The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold will debut at the Made by Google 2025 hardware event on August 20. But even before the new version of the foldable phone hits retail shelves, it's already facing a big challenge. And the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the reason why.
Samsung's own updated foldable phone goes on sale this Friday (July 25). And though the $1,999 starting cost is a steep price to pay, you get an impressive phone in return
In fact, in his Galaxy Z Fold 7 review, my colleague Mark Spoonauer calls the new Samsung model the foldable phone he's been waiting for, thanks to an ultra portable design that's uncommon for devices this big.
We've got the Galaxy Z Flip 7 ranked as the best foldable phone thanks in part to its more palatable price tag, but the Galaxy Z Fold 7 isn't that far behind. And that poses a problem for Google, which is about to roll out a new version of its foldable phone immediately after Samsung has seriously stepped up its game.
It's certainly a formidable prospect for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold to take on, but it's not an impossible task. Even with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 raising the standard for foldable phones, here's how the Pixel 10 Pro Fold can answer back.
Why the Galaxy Z Fold 7 stands out
To understand exactly what the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is up against, let's first look a little closer at what the Galaxy Z Fold 7 gets so right. And a lot of it comes down to the phone's design.
We can argue about what foldable is the thinnest in the world when it's opened up — Samsung's latest or a couple of foldable phones largely available only in China. But the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is certainly in the conversation. An opened Z Fold 7 is 4.2mm thin, and even when snapped shut the 8.9mm profile isn't that much thicker than conventional phones.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is light, too, tipping the scales at a mere 7.5 ounces. For context, that's lighter than the Galaxy S25 Ultra (a shade under 7.7 ounces) and iPhone 16 Pro Max (8 ounces). It's definitely lighter than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is 1.5 ounces heavier than Samsung's latest.
We've heard the Pixel 10 Pro Fold will slim down the size of the hinge compared to the current model, but it's unclear how that would translate to the new phone's dimensions. Even so, Google would have to shave nearly a millimeter off the 5.1mm Pixel 9 Pro Fold to make its new model as thin as an opened Galaxy Z Fold 7.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 ushers in other improvements, particularly to the cameras — long a strength of Google's phones. You get a 200MP main camera with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, along with a much improved 10MP selfie cam on the phone's interior display. Throw in an improved ProVisual Engine, and the new Fold produced detailed, colorful photos in our testing.
Samsung also tweaked its Galaxy AI features to take better advantage of the Galaxy Z Fold 7's unique design, from accessing the Now Brief and Gemini Live features from the phone's larger cover display to side-by-side comparisons of generative AI edits on the super-sized 8-inch main screen.
How the Pixel 10 Pro Fold responds
That last area — AI capabilities — gives Google an in with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. While Samsung's Galaxy AI features certainly impress, Google's no stranger to developing on-device AI features of its own, as evidenced by the company's win in our recent AI phone face-off.
Besides, as great as Samsung's use of Gemini is, let's not forget that's Google's assistant will be very present on the new Pixel 10 models coming out, the Fold included.
While Google may have a hard time out-designing the Galaxy Z Fold 7, there are apparently other steps the phone maker can take to make the Pixel 10 Pro Fold stand out.
One of those ways apparently involves increased durability, as leaked Pixel 10 Pro Fold specs suggest that the phone will boast a dust-and-water resistance rating of IP68 — a first for foldable phones.
The higher rating means that Google's new foldable will not only be able to survive a dunk in water but keep out dust as well. That's been a challenge for other foldable phones, as the moving parts leave plenty of areas for finer particles to get inside the device. As durable as the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is, for example, it still offers an IP48 rating, as it's not graded to repel smaller dust particles.
There's one other area where Samsung has left the door open for other foldable phone makers to challenge the Galaxy Z Fold 7 — battery life. While the new Samsung phone lasts longer than its predecessor, it's only a slight gain and barely ahead of the average battery life for phones that we test. That's likely a reflection of the fact that the Galaxy Z Fold 7 features the same size battery as the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
That's not a mistake Google sounds like it's going to make with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. According to those leaked specs, the new foldable Pixel could offer a 5,015 mAh battery, which would be a fairly noteworthy step up from the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's 4,650 mAh cell.
Assuming that's accurate, we'd expect the new model to improve up the Pixel 9 Pro Fold's 11.5-plus hour result on our battery test, especially if the Tensor G5 chipset likely to power the Pixel 10 Pro Fold proves to be more power efficient.
Pixel 10 Pro outlook
Any phone that takes on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is going to have its work cut for it, given all the positive changes Samsung has introduced to this year's model. But focusing on AI features, durability and longevity would give Google an in for making a splash with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.
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