Both devices offer fun and genuinely useful generative AI tools built into various apps. These include AI-assisted search functions, photo and video editing tools, and real-time text translation and interpretation, to name a few standouts. The AI features work well, and neither Google nor Samsung have a major advantage. Overall, though, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 trumps the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in both hardware performance and user experience.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
Cameras
Is the Pixel losing its edge?
Image credit: Google
The excellent camera modules on Pixel smartphones have been one of the main selling points of these devices pretty much since their inception. The Pixel 9 family, including the 9 Pro Fold, doesn’t break with this tradition. The competition has caught up, though, and Google doesn’t have the same edge that it used to. The triple-lens rear camera module on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a 48MP main sensor, a 10.8MP telephoto sensor with 5x optical zoom, and a 10.5 ultrawide lens with a 127-degree field of view. There’s also a selfie camera and a cover camera (one on each screen), both with 10MP sensors.
In comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 rear camera module consists of a 50MP main sensor, a 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultrawide sensor with a 123-degree viewing angle. Notably, the Galaxy Z Fold can record up to 8K, whereas the Pixel is limited to 4K. It can also record slow-motion video at 960fps in contrast to the Pixel’s 240fps slow-mo capabilities. Lastly, there’s a 10MP selfie camera and a second 4MP selfie cam on the cover screen.
On paper, it looks like the competition has finally caught up to the Pixel phones. It’s worth noting, however, that the Pixel 9 lineup sports all-new sensors for every camera (backed up by some of the best photography processing on the market), whereas the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has pretty much an identical camera setup to its last-gen counterpart. We need to spend some more time with it, and while the competition has closed the gap, the Pixel’s newer sensors might make up the difference. For now, we’ll call it even.
Winner: Tie
Battery life and charging
Both disappoint in one important way
Foldable phones can be power hogs due to their large interior displays, so don’t expect either of these devices to run all day under load without a charge. We got pretty good battery life out of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in our time with it, though, thanks largely to the efficiency of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 platform. Google’s Tensor G4 chip is built on a similar 4nm process to the Snapdragon, so it shouldn’t be too much of a power drain.
Where each phone disappoints in its own way is with charging. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold supports 45-watt wired charging, but its wireless charging speeds cap out at 7.5 watts. By contrast, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 only offers wired charging speeds of up to 25 watts but supports 15-watt wireless charging. Neither of these is likely to be a dealbreaker if you like everything else about these phones. Depending on how you like to charge your devices, it may not be something you notice at all.
Winner: Tie
Which Android foldable is the better buy?
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold are excellent foldable smartphones, but Samsung simply offers a more polished overall experience. That’s not a huge surprise. With six generations of foldables under its belt, the Korean tech Titan has more experience in this space than Google, and has had more time to refine the interface and design. Aside from that, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 also packs some of the most impressive mobile hardware that exists today.
Editor’s choice
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 further refines Samsung’s foldable smartphone design, packing a powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip and a slick dual-screen Android interface. It’s not the best in all categories, but it’s arguably the most polished foldable smartphone on the market.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t consider the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It’s a solid offering and makes noteworthy improvements over the first-gen model. It’s a great pick if you’re invested in Google’s hardware ecosystem (i.e., if you already own a Pixel Watch ) or just favor Pixel devices for whatever reason. And, at the very least, it’s a little bit cheaper.
Good alternative
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
With all-new screens, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is automatically a huge upgrade over the original Pixel Fold. It also comes with a more powerful Google Tensor G4 chip and new features that make use of the dual screens.