Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold review: Competitive foldable?

The bright spot: clean software

Software is where Pixel devices shine the brightest. Google has kept its efforts consistent over the years, from its promise of 7 years of software and security updates and support to a clean Android experience and early access to the newest features.

We’ve covered some of the Android 17 features in our Pixel 11 series review, such as the new Rambler voice-typing tool and Android’s Quick Share now compatible with Apple AirDrop.

Adding on to that, there’s also Proactive Assistance, which we believe is a rebranded Magic Cue. This feature didn’t quite work for us when it initially rolled out on the Pixel 10 series, so we’ve given it another try here.

Note the Proactive Assistance card above the keyboard.

Photo: HWZ

Tapping the button at the bottom right fills the input field with the correct details.

Spoiler alert: it works, but only when you’re using Google’s first-party Messages app. When I asked about an upcoming flight in a normal text message, the phone showed a clip with my flight details and, when expanded, an option to send a custom message with the correct information. 

However, asking the same question in popular third-party messaging apps isn’t as great. We tried via WhatsApp, which resulted in… nothing. And before anybody asks, yes, we did make sure to turn the feature on in Settings, just as instructed here. This is going to be problematic given that Asian users are split across a huge variety of messaging apps (Facebook Messenger, Zalo, WeChat, Telegram, LINE, KakaoTalk, Signal, etc.), so Proactive Assistance is likely ignored by huge swathes of users in our little corner.

The same thing happened when we played around with HiLight. A normal call would light up the HiLight’s LED array based on your contact of choice, but a WhatsApp call from the same person doesn’t. 

These features are nice to have, and it’s unfortunate that they are limited in use. It’s not reasonable to expect all your contacts to use first-party apps for text messages and calls. Hopefully Google rolls out an update soon that makes it work universally.

For multitasking, there’s Bubbles, which is Google’s version of an app’s floating window. When it’s paired with normal split-screen apps, you can have up to three apps open at once. Up to five apps can be bubbled at the same time, so power users who constantly switch between multiple apps might find this useful. 

Imaging performance

When compared to the rest of the Pixel 11 devices, the camera array on the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is, strangely, the weakest on paper. 

• 48MP (main), f/1.70 aperture, Quad PD, 85° FOV, 1/1.56” sensor 
• 10.5MP (ultrawide), f/2.2 aperture, Dual PD, 127° FOV, 1/3.4” sensor 
• 10.8MP (telephoto), f/3.1 aperture, 23° FOV, 5x optical zoom, 1/3.2” sensor 

The eagle-eyed among you might notice that, despite the “Pro” in the name, Google’s flagship foldable device uses the same 48MP main camera and 10.8MP telephoto camera as the base Pixel 11, with the 10.5MP ultrawide as the only difference. 

Despite that, the photos out of the phone are acceptable. Photos taken with the main camera are relatively sharp and detailed, with pleasant, accurate colours. On the other hand, the ultrawide images are the weakest of the bunch, with a slightly softer result. 

The 5x optical zoom isn’t too shabby, but the phone would have benefited from the 48MP ultrawide and telephoto lenses the other Pro devices get. There’s a noticeable brightening of the image when switching to the 5x optical telephoto lens, so shooting the same subject across the focal ranges won’t result in consistent images.

Low light images are nicely rendered with accurate exposure and colours. As long as you can keep your hands relatively stable when the shot is being taken, there’s a good amount of detail and sharpness retained as well.

Benchmark performance

How we test smartphones: here.

Just like the rest of the Pixel 11 devices, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold uses the Google Tensor G6 chipset designed by Google and manufactured on a 3nm process.

For this benchmark, we’ll compare it to the last folding phone from Google we reviewed, along with other foldable competitors available in Singapore.

Note: The Pixel 11 series can’t participate in Solar Bay Unlimited benchmarks by 3DMark, which specifically tests hardware-based ray-tracing capabilities in gaming graphics.

Oddly enough, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold lags behind the other Pixel devices despite using the same processor. As is usually the case with Pixel devices, though, the numbers in the benchmarks aren’t everything.

The phone runs perfectly fine in normal, daily use, although it can get a bit warm if you’re running graphically intensive games like Where Winds Meet on the highest settings. 

Battery life

Our battery benchmark uses PCMark for Android’s Work 3.0 Battery Life, with results shown in minutes. This controlled benchmark simulates real-world usage, such as web and social media browsing, video and photo editing, parsing data with various file formats, writing, and more. The test starts at 100% and ends with 20% left on the device.

The 4,806mAh battery in the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is the smallest in the lineup, and it’s also minuscule next to book-style foldable competitors like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra (5,000mAh), Honor Magic V6 (6,600mAh) or OPPO Find N6 (6,000mAh). 

Despite that, Google seems to have implemented some effective battery optimisations, with the phone actually managing to last longer than both the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra and the Honor Magic V6. It’s worth remembering, however, that those alternatives have a far more powerful chipset for graphics and general workloads.

Pixel 11 Pro Fold supports 30W wired charging and Qi2.2-certified PixelSnap wireless charging up to 25W. A full charge takes about 140 minutes, but if you start charging while the battery is low, you can activate a new feature called Extreme Charging Mode. 

While the name suggests otherwise, this new charging mode doesn’t actually increase the phone’s charging speed past 30W. It just pauses background tasks and raises the thermal limit before throttling charging speeds. We managed to get a full charge from 0% in just 86 minutes, but the phone’s temperature reached 42.8°C during charging, considerably higher than the 37.2°C seen via normal charging. 

While it’s a helpful tool for quick charging bursts, the higher temperatures will likely accelerate battery degradation, especially if you use Extreme Charging Mode frequently. It is also higher than what phone gamers typically experience, so be careful when you’re using this charging mode.

Conclusion

Pixel phones have long been lauded for their excellent software. While that might be enough to offset the lacklustre hardware on other Pixel 11 phones, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is a harder pill to swallow. 

With prices starting at S$2,499 (256GB), consumers are well within their rights to expect a premium device paired with a premium experience. Google’s change to a plasticky back, the odd decision to have both sides of the phone mismatched in thickness, and a HiLight LED notification feature that doesn’t play nice with third-party apps don’t do it any favours. 

This is exacerbated by a rapidly growing, innovative foldable market; it feels like Google is lagging far behind, with no intention of seriously competing for a larger market share. 

The crease is usually the largest pain point of a foldable. Brands have been going above and beyond to try and make it as unobtrusive and invisible as possible, breaking out their own fixes, materials, layouts, and even manufacturing methods. For Google, the lack of advancements made this its top foldable problem to fix.

While the software and polish are already there, Google still has a laundry list of hardware upgrades to make. Perhaps expecting a gold-standard foldable was a huge ask on our part.

Pricing and availability

The Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold retails from S$2,499 for the 16GB RAM + 256GB storage model. The Black colourway is now available at the online Google Store, Singtel, StarHub, Shopee, Lazada, Harvey Norman, Best Denki, Courts, and Metapod. The Olive colourway is available exclusively through the online Google Store.