I tried the Pixel 11 Pro Fold and it's more 'Ultra' than Samsung's foldable (for $200 less)

It’s easy to write off the Pixel 11 Pro Fold when Samsung has the shiny new wide Fold 8. But Google’s new foldable phone is more of a direct competitor to the Fold 8 Ultra. It’s for people who actually want bigger and taller displays.

And you could argue that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold ($1,899) is an even better value. It’s not just $200 cheaper than the Ultra. It has a brighter display, better durability and even smarter AI features.

Is Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold Better Than Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra? - YouTube

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I went hands on with the new Pixel 11 Pro Fold and came away pretty impressed with its upgrades — with the exception of the gimmicky HiLight. Here’s how it stacks up.

Pixel 11 Pro Fold specs

Price and release date: $100 Hike

At $1,899, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is $100 more than its predecessor and the same exact price as the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Pre-orders are available now and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold release date is August 20.

Design: Tough and comfy, but still kinda bulky

Right off the bat, I prefer the Pixel 11 Pro Fold to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra because its front 6.5-inch screen is less squished. There’s more room for typing and your apps, thanks in part to Google slimming down the bezels.

I also appreciate the rounded corners on this design. They dig into your hands less than the Fold 8 Ultra's pointy corners.

Pick these phones up though and you’ll immediately notice Samsung’s portability and thinness advantage. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is a hefty 8.4 ounces and measures 5mm thick when open and 10.1mm when closed. That’s a definitive improvement over the Pixel 10 Pro Fold (9.1 ounces, 5.2mm/10.8mm), but the Fold 8 Ultra is still the featherweight champ of big screen foldables.

What Google gives you is more durability. Not only is this phone IP68 rated against water and dust — it’s just water for Samsung — Google gave the back a glass composite back that’s shatterproof.

The color options are Obsidian and Olive and the latter is the one I’d get because it’s a lot more fun.

HiLight (or LowLight?)

I can’t quite make up my mind if this feature is cool or just gimmicky but right now I’m thinking more of the latter.

HiLight is colorful LED on the back of the Pixel 11 Pro Fold that can glow different colors you set based on who’s calling. So if your phone is face down you can tell right away who’s on the other end.

The HiLight can also animate when you’re chatting with Gemini Live, which I guess is cool but not really necessary.

Displays: Brightest ever

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Google’s foldable has a more noticeable crease than Samsung, but both the main and cover display are super bright. We’re talking 3,600 nits for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, compared to 3,000 for the Fold 8 Ultra.

And, I noticed the difference when I put both phones side by side, both set to max brightness. The black bars are very much there when watching YouTube, but I like how you can pop comments in on the right side while watching YouTube Shorts.

The Pixel Pro Fold also has a laptop mode that puts the content up and controls on the bottom, similar to the Flex Mode on the Fold 8 Ultra.

Multitasking: Bubbles everywhere!

While the Pixel 11 Pro Fold limits you to two open apps side by side, compared to three for Samsung, Google has a new trick up its sleeve.

You can turn apps into a floating window called bubbles and place them anywhere around the screen. And it’s simple to add more apps to your bubble and toggle between them.

Cameras: More light, more 'magic'

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold packs a triple rear camera system that starts with a 48MP wide sensor that lets in 58% more light.

In my very brief testing the Pixel 11 Pro Fold captured sharp and bright images, but this was under pretty ideal conditions.

You also get a 10.5MP ultra wide camera and a 10.8MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, compared to just 3x for the Fold 8 Ultra.

The selfie cameras are limited to 10MP, but you can always take rear camera selfies by flipped the front display around for maximum resolution.

The coolest camera feature on the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is Magic Capture. Enter this special mode and press the shutter button, and the Pixel 11 Pro will automatically start shooting both photos and videos, picking out what it thinks are the best moments. Google had a couple of dancers for our demo and Magic Capture seemed to work pretty well.

Another nifty feature is Creative Studio, which you can use to record videos complete with a built-in teleprompter, sound level controls and more.

AI: Getting Pro-active

This is a Pixel phone so you know the 11 Pro Fold is going to have a boatload of AI features. But there’s a handful of useful ones that you won’t find on the Fold 8 Ultra.

Gemini Spark can perform tasks on your behalf in the background while you do other stuff. For example, you can ask Gemini to summarize emails related to your party RSVPs and have it create a spreadsheet of everyone’s dietary preferences.

Speech recognition also gets a boost with the Pixel 11 Pro Fold thanks to Rambler. You can say all the “uhs” and “ums” you want and this Foldable will edit them out on the fly.

Gemini’s Proactive Intelligent Suggestions builds on the hit-or-miss Magic Cue from previous Pixel phones, surfacing the right info just when you need it. For example, if someone asks if you’re available on a certain day and time, you’ll see a prompt for previewing your calendar — without having to leave the app.

This works for everything from being able to preview flight info to peeking at a restaurant. You can even book a table from within your messages with the tap of a button.

Performance and Battery: Breaking the 2nm barrier

The Pixel 11 Pro packs a new Tensor G6 chip that is among the first in the world built on a 2nm process. And that means you should expect a speed boost along with longer battery life — even with a smaller battery than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

For example, Google promises an Instant Night Sight feature for taking low-light photos with virtually no processing time. But we’ll have to test this out to see how it works.

And with a much faster TPU on board, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold should be able to perform on-device AI tasks much faster than before.

The 4,806 mAh battery inside the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is smaller than the 5,000 mAh battery for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but Google is still promising up to 24 hours of battery life. That’s because the G6 chip is designed to be 20% more efficient.

However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a 5,015 mAh battery with newer silicon carbon tech, while the Pixel Fold is still stuck on Lithium Ion, so we’ll have to see which foldable lasts longer.

When it comes to wireless charging, Google has an advantage because it has Qi2 magnets built into the phone. With Samsung you have to buy a case.

Outlook

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is a much improved foldable phone. It’s lighter, thinner, tougher and faster. Plus, it has a longer zoom than the Z Fold 8 Ultra, a wider front display and — eureka! — you can actually take it to the beach.

Add in the brighter screens and shatterproof back and you have some pretty solid reasons for picking the Pixel 11 Pro Fold over Samsung.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra is noticeably thinner and lighter; it has a less visible crease; and it packs sharper main and ultrawide cameras. Plus, you have the ability to run three apps at once.

I don’t see the HiLight feature being all that useful on the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. More practical to me are Gemini proactive suggestions, as well as camera features like Magic Capture.

Overall, I’d be pretty torn between the Pixel 11 Pro Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. But I’ll have to do some in-depth testing to see which one I’d buy with my own money. Stay tuned for my full review.