We recently compared the two newest flip smartphones on the Australian market so when we had two of the newest fold phones on our review bench we thought we may as well compare these two.
Google is a newcomer to the foldable smartphone space but Samsung has been in it from day one and it showed in our comparisons. In saying that Google is on the right track with their hardware decisions but needs some maturation and development of its foldable software.
Yes, you guessed it, we have the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 on deck for the big comparison. Read on to hear my thoughts on the two newest fold smartphones on our market.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold – from now on I’ll just call it the Pixel 9 Fold – is the thinnest foldable smartphone I’ve ever seen. It is significantly thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 (to be known as the Z Fold6 from now).
Both phones are incredibly thin, especially when unfolded but as you can see in the pictures there is a definite difference between the two.
Both phones have the fingerprint sensor on the right hand side of the phone (when unfolded) and doubles as the power button. They also have a volume rocker in the same complex. The Z Fold6 has its fingerprint sensor/power button below the volume rocker and the Pixel 9 Fold the other way around.
I think I prefer the Samsung sensor (not the location of it — that’s neither here nor there) as it is recessed and easily distinguishable from the volume rocker button when you quickly pick up the phone.
The width of the phones is very different with the Z Fold6 a LOT thinner from left to right. It has a much thinner front cover display and also a more compact hinge that doesn’t stick out from the side of the display much at all. The Pixel 9 Fold’s hinge sticks out significantly and adds a good few millimetres to the device.
Both phones are a solid build with an aluminium frame and side rails. The Z Fold6 has squarer edges while the Pixel 9 Fold has more rounded edges that feel more comfortable in the hand.
Both phones have a glass back so feel very similar in the hand. Google has done a great job with only their second foldable smartphone with a great-looking design and solid build but Samsung has been at this for a while and their more compact hinge, recessed fingerprint sensor and elegant design help it pull ahead of the Pixel 9 Fold here.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6: 6.3 inches, 968 x 2376 pixels, 410 ppi, Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, 2600 nits (peak), Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: 6.3 inches, 1080 x 2424 pixels, 20:9 ratio, 422 ppi, OLED, 120Hz, HDR, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, 1800 nits (HBM), 2700 nits (peak)
The cover display on a foldable is used a lot more than you think. It’s the opposite of that for a flip phone. Most people I speak to who have used a fold rarely open it. I must say I’m in that boat.
While at home I have it open most of the time as the surfing and app experience is so much better but when on the go the outside the display is all I need to quickly glance at things during the day – if you have a lot of casual app use and web surfing while at a desk during the day then you may have it open even more.
Google has included the exact same display in their cover display as they included in the Pixel 9. It is not their best display but it is a very good display – with a normal display ratio. this results in the user experience being exactly the same as that on a normal flat phone.
Samsung has included a very strange 25:9 ratio display on the outside of the Z Fold6 and I’m not a massive fan. It is still usable but it is a cramped experience. The keyboard is cramped but still usable. The experience is just not the same as that on the Pixel 9 Fold.
The thinner display makes the Z Fold6 more pocketable but it’s not worth the trade-off of the thinner display.
Winner: Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold by a long way thanks to its much more useful display and its ‘normal’ display ratio.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6: 7.6 inches, 185.2 cm2 (~91.0% screen-to-body ratio), 1856 x 2160 pixels (~374 ppi density), 1856 x 2160 pixels (~374 ppi density), Foldable Dynamic LTPO AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 2600 nits (peak)
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: 8.0 inches, 207.4 cm2 (~89.0% screen-to-body ratio), 2076 x 2152 pixels, 1:1 ratio (~373 ppi density), Foldable LTPO OLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1600 nits (HBM), 2700 nits (peak)
The Z Fold6 is of course a different size to that of the Pixel 9 Fold and it does make a difference. To take full advantage of the tablet format of apps you will need to turn the Z Fold6 around 90 degrees so it is wider than it is tall.
Aside from that, side by side the displays are incredibly similar with similar brightness levels and colours. The Z Fold6 is a smidge brighter, even though it apparently has a lower peak brightness.
The creases caused by the folding display and the hinge are very similar. The Pixel 9 Fold hinge is slightly smaller than that on the Z Fold6 but the difference is minimal. In real-world use the crease is inginificant, you barely notice it while using the device and it certainly doesn’t affect your use negatively at all.
Winner: Draw. Both are great devices. I do prefer the size of the display of the Pixel 9 Fold but simply turn the Z Fold6 90 degrees and you get the same experience.
The hinges are very similar once again, with the Z Fold6 a bit stiffer which helps it to feel more premium. Both devices can hold their displays open for around 0 to 135 degrees but the Galaxy Z Fold6 hinge is much more compact – but you only notice that on the outside, not when the phone is open.
The hinge on the Pixel 9 Fold adds a good few millimetres to the width of the phone. Maybe when Google’s hardware has matured a few more years they’ll be at the same level.
The use and feel of the hinges though are nearly identical.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 just because of how much they have managed to shrink the hinge.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6:
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold:
The specs of the main rear camera are virtually identical so you would expect the resultant images to be of similar quality too. Both heavily use AI in their computational photography, so there doesn’t seem to be an advantage with respect to specs that we can see.
The inner selfie camera on the Samsung is inadequate given it is only 4MP. I use the inner camera for all Zoom, Teams and Meet meetings I am in. That way I can easily see all the meeting attendees and visualise any presented material better.
Not sure why they have done that but I suspect it may have something to do with it being an under-display camera. Remember when we all thought they were going to be awesome? I’m not sure of the last time a selfie camera hole got in the way of my viewing experience.
The cover selfie camera looks to be the same on both phones.
Let’s compare all the images I took with these phones. The Pixel 9 Fold photo is on the left for all these photos below.
Interestingly, on the following two macro images the Pixel 9 Fold had a true macro setting and focused well whereas the Z Fold6 struggled and was out of focus. I had to include both pictures to show that it wasn’t just it not focusing one time.
For the selfies, the inner camera on the Z Fold6 is terrible and is a potato cam at best. Not even good enough for video conferencing, especially if you are presenting. The other two Samsung’s AI is hard at work sgharpenming all the things, including my beard and hair — it makes it look too rough and fake. The colours of the Pixel 9 Fold selfies were all more natural and how they actually were.
With the better selfie and macro images this category has to go to the Pixel 9 Fold. Samsung are just doing too much with their AI computational photography and over sharpening on some. The rest of the images were very close, as you can see above.
Winner: Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
It shows that Samsung has had six generations of foldable phones to customise their software to the new form factor. Samsung has some great customisations that make using the fold much more useful than that on the Pixel 9 Fold.
I love how you can have one home screen setup for the cover display and one for the wider, double inner display. With the Pixel 9 Fold you are stuck with the inner display being the first two screens of your outer launcher.
Samsung has also made their taskbar a lot more customisable. You can have up to six permanent apps on the taskbar along with the four most recent apps whereas the Pixel 9 Fold has six total apps with some of these recent apps (depending on how many permanent shortcuts you put there – the total will be six). Samsung also allows you to hide and show the taskbar by pressing and holding the lower part of the display where the taskbar is normally.
Both phones have an option to run apps automatically on the outer display when the phone is folded while that app is running so that’s neither here nor there.
Google has introduced a new feature in Google Translate that is worth mentioning though. You can use both displays at once in the app by having your side of the conversation on the inner display and the other person’s end on the outer display. Much easier for everyone involved with a much bigger screen to show.
Aside from the foldable software, the Pixel Android software is so much better than Samsung’s. Their Assistant voice to text is enough to sell me on it but the overall Android experience is that much better.
Winner: Unfortunately for Google though, their lack of customisable folding software is too much for it to make up. Samsung takes this category thanks to its mature and useful foldable software.
The battery in the Pixel 9 Fold is 4650mAh while that in the Z Fold6 is 4400mAh. They have very similar battery lives though in my testing – at least not a significant enough difference to notice one being better or worse than the other.
The Galaxy Z Fold6 offers 25W wired charging, 15W wireless and also 4.5W reverse wireless. The Pixel 9 Fold though on the other hand offers just 21W wired charging and 7.5W wireless. In everyday use, the difference is noticeable with the Pixel 9 Fold seemingly taking forever to charge and it feels like I’m trying to play catch up all day.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is incredibly thin but unfortunately, I feel that this race to the thinnest phone has resulted in it using less-than-premium charging solutions. Oh, and they moved the Qi charging coils so that they don’t match any other Pixel smartphones.
Winner: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 wins this one thanks to its faster charging – yes, unusual for Samsung in this post-Note7 world, but that shows how sub-optimal the solutions are in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The fold segment of the foldable market is an expensive segment because you are getting more than two full sized displays, along with all the other technology that comes along with it. As such it it imperative that you choose carefully which you want, which suits you the best.
I have discussed my thoughtson all the main points above, along with what I think is the best phone in each category. While the Pixel 9 Fold has a better camera and outer display its software isn’t up to that on the Z Fold6 just yet.
The end result though is extremely close and you should be happy with either one of these foldable smartphones. IF you are in the market for one, consider what you need most in the phone. Camera? Go for the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold but if you want customisable Samsung software then the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 is in your future. Both are great phones and it is difficult to choose one over the other.
If I really had to choose one, I’d go for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6, just for its more mature software. You can be sure Google iwll get there in the future but for now Samsung’s is better.
My advice, more than ever, is to read all you can about each phone and then head down to your local tech store and check both out before making any purchasing decisions.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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