The Pixel 10 Pro Fold was a flop and 2026 is Google’s last chance to fix it

This year’s foldable Pixel was by far the weakest link in Google’s 2025 lineup, not because it’s an outright failure, but because it could have been so much more. There is enormous potential in the Pixel Fold, but Google is running out of time to fully utilize it. And whether we see Google do that – or let the Pixel Fold fall too far behind the competition – will ultimately come down to what happens in 2026.

Leading up to the announcement of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold earlier this year, there was a lot of excitement surrounding Google’s third attempt at a foldable phone. The original Pixel Fold was a deeply flawed first-generation product, and the improvements we saw year after year between it and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold were almost unbelievable. The hardware improvements Google made were excellent, and it quickly proved how serious the company was about its foldable ambitions.

It was naive to expect Google to deliver such a major upgrade back-to-back, but there were issues with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold that needed to be resolved – things like camera quality, performance, and further design refinement. In other words: all reasonable improvements for his successor.

But even with realistic expectations of what the Pixel 10 Pro Fold would be, the final product we got was still a disappointment. While the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was clearly created with fire and passion to take foldable products to the next level, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold felt like it came from a team that just had to meet a deadline.

Cameras were another item that needed an upgrade, but that didn’t happen either. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold used the exact same sensors as the previous model, and for a flagship Pixel phone, they’re not good enough. When Samsung crams a 200MP primary camera into the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and vivo puts 50MP telephoto and ultrawide cameras into the X Fold 5, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s 48MP primary sensor and ~10MP secondary cameras simply can’t compete.

And that ultimately applies to a large part of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold experience. While the Tensor G5 chip performs for normal app use and stays cooler than previous versions, it struggles with gaming and other more demanding workloads – things a foldable chip should excel at. Google’s paltry 30W wired charging speeds are in dire need of an upgrade, and much of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s software is frustratingly buggy.

To Google’s credit, it has made some smart moves with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. I absolutely love the addition of magnetic charging, and the new hinge that allows for an IP68 rating is nothing short of impressive. But that’s not nearly enough to make the Pixel 10 Pro Fold a $1,799 phone, especially when everything else looks so incredibly similar to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. As I said in my Pixel 10 Pro Fold review, the phone feels lazy, which is a shame because we know Google is capable of much, much more.

That’s where we are today with the Pixel Fold, but what about what comes next? Where will Google go with the inevitable Pixel 11 Pro Fold in 2026? Given what we’ve seen so far of Google’s foldable portfolio, we’re likely looking at one of two scenarios.

If that means raising the price to $2,000, then so be it. Samsung has increased the price of its Z Fold series in recent years, and it has paid off for the company. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold may be $200 cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but the Fold 7 is more foldable in almost every way and more than justifies its higher price. Google can’t be afraid to take on its biggest rival in the US, even if it means making the Pixel Fold more expensive.

The other option is for Google to simply repeat what it did with the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. It could reuse the same hardware for another year, add a new Tensor chip, and perhaps include minor display upgrades, and call it a day.

Part of me doesn’t think Google would go this route when it was so clearly outclassed by virtually all other foldable tablets in 2025, but the Pixel 10 Pro Fold proves that Google doesn’t mind calling it out. If Google isn’t that serious about advancing the foldable market and just wants to say it’s part of the equation, why not go this route? It’s easier, cheaper and safer.

But there’s a problem with that second option. If Google releases another redesigned Pixel Fold without meaningful upgrades, that will be the company telling us that it doesn’t care about seriously competing in the foldables space. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold will be there for Google to say it’s selling a foldable phone, but it won’t be a phone most people should buy. This is what the Pixel 10 Pro Fold feels like, and I’m afraid that’s all Google wants to do.

As a Pixel and foldable fan, I certainly hope Google takes the first route. There’s so much the company can still do with the Pixel Fold, and I want the Pixel 11 Pro Fold to be unequivocally Google’s best foldable tablet ever – as I’m sure most people do.

I just hope Google feels the same way.