The Apple Watch has been around for ten years. Looking at pictures of the device then, it might not seem like much has changed — even the apps drawer seems identical. But subtly and quietly, the Apple Watch — the company’s first new product line of the post-Steve Jobs era — has evolved to become capable of so much more today. Over the last few years, there have been some big leaps forward for the Apple Watch’s feature set, up to and including wrist-based ECG and heart-rate readings that were once the purview of science fiction. We’ve heard many testimonials, mostly from Apple at its events, about how the Apple Watch has saved lives — whether it be by detection of a fall or atrial fibrillation. Smartwatches as a category have matured and found their place, it seems, and the Apple Watch has carved out a comfy spot within the space.

So color me surprised when the Series 10 launched to very little fanfare last week. I guess I was expecting Apple to be a bit more self-congratulatory, but the company seemed to gloss over the product’s birthday. Instead, we got to learn about the device’s thinner profile and bigger screen with greater viewing angles. It also has smaller onboard speakers, apps for water sports enthusiasts and health features like the new sleep apnea monitoring and alerts. It may sound underwhelming compared to the seemingly futuristic features we were seeing in the Apple Watch’s early days, but the Series 10 is just following in the footsteps of the iPhone. It’s a mature product that’s traded massive annual overhauls for iterative updates that add up over time. For a smartwatch that has consistently been called the best in its class, the Series 10 largely continues that tradition, even as it walks back a feature or two thanks to ongoing copyright litigation.

Design and display

Compared to the Series 9, the latest Apple Watch is ever so slightly bigger and noticeably thinner and lighter. It’s not such a great difference that you’ll notice without having the two side by side, but every time I pick up the Series 10 I definitely feel a tiny spark of joy. The squatter shape, slimmer profile and more rounded corners somehow make the new watch feel a bit like a biscuit, while the Series 9 comes off more like a smaller mahjong tile.

Both sizes of the mainstream Apple Watch have grown ever so slightly, with the 41mm version now coming in at 42mm and the 45mm one sitting at 46mm. I’ve worn the smaller Series 10 and Series 9 on both wrists for a few days now and genuinely don’t find there to be a major difference in daily use. As significant as I think the thinner body and lighter weight is on the Series 10, it’s not like I was having trouble squeezing its predecessor through jacket sleeves before. I will say that the new model will certainly be more comfortable under the snuggest of my cuffs.

Apple cutting the Series 10 down to just 9.7mm thin is certainly a feat, considering the Pixel Watch 3 is still a pretty chunky 12mm thick. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 is the same height, so Google needs to play a bit of catch-up here.

The Series 10’s bigger screen does make some things easier to see, like road names on Maps and the clock when you’re in Spotify. You’ll likely find greater gains here by choosing larger font sizes, which is a bit of an obvious note but at least on the Series 10 you’ll have more room to work with. If you need something even bigger, you should consider the Watch Ultra 2, which has a 49mm screen.

Apple’s also using a wide-angle OLED this year to make things easier to read even if your wrist is simply resting on the table, not held up in front of your eyes. Again, in my side by side observations, the change is noticeable but not in a huge way. There does appear to be greater contrast between the digits of the time against the photo in the background, too, which makes the clock more visible at an angle.

Cherlynn Low for Engadget

However, it’s worth pointing out that when you’re staring at the Series 10 face on, you might find its bezels noticeably thicker than on the Series 9. Even if you’re planning on upgrading from a Series 9, where you’ll be most primed to feel the bigger bezels’ impact on design, it’s still a tiny complaint, if at all. Thicker borders don’t really affect the watch’s performance.

Apple introduced some new watch faces with the Series 10, as it does with every successive generation. This time, the Flux face is supposed to make full use of the display’s wider angle view as it spills over the sides (sort of). There’s also a bit of an animation that mimics a second hand ticking across the screen, which is nice, but doesn’t add much to the experience.

There are other small design changes around the watch. For example, instead of an inch-long slit on the left edge for the speaker output, there now sits two half-inch grilles which blend more seamlessly into the watch. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the new jet black case color option, as well as the polished titanium models that replace the previous stainless steel ones. They’re nice options to have, if you can afford the $300 upgrade for the new lighter material.

Finally, part of why the Series 10 got thinner is its redesigned metal back, which allowed Apple to integrate the antenna into the case and compress two layers into one. There’s also a little so-called isolation circle to help maintain cellular performance. This isn’t something you’ll feel necessarily, but it does contribute to the Series 10’s overall thinness.

The Apple Watch Series 10’s speaker

Something Apple brought to the Series 10 is the ability to play music and podcasts through the watch’s onboard speaker. It might seem silly to want to use the tiny device for any sort of media, especially things like songs where you’d like at least some semblance of sound quality for the experience to be enjoyable. In the few days I’ve had the Series 10, I never found the need to stream songs from the speaker on the watch, until I had to test it.

At the maximum loudness in a quiet conference room, I enjoyed listening to Running Through the Night by Seori and Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter. It wasn’t as bass-heavy as I’d like for a regular listening session, but given the circumstances and the size of the watch, the mids and trebles were plenty clear and punchy. You’re not meant to rely on this for long periods anyway, and it’s just there to scratch an itch if or when it arises. With noisier environments, though, it’s a struggle.

Screenshots

The Apple Watch Series 10 vs. sleep apnea

Arguably the biggest feature coming to the Series 10 is sleep apnea monitoring (though that feature is also available on the Series 9 and Ultra 2 via watchOS 11). This is only for people who haven’t been diagnosed with sleep apnea, meaning if you already know you have this condition, it’s not designed to help you see if your CPAP machine is effective, for instance.

I’ve not been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and might very well be one of the 80 percent of people that has the condition and don’t know it. Still, it would be nice to know for certain and when watchOS 11 dropped yesterday, those of us on iOS 18 with compatible Apple Watch models were able to opt in to notifications. I went to the Health app to set this up, answered a series of questions about my age and whether I’d been diagnosed with sleep apnea, and was informed I was set up for the feature.

In the explanation Apple provides during the onboarding process, it says “Apple Watch tracks your breathing while you’re asleep and records any disturbances in a 30-day period.” It can notify you if those disturbances “are suggestive of sleep apnea,” so you can go to a doctor for a proper diagnosis.

It’s been only about a week since Apple announced sleep apnea notifications were coming, and clearly 30 days haven’t passed. I have yet to glean enough information for any alerts, and cannot yet gauge the impact of this feature.

The Apple Watch Series 10 as a health and fitness tracker

Barring changes that come with watchOS 11, which older Apple Watches will also get, the Series 10 is essentially the same as its predecessor when it comes to tracking your activity. As long as you’ve set things up right, you’ll get reminders to log your mood, take your meds and move after you’ve been idle too long.

Having just reviewed Google’s Pixel Watch 3, I can’t help but wish Apple were a tad more sensitive and consistent at automatically prompting me to start logging a walk. There’s no real guidance as to how long you have to have been active for the watch to suggest you’d been working out. That leads to some confusion and pure frustration when you think you’d walked or run enough for the auto detection to kick in, but only to find out you maybe hadn’t moved in the right way or for long enough.

I’ve been a yearslong Apple Watch user, so I’ve grown extremely familiar and reliant on its interface and the data it collects. I like diving into my calendar view and looking proudly at all the days I closed my rings. The Health app does a good job of presenting my recent trends and how that compares with my performance a year ago, subtly shaming me into realizing I should maybe take a few more walks a week. The Series 10 doesn’t differ much from the Series 9 in that way, and if you’re already in Apple’s ecosystem, this will largely feel extremely familiar.

Cherlynn Low for Engadget

The Apple Watch Series 10’s water-sports features

There are some new tools on the Series 10 that are borrowed from elsewhere in the family, though. Apple’s brought the Watch Ultra’s Depth app over and introduced a new Tides app across the Series 10 and Watch Ultra 2 that should be helpful for those who spend a lot of time in the water.

I’m not a big water sports girl, but I do occasionally hang out at beaches. Whether it’s Long Island’s pristine, sandy shores or the rocky terrain of Red Hook’s Valentino Pier, I’ve certainly encountered sudden swells in water level that I’ve had to run to avoid. It’s not the biggest problem, of course, but I can see how the Tides app would help anyone plan a day. I launched the app, and in a few seconds, the Series 10 located the closest beach, informing me that the tide was falling and that water levels would hit their lowest at about 2:07AM.

I didn’t verify this by going to Newport Beach at 2:07AM to measure water levels, but even from my brief testing it appears to be a helpful app for those who need to know this information for a full day of surfing, for example. It’s also useful for those who want a convenient way to locate the closest body of water, since the map view shows beaches around you.

It’s hard to imagine the Depth app being useful for a non-snorkeler or non-scuba diver like me, as I’ve watched one too many videos of underwater cave diving gone wrong. But the Depth app and water temperature sensor could theoretically be useful in other scenarios. If you have a deep enough tub, you could potentially stick the Series 10 on your wrist into the bottom and get a reading for whether the water is too hot for your kid.

Unlike on the Apple Watch Ultra (1 and 2), which go down to 40 meters (131.2 feet), the Series 10’s depth gauge will only provide readings up to 6 meters. That does mean you won’t want to take this scuba diving, and it’s not rated for that, either. All three models I mentioned here offer the same water temperature capability, though.

The Apple Watch Series 10’s battery life and charging speed

In the few days I’ve had the Apple Watch Series 10, it’s generally outlasted the Series 9, not usually by much. One day, after a cross-training workout at 8AM followed by a GPS-enabled walk and a day full of Slack and Telegram alerts, the Series 10 still managed to have 46 percent left at 11:45PM when I got home. The Series 9 was struggling at 19 percent, and both had the same display and Always On settings. This is one aspect that I’d like more time testing to better understand, but considering the new watch’s slimmer profile and bigger screen, the fact that it even has similar runtime at all would be respectable.

Apple also updated the charging setup on its latest smartwatch, which should bring the Series 10 back to 80 percent in 30 minutes. It’s worth noting you’ll have to use a fast-charge-certified accessory, such as a charging cable from the Series 7 or later, which you can tell by confirming that the wire is braided. Faster recharge speeds are nice, since they make up for any shortfalls in battery life by making sure you don’t need to wait too long for your device to get back up to a healthy level.

Still, considering many devices from Garmin, Fitbit and even Samsung can last longer than two days and even up to seven days per charge, the Apple Watch’s day and a half feels like a number that could be higher. If the company were looking for ways to push the envelope further, battery life is certainly the area to investigate. I don’t mind charging my watch every morning (or night), but some people want to be able to go camping over a long weekend and not have to worry about bringing along chargers. Don’t tell them to buy an Apple Watch Ultra for that benefit.

Wrap-up

It’s hard to sum up how I feel about the Apple Watch Series 10. On one hand, I definitely still need more time to form a conclusion about things I don’t feel familiar with yet, like sleep apnea alerts. On the other, I feel like I already know this product very well, thanks to its similarity to its predecessor(s). Plus, with watchOS 11 bringing a lot of similar features to the Series 9, Watch Ultra 2 and more, it feels difficult to recommend anyone with a recent device spring for an upgrade. Some of my friends considering the Series 10 are coming from the Series 8 or older, and for them Apple’s latest certainly feels worthwhile.

However, those using an older model should be aware that upgrading to a newer Apple Watch would cost them access to the blood oxygen detection features. The company has yet to bring back the Blood Oxygen app that it removed from the Series 9 and Ultra 2 that it sells in the US, as a result of a patent lawsuit filed by Masimo. It’s entirely possible the company is able to revive this feature simply through a software update, but if this measurement is crucial to your daily life, it might be worth sticking with your Series 8.

Those looking for a huge leap forward because of the number “10” in the device’s name should be prepared to be underwhelmed. But just because the Series 10 isn’t a reinvention of smartwatches doesn’t mean it isn’t still an excellent companion device and well-rounded health-tracker. If you’re simply looking for a new Apple Watch or don’t care for SpO2 readings, and are coming from a model that’s at least two years old, the Series 10 will feel like a solid upgrade. And it’s still the best for any iPhone owner.

Growing up. It’s something we all do, and devices do too. While there’s been very little innovation in mainstream smartphones lately, foldable phones have been maturing over the last few years and finally seem to be coming into their own. It’s like they’re in the young adult phase of their lives, while the conventional “candybar” handset has largely been figured out. At least, on the outside, anyway.

If foldables are the products, then companies like Samsung and Google are the parents, and each of those two has taken a different approach. Samsung has been more experimental, letting its baby flail around in the playground, falling off swings and cracking its face. Google appears to have been more careful, perhaps sheltering its product before releasing it for the first time last year. And let’s not talk about the elephant in (or missing from) the room — Apple is probably waiting till its foldable is mature enough to skip straight to high school before exposing it to the world.

All that is to say the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels like a glowed-up young adult, ready for reality. Though it would have been more apt to call this the Pixel Fold 2 (since it’s only Google’s second foldable), I can see why the company wants us to think of it as part of the 9-series. With the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the entire Pixel 9 lineup feels refined and well-equipped to take on the competition. And maybe even win our hearts.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s design

One of my favorite things about the Pixel foldable is its aspect ratio. Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which my colleague Sam Rutherford has described as more like a skinny baton, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels more like a conventional phone when folded. In fact, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is so much an extension of the Pixel 9 series that its 6.3-inch external display is pretty much the same size as the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro.

But because that panel is encased in a frame designed to house a hinge for the flexible internal screen, the Fold actually looks more similar in size to my iPhone 15 Pro Max. When I picked them both up, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold felt a bit heavier, but I guessed that it was probably close to the iPhone 14 Pro Max in weight. I was wrong — the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is actually 17 grams heavier than the iPhone 14 Pro Max and 36 grams more than the 15 Pro Max. More importantly, at 257 grams (9.06 ounces), the Pixel foldable is 18 grams heavier than the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

It may not be the lightest foldable around, but the Pixel 9 Pro Fold certainly ranks among the thinnest. When open, its profile measures just 5.1mm (0.2 inches) thick, while Samsung’s Z Fold 6 is slightly thicker at 5.6mm.

Numbers alone don’t tell the entire story. Small dimensions look nice on paper, but the way the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels to hold is a significant part of its evolution. Last year’s model felt a little unfinished, with a bit of a duct-tape vibe to its construction. This time, the device feels solid, thanks to its “aerospace-grade high-strength aluminum alloy” and “matte back with satin metal frame.” The external screen and rear are covered with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, helping it be more scratch-resistant.

Of course, as is usually the case with foldables, durability is a concern and something that we can only gauge with time. The good news is, Sam recently published a durability report after a year with the original Pixel Fold, and the device not only withstood the wear and tear of daily life, but also survived being in the general vicinity of an active toddler for 12 whole months.

Some quick final notes on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s design: If you’re right-handed, you might appreciate that the bottom right corner of the phone (when folded) is slightly curved. It rests nicely against your palm and is marginally more enjoyable than the experience for those who are left-handed, who might not like the sharper angle of the bottom left corner. I used the Fold in both hands and didn’t find this a major issue, but our videographer Hayato Huseman did not like the design for left-handed use.

I also have a minor complaint that the device is hard to open without first getting a fingernail in between the two halves, but I expect this will get easier in time. More annoying is the slight creak every time I open the phone, but this got smoother over time. On occasion, there’s also a mildly concerning rattle when I shake the Fold, which is something my friend Julian Chokkattu at Wired brought to my attention, so it sounds like a problem that isn’t unique to our unit. 

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

I’ve asked Google if this is an issue with just our review samples or if it’s more widespread and according to the company "this is expected behavior that's due to the telephoto camera VCM (voice coil motor). You will likely notice this on Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL as well." I will say that I hear a similar (though less pronounced) sound when I shake my iPhone 15 Pro Max the same way, so this could just be the optical image stabilization system moving about.

A tale of two Pixel 9 Pro Fold displays

Gather up, aspect ratio nerds, have we got an adventure in intricate numbers for you! Though last year’s Pixel Fold had a 5.8-inch external display with an awkward 17.4:9 aspect ratio, this year’s model is much more intuitive. It’s the same 6.3-inch 20:9 screen as the standard Pixel 9, making it a more familiar size and shape. I’m a little bummed that it has the 1,080 x 2,424 resolution and 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate of the base Pixel 9, as opposed to the sharper panel on the Pro (which goes down to 1Hz), but it’s not a huge problem.

Sam pointed out that there is the teeniest change in the Pixel Fold’s internal screen. The original was just under 5.875 inches wide when held in landscape, and while the new Pixel Fold’s interior display is the same size in the same orientation, in portrait mode it’s actually 5.625 inches wide. This means the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s internal display has an almost square 1:1 aspect ratio that’s 8 inches wide diagonally, which is larger than its predecessor’s 7.6-inch panel.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

This doesn’t dramatically improve things when you’re viewing widescreen content, and Sam would even call it a “very tiny downgrade” in that scenario. The new screen dimensions will make more of a difference when you’re gaming and multitasking than watching videos. The tweak appears to be more for compatibility, and I still had to live with empty space on either side of videos (in both portrait and landscape orientations) when I played YouTube clips in fullscreen mode.

I should point out that the internal display does actually go down to 1Hz, but has a lower pixel density thanks to its 2,076 x 2,152 resolution. I wasn’t ever blown away by either display, though, and merely found them perfunctory. They both go up to 2,700 nits of peak brightness, and are easy enough to read in sunlight, though the front screen can get up to 1,800 nits with HDR while the one inside only goes to 1,600 nits with HDR.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s cameras and photography features

Google’s original foldable already had better cameras than Samsung’s latest, offering a longer optical zoom, sharper pictures and superior low-light performance. So though it’s slightly disappointing that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn’t come with many hardware upgrades, what it does bring is still greater than the Z Fold 6. In fact, Sam says the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has the best cameras on any foldable you can buy in the US.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Google has kept the main sensor at 48 megapixels and upgraded the ultra-wide camera to enable macro focus. You’ll still find a 5x optical zoom on the telephoto camera, which is longer than the 3x option on Samsung’s Z Fold 6. What’s interesting is that with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google had to tweak its camera hardware to “fit our unique ultra thin architecture,” which is a fairly impressive engineering feat.

When it came down to actual pictures, the Pixel consistently outshot the Z Fold 6, with Sam going as far as to say it’s “generally a tier level higher.” Colors are brighter and more accurate, and the telephoto hardware makes a noticeable difference in zoomed-in shots. That’s even before using Google’s Zoom Enhance software, too. Given Samsung has been using the same sensor for the main camera for the last three years, that doesn’t seem surprising, but it’s certainly a shame that those who shelled out $1,900 for the Z Fold 6 are stuck with poorer specs here. It’s strange too, considering Samsung’s main sensor is a higher-res 50MP.

It’s worth noting that Google’s primary hardware update also gave the Pixel 9 Pro Fold more of an edge, since being able to use its ultra-wide camera as a macro shooter made its close-up shots better than Samsung’s. Plus, Google continues to lead in low-light photography, producing sharper, more vibrant and better exposed images than the Z Fold 6.

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

In fact, software is where the Pixel cameras continue to shine. Google added new features like Add Me and Made You Look this year, with the latter being an exclusive to the Pro Fold. Makes sense, since that uses the internal and external screens. While you have the camera app open on the inside, tapping an icon above the shutter button lets you choose between dual screen, rear camera selfie or Made You Look. Selecting the last one brings up four options of different cartoon animations, and the respective character appears on the outside display. The chicken, or fish, or blob will dance around and make noises to get the attention of your subject. This is meant to work predominantly on children, though I imagine it’ll also pique the curiosity of cats and dogs.

After numerous rounds of testing with Made You Look, I mostly ended up with pictures of an adorable one-year-old looking largely confused, and not even really directly at the camera. With the way the phone's screen and camera is set up, you won't really get a shot of your subject looking into the lens, since the distracting character is next to it. My friend's toddler took a while to warm up to the animation, too, appearing to like the fish the most. She did not catch on that the animal would do something different if she smiled, no matter how many times I tried patiently to explain the concept to her. Not surprising, since she was born only last year after all.

I found more success with an older audience. In fact, the older the subject, the more likely they were to be amused by Made You Look. It does feel a bit futile as a feature, since after a certain age kids mostly know to be aware of, if not to pose for a camera. The idea was good, the execution also sound, but it turns out maybe we should worry less about getting children to face the right way for photos and cherish the moments?

When you’re ready to edit your pictures, you’ll find the same suite of tools that are on the Pixel 9 Pro. That means things like Magic Editor, Reimagine and Autoframe are also available to spruce up your shots. I won’t retread ground we already covered in that review, but like we mentioned before, these generative-AI features are somewhat effective but occasionally problematic. I like using it to create more bushes or greenery in the background so I can center my friends in a candid photo, but find it concerning that Reimagine could be used to add “wrecks, disasters and corpses” to pictures, according to The Verge.

If you can stay away from the problematic AI tools, though, it’s heartening to see that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold can deliver photos that are as good as the ones I got from my iPhone 15 Pro Max. After all, you’re paying $1,800, you should be getting flagship-level cameras.

Performance and in use

Sam Rutherford for Engadget

Neither Sam nor I have had more than a week with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, so it’s a little too early to talk about longterm performance and daily use. In general, though, so far we’ve noticed the new Fold runs smoothly and coolly, just like the other Pixel 9 Pros. That’s largely thanks to the Tensor G4 processor and built-in vapor chamber, and of course, maybe I just haven’t had the Fold long enough but it never got too warm.

I enjoyed watching YouTube with Threads open next to it on the internal screen, and the larger canvas also made Instagram pictures easier to scrutinize. I wish more apps were compatible with the bigger format, though, since my recent favorite games like Fruit Merge don’t expand to the full width and instead sit in the middle, flanked by two bars of empty space.

It’s also strange that flexing the screen, which is supposed to automatically switch compatible apps into a half-and-half layout, only works in landscape mode. That means if you open YouTube, bend the Pixel 9 Pro Fold slightly and flip it so the rear camera is on the top left corner, you’ll see videos take up the top half of the display. The bottom portion is where the title, description, comments and other videos sit.

This layout is intuitive, and makes sense in the landscape orientation where the clip you’re watching is propped up for easier viewing. I just wish there was an equivalent when you’re holding the Fold in portrait mode that would make the comments take up the right half of the display instead of the awkward column it currently uses.

Sam’s experience with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 leads him to find Samsung’s taskbar “a touch better for power users,” since you can set it to always stick around no matter what app you’re on. This makes it easier to launch apps in splitscreen or just jump between tasks. It’s also worth noting that Google doesn’t support stylus input, while Samsung does, and the latter’s DeX multitasking software is handy for productivity. The Pixel Fold doesn’t have such an interface where apps appear in floating windows, though I do like when compatible apps display extra columns or sidebars when they’re on the bigger screen.

Still, these are generally minor quibbles that feel easy enough to solve with software updates you might receive over time. If you’re not a power user or itching to use a stylus with your foldable, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a solid option over the Galaxy Z Fold 6.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s battery life

The Pixel 9 series has been delivering seriously good results on our video rundown battery test and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is no exception. When running on just the external display, the Fold clocked 27 hours and 9 minutes, which is basically the same as what the standard Pixel 9 got. When using just the interior screen, the Fold lasted 23 hours and 22 minutes, which is impressive for how much larger the panel is.

Those numbers are about two to three hours better than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which notched 25 hours and 19 minutes when folded and 20:07 when open. The new Pixel Fold also beat its predecessor and the OnePlus Open, as neither of those even passed the 20-hour mark on our test.

Wrap-up

Although the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is only Google’s second foldable device, it’s already come a long way. It both looks and feels better than before, with a size and shape that is more similar to a standard phone when closed. When open, the device is easy to hold and provides a roomier canvas for light multitasking and gaming. Plus, compared to its main competition in the US, the Pixel Fold 2 (spiritually anyway) has a superior camera game and longer battery life. It’s also $100 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, though it’s still pretty pricey at $1,800.

Google’s foldable line still has some quirks to work out, but that’s all part of growing up. For a device that’s only been around for two generations, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a solid foldable for anyone looking to dip their toe into flexible phones that can double as tablets.

Update, September 4, 2:20PM ET: This review was updated after publishing to include more testing of the Made You Look camera feature. These additional impressions have not affected the review score or our overall recommendation.