The Pixel 10 Pro Fold dimensions tell a grim yet promising story
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is slightly narrower than the 9 Pro Fold (while also sporting smaller bezels and a larger outer display), but it's a little thicker when unfolded, even thicker when folded, and 1 gram heavier. When every other foldable is boasting thinner and lighter designs, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold already seems left out as a vestige of foldables' past. But I have a bit of hope that it's not all doom and gloom for Pixel foldable fans.
Are you Ok with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold getting thicker to fit a larger battery?
0 votes
Yes, I'll take more battery any day any way.
NaN %
No, I want my foldable to be slim and usable with one hand.
NaN %
Why not both? Silicon-Carbon batteries are thin AND have more capacity!
NaN %
I'm indifferent.
NaN %
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold bucked the trend; the 10 Pro Fold is lagging behind
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Oh, what a difference a year makes! In August of 2024, when Google announced the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, it had a big advantage over other foldables (read: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6) in the US and most Western countries. Google's foldable had considerably slimmed down from the chunky and stubby first-gen Pixel Fold, opting for the more practical narrow+tall display ratio, and going for a very pocketable and hand-friendly 10.5mm thickness when folded. That made the Pixel 9 Pro Fold more lovable and pushed the phone into 'easy to recommend' territory. My brother-in-law bought one solely because it was easier to hold and use than the 2024 Galaxy Z Fold 6.
And he's not alone. After talking to many regular users about foldables over the last few years, I came to the following conclusion: thickness, width, and durability are the biggest drawbacks to usability and adoption. Everyone who saw the original Pixel Fold with me marveled at the tech but instantly claimed, 'I could never use that daily.' Why? 'Too wide and too thick to hold,' and 'afraid I'd break it.'
Thinness is not a perk for foldables; it's a necessity. If a foldable isn't thin enough to be easily used single-handed in everyday life, it won't win any hearts.
Putting aside the durability question for a bit, the consensus around size was that a book-style foldable should be as usable as a regular Android smartphone when folded, because no one wanted to bother opening the display each time they had to read or reply to a message. They needed a phone they could walk and text on single-handed; they didn't want to carry a tablet every second of their lives. The closer a foldable got to a regular phone's dimensions, the better it was. The big, unfolded display would be an extra perk when they'd have a moment to sit down and enjoy it.
I wholeheartedly agree with those thoughts. And that's why I enjoyed the Pixel 9 Pro Fold much more than the Pixel Fold. The single-handedness made it a more viable smartphone, as well as being an excellent foldable.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
Now, in 2025, Google is taking a minor step back on paper with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, but it's a bigger downgrade in reality. The foldable landscape has significantly changed, with many thinner and lighter foldables around. And Google's biggest competitor in the US has now caught up to it and leaped ahead: The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a marvel to look at. It no longer has the tall TV remote control aspect ratio, but a wider and more usable outer display, as well as a super thin footprint when unfolded and — most importantly — when folded. At 8.9mm folded, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is so much thinner than the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and everyone who's used it has praised its one-handed usability in everyday life due to this slimmer profile.
0.1mm extra thickness isn't much on paper, but when your competition is a full 1mm thinner, you're clearly lagging behind.
Instead of catching up to this, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is regressing, adding a few millimeters compared to the 9 Pro Fold, and suddenly becoming the outlier in the flagship foldable race. Samsung literally changed the game overnight with the Z Fold 7, and Google clearly can't keep up.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold Pixel 10 Pro Fold Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Height folded (unfolded)
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
155.2mm (155.2mm)
Pixel 10 Pro Fold
155.2mm (155.2mm)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
158.4mm (158.4mm)
Width folded (unfolded)
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
77.1mm (150.2mm)
Pixel 10 Pro Fold
76.3mm (150.4mm)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
72.8mm (143.2mm)
Thickness folded (unfolded)
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
5.1mm (10.5mm)
Pixel 10 Pro Fold
5.2mm (10.8mm)
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
4.2mm (8.9mm)
Weight
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
257g
Pixel 10 Pro Fold
258g
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
215g
Battery
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
4,650mAh
Pixel 10 Pro Fold
5,015mAh
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
4,400mAh
Thickness with benefits?
For now, we have one valid explanation for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's thicker body: a larger battery. An earlier rumor had suggested that Google will up the battery from a 4,650mAh cell in the 9 Pro Fold to 5,015mAh in the 10 Pro Fold — a 7.8% increase. Notably, though, that's a 13.9% larger battery than the 4,400mAh cell in the Galaxy Z Fold 7, which explains the added thickness as well as the 43 grams of extra weight.
It's tough to say what the real-world benefits will be before I get to test this myself. Recent Pixels have been notoriously bad with battery life due to the demanding Exynos-inspired Tensor G4 based on Samsung Foundry's problematic 4nm manufacturing process. The new Pixel 10 series, including the 10 Pro Fold, will sport a TSMC-made Tensor G5, which should improve battery life on paper. Add the 7.8% larger battery, and Google's new foldable should see significant battery life gains, but will they be enough to match the great battery-sipping Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite in the Z Fold 7, even if the latter has a smaller battery? Time will tell.
We could've had a slimmer Pixel 10 Pro Fold with a larger Silicon-Carbon battery, but alas, no.
My only regret, though, is that Google, just like Samsung, hasn't adopted the newer, smaller, and more efficient Silicon-Carbon batteries that we're seeing on OPPO, Xiaomi, vivo, and other foldables. We could've had the best of both worlds: a slim phone and a large battery, but Google has decided to skip this new technology and stick to the larger Lithium-ion batteries. Maybe next year, though?
Aside from this battery explanation, we don't know if anything else is contributing to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold's chonkier body. Rumors suggest the cameras are staying largely the same, even potentially getting a minor downgrade, too. A larger sensor or better long-range zoom would've sweetened the deal a bit and made the thicker body more justifiable.
I'll have to wait and see if Google surprises me with more unexpected features for the Pixel 10 Pro Fold when it announces it on August 20. For now, though, this is looking like a minor side-step for the series — not an upgrade, not a downgrade either. Perhaps the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will be the real step forward?
Follow
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Kleiner Perkins is having a very good week
Even while the tech industry is still fanning its face over Figma's hot IPO on Thursday, another significant tech IPO occurred this week: Ambiq Micro. On Wednesday, the chip maker for wearable devices saw its shares climb from the initial price of $24 to over $42 on Friday. There's one thing both companies have in common: Kleiner Perkins was a major investor. So it's been a very good week for the venerable venture firm. Just for fun, we've calculated the value of Kleiner Perkins' stake in each company. Kleiner sold 1,346,499 shares of Figma at the IPO price of $33, Figma disclosed, and could have sold as many as 2,756,020 shares at that price if the bankers exercised their option to nab additional shares. Given how much demand outstripped supply for shares of Figma, we're going to assume the bankers will snap up the full tranche (or they already have). Meanwhile, Kleiner still holds 52,364,374 shares of Figma, the company says. Share prices are still fluctuating wildly in heavy trading on Day 2, from about $110 to over $142, but closed Day 1 at $115, so we'll use that number. For Figma: An estimated $91 million returned from share sales and a remaining stake worth more than $6 billion (2,756,02 shares at $33 = $90,948,660, and 52,364,374 shares at $115 = $6,021,903,010). For perspective, this stake in Figma alone is worth 3x the last mega-funds the firm raised, which was $2 billion across two vehicles in 2024. By the way, the Kleiner partner who oversaw its investment was Figma board member Mamoon Hamid. Ambiq is a much smaller company and it was a much smaller IPO. It sold a total of 4 million shares and raised $96 million for itself in its IPO. Existing shareholders are subject to the classic 180 days lockup before they can sell. Kleiner holds 2,081,831 shares, the company disclosed. Shares are still trading at a premium to the IPO price as of Friday and closed Thursday at $43.85. So we'll use that price. Ambiq stake: $91.3 million (2,081,831 at $43.85 = $91,288,289). But wait! There's more. Kleiner is also having a good month and possibly year (Kleiner has declined comment for this story). The firm reportedly scored a decent return earlier this month as part of Google's deal to license tech from Windsurf and hire away its top talent. We don't know exactly how much of the $1.1 billion or so VCs obtained from the Windsurf deal went to Kleiner specifically. But TechCrunch's Marina Temkin reports the total return was about 3x the original funding. And at least one more Kleiner-backed company is waiting in the wings to IPO. Fleet tracking startup Motive Technologies raised $150 million led by Kleiner Perkins, with Ilya Fushman joining the board, the company announced this week. Bloomberg reported in December that Motive is gearing up for an IPO, potentially still in 2025. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Leading AI startup soars 250% after increasing its IPO price range
Leading AI startup soars 250% after increasing its IPO price range originally appeared on TheStreet. Wall Street's appetite for high-growth tech stocks is heating up again, and one rising star has taken full advantage. A fast-growing AI-powered platform, widely used by product development and design teams, wrapped up the roadshow for its proposed IPO last week — and the market response has been anything but ordinary. Only a few days ago, the company raised its initial public offering range from between $25 and $28 to between $30 and $32 per share, in a clear signal that investor demand was surging. 💵💰💰💵 Ultimately, the stock priced at $33 per share, $1 per share above even the revised range. That company? Figma (FIG), a collaborative design and product development platform that has transformed from a sleek web-based design tool into a powerful, AI-enabled software engine for product teams. On July 31, Figma made its public market debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares opened at an incredible $85, quickly surged past $112, and ultimately closed at $115.50, marking a 250% gain on its first day as a public company and pushing the company's market capitalization to nearly $68 from acquisition target to market darling Figma's journey to the public markets has been anything but conventional. Back in 2022, Adobe agreed to acquire the company for $20 billion. But that deal was scrapped a year later following pushback from UK antitrust regulators, who warned the merger would stifle competition and hurt innovation in the design software market. Rather than folding, Figma doubled down on product development and growth. The company now boasts over 13 million monthly users, with a customer base that includes Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and Uber. Its appeal extends far beyond traditional designers, with more than two-thirds of its users being non-designers, including engineers, marketers, and product managers who collaborate using the platform's connected toolsets. More Tech Stocks: Amazon tries to make AI great again (or maybe for the first time) Veteran portfolio manager raises eyebrows with latest Meta Platforms move Google plans major AI shift after Meta's surprising $14 billion move In its S-1 filing, Figma revealed second-quarter revenue of $247 million to $250 million, representing 40% year-over-year growth, and up to $12 million in operating income. More than 1,000 enterprise customers pay the company over $100,000 per year, underscoring its momentum at the high end of the market. Figma's IPO could rejuvenate the market The offering raised $1.2 billion, though the majority of proceeds went to existing shareholders, including venture capital backers like Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and Sequoia Capital. Still, the size and enthusiasm surrounding the IPO are being seen as a watershed moment for tech listings in 2025. New York Stock Exchange President Lynn Martin said Figma's stunning performance could be a catalyst for a wave of new public offerings. "Given that Figma did so well with their pricing last night, and there is so much demand that has persisted in the order book this morning for this company, I think this will open the floodgates," she stated in a recent CNBC Figma is more than just a design tool Founded in 2012 and based in San Francisco, Figma has evolved into a full-stack collaboration engine. Its platform covers everything from digital whiteboarding to prototyping, interface design, and even developer handoff. With AI tools now embedded in the product experience, Figma is helping teams effectively transition from ideas to product launches faster and more cohesively. If the company's IPO is any indication, investors are betting that Figma is far more than a design startup. Time will tell whether it proves to be the next great software infrastructure company in the age of collaborative, AI-driven product development. But after its stellar public debut, it now has plenty of cash, visibility, and momentum to prove it. Leading AI startup soars 250% after increasing its IPO price range first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 1, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Geek Wire
13 minutes ago
- Geek Wire
Space entrepreneurs see defense projects as a future frontier for funding and innovation
The Golden Dome is envisioned as a network of satellite sensors and interceptors that could protect America from incoming missiles. (Lockheed Martin Illustration) Will the Golden Dome be a golden opportunity for commercial space ventures? That may be a bit of an exaggeration. But at a Seattle Tech Week presentation on the space industry, a panel of entrepreneurs agreed that military projects — including a plan to create a missile defense shield along the lines of Israel's Iron Dome by as early as 2028 — seem to be the most promising vehicles for getting commercial space ventures off the ground. Part of the reason for that has to do with the uncertainty that's currently surrounding America's civilian space program. At the same time that the White House is pushing plans for the $175 billion Golden Dome project, it's seeking to trim billions of dollars from NASA's budget. 'It's so interesting right now, because I think there's more uncertainty around civil space funding than there's ever been before, and more bullishness on defense space funding than there's ever been before,' said Erika Wagner, who left Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin space venture last year to lead The Exploration Company's U.S. business development team. Seattle-area space companies have been among the beneficiaries of the Pentagon's surge of support — ranging from the $25 million in Space Force funding granted to Seattle-based Integrate in June to the $2.4 billion in Space Force launch contracts set aside for Kent-based Blue Origin earlier this year. Gravitics, Starfish Space and Portal Space Systems are among other Seattle-area space ventures benefiting from recent Pentagon contracts. AE Industrial Partners' Eugene Kim, Starcloud's Philip Johnston, The Exploration Company's Erika Wagner, Portal Space Systems' Jeff Thornburg and Perkins Coie's Ben Straughan participate in a Seattle Tech Week panel on the space industry. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) The typical route for defense-oriented space startups is to win a series of grants issued through the Pentagon's Small Business Innovation Research program, or SBIR. But SBIR grants can take you only so far, said Jeff Thornburg, Bothell-based Portal Space Systems' founder and CEO. 'If it's just cool tech for cool tech's sake, you'll only get through about Phase 1 or Phase 2 SBIRs, and it'll never cross the 'Valley of Death,'' Thornburg said at Thursday afternoon's session. 'The Valley of Death is basically when you've taken the idea as far as you can, you don't have any other customer pull, and it costs so much money to develop that you have no way to get there, and the company kind of folds.' Portal and Gravitics managed to avoid the Valley of Death by winning support from SpaceWERX's STRATFI program, which can unlock tens of millions of dollars in public and private funding. Portal is using its funding to develop a sun-powered orbital transport vehicle called Supernova, while Gravitics is working on an orbital carrier for space vehicles. Thornburg said that the U.S. military can be 'the world's most difficult and demanding customer,' and cautioned that it's not easy to build relationships with the Pentagon officials who make the decisions on funding. 'If you're going to take on the defense customer, and you should probably consider it if you're an entrepreneur out there, you really have to do the homework,' he said. 'Are you answering a warfighter need?' The AI connection Artificial intelligence may well be one of those needs. At a Seattle Tech Week session held earlier in the day, a different set of space entrepreneurs suggested that there was a significant intersection between the AI frontier and the space frontier. For example, Planetary Systems AI is focused on using AI tools to help the Pentagon make sense of the flood of data streaming down from space sensors. 'We help with some of the automation and decision making, from pre-launch all the way to in-orbit … in a battle management perspective as well as for space operations,' said Cindy Chin, the New York-based company's founder and CEO. Such tools are expected to play an increasing role in space traffic management as more and more satellites are launched into low Earth orbit. Over the course of just six years, the Seattle area has become the world's most prolific producer of such satellites, primarily due to the rise of SpaceX's Starlink constellation and preparations for Amazon's Project Kuiper constellation. Starfish Space co-founder Austin Link said AI tools are already built into his company's satellite navigation systems. 'It's not like we're going and asking ChatGPT, 'Hey, should we burn the thrusters now?' At least, not yet,' he said. 'But there are a lot of autonomous decision making and a lot of complex algorithms that are flying the vehicle. That is effectively AI, at least in certain definitions.' Starfish Space's Austin Link, Planetary Systems AI's Cindy Chin, Radian Aerospace's Livingston Holder and Wilson Sonsini's Curt Blake discuss the state of the space industry at a Seattle Tech Week event. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) Space infrastructure could also ease the pressure that power-hungry AI data centers are putting on earthly resources. Two companies that have a significant presence in the Seattle area, Starcloud and Sophia Space, are developing systems that could open the way for solar-powered satellites to operate as orbital data centers. Starcloud CEO and co-founder Philip Johnston said his company initially set up shop in Southern California but relocated to Redmond, Wash., after a month. 'If you want somebody who knows about building a satellite … 90% of them are specifically in Redmond, because you have Kuiper and Starlink,' he said. Shifts in the market for space services — due to the AI angle as well as America's evolving national security needs — could well lead to long-term tectonic shifts in the space industry, Thornburg said. 'I'm kind of excited to see what happens with these 'neo-prime' relationships, Anduril and Palantir, and their partnerships with up-and-coming entrepreneurs to offer a different solution space for defense, and then how that can get applied to commercial [space applications]. Because I think that might be an X factor here that maybe everyone's not always contemplating,' he said. Other space shots from Seattle Tech Week Mining on the final frontier: It's been seven years since the Redmond-based asteroid mining venture known as Planetary Resources fizzled out, but Johnston said that space mining might be a market niche whose time has finally come. For examples, he pointed to Seattle-based Interlune, which aims to harvest helium-3 and other resources from the moon; and California-based AstroForge, which is setting the stage for extracting resources from asteroids. 'That is going to be an absolutely enormous business. It's very dependent on low-cost launch, though. Whether that happens in the next five years or the next 10 years is up for debate,' he said. It's been seven years since the Redmond-based asteroid mining venture known as Planetary Resources fizzled out, but Johnston said that space mining might be a market niche whose time has finally come. For examples, he pointed to Seattle-based Interlune, which aims to harvest helium-3 and other resources from the moon; and California-based AstroForge, which is setting the stage for extracting resources from asteroids. 'That is going to be an absolutely enormous business. It's very dependent on low-cost launch, though. Whether that happens in the next five years or the next 10 years is up for debate,' he said. What about an orbital smash-up? The afternoon session's panel was split on whether a catastrophic satellite collision event known as the Kessler syndrome would occur in the next five years, but the panelists agreed that international efforts would be made in the next five years to try to head off such an event. The afternoon session's panel was split on whether a catastrophic satellite collision event known as the Kessler syndrome would occur in the next five years, but the panelists agreed that international efforts would be made in the next five years to try to head off such an event. When will we put people on the moon? When the panelists were asked to project when astronauts would once again land on the moon, they guessed dates ranging from 2030 to 2035. For what it's worth, NASA's current timetable calls for the Artemis 3 mission to put a crew on the lunar surface in 2027. When the panelists were asked to project when astronauts would once again land on the moon, they guessed dates ranging from 2030 to 2035. For what it's worth, NASA's current timetable calls for the Artemis 3 mission to put a crew on the lunar surface in 2027. What about Mars? The panelists' projections for the first crewed landing on the Red Planet ranged from 2040 (or earlier) to 2060 — which is much later than Elon Musk's current goal of putting humans on Mars in 2028 or so. Johnston said he made a bet with someone that billionaire techie Jared Isaacman would 'be the first person on Mars before 2040.' Thursday morning's Seattle Tech Week session about the space industry was presented by Silicon Valley Bank and Wilson Sonsini, while the afternoon session was presented by Perkins Coie and Space Happy Hour.
