Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Which is the best foldable?

This Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold battle consists of a sixth-gen device against a second-gen device where the winner seems obvious. After all, a company should have an edge if it has been building foldables for six years over a phone manufacturer that’s only two years in.

But it’s not that simple, as these two are the exact opposite in terms of generational upgrades. While Samsung pushed out an iterative upgrade, Google went back to the design board and changed the foldable’s form factor. Google seems to have already perfected its design language with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, whereas Samsung’s complacency this year makes it look like it’s falling behind in the foldable phone segment. However, it’s not a complete slam dunk for Google, as the Korean company added a bunch of meaningful upgrades over the Galaxy Z Fold 5. So, which should you buy?

If you’re in the market for a book-style foldable, here’s what you need to know about the latest foldables from Google and Samsung.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: specs

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: design and display

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is a departure for the brand, and moves from the squat, passport-like design of the Pixel Fold to a more regular smartphone-like shape when folded. By contrast, Samsung is sticking to its slim cover screen on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. A slight bump of 0.1mm in screen size has made typing easier, and the screen is now more usable than before.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold weighs 257 grams (down from 283 grams), while the Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures 239 grams (down from 253 grams) on the weighing scale. The Samsung foldable is easier to handle than before and it feels great in the hand. The Pixel 9 Pro is likely to feel comfortable in the hand, thanks to the curved corners. However, the Samsung foldable has sharp corners, especially on the hinge side, which makes it feel pointy in the left palm. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold may to be better in this regard.

Samsung’s hinge is tight and the phone stays put at the angle you want it to. The Google foldable features an improved hinge mechanism and can now lie flat on the table. As noted in our Pixel Pro 9 Fold hands-on, opening the phone is far smoother than before.

The border on the left side of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold gives away the fact that it’s a second-generation foldable. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 looks more polished in this regard. Moreover, Samsung is the first company to introduce dust resistance on its foldable phone. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 is rated IP48 dust and water resistance, while the Pixel foldable is rated IPX8 for water resistance. You’re still not recommended to take these phones to the beach, but it’s comforting to know that these foldables are protected.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold features a 6.3-inch OLED front display with support for a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, while the Galaxy Z Fold 6 comes equipped with a 6.3-inch 120Hz AMOLED with cover screen. The Pixel is brighter at 2,700 nits peak brightness versus 2,600 nits on the Galaxy. Both the screens are sharp and vivid.

As for the inner screen, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold sports an 8-inch LTPO OLED display with a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate and 2,700 nits peak brightness. On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 comes with a 7.6-inch AMOLED folding screen with the same 1-120Hz variable refresh rate and lower 2,600 nits brightness. Both displays feature minimal crease. The Samsung foldable one-ups the Pixel with S Pen support. But you’ll need an additional case to use the stylus since there is no built-in slot for the same.

With a better cover screen aspect ratio and an LTPO OLED panel, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the winner, despite the Galaxy Z Fold 6 offering a lighter design with dust resistance rating.

Winner: Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: performance and battery

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is powered by the Google Tensor G4 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM and 256GB or 512GB of storage. The Tensor chips aren’t known for their power and efficiency but help Google to fine-tune their smart features and camera algorithms to give the best results. It packs a 4,650mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging and wireless charging.

By contrast, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 8 processor with 12GB of RAM and 256GB/512GB/1TB of storage. It’s a tried and tested chipset that’s power efficient and good for power-hungry tasks like gaming.

Google didn’t even mention gaming or raw performance in its launch keynote, which is likely a giveaway to not expect the Tensor G4 to be a powerful SoC. We’ll wait for our review process to be completed before giving a final verdict, but going by past examples, the Samsung foldable is likely to be the more powerful one.

The Samsung foldable comes with a 4,400mAh battery with fast charging support. It gives a day’s worth of usage on a single charge consistently — when not pushed with navigation and camera usage. Both phones charge comparatively slowly, and don’t support super-fast charging like the OnePlus Open. But the Pixel 9 Pro Fold still charges at a faster and more respectful rate of 45W.

While we’ll have to wait to see whether the Pixel 9 Pro Fold surprises us with its power and battery efficiency, for the moment, the Z Fold’s powerful processor and efficient performance mean it’s the winner. We’ll be sure to revisit this after our review is complete.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: cameras

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold sports a triple rear camera setup. You get a 48-megapixel primary camera, 10.5MP ultrawide lens, and 10.8MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. The smartphone comes with an additional feature called Made You Look, which displays an animation on the outer display to grab the attention of hyperactive kids and keep them still for photos.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 also holds three cameras on the back. There’s a 50MP primary camera, a 12MP ultrawide-angle lens, and a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. In general, the telephoto camera was weak, and it’s disappointing that Samsung didn’t upgrade it this year. The other two sensors did a fine job, but they struggle with clicking photos of moving subjects. Plus, the low-light camera performance is average, too.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 features a 4MP under-display camera (which isn’t very good) inside the folding screen, which makes it an uninterrupted experience to read and view fullscreen photos on. The Google phone comes with two 10MP selfie shooters on both the displays but it’s always recommend using the primary cameras for taking selfies on foldables.

We haven’t tested the Pixel 9 Pro Fold cameras thoroughly yet but they’re likely to take better photos of kids. It’s a tie because we need to wait for the verdict on Google’s cameras.

Winner: Tie

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: software and updates

Both the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Galaxy Z Fold 6 come with Android 14 out of the box with a promise of seven years of software and security updates. The Pixel also includes seven years of Pixel Drop updates, where it will receive new features. The two foldables also lead the race with AI features.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold offers a bunch of Gemini-powered AI features. There’s a new Add Me mode in the Camera app, which makes clicking group photos without missing anybody easier than ever. You can click a group photo, exchange the camera with another person from the group while they click another shot of the group (this time with you present) and Add Me merges the two photos to include everyone. You get the usual Photos AI features like Magic Editor, Magic Eraser, and more as well.

The Galaxy Z Fold 6 features Galaxy AI, which offers features such as Portrait Studio and Sketch to Image. The former lets you transform selfies into 3D cartoons, sketches, and more, while the latter generates images based on your rough sketches. Both phones offer an AI feature called Circle to Search that puts Google Lens search at your fingertips.

Samsung’s One UI is smooth and more feature-rich than the Pixel UI on the Google foldable. Both the phones feature the same number of OS support years and party-trick AI features (a few useful ones, too), which depends on how frequently you use them. It’s a tie.

Winner: Tie

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: price and availability

The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold starts at $1,799. It is currently available for preorder in two colors: Obsidian and Porcelain. The Google foldable will go on sale starting September 4. In comparison, Samsung increased the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 by $100 this year, and it now starts at $1,899 for the base 256GB variant, which is more expensive than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: Which one should you buy?

Google seems to have perfected the foldable form factor with its Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The smartphone still feels rough around the edges, which gives it away as a second-generation foldable. However, it features great displays and a solid camera setup (on paper) that may beat the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The Google phone is also slimmer and closer to a regular phone than the Samsung foldable, giving it another possible edge.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 adds subtle refinements to be a meaningful upgrade. You get dust resistance, S Pen support, tried and tested Samsung foldable software, and a powerful and efficient processor. But it’s $100 more for the same 256GB of base storage.

Google beats Samsung in terms of usability on the cover screen, while Samsung offers a robust foldable experience. It all relies on the camera performance, which we’ll talk about soon; we’re in the process of reviewing the Pixel 9 Pro and need more time with the cameras. Samsung’s camera performance with the Galaxy Z Fold 6 was average this year, so the Pixel 9 Pro Fold doesn’t have a huge benchmark. If Tensor G4 proves to be power efficient, we could be looking at the new foldable smartphone king in the U.S.