Dust crept into the hinge, preventing the phone from closing flat
Two years after Google entered the foldable market with an ambitious but flawed experiment, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold arrives on August 20 as a reckoning with everything the original Pixel Fold got wrong. Where the first device struggled with overheating, dust infiltration, and an unconventional form factor, the new model promises industry-first dust resistance, a more powerful Tensor G5 chip, and a design language that speaks the common tongue of modern smartphones. The original Fold, now available for $650, endures as a curious artifact — a wide, book-like device that still serves those who want something different from the foldable mainstream.
- The original Pixel Fold's hinge was its Achilles heel — dust crept in, prevented flat closure, and threatened the inner screen, exposing a fundamental engineering failure at the heart of Google's first foldable.
- The Tensor G2 chip's chronic overheating wasn't a minor inconvenience but a daily reminder that Google's ambitions had outpaced its silicon, leaving users with a premium device that couldn't sustain peak performance.
- Google is answering its critics decisively: the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is rumored to be the first foldable to achieve IP68 certification, pairing it with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and a Tensor G5 chip built on TSMC's 3-nanometer process.
- The form factor itself has been reimagined — the wide, book-like proportions of the original give way to a taller cover screen and a nearly square 8-inch inner display optimized for multitasking over reading.
- At $1,799 the new model holds its predecessor's launch price, but the original Fold's collapse to $650 creates an unexpected fork in the road, offering budget-conscious buyers a still-viable foldable with a genuinely distinct personality.
Google's foldable journey has covered remarkable ground in just two years. The original Pixel Fold launched in June 2023 as a bold but imperfect experiment — its Tensor G2 chip ran hot, its IPX8 rating left the hinge vulnerable to dust, and its unusually wide, short proportions made it feel more like a paperback than a smartphone. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold, arriving August 20, is Google's answer to everything that went wrong.
The physical transformation is striking. The original's 5.8-inch cover screen and book-like proportions give way to a 6.4-inch cover display and an 8-inch inner screen with a nearly square aspect ratio — better suited to multitasking, less suited to reading. The new device is also thinner at 10.8mm and lighter at 258 grams, compared to the original's 12.1mm and 283 grams.
Durability represents the most consequential leap. The original's dust vulnerability was catastrophic in practice, with particles infiltrating the hinge and preventing flat closure. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is rumored to achieve IP68 certification — an industry first for foldables — paired with Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Meanwhile, the Tensor G5, built on TSMC's 3-nanometer process, should deliver the thermal stability and AI performance the G2 never could.
Battery and charging see incremental but welcome gains, and the new model ships with Android 16 and seven years of update support versus the original's five. Cameras remain largely comparable across both generations.
The pricing landscape creates an interesting choice. At $650 on Amazon, the original Pixel Fold has found a strange second life as one of the most affordable large foldables available — its unique form factor still appealing to those who prize reading over multitasking. For everyone else, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold at $1,799 will be the clear answer when August arrives.
Google's foldable phones have traveled a long distance in just two years. The original Pixel Fold, which arrived in June 2023 at $1,799, was a raw experiment—powerful in concept but hampered by a processor prone to overheating, build quality that couldn't keep dust out, and a form factor so wide and short it looked like nothing else on the market. Now, with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold set to launch on August 20, Google is preparing to show how much it has learned.
The two devices are almost unrecognizable as siblings. The original Pixel Fold featured a 5.8-inch cover screen with a 17.4:9 aspect ratio—unusually wide and short, like holding a paperback book in portrait. When unfolded, its 7.6-inch inner display maintained that book-like proportions, making it feel more like an e-reader than a smartphone. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold abandons this entirely. Its cover screen will grow to 6.4 inches with a more conventional shape, while the inner display expands to 8 inches and shifts to a nearly square 1:1 aspect ratio. The result is a device that feels less like a book and more like two phone screens stacked together—better for multitasking, worse for reading.
Where the gap truly widens is in durability and engineering. The original Pixel Fold carries only IPX8 certification, meaning it resists water but not dust. This proved catastrophic in practice: dust crept into the hinge assembly, preventing the phone from closing flat and threatening the inner screen. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is rumored to achieve IP68 certification, making it the first foldable to earn the industry's highest dust-resistance rating. Paired with Gorilla Glass Victus 2, it represents a generational leap in build confidence. The new model will also be thinner at 10.8mm when folded, compared to the original's 12.1mm, and lighter at 258 grams versus 283 grams.
Performance tells an even starker story. The Pixel Fold runs on the Tensor G2, a processor that struggled with thermal management and raw speed from day one. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold will use the Tensor G5, built on TSMC's advanced 3-nanometer process instead of Samsung's older foundry. Google is also incorporating more custom silicon components into the G5, a move designed to improve efficiency and AI performance. The difference should be felt immediately in gaming, thermal stability, and machine learning tasks.
Battery and charging see modest but meaningful improvements. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold's 5,015mAh battery edges out the original's 4,821mAh, while charging speeds climb from 21W wired to 23W, and wireless charging jumps from 7.5W to 15W with Qi2 support. Neither is revolutionary, but both address real frustrations users had with the first generation. The new phone will ship with Android 16 and receive seven years of updates; the original Pixel Fold, launched with Android 13, is guaranteed five years of support through 2028.
Cameras remain largely unchanged on paper. Both phones carry a 48-megapixel main sensor and a telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold's ultrawide drops from 10.8 to 10.5 megapixels, a negligible difference. Selfie cameras improve slightly, with both the cover and inner displays getting 10-megapixel lenses compared to the original's 9.5 and 8 megapixels.
Pricing tells its own story. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is expected to start at $1,799, matching the original's launch price. But the original Pixel Fold has fallen to $650 on Amazon for the base model, making it one of the cheapest large foldables available in new condition. That price point, combined with its unique wide aspect ratio and book-style form factor, gives it a strange second life. If you prefer reading on a foldable or simply want to spend less, the original remains a viable choice. For everyone else—those wanting the best Google foldable, the most durable one, the fastest one—the Pixel 10 Pro Fold will be the obvious answer when it arrives in August.
Citações Notáveis
The original Pixel Fold is still receiving software upgrades and will get Android OS updates through the end of its five-year promise that began in 2023.— Android Central reporting
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Google keep the original Pixel Fold around when the new one is so much better?
Because they're actually solving different problems. The original is cheap now, and it has this wide, book-like screen that no other foldable offers. Some people genuinely prefer that for reading.
But doesn't the dust problem make it unreliable?
It does. That's the real weakness. Dust gets in the hinge and the phone stops closing properly. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold fixes that with IP68, which is a huge deal.
What about the processor? Is the Tensor G2 really that bad?
It overheats, it's slow, and it struggles with AI tasks. The G5 is built on a much better manufacturing process and should feel like a different phone entirely.
So if I'm buying today, there's no reason to choose the original?
There is, actually. If you want to spend $650 instead of $1,799, and you don't mind the durability risk, the original still works. But most people should wait for the new one.
What's the biggest difference between them?
The form factor. The original is wide and short, like a book. The new one is more square, like two phones side by side. That changes how you use it.