Which one do you have to purchase?

With the discharge of the Pixel Fold, Google has formally made its debut within the foldable smartphone market. At $1,799, although, it’s clear that the Pixel Fold is a premium machine with loads of cutting-edge options. However on the identical time, it retains most of the signature Pixel-exclusive AI and digital camera options we’ve come to count on through the years. So given this shared heritage, you is perhaps questioning: how does the Pixel Fold stack up vs the Pixel 7 Professional and which one do you have to purchase?

Regardless that it’s technically a first-generation product, the Pixel Fold shares most of the identical underpinnings as different Google smartphones. Most notably, the AI-focused Tensor G2 SoC is current on each the Pixel Fold and Pixel 7 Professional. It’s undoubtedly a flagship-tier chip, even when it lags behind among the newest competitors, like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

The 2 telephones additionally share an identical design language, which Google first launched with the Pixel 6 sequence. The steel body and digital camera visor have now grow to be distinct components of the Pixel lineup.

Look just a bit nearer, although, and the similarities shortly vanish. In fact, the principle distinction is that the Pixel Fold homes twice as many shows because the Pixel 7 Professional. At 5.8 inches, Google’s foldable encompasses a smaller cowl show than the Pixel 7 Professional’s 6.7-inch panel. Nonetheless, unfolding the previous reveals a 7.6-inch show that’s almost as giant as some tablets. The truth is, the foldable grants you 66% extra show space in comparison with the Pixel 7 Professional.

For each of the telephones in query, Google has packed vibrant and vibrant OLED shows with 120Hz refresh charges. All of them get equally vibrant, with a peak brightness of round 1,500 nits.

There are similarities on the software program facet too, with the identical three-year characteristic replace dedication. On high of that, you get two years of Android safety updates. With that in thoughts, you’ll get roughly half a 12 months’s value of extra updates for those who purchase the Pixel Fold.

One clear benefit of Google’s foldable smartphone is that the bottom mannequin contains 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. That’s double the storage and 50% extra reminiscence than the Pixel 7 Professional. Having stated that, you may pay to improve each on the latter.

Shifting on to sturdiness, Google joins Samsung as one of many solely foldable smartphone manufacturers to supply water resistance. The IPX8 score means you gained’t have to fret about unintentional splashes, however you’ll have to preserve the telephone away from mud. The Pixel 7 Professional, with its IP68 score, is way more well-protected on this regard. The Pixel Fold’s cowl show is protected with Gorilla Glass Victus, which matches the Pixel 7 Professional. On the within, in the meantime, it will get the identical ultra-thin glass that Samsung makes use of on the Galaxy Z Fold 4.

You do pay a small worth for the Pixel Fold’s flexibility within the type of further weight (71g distinction), which interprets to an additional 33% vs the Pixel 7 Professional. To not point out, the added thickness when folded will end in a tighter slot in your pockets. Having stated that, Google has performed a good job of minimizing the Pixel Fold’s footprint. The telephone encompasses a waterdrop-style hinge mechanism, which permits it to fold flat with none gaps.

The Pixel Fold is wider than the Pixel 7 Professional when folded, which can be simply too extensive for one-handed use. Google’s non-folding flagship boasts a barely curved show, making it really feel narrower within the hand. Lastly, it goes with out saying that you simply’ll want to make use of two fingers everytime you use the Pixel Fold in its unfolded state.

We’ve famous on a number of events that the Pixel 7 Professional is already fairly a considerable telephone. Google’s foldable takes that up a notch, so I’d advocate making an attempt out each units earlier than pulling the set off.

Any comparability involving Google’s smartphones could be incomplete with out a digital camera comparability. Let’s begin with the excellent news. You get a triple digital camera array on the again of each, the Pixel Fold and Pixel 7 Professional. Nonetheless, the picture sensors aren’t the identical on each units.

The Pixel Fold encompasses a 48MP major, 10.8MP ultrawide, and 10.8 5x telephoto lens. In the meantime, the Pixel 7 Professional gives a 50MP principal shooter alongside 12MP ultrawide and 48MP 5x telephoto cameras. Proper off the bat, it’s clear that the Pixel Fold loses out when it comes to decision. However there’s additionally one other facet that you could be discover until you look carefully on the spec sheet. All three sensors on the Pixel Fold are barely smaller vs those you’ll discover on the Pixel 7 Professional.

We’ve spoken at size concerning the significance of digital camera sensor sizes previously. So it goes with out saying that the Pixel 7 Professional has the benefit on paper. Concurrently, nonetheless, Google’s smartphones are recognized to have among the finest post-processing in the marketplace. We’ve seen the corporate use its computational pictures tech to ship some spectacular leads to latest occasions. The truth is, the reasonably priced Google Pixel 7a rivals costlier smartphones with higher on-paper digital camera {hardware}.

All of that’s to say the Pixel Fold will nonetheless ship wonderful leads to most taking pictures situations. We’ve rated the Pixel 7 Professional as top-of-the-line digital camera telephones cash should buy and count on Google’s foldable to carry out almost as effectively. Relaxation assured, although, we’ll put the Pixel Fold’s cameras by their paces in our full evaluation.

For a glimpse of Google’s pictures prowess, right here’s a fast have a look at some pattern images from the Pixel 7 Professional.

The Pixel Fold additionally options two front-facing cameras, one for every show. As soon as once more, although, they’re technically not fairly pretty much as good as the one one current on the Pixel 7 Professional. The latter additionally encompasses a wider discipline of view, letting you match giant teams in your photographs comfortably. Alternatively, unfolding the Pixel Fold allows you to use all three rear cameras — merely body your shot on the quilt show.

The Pixel Fold and Pixel 7 Professional share similar processing {hardware}, so we will count on comparable battery life from a chipset standpoint. In our testing, we’ve discovered that the Pixel 7 Professional’s battery lasts a full day after which some. That’s due to the massive 5,000mAh battery, which is bigger than the one Google has included within the Pixel Fold.

Going by that spec alone, we will estimate that the foldable gained’t final as lengthy. Furthermore, battery drain will speed up shortly while you use the interior show on the Pixel Fold. Bear in mind, the Pixel Fold sports activities a 66% bigger show vs the Pixel 7 Professional when unfolded. In fact, that additionally means you may earn again loads of endurance for those who use the smaller cowl display for many duties.

It’s extra of the identical on the subject of quick charging. The Pixel 7 Professional can take almost two full hours to cost from 0-100. The identical will seemingly maintain true for the Pixel Fold as effectively, relying on how effectively the machine manages warmth. Each telephones ship with out an adapter within the field, however you should use any USB Energy Supply PPS charger.

Whereas each smartphones assist Qi wi-fi charging, the Pixel Fold tops out at 7.5W vs the Pixel 7 Professional’s 12W. Moreover, the Pixel 7 Professional helps quicker 23W wi-fi charging on the Pixel Stand (2nd gen) in addition to reverse wi-fi charging. Often known as Battery Share, this useful characteristic allows you to high up equipment like Bluetooth earbuds by letting your telephone act as a wi-fi charger.

In contrast to another smartphone manufacturers, Google doesn’t cost as a lot for the Pixel 7 Professional relative to its premium internals. At a beginning worth of $899, it undercuts competitors just like the Galaxy S23 Extremely and iPhone 14 Professional. Concurrently, it delivers spectacular construct high quality and digital camera efficiency on par with and even past these telephones.

Nonetheless, the corporate hasn’t adopted the identical technique with its debutant foldable. The Pixel Fold launches at a whopping $1,799. That’s the identical as Samsung expenses for its premier folding smartphone. Having stated that, the bottom variant of the Pixel 7 Professional solely ships with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. If you happen to want 256GB as an alternative, you’ll should pay $100 extra, which brings the overall to $999. That narrows the hole between the 2 Google flagship smartphones just a little, however there’s little question that the Fold is way more costly.

If it helps, we’ve seen offers on the Pixel 7 Professional that knock a couple of hundred {dollars} off its launch worth. You’d have to attend a couple of months for that to occur with the Pixel Fold because it hasn’t even hit retailer cabinets but. It’s already up for pre-order, with gross sales formally kicking off in June.

Does the Pixel Fold supply $800+ value of worth over the Pixel 7 Professional? It depends upon your supposed use instances for every telephone. If you happen to see your self being extra productive with a bigger show, the foldable is definitely value contemplating. Nonetheless, for those who have been hoping for even higher digital camera efficiency from a Google smartphone, the additional money gained’t get you anyplace.

From a pure numbers perspective, it is smart to go for the Pixel 7 Professional. It encompasses a premium construct, wonderful picture high quality, and strong battery life. However all of these will even seemingly be almost true of the Pixel Fold with the added utility of a bigger canvas. So which one would you choose?