{"id":210499,"date":"2025-10-09T01:31:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T01:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/210499\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T01:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T01:31:13","slug":"after-a-week-with-the-pixel-10-pro-fold-i-already-have-a-big-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/210499\/","title":{"rendered":"After a week with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, I already have a big concern"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Someone<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Pixel 10 lineup has been off to a roaring start. The base model Pixel 10<\/a> is a handset we called \u201cone of the best phones Google has ever made,\u201d with its new telephoto camera, magnetic charging, and excellent hardware making it a superb value at $799. Meanwhile, both the Pixel 10 Pro<\/a> and Pixel 10 Pro XL<\/a> have justified their higher prices with super versatile cameras, even nicer hardware, and better performance.<\/p>\n

But what about Google\u2019s most expensive Pixel 10, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold? I\u2019ve spent about a week using Google\u2019s latest foldable Pixel, and it\u2019s been an interesting time so far.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, there\u2019s a lot about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold that Google has absolutely nailed. The screens look great, the hardware is top-notch, and Google\u2019s version of Android 16 is shockingly well-optimized for the big 8-inch inner display.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve enjoyed my time with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but there\u2019s already one thing that\u2019s bugging me, and I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll ever be able to overlook it.<\/p>\n

Are you going to buy the Pixel 10 Pro Fold?<\/p>\n

163 votes<\/p>\n

Yes, I already placed my pre-order!<\/p>\n

29%<\/p>\n

Yes, I plan on picking it up soon.<\/p>\n

15%<\/p>\n

No, I bought another Pixel 10 model.<\/p>\n

14%<\/p>\n

No, I’m not interested in it at all.<\/p>\n

42%<\/p>\n

My biggest complaint about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

That one thing is the camera system. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold features a triple-lens setup, comprising a 48MP primary camera with an f\/1.7 aperture, a 10.8MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, and a 10.5MP ultrawide camera.<\/p>\n

For some context, the primary and telephoto cameras use the same sensors as those on the base Pixel 10. They\u2019re good cameras for a $799 smartphone, but on a phone that costs $1,799, they\u2019ve consistently stood out to me as the Fold\u2019s most significant compromise, even after just a week with the phone. I took some side-by-side photos with the non-folding Pixel 10 Pro so you can see the difference for yourself, and it\u2019s not pretty.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPixel 10 Pro Fold\"PhotoPixel 10 Pro<\/p>\n

In the first picture of the sunset over the lake, the Fold\u2019s smaller primary camera struggles significantly with the sun, rendering it into a super-blown-out white orb with harsh lighting. It\u2019s a tough shot for the Pixel 10 Pro as well, but in its photo, the sunlight is wrangled in much more tightly and with a more pleasing (and lifelike) orange hue. This also translates to nicer colors in the sky and water.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPixel 10 Pro Fold\"PhotoPixel 10 Pro<\/p>\n

The quality disparity persists with the photo of the chicken and pasta dish (which, by the way, was delicious). Here, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold photo is bad. The color of the chicken looks anemic, parts of the photo appear over-sharpened, and the whole thing just looks flat. Compare that to the Pixel 10 Pro image, where the colors are so much richer. The larger sensor creates a nice, natural bokeh with the chicken pieces near the back of the dish, and the sharpness is better handled, too.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPixel 10 Pro Fold\"PhotoPixel 10 Pro<\/p>\n

Things aren\u2019t any better with the telephoto camera. The above shot was taken at 5x zoom, which is the optical range for both the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro Fold. As we\u2019ve seen in the other two photos, the Fold once again disappoints. Zoom in just a little bit, and you\u2019ll see how much noisier the sky and trees are in the Fold\u2019s picture compared to the Pixel 10 Pro. This is an admittedly challenging scene, zooming at 5x when the sun has mostly set, but it\u2019s something a $1,799 phone should be able to handle much better than what the Fold is capable of.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just 5x zoom where the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has annoyed me. This year\u2019s folding Pixel has a maximum zoom range of 20x. That might be fine in a bubble, but not in the same year that the Pixel 10 Pro debuted its new (and excellent) 100x Pro Res Zoom feature.<\/p>\n

\"TelephotoPixel 10 Pro (30x)\"TelephotoPixel 10 Pro (50x)<\/p>\n

The advantage here isn\u2019t necessarily that you\u2019ll want to take 100x photos all the time, but the flexibility to zoom up to 30x or 50x \u2014 paired with some really impressive upscaling \u2014 is a seriously big advantage that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold completely lacks.<\/p>\n

Even at smaller zoom distances of 10x or 20x, the Pixel 10 Pro\u2019s higher-quality sensor is apparent. The Pixel 10 Pro\u2019s telephoto camera has quickly become one of my favorite features of the phone, and having such a downgraded telephoto sensor on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a real shame.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, this has all left me feeling more limited and less confident in the types of photos I can capture compared to the Pixel 10 Pro. And as someone who gravitates toward Pixels because of their cameras, this is a problem. The Fold\u2019s cameras aren\u2019t horrible by any means, but they also aren\u2019t up to the quality you should expect from a $1,799 \u201cPro\u201d Pixel phone.<\/p>\n

Are those camera sacrifices worth it?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve looked at the Pixel 10 Pro Fold spec sheet at any point between now and its announcement in August, the conclusion that it has a weaker camera system compared to the Pixel 10 Pro shouldn\u2019t come as any surprise. But having spent so much time with the Pixel 10 Pro and experiencing firsthand just how incredible its cameras truly are, leaving that behind with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold has been a challenge.<\/p>\n

As much as I appreciate the flexibility of a foldable, I’m unsure if the camera trade-offs are worth it.<\/p>\n

Of course, if you can deal with the lesser camera experience, Google rewards you with what has proven to be an excellent foldable phone with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. I\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed using the large 8-inch screen for writing in my journal, jotting down Google Keep notes, watching YouTube, and more comfortably navigating websites in Chrome. Plus, having that foldable experience in a phone that retains all of my favorite Pixel features \u2014 plus the wonderful built-in magnets from the other Pixel 10 models \u2014 is a pretty fantastic combination.<\/p>\n

However, as much as I appreciate the flexibility of a foldable phone, I\u2019m unsure if the camera trade-offs are worth it \u2014 especially at this price. It\u2019s unfortunate that Google makes you choose one or the other, and over the next few days as I work on my review, I\u2019ll try to figure out which is the best choice for you if you\u2019re thinking about buying the Pixel 10 Pro Fold for yourself.<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/a>\"GoogleGoogle Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/a><\/p>\n

Top-tier specs \u2022 IP68 rating \u2022 6.4-inch outer and 8-inch inner displays<\/p>\n

Thinner, more powerful, and a bigger display<\/p>\n

The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold combines a 6.4-inch front display with a folding 8-inch inner panel for two capable viewing experiences. With the Tensor G5 shipset, 16GB of RAM, and lots of UFS 4.0 storage options, it matches the Pixel 10 Pro XL in terms of specifications and performance. The folding phone also offers a triple camera setup, plenty of powerful AI features, wireless charging, and an IP68 rating.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Maring \/ Android Authority Google\u2019s Pixel 10 lineup has been off to a roaring start. The base…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[168,2635,49850,165,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-210499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-google","9":"tag-google-pixel","10":"tag-google-pixel-10-pro-fold","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}