Google Pixel 8 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 | TechTalkTown
Google Pixel 8 Pro vs Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Google
8.5
Best Pixel of 2023 — AI camera + 7-year update commitment
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Samsung
8.5
Finally feels like a normal phone
Google Pixel 8 Pro
What Reviewers Agree On
Industry-first 7-year software update commitment (through 2030) — meaningfully longer than Samsung's 4 OS / 5 sec at the time
Magic Editor, Best Take, Audio Magic Eraser and Zoom Enhance — Tensor G3 enables a Google-only AI camera/editing suite
6.7-inch LTPO at 2400-nit peak — brighter than the iPhone 15 Pro Max (2000 nits) and S23 Ultra (1750 nits) of its era
Triple-camera upgrade: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide (up from 12MP on Pixel 7 Pro), 48MP 5x telephoto periscope
Magic Editor lets you reposition subjects, change backgrounds, add detail — most-discussed new feature of late 2023
Pros & Cons
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Pros
Industry-first 7-year software update commitment (through 2030) — meaningfully longer than Samsung's 4 OS / 5 sec at the time
Magic Editor, Best Take, Audio Magic Eraser and Zoom Enhance — Tensor G3 enables a Google-only AI camera/editing suite
6.7-inch LTPO at 2400-nit peak — brighter than the iPhone 15 Pro Max (2000 nits) and S23 Ultra (1750 nits) of its era
Triple-camera upgrade: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide (up from 12MP on Pixel 7 Pro), 48MP 5x telephoto periscope
Magic Editor lets you reposition subjects, change backgrounds, add detail — most-discussed new feature of late 2023
Detailed Comparison
Performance
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Tensor G3 is purpose-built for AI workloads but still trails Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and A17 Pro on raw performance. Runs hotter under sustained load; gaming performance is the weak spot.
Tensor G3 (4nm) + 12GB RAM + UFS 3.1 — purpose-built for Google's AI workloads, integrates the new TPU for Magic Editor / Best Take.
Tensor G3 still trails Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and A17 Pro on synthetic benchmarks — Google's chip strategy continues to prioritize AI over raw performance.
Runs hotter under sustained gaming/4K recording than Snapdragon-based rivals — Tensor G3 thermal throttling is a recurring real-world complaint.
Three years on (2026), Tensor G3 still handles everyday Android smoothly — only sustained gaming exposes the chip-vs-Snapdragon gap.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers fluid everyday performance, but in this thinner chassis Samsung has clearly throttled the chip to manage heat — Digital Trends benchmarks show the Fold 7 trailing both the S25 Ultra and even the 7-core Oppo Find N5 on multi-core CPU. GPU performance is closer to flagship S25 levels, and the phone gets warm but not distressingly hot under gaming load.
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Tensor G3 still trails Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and A17 Pro on raw performance, especially sustained GPU; runs hotter than rivals under load
Battery life is decent (~6h SOT) but not class-leading; multi-phone drain tests place it near the back vs OnePlus 12 / iPhone 15 Pro Max
30W wired charging is modest — slower than S23+/Ultra's 45W and far behind OnePlus 11's 80W
Modem reliability issues: signal drops and lower call quality reported in real-world use vs competitors
$999 starting was a $100 increase over the Pixel 7 Pro's $899 — pricing pushback at launch
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
What Reviewers Agree On
At 4.2mm unfolded and 215 grams the Fold 7 finally feels like a normal phone when closed — the cover screen's 21:9 aspect ratio and slimmer chassis are the headline upgrades every reviewer leads with.
The redesigned Armor FlexHinge with a waterdrop fold has made the inner-display crease the least visible on any Samsung foldable to date — close to imperceptible when running a finger over it.
The larger 8-inch inner display and 6.5-inch outer display are bigger and brighter (2,600-nit peak) than the Fold 6's, with Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the cover and a new titanium support lattice that makes the inner panel feel solid under the finger.
Borrowing the 200MP main sensor from the S25 Ultra is a real, visible upgrade over the Fold 6's 50MP unit — finally putting the Fold's main camera in the same league as Samsung's flagship slab phones.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers fluid everyday performance — no stutters with three apps tiled on the inner display, even at high gaming settings.
Samsung's seven years of OS upgrades and security patches (through 2032) match the industry's best long-term support window and Samsung has committed to keeping preloaded Galaxy AI features free.
The asymmetric protruding camera bump makes the phone wobble badly on flat surfaces — virtually every reviewer flags this as the design's one real misstep.
Deal Breakers
The S Pen and digitizer layer were removed entirely — there is no stylus support on either display, which long-time Note/Fold users see as a core feature lost to the thinness chase.
Battery life is the Fold's weakest area: same 4,400 mAh cell as the Fold 6 with slow 25W wired and 15W wireless charging, well behind the Find N5 (5,600 mAh, 80W) and Honor Magic V5 (5,820 mAh, 66W) that have moved to silicon-carbon battery tech.
At $1,999 (raised by $100 over Fold 6 and now subject to a further mid-cycle price hike) it is one of the most expensive non-foldable phones you can buy, and reviewers from the Verge to Ars Technica call out that this price is a real friction point.
Still IP48 — water-resistant but only rated against particles larger than 1mm, not a true dust rating like the IP58/IP59 Honor is now offering on the Magic V5.
iFixit gave the Fold 7 a 3/10 repairability score, with even basic battery replacement requiring dismantling much of the device — a fragility flag for a $2,000 phone.
Tensor G3 still trails Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and A17 Pro on raw performance, especially sustained GPU; runs hotter than rivals under load
Battery life is decent (~6h SOT) but not class-leading; multi-phone drain tests place it near the back vs OnePlus 12 / iPhone 15 Pro Max
30W wired charging is modest — slower than S23+/Ultra's 45W and far behind OnePlus 11's 80W
Modem reliability issues: signal drops and lower call quality reported in real-world use vs competitors
$999 starting was a $100 increase over the Pixel 7 Pro's $899 — pricing pushback at launch
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
Pros
At 4.2mm unfolded and 215 grams the Fold 7 finally feels like a normal phone when closed — the cover screen's 21:9 aspect ratio and slimmer chassis are the headline upgrades every reviewer leads with.
The redesigned Armor FlexHinge with a waterdrop fold has made the inner-display crease the least visible on any Samsung foldable to date — close to imperceptible when running a finger over it.
The larger 8-inch inner display and 6.5-inch outer display are bigger and brighter (2,600-nit peak) than the Fold 6's, with Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the cover and a new titanium support lattice that makes the inner panel feel solid under the finger.
Borrowing the 200MP main sensor from the S25 Ultra is a real, visible upgrade over the Fold 6's 50MP unit — finally putting the Fold's main camera in the same league as Samsung's flagship slab phones.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy delivers fluid everyday performance — no stutters with three apps tiled on the inner display, even at high gaming settings.
Samsung's seven years of OS upgrades and security patches (through 2032) match the industry's best long-term support window and Samsung has committed to keeping preloaded Galaxy AI features free.
The asymmetric protruding camera bump makes the phone wobble badly on flat surfaces — virtually every reviewer flags this as the design's one real misstep.
Cons
The S Pen and digitizer layer were removed entirely — there is no stylus support on either display, which long-time Note/Fold users see as a core feature lost to the thinness chase.
Battery life is the Fold's weakest area: same 4,400 mAh cell as the Fold 6 with slow 25W wired and 15W wireless charging, well behind the Find N5 (5,600 mAh, 80W) and Honor Magic V5 (5,820 mAh, 66W) that have moved to silicon-carbon battery tech.
At $1,999 (raised by $100 over Fold 6 and now subject to a further mid-cycle price hike) it is one of the most expensive non-foldable phones you can buy, and reviewers from the Verge to Ars Technica call out that this price is a real friction point.
Still IP48 — water-resistant but only rated against particles larger than 1mm, not a true dust rating like the IP58/IP59 Honor is now offering on the Magic V5.
The Fold 7 had no problems running Diablo Immortal at the highest display settings and the phone didn't even get very warm — though using it as a hotspot in direct sun on a high-80s afternoon caused it to start closing apps after 10 minutes.
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy boosts CPU and GPU by 38% and 26% respectively versus the standard 8 Elite, with NPU compute up 40% — paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM.
In GeekBench 6 the Fold 7 scored 2650 single-core / 8143 multi-core / 16245 GPU — below the Galaxy S25 Ultra (2974 / 9475 / 17776) and even below the 7-core Find N5 in multi-core (7912).
Yet to experience a single stutter or any lag — high-end gaming on the internal screen with Crashlands 2 at max quality runs fine, and the 16GB RAM model handles three internal-panel apps simultaneously.
SoC performance turns out lower in benchmarks than the S25 Ultra, which can probably be traced back to the weaker cooling in the slimmer build — though this doesn't make much of a difference in everyday operation.
The 20-minute 3DMark stress test drained 7% on the Fold 7 versus 13% on the S25 Ultra — the chip is throttled to manage battery, mostly affecting CPU.
Slight stutters at times compared to the best flagship phones — likely one of the compromises we have to accept in ultra-thin phones, similar to the Galaxy S25 Edge.
Value & Verdict
Google Pixel 8 Pro
$999 starting (128GB base) — the first Pixel Pro at four figures. Now $600-800 used in 2026 with 4 more years of support remaining. Best for Google ecosystem users; iPhone/Samsung win on raw performance.
Launched at $999 (128GB base) — $100 increase over the Pixel 7 Pro's $899, made the Pixel 8 Pro the first Pixel Pro at four figures.
At $600-800 used in 2026 with 4 more years of Google updates remaining (through 2030) — exceptional long-term value for Pixel ecosystem buyers.
vs iPhone 15 Pro Max ($1,199) — Google wins on camera AI features + update commitment; Apple wins on chip performance + ecosystem.
vs Samsung S23 Ultra ($1,199): Samsung wins on battery/zoom/S Pen; Pixel wins on camera AI processing and pure-Android software.
Phone Arena: 'the best Pixel yet by a comfortable margin' — most complete Google flagship to date.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
At $1,999 the Fold 7 carries a $100 hike over the Fold 6 and has already seen a further mid-cycle price increase nine months after launch (per a much-discussed r/gadgets thread). It is one of the most expensive non-folding phones on the market, but it is also the only book-style foldable in the US that delivers a true 'feels like a normal phone' closed experience — the OnePlus Open is two years old, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has been superseded, the Find N5 and Magic V5 aren't sold here. For most US buyers who want a foldable, this is the only realistic choice.
It's so nice. It's two thousand dollars. Somewhere between those two statements you'll know whether the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is for you.
Unequivocally, you should buy the Galaxy Z Fold 7 — the first folding phone that can persuade people globally to try a folding phone, and the only book-style foldable available worldwide.
Samsung has finally delivered the ultra-slim, lightweight foldable so many have been waiting for — it could be the best phone of 2025.
After Unpacked I was hovering over the checkout button to pre-order the Flip 7 and hesitated; when the Z Fold 7 landed in my hand, something clicked that had never clicked before.
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy performance is throttled in this chassis — Digital Trends benchmarked the Fold 7 below the S25 Ultra and even below the 7-core Oppo Find N5 in multi-core CPU.
iFixit gave the Fold 7 a 3/10 repairability score, with even basic battery replacement requiring dismantling much of the device — a fragility flag for a $2,000 phone.
Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy performance is throttled in this chassis — Digital Trends benchmarked the Fold 7 below the S25 Ultra and even below the 7-core Oppo Find N5 in multi-core CPU.
I'm a foldable believer now — this phone proves it's not a precious item that needs to be coddled, and it has totally made me a believer in the form factor.
This is the first 6.5-inch slab phone and 8-inch tablet two-in-one that doesn't feel like a two-in-one — even committed iPhone users were amazed by the form factor.
Two weeks in I just don't like it nearly as much as I thought I would — the tablet experience is noticeably worse than previous generations, the hinge is harder to open, the speakers are worse and the camera bump is severe.
Even with the most aggressive trade-in promo the Fold 7 still costs more than $1,000 out of pocket — agony of a $1,400+ replacement makes a $200 used Chromebook the smarter big-screen buy.
It is probably cheaper to get a normal phone and a separate tablet for when you want a large screen — the dominant view among Ars Technica forum commenters skeptical of the foldable form factor.
The Z Fold 7 just got a price hike nine months after release, with users on r/gadgets blaming memory shortages — a recurring complaint that this should have gotten cheaper, not more expensive.
