Alongside its three new slab smartphones, the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, and Pixel 11 Pro XL, Google unveiled a new foldable, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. It’s sleek and stylish, but has serious camera compromises.

Many of the same improvements featured in the slab Pixel 11 series smartphones make their way over to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. For example, Google’s new HiLight feature, a glowing colorful LED on the Camera Bar, is here like it is on the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL. The new Tensor G6 chip makes its way over as well, as expected.

The new foldable also includes Google’s new Magic Capture mode, which records video and then pulls out and edits specific photos with a single tap. Google Gemini is a huge part of the phone, of course, including AI-based photo editing and Camera Coach.

On the screen side of things, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold has a 6.5-inch external screen to use when folded. When unfolded, users have a big 8-inch screen at their disposal. In both cases, peak HDR maxes out at 3,600 nits, although the full-screen HDR is slightly brighter on the external screen (2,400 versus 2,000 nits).

There’s little question that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is a very pretty smartphone. However, what’s less appealing are the camera compromises.

Like so many folding phones on the market, even the improved Samsung Galazy Z Fold8 Ultra unveiled last month, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold lacks the camera prowess of Google’s flagship slab phones, the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL. This is a very consistent formula in the foldable space: worse cameras than the flagship slab phones but a higher price.

The Pro Fold has the same 48-megapixel Quad PD wide camera with a Type 1/1.56 sensor as the standard Pixel 11, rather than the new 50-megapixel Octa PD Type 1/1.3 sensor found in the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL.

On the telephoto side of things, rather than the new, larger Type 1/1.95 48-megapixel camera found in the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold gets the same 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera found in the regular Pixel 11.

It’s an even worse story with the Type 1/3.4 10.5-megapixel ultrawide camera. The 48-megapixel Type 1/2.51 camera from the Pro slab phones is nowhere to be found, but neither is the Type 1/3.1 13-megapixel ultrawide camera from the regular Pixel 11.

Compared to Samsung’s new Z Fold8 Ultra, which made meaningful strides to close the camera gap between it and the flagship S26 Ultra, it seems clear that smartphone makers either believe the foldable market doesn’t care as much about cameras or this is just what’s technologically possible inside the slim form factor required to make a compelling foldable. It’s not obvious when, or if, a company’s foldable will offer the same exact photo experience and specs as its flagship slab phone.

Pricing and Availability

Mobile photographers are giving up a lot in terms of cameras with the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with the cameras on offer, all three of the rear cameras are a notable downgrade compared to Google’s new Pixel 11 Pro series smartphones. Technically, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold’s triple cameras are worse than the base Pixel 11 overall, for that matter, but the Pixel 11 starts at $899 while the Pixel 11 Pro Fold starts at $1,899 instead.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold is available to preorder now and will begin shipping on August 20.

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Image creditsGoogle