The Google Pixel Fold is the first foldable cell phone launched by the search giant, and one of the public’s great expectations was to know how experts would react to the quality of its flexible screen and the line’s renowned cameras. This Tuesday (27), DxOMark released its test results with the rival device of the Galaxy Z Fold 4.
The French portal revealed the notes of the folding cell phone in three aspects: display, cameras and audio. O Google Pixel Fold impressed by taking 1st place in the screen ranking with 151 points, tying with the Honor Magic 5 Pro and surpassing the iPhone 14 Pro Max. On the other hand, the model was below average in the camera and audio rankings.
The Pixel Fold is equipped with a 7.6-inch foldable screen with OLED technology, a resolution of 1840 x 2208 pixels, a 6:5 aspect ratio and a 120 Hz refresh rate.
According to DxOMark, this panel is capable of displaying colors with excellent accuracy in different lighting conditions, in addition to good handling of videos in HDR10. “Pixel Fold offers smooth interactions in most uses, from gallery viewing to gaming,” says the platform.
There are, on the other hand, some disadvantages that prevented a higher score that made the Pixel Fold surpass the Honor Magic 5 Pro, becoming the absolute leader of the ranking. The reduction in brightness after a few minutes under external lighting — possibly due to the device heating up — is one of the problems pointed out by the reviewers.
With 133 points in terms of cameras, the Pixel Fold was below competitors in the same price range and tied with the iPhone 14 and Galaxy S23. The current leader of this ranking is the Huawei P60 Pro, and the Google phone with the highest score is the Pixel 7 Pro (147 points).
“The Google Pixel Fold, while average compared to other top-of-the-line devices, is currently the best performing device in a foldable form factor tested by DxOMark,” says the platform.
Reviewers say the Pixel Fold’s cameras offer advantageous exposure, dynamic range, and white balance in both indoor and outdoor scenes. An area dominated by Google, the camera software excels at rendering skin tones accurately. Video stabilization and autofocus are also praised.
Videos, on the other hand, may have some problems in high-contrast or night scenes. Loss of details is one of the biggest downsides when shooting videos at night with the Pixel Fold. In addition, portrait mode’s depth estimation is often unstable, and the exaggerated blur effect may not please.
The video sample above shows proper light exposure for the scene, as well as smooth transitions to ensure the lighting doesn’t “pop” when changing the direction the camera is being pointed. Colors may be slightly warmer than other solutions on the market, but they still look natural.
The Pixel Fold scored 133 points in terms of audio, according to DxOMark tests. With just one point away from the Galaxy Z Fold 4 – considered one of the best folding cell phones in this category –, the model surpassed the vivo X Fold and Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, but remains below conventional form factors.
As a playback device, the Pixel Fold offers a good tonal balance resulting in good clarity for listening to most music genres. Dynamic performance is considered “very good” by reviewers, showing an accurate attack with deep, efficient bass.
While the maximum volume level is sufficient, the speakers seem to suffer when playing compressed sounds due to a lack of software optimization. The spatial performance of the device is also not one of its “pros”.
As a recording device, the Pixel Fold achieves good results when recording sound during video capture with both the rear cameras and the front lens, with efficient algorithms correcting for artifacts such as wind noise. The tonal features are praised, but they weren’t consistent during testing.
Among the downsides of the foldable’s microphone, DxOMark comments on the “underwhelming” audio zoom, so that spatial recordings don’t ignore all the unwanted frequencies. With the voice recording app, the algorithms are not as efficient and may miss out on unwanted noise.
The Pixel Fold is now available in the United States with suggested prices starting at US$ 1,799 (about R$ 8,629). Soon, Google’s first foldable cell phone should face competition with the Galaxy Z Fold 5, scheduled to be announced on July 27th.
- Internal 7.6-inch screen with OLED technology and Full HD+ resolution
- Display with 120 Hz refresh rate
- 5.8-inch internal screen with OLED technology and Full HD+ resolution
- Hole-hole display with 120 Hz refresh rate
- Google Tensor G2 Platform
- 12 GB of RAM
- 256 GB or 512 GB of internal storage
- Two front cameras:
- Internal 8 MP front camera (f/2.0, fixed focus)
- 9.5 MP external front camera (f/2.2, fixed focus)
- Three rear cameras:
- Main lens with 48 MP sensor (f/1.7, OIS)
- Ultrawide lens with 10.8 MP sensor (f/2.2, 121º angle)
- Telephoto lens with 10.8 MP sensor (f/3.05, 5x optical zoom)
- 5G connection, Dual SIM, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC and UWB
- Fingerprint reader on the side
- IPX8 certification
- 4,821 mAh battery with 30W fast charging
- android 13
- Dimensions (open): 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8 mm
- Dimensions (closed): 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1 mm
- Weight: 283 grams
- The Google Pixel Fold is not yet available in Europeian stores. To be notified when it arrives click here.
- The Google Pixel 7 Pro is not yet available in Europeian stores. To be notified when it arrives click here.
- The Google Pixel 7 is not yet available in Europeian stores. To be notified when it arrives click here.
