Google Pixel Fold Review: Maybe Next Year!

Aug 11, 2023

Google Pixel Fold Review: Maybe Next Year!

Pixel Fold is pretty sweet and I’m loving it. But it’s also $1800 and has a real set of flaws.

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Phone provided by Google for review.

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Content

3.36 -> hey what's up I'm Kim HD here

5.339 -> yo the pixel fold is a weird phone there

8.76 -> are so many things about this thing

11.28 -> that are unusual so I and many other

13.32 -> people have been waiting for a folding

15.24 -> pixel this is something we imagined was

17.58 -> coming eventually so it is kind of

19.14 -> surreal to actually be holding and have

21.359 -> been using and testing this phone I've

23.58 -> been using it for about a week now and

25.8 -> boy do I have a lot of thoughts so I

27.539 -> guess let's just start with the design I

30.24 -> really like a lot of the decisions

32.04 -> they've made with this foldable which

34.2 -> really optimize far towards it being

36.059 -> thin and passport shaped originally when

38.94 -> I first got to play with it I was saying

40.559 -> man this could be the best foldable to

43.14 -> use wall closed and I do now stand by

46.379 -> that take it's the easiest best foldable

48.78 -> to use when it's closed but

50.82 -> unfortunately it does have a much lower

52.32 -> ranking for using it while open so the

55.739 -> front screen is 5.8 inches diagonally

57.84 -> it's got these curved edges you can see

59.64 -> and it's actually fairly thin bezels all

61.559 -> the way around the rails all the way

63.539 -> around the phone itself and the hinge

65.22 -> are stainless steel and the whole thing

67.82 -> is relatively thin it's just bordering

70.86 -> on a little bit thicker than the

72.659 -> thickest normal phone you can get I

74.34 -> think the number is like 12 millimeters

75.84 -> total you can see there's no air gap in

77.939 -> the middle so honestly yeah I've spent a

80.939 -> lot of time using the outside screen

82.92 -> like a normal phone and it's just the

85.74 -> most reachable usable outside screen of

88.38 -> any folding phone you unlock it with the

90.299 -> fingerprint reader on the side which is

91.74 -> also the power button and it's pretty

93.479 -> quick this is a 120 hertz OLED display

95.88 -> that gets up to 1550 nits Peak

99.06 -> brightness so it's plenty visible

101.1 -> outside it looks really good to me in

103.619 -> most situations I mean I'm impressed

105.659 -> this is a premium outside display which

108.119 -> I mean I guess I should be for eighteen

110.1 -> hundred dollars but we'll we'll get to

112.439 -> the price a little bit later the point

114.659 -> is though I I've always said the best

116.52 -> foldables have to be usable as just a

119.46 -> regular phone too and this one does

122.159 -> accomplish that great so then you open

125.52 -> up the phone and then that's when things

128.52 -> start to get a little more weird so you

130.02 -> can't exactly open this phone with one

131.4 -> hand I've definitely tried I kind of try

134.04 -> this with every foldable some are easier

135.72 -> than others this one's pretty much a

137.22 -> no-go but once you get it open when

139.02 -> you're in there you're greeted with an

140.7 -> interior 7.6 inch folding AMOLED display

143.879 -> also 120 Hertz and also plenty bright up

147.84 -> to 1450 nits really nice size it's

150.599 -> reminiscent of that Oppo Find N2

152.76 -> foldable but there are a couple of

154.26 -> things to note here's where some of the

155.879 -> weird starts so first of all the crease

158.7 -> is pretty average it's definitely not

161.099 -> dramatically worse than others I've seen

162.959 -> but you can for sure see it if you're

165.239 -> looking for it and you can kind of feel

166.62 -> it but because it's through the middle

168.3 -> of the screen you aren't usually running

170.28 -> your finger over it unlike the

171.78 -> vertically folding phones so it's not

173.76 -> really a big deal it's easy to disappear

175.62 -> to your eyes as you just look at content

177.42 -> and use it normally but then there was

180.06 -> just some talk about how it didn't seem

181.92 -> like the phone fully unfolds to 180

186.06 -> degrees and well I don't know this hinge

190.319 -> is really firm so you can Fold It Up

192.42 -> halfway or any angle you want really

194.4 -> easily which is awesome but then when

196.2 -> you fold it flat visually it looks

199.379 -> pretty flat but when you put it on a

201.42 -> table since there's a camera bump it

203.04 -> becomes more clear as it's rocking back

204.54 -> and forth it's maybe like one or two

206.459 -> degrees short of flat it's kind of weird

209.7 -> I mean you can you can force it to get

212.22 -> to flat or even a little bit past that

213.959 -> but it really doesn't feel good to do

215.64 -> that anyway then there is the bezel as

218.819 -> you've probably seen by now this phone

220.2 -> does have a slightly bigger top and

222.36 -> bottom bezel than some other folding

224.159 -> phones it is noticeable at first when

226.86 -> you just look at the bezels uh but again

229.739 -> it's one of those things where you start

231.06 -> using the phone and it is easy to forget

232.56 -> about you know I think a lot of videos

233.76 -> are going to hold it up side by side

235.319 -> next to the Samsung fold and then it's

237.06 -> like oh yeah clearly one of them has a

239.4 -> dramatically thinner bezel and it is

241.68 -> really noticeable but just using a phone

244.2 -> it looks fine and Google actually says

246.9 -> that this was an intentional decision so

248.64 -> what they were saying is they were again

249.84 -> biasing so much towards it being thin

252 -> that for some of the hinge components

254.099 -> they move them out and above and below

256.56 -> the hinge instead of in that z-axis

259.019 -> space so that it could be as thin as it

261.84 -> is but now you end up with a little bit

263.88 -> of extra bezel above oven below the

265.8 -> screen

266.52 -> but it did allow them room to put in a

268.86 -> real webcam or selfie camera instead of

271.199 -> a under display one but also I think

273.12 -> this is a little bit along the lines of

274.8 -> Google the pixel has never really been

277.139 -> all about pristine super highly

279.9 -> engineered like amazing Hardware they've

282.66 -> sort of flexed their strengths on the

284.16 -> software side and uh I think there's a

286.8 -> little bit of that here too either way

288.12 -> you can check the box of ipx8 water

290.759 -> resistance which is nice I do really

292.919 -> like this satin finish on the back which

294.72 -> does a good job of minimizing

295.919 -> fingerprints and looks pretty good and

298.02 -> the camera bump doesn't go all the way

299.759 -> to the very edges to meet the rails of

301.919 -> the phone that would have been tough

303.12 -> with the foldable but I do still think

304.86 -> they did a good job of maintaining the

306.419 -> whole pixel aesthetic performance is

310.32 -> weirdly good it's it's really really

312.54 -> good it's actually the best of any pixel

314.1 -> phone even though it's using the same

315.36 -> chip it's the tensor G2 from the pixel 7

317.46 -> and 7 Pro but it's yeah it feels

320.04 -> smoother and faster and more consistent

321.66 -> than the pixel 7 and 7 Pro so you know

323.34 -> maybe it could be that 12 gigs of RAM

324.78 -> that are in here it also has 256 or 512

328.08 -> gigs of ufs 3.1 storage but yeah it's

331.08 -> been butter the whole time I am very

332.94 -> happy to report now it's still a pixel

335.34 -> so I have to add the disclaimer that it

337.86 -> might not stay this way you know pixels

339.9 -> have a history of this accelerated aging

342.419 -> which is even more of a bummer when you

343.979 -> pay this much for a phone but you know I

346.38 -> can't report on that until we actually

348.3 -> get to a year from now so the best I can

350.46 -> do is tell you how it's acting now and

352.56 -> it is acting great the other thing

354.539 -> though that I'm kind of actually hoping

357.3 -> changes over time is the battery life

361.44 -> because the battery life in the first

363.12 -> this week that I've been testing the

364.5 -> phone has not been great uh usually

367.44 -> actually I can kind of just throw away

369 -> the first day or two of me testing this

371.16 -> one because it's you know still setting

372.419 -> it up still connecting everything and

373.919 -> getting it working properly and then I

376.5 -> can start looking at the numbers but

377.84 -> basically every day since I first got

380.1 -> this phone I've kind of had the same

381.36 -> experience which is not that great four

383.94 -> hours of screen on time at the end of my

385.919 -> day

387.3 -> um

387.96 -> which is not

389.52 -> nearly as high as some of the flagships

391.62 -> out there it is a 4 800 milliamp hour

393.78 -> battery which is really good for a

395.94 -> foldable but not gigantic for a giant

400.08 -> screen on the inside so pixels have this

401.699 -> feature called adaptive battery and

403.56 -> sometimes they can get a little bit

404.759 -> better over time depends on your use

406.919 -> depends on who you are your mileage may

408.78 -> vary

409.979 -> um but hey I've gotten I would say this

411.96 -> is like C plus battery life and the more

414.24 -> I think about it

415.56 -> I've been using a lot of the phone wall

418.319 -> closed which means it's the smaller

420.12 -> outside screen and so if I had been

422.639 -> using the larger inside screen even more

426.18 -> it would not have gone better so yeah c

429.539 -> c plus for battery but I want to talk

431.039 -> about the software experience here

432.12 -> because it is a pixel after all and

434.759 -> there is one weird thing so this was a

438.539 -> very interesting phone to test because

439.979 -> Google had to do a lot of software work

442.139 -> and I was excited to try all of it you

444.18 -> know Google's apps are all these

446.039 -> beautiful tablet optimized apps now

448.02 -> they're so thoughtfully designed for the

450.24 -> phone with this size screen they all

452.039 -> look normal on the outside screen but on

454.02 -> the inside you know Google Drive has

456.24 -> this nice slide out sidebar and

458.759 -> multi-column view Gmail's New

460.979 -> multi-column View is great the weather

463.139 -> app the new weather app is absolutely

465 -> fantastic Google Calendar is completely

467.639 -> redesigned like there's just so much

469.319 -> good stuff and then the new dock sort of

472.68 -> ties it all together so this dock I

474.66 -> talked about on the pixel tablet you

476.28 -> swipe up slightly from the bottom and

478.44 -> the home bar turns into your home screen

480.78 -> dock so this is the the apps that you

483.36 -> have on the bottom of your home screen

484.5 -> and you can quickly switch between these

486.18 -> apps or launch into multitasking super

488.759 -> easily so just like the other folding

490.86 -> phones I feel like I feel like I'm

492.66 -> multitasking God when I'm using this

495 -> huge folding phone open and just just

497.759 -> type it away but here is the weird part

501 -> as far as I can remember uh every other

503.699 -> foldable phone allows you to set up the

506.759 -> home screens and stuff on the outside

508.5 -> screen and then the inside screen is

512.159 -> separate you can have a separate set of

514.86 -> widgets you can go crazy and make a

516.719 -> different layout on the inside here

518.94 -> and on this phone

521.52 -> you cannot do that so look right now my

524.039 -> outside screen is these three pages this

526.74 -> one with the icons in the weather and

528.66 -> then this calendar widget one and then

530.58 -> this third one so when I open up the

532.62 -> phone that's exactly mirrored here the

534.54 -> left one is the first home screen then

536.16 -> the right one is the second one and I

538.14 -> swipe over and here's the third one but

540.06 -> if I like take this raindrop icon and

542.1 -> move it over here and then when I go

544.38 -> back to closed it's also moved the

547.08 -> Raindrop icon there because it's keeping

549 -> them exactly mirrored at all times which

551.82 -> is fine I think that actually makes a

554.58 -> lot of sense especially for beginners

555.959 -> like I I bet if if Apple made a folding

559.5 -> iPhone right now they would do the exact

561.3 -> same thing because iPhone users are used

562.8 -> to not having a ton of customization on

564.36 -> their home screens but

566.7 -> I haven't found a way to unlock that at

568.92 -> all like there's no I haven't seen any

570.42 -> home screen setting or display setting

572.48 -> to actually be able to set up a

575.16 -> different home screen on the inside

576.18 -> versus the outside just feels kind of on

579.72 -> Android like to me like I feel like I

581.22 -> can't be the only one who's spending

582.959 -> eighteen hundred dollars on a first gen

584.82 -> folding phone who would like to have

586.74 -> some apps on the outside screen and then

589.38 -> like a bunch of widgets on the inside

591.54 -> screen you know you actually can't even

593.519 -> span the Middle With One widget because

596.519 -> it's treating them basically as two

598.8 -> separate home screens even though it's

600.24 -> all with one big folding screen I just

603.12 -> found that so weird so anyway aside from

606.12 -> that I really enjoyed using the pixel

609.24 -> fold seriously between the great

610.8 -> performance and the Google software you

613.32 -> know all the pixel stuff Google

614.58 -> Assistant call screening Etc it's really

617.58 -> easy to get past the weirdness the other

619.8 -> thing you typically expect out of a

621.06 -> pixel though is good cameras so let's

623.7 -> talk about this camera situation for a

625.92 -> little bit because as I've said

627.779 -> everywhere you look there's just a

629.519 -> little bit of weird so first of all

631.019 -> actually there are five cameras on this

633.899 -> phone there is the nine megapixel hole

636.18 -> punch camera on the front on the outside

638.1 -> screen then there's an eight megapixel

641.1 -> camera on the inside up in that bezel

643.86 -> then there's the three primary cameras

645.839 -> on the back the thing with these back

648.48 -> cameras is because of how thin the phone

651.12 -> is there's definitely not enough room to

653.519 -> physically fit the same size sensors and

656.1 -> Optics that you have in the flagship

658.32 -> pixel phone so there is all new stuff

661.2 -> here and it's a little bit smaller so

662.88 -> there's a 48 megapixel main camera a 10

665.579 -> megapixel Ultra wide and a 10 megapixel

667.86 -> 5x telephoto

670.2 -> pixel fold photos

672.38 -> feel a lot like pixel 7A photos which

676.44 -> isn't an insult that's just to say that

678.06 -> they're in the same style you know the

679.98 -> same contrasty pixel style but overall

683.16 -> are definitely a step down in quality

685.68 -> from the flagships they're a bit noisier

687.48 -> a bit more muted in the colors

689.459 -> especially with the ultra wide and it

691.68 -> takes a bit longer to gather the same

693 -> amount of light as the larger Flagship

694.8 -> sensors also if you want to see video

696.779 -> from the pixel fold I actually shot the

698.579 -> entire last autofocus video on the pixel

701.1 -> fold so you can clearly see it's a step

702.959 -> down from some of the other flagships

704.82 -> I've shot with there's a lot of noise

706.079 -> and the darker areas of the frame

708.6 -> but I will say it was definitely easier

710.399 -> to shoot with because it's a folding

712.44 -> phone so I can just unfold it and I see

714.06 -> the viewfinder and I can frame things up

715.74 -> with the primary camera so that's an

717.54 -> advantage but yeah it's not like you're

719.279 -> gonna go out and shoot you know movies

720.959 -> on this thing I mean Samsung has had to

722.64 -> deal with the same type of thing like

723.959 -> the the camera quality of their super

726.18 -> expensive foldable phones has always

728.22 -> been a slight step down from their you

731.519 -> know big Flagship slab style phones so I

734.1 -> think that's a fair comparison this is

735.839 -> uh a step it's a notch down from the

739.92 -> pixel Flagship cameras you know what's

741.959 -> fun

742.92 -> this is a this is technically a first

745.38 -> gen device right this is the first time

747.6 -> Google's ever made a foldable

750.6 -> and on one hand you can kind of tell

752.459 -> that they've at least learned some

754.38 -> things from the other foldables already

756.54 -> out there because this feels a little

757.92 -> bit better in some ways like they've

759.18 -> gone with this passport sized form

761.16 -> factor and they've made conscious

763.32 -> decisions to make it thin and there's

765.54 -> some hinge Innovation here and it's kept

767.519 -> the pixel aesthetic just a lot of good

769.5 -> choices that are impressive for a first

772.079 -> gen device but it's still clearly has

775.44 -> some first gen shortcomings also that

777.48 -> have me thinking well maybe the next one

780.24 -> will be better you know like for the

782.1 -> inside display the crease and the bezels

785.16 -> and the 178 degree almost flat fold like

789.38 -> maybe the next one will be better for

792.54 -> the weak battery life like yes there is

794.579 -> wireless charging but hey maybe the next

796.86 -> one will have faster charging than the

799.139 -> current Max of 30 watts and of course

801.839 -> the app situation is still let's just

804.66 -> say it's clearly imperfect so they've

806.82 -> done a lot of good stuff with their

808.2 -> software but some apps still look

810.6 -> horrible I mean look at Instagram it

813.66 -> just it looks terrible you can double

816.36 -> tap to the left or to the right to move

818.339 -> it over closer to the side where it's

820.44 -> more reachable but still I mean that

822 -> that is rough Twitter also looks

825.18 -> horrible my golf app 18 birdies also not

828.779 -> optimized even YouTube studio is just

831.48 -> not optimized for this bigger screen and

833.579 -> the list goes on and on and on maybe

836.279 -> maybe that'll be better by the next one

838.56 -> so then the last weird thing about this

839.88 -> phone is it is one thousand eight

842.519 -> hundred dollars so of course that that

845.1 -> prices out pretty much anyone who's just

846.72 -> gonna like walk into a store casually

848.339 -> and just get a normal upgrade for their

850.26 -> phone it will be relegated to the early

852.959 -> adopters the enthusiasts maybe people

855.3 -> watching this video uh and the pixel

858 -> fans it's a smaller group but also I

860.639 -> gotta say weirdly enough

863.1 -> I really like using this phone I like

866.519 -> love using this phone it's got just the

868.38 -> right set of quirks and features to that

871.56 -> that I like it over the regular pixel

873.899 -> which I had been using

875.82 -> and also I think it's it's specifically

877.86 -> because it's so well optimized for using

880.68 -> it closed like I keep talking about how

882.18 -> it's the best foldable to use closed

884.16 -> it's got the right set of strengths and

886.62 -> weaknesses that I spend most of my time

889.8 -> just enjoying using it like a normal

891.54 -> phone close and then every once in a

893.339 -> while my 20 30 40 of the time that I

895.8 -> open it up and use it it's just this

897.959 -> whole new world and it's a nice benefit

899.339 -> it's getting closer to that ideal

901.44 -> folding phone for me

904.139 -> I really like it it's also Android 14

906 -> coming up soon

908.04 -> uh five years of Promise security

909.839 -> updates

911.279 -> great haptics great speakers I mean this

914.82 -> there's a lot of it's got just enough

916.56 -> upside that I really like it I'm sure

919.139 -> I'm looking forward to the next one

920.399 -> still of course but for anyone else

922.199 -> who's going to jump in on this first gen

923.579 -> version just know what you're getting

925.5 -> into it's a weird one

927.36 -> but I like it also you might have

928.74 -> spotted a few designs from Channel

930.12 -> sponsor dbrand a few times in this video

932.339 -> this new one is called Robot City and I

935.459 -> think it's pretty sick it's one of my

936.72 -> favorite designs they've released yet uh

938.76 -> it helps a lot also on a phone that says

940.5 -> monotonous as the pixel fold so these

943.019 -> sort of designs have kind of become a

944.399 -> staple of dbrand over the years I don't

945.899 -> know if you remember the the hair dryer

947.579 -> that's been in the studio which was

949.26 -> wrapped in the original robot Skin So

951.899 -> this new one Robot City if you can look

954.899 -> closely you'll see it actually there are

956.399 -> three different versions that you can

957.839 -> choose from there were all these unique

959.519 -> discreet pieces of art first one is

962.1 -> called Dead quarters kind of like a

964.98 -> dystopian headquarters of Robot City the

967.62 -> second one is amusement park complete

971.579 -> with sharks and Krakens and doomed

974.639 -> carnival rides and the third one really

977.639 -> hits home for me it's called crime

979.92 -> Square

981 -> because you know like Times Square but

983.699 -> with crime there are so many Easter eggs

986.1 -> in them it's silly uh so if you want to

987.72 -> check them out the Robot City skins are

989.519 -> available on over 100 devices including

992.16 -> the pixel folds if you want to check

993.3 -> them out I'll have a link Down Below in

994.5 -> the description either way that's been

996.66 -> it

997.74 -> till the next one thanks for watching

1000.56 -> catch you later

1001.82 -> peace

1003.38 -> foreign

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhFwDJCEhBg