Paul’s Pixel 10 Diaries: A Foldable Future? ⭐

As I start to wind down my reviews of the Pixel 10 series phones, my attention in this space is increasingly on the future. That future is as uncertain as ever, but one possibility I’ve been mulling over is whether it makes sense to shift from the large single phones I’ve used for several years to a folding phone. And today, there are just two viable choices, unless I want to go rogue with a Chinese phone (which is a distant possibility given that those options are available here in Mexico): The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7.

2️⃣ Which folding phone?

I’ve seen the Galaxy Z Fold7 in person because I’ve been to two industry events over the past month or so and a lot of reviewers had one. It’s incredibly thin, and everyone seems to agree that Samsung crossed some quality line with this release and that doing so has catapulted folding phones into a distinct possibility for mainstream users. You know, if you can get past the cost.

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is less well understood, though the software is what would put this one over the top for me. Based on the few reviews I’ve read so far, this is a minor year-over-year upgrade that doesn’t really reach the same quality heights as the Z Fold7. But it’s slimmer than its predecessor, has a nice, curved design, and it does include Pixelsnap/Qi2 charging, which is nice. And I’m not coming off a previous-generation foldable, Pixel or otherwise, anyway.

❓ Why

Ignoring the cost for now, I’ve long felt that foldable phones would start making more sense as platform makers overcame some obvious physical limitations with the displays and if/when the software was optimized for these displays. The former has happened, and folding phones are no longer the fragile disasters in waiting that they were several years ago. And Google has done what it can to get developers to tailor their apps for big screens of all kinds, including tablets and Chromebooks, though folding phones introduce a new wrinkle by which apps can resize on the fly if used on the interior display.

So that’s all very obvious, and I feel like things have improved a lot in recent years and will only keep getting better. But there is also a new use case in the making that builds on several interesting trends we’ve seen this past year. With iPadOS 26, Apple has suddenly turned the iPad into a viable laptop. Google is working now to integrate Android and Chrome OS into a single platform that is based entirely on Android, which means we will soon have powerful, Android-based laptops too. And I feel that devices that are simpler than PCs (including Macs and Linux) make more sense for the mainstream customer base. That they are, in effect, the future of personal computing.

One thing I’ve noticed with the iPad is that its powerful new laptop capabilities mean that I can bring this smaller and lighter device, one that gets better battery life than most Windows laptops, with me when I need these capabilities in a pinch. That is, rather than lugging around a big Windows laptop, I can toss the iPad in the car, or my bag, and have it there just in case when I’m out and maybe something work-related happens.

Likewise, we took several flights over the past month, to and from Berlin, to Mexico City, and to and from Maui, Hawaii, and most of those involved coach or extra leg room seats at best. And that means I wasn’t guaranteed enough space to open up a Windows laptop and get work done. But the iPad would have worked. And that, again, is very interesting.

Of course, the iPad I have now isn’t ideal as a laptop because its small 11-inch display means that the integrated keyboard on the Magic Keyboard I got isn’t full-sized. But these things don’t have to be integrated per se. There are several folding keyboard options out there that could likewise be useful in a pinch, so to speak. Among them is the Nillkin Cube Pocket Foldable Keyboard, which integrates the touchpad that I would need and want.

I’m sure there are many options just like it. And that or a similar folding keyboard would work well with an iPad, of course. But it would also work well with an Android tablet. Or … go figure, a folding Android phone.

Yes, this ensemble would be even smaller than the iPad, but that’s sort of the point. In the “optimize for the everyday” sense, I see a normal Windows laptop as my primary go-to device for productivity work, which in my case is mostly about writing. But this type of setup would allow me to use a folding phone, a hybrid device on its own, for a new, third use case: It could be a (very mini) laptop if needed.

And that is very interesting to me. A phone display is too small. But a folding phone display might just be big enough. As I wrote over two years ago in Hybrid (Premium), the hybrid dream has been largely unrealized. But the iPad with iPadOS 26 is a major leap forward, one that Google and Android are following. Could a folding phone take the next step as a true 3-in-1 (phone, mini-tablet, mini-laptop)?

Yes, maybe. But there’s something bigger going on here, too. In addition to my thoughts on the future of personal computing and how simpler devices are better for mainstream customers, there’s another trend that ties into this. We’re long past the point where most people spend most of their time interacting with what I’ll call computing services on a phone, and not using a PC or other device. If you think about that “optimize for the everyday” thing, the phone is the everyday. The ability to open it up and use it as a small tablet eliminates the need for a second device. And if it works, the ability to likewise use this little miracle as a laptop-like device is an intoxicating possibility.

This would not be ideal for me: I have big hands, middling eyesight, and decades of familiarity doing things in entirely different ways. But looking past my needs, in a world in which people spend more time on phones than with any other device, this use case is fascinating. And I write that having previously failed at doing exactly this, decades ago, when I tried to get writing done on a Palm OS-based device with, wait for it, a folding portable keyboard. That was the source of my Right Tool for the Job editorial. But it’s a different era. And hope springs eternal.

But first …

? Money is always an issue

The problems with a folding phone are many, but one obvious key concern is the cost. And here, I will need to rely on trade-in value and timing, as folding phones go on sale from time-to-time, sometimes unpredictably. All things being equal, this is where Google pulls ahead unless Samsung pulls off a financial magic trick: I traded in my Pixel 9 Pro XL to the Google Store when I thought I was buying a Pixel 10 Pro XL, and so I still have over $600 in store credit there. Assuming I could trade-in another phone if I actually make a purchase, it’s difficult to see how that wouldn’t make sense.

The 256 GB Pixel 10 Pro Fold is $1799. If I could buy it today, and I can’t, as I’m in Mexico, I would have two possibilities. I could buy it through Google Fi at $1379, or $450 off, take the $600 off that, and then owe about $775. Or I could buy it unlocked direct from Google for $1799, which is terrible. It’s not on sale.

In either case, I could trade in my Samsung Galaxy S25+ for $350, which doesn’t seem like a great deal, but if I did this through Google Fi, I could pay the full remaining price (roughly $425) immediately, so that’s interesting.

The Galaxy Z Fold7, meanwhile, is on sale as I write this, with the 256 GB models selling for $300 off, or $1699. Predictably, Samsung will give me more for my Galaxy S25+, $700, which lowers the price to $999. Still a lot of money, but in line with my normal annual purchases.

I can also buy a Galaxy Z Fold7 through Google Fi, go figure. And this choice is surprisingly interesting: The 256 GB models are just $1349 right now ($650 off), but I can’t trade in my Samsung because Google is only doing trade-ins on previous-generation phones or older. (My iPhone 16 Pro Max is worth $500 on trade, but I don’t want to give up my only iPhone.) So this is a dead end too.

We’ll see what happens as it gets closer to late November when we go back to the U.S. Maybe some Black Friday sale will put this over the top.