Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs Pixel 11 Pro Fold: Can't Believe It

Quick summary: I finally put the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold against the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. The Pixel wins on cameras, the cover screen, smoothness and IP68. The Samsung wins on performance, the crease, customization and battery life. If someone asked me which to buy, I’d say the Z Fold 8 Ultra.

Cameras: Pixel

I shot everything in 4K 60 with the cover-screen cameras, rear cameras and ultra-wides (0.5x on the Pixel, 0.6x on the Samsung). The Pixel’s photos and video looked sharper with better colors, more consistently. The microphones were basically equal. Their WAV files looked and sounded the same.

Brightness: tie in practice

The Pixel is rated at 3,600 nits versus 3,000 for the Samsung. In fairly sunny conditions, I didn’t notice much difference on either screen.

Cover screen: Pixel

The Pixel’s cover screen is almost regular phone size, square with small bezels, while the Fold 8 Ultra’s is tall and skinny with more bezel. Videos look bigger and the keyboard is wider and easier to type on. I wish Samsung would make next year’s cover screen this size.

Inner screen: tie

They’re more or less the same, so it comes down to whether you prefer square or rounded. The Pixel shows a bit more of a video’s picture, and many games play without rotating. On Galaxy, a lot of games force rotation, which actually felt a little better to me for gaming.

Build and crease: Samsung on the crease

Both feel amazing, with nice, tight hinges. The crease is less pronounced on the Fold 8 Ultra. With the screen on, you barely notice either one.

Performance: Samsung, by a lot

Geekbench gave the Pixel 2,260 single-core and 5,898 multi-core, versus 2,951 and 9,230 on the Galaxy. The Galaxy runs basically everything on ultra. Fortnite is a disaster on the Pixel and Genshin Impact won’t play, though Roblox and other games run fine. Day to day, though, the Pixel is the smoothest Android experience you’ll get, nearly OnePlus-level, thanks to near-stock Android. The Samsung is still very smooth, and more reliable for gaming and editing.

IP68: Pixel

Only the Pixel has full IP68 dust and water resistance. The Fold 8 Ultra has full water resistance but not full dust resistance.

Customization: Samsung

Samsung has a theme store, always-on display options, fonts, Good Lock and a whole Advanced features menu. The Pixel has nothing like it.

Battery: Samsung

The Galaxy has a 5,000mAh battery and the Pixel’s is a bit smaller. With its more efficient chip, the Galaxy gets about two more hours of real-world use.

Reliability

The Pixel’s inner screen froze on me twice, and I had to close and restart it. Several friends and family members have had Pixels fail in software and couldn’t recover them. I’ve never had that with a Samsung. Not every Pixel does this, and an update may fix it, but I trust Galaxy more.

Verdict

Both get years of updates and both are great. What holds me back from the Pixel is performance for high-end 3D games. I’d recommend the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra as the more reliable phone.

• Buy the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra from Samsung
• Pixel 11 Pro Fold at Best Buy
• OhSnap SnapGrip Stand