Pixel 11 Pro Fold vs. Galaxy Z Fold 8: How Google and Samsung’s foldables compare

Whether or not a notable holdout joins the fray makes it the year of the foldable, 2026 is already certainly a referendum on foldable proportions. After years of making narrow foldable phones, Samsung has opted for a wide aspect ratio for the first time with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, a move that already seems popular with reviewers. Ironically, Google started its foldable lineup with a passport-style fold before switching to a narrow aspect ratio more in line with Samsung’s. So with the recent announcement of Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold, we now have the perfect opportunity to compare the two approaches.

Google and Samsung remain close software partners, so ideally Android should be as functional on one device as it is on another (barring each company’s unique strengths). But the hardware choices each company makes, from the size of its screens to the quality of its cameras, could make a difference when everything is analyzed.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, while visually reminiscent of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that preceded it, is shorter and stockier overall. The foldable features a 5.5-inch AMOLED external display, designed to be easier to reach with one hand, and a wide 7.6-inch AMOLED internal display that works much better for watching videos than older Samsung foldables.

In comparison, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is taller and narrower than the Fold 8, and even 1mm thinner than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. It has a 6.5-inch external Super Actua display (Google’s custom OLED display) that is closer in size to a normal smartphone, and an 8-inch internal Super Actua display with enough space to easily run two full-size smartphone apps side by side.

Both phones have a 120Hz refresh rate on their displays and similar maximum brightness levels (3,000 nits for the Samsung and 3,600 nits for the Pixel). The Pixel 11 Pro Fold gets a key addition in a new “HiLight” notification light on the camera bar that can change color depending on who’s calling or if you’re talking to Gemini. The only surprise on the back of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the removal of the dedicated telephoto lens found on the Z Fold 7.

What Samsung does offer is more color options. You can purchase the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in a light purple “Lavender,” white “Cream,” or gray “Graphite,” with a green “Pistachio” option available exclusively on the company’s website. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold only comes in two options, a soft green “Olive” and a black “Obsidian”.

Inside, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 features Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, with support for 12GB of RAM on the 256GB and 512GB models, or 16GB of RAM on the 1TB model. Samsung doesn’t differentiate between the chips in the regular Fold 8 and the more expensive Fold 8 Ultra, so you should get the fastest performance possible even on the entry model of range. We found that the Galaxy Z Fold 8 easily handled things like multitasking and mobile video editing in our review.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold uses Google’s new Tensor G6 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. Google says the Tensor G6 chip features an improved processor that delivers up to 20% better power efficiency, 25% faster browsing, and 15% faster app loading than the Tensor G5. Like the company’s previous chips, it has also been specifically designed for camera performance and AI, with an updated image signal processor and the ability to run the Gemini Nano model on Google’s device more efficiently.

The continued inclusion of magnets (and therefore Qi2 support) also means that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold can charge wirelessly faster than the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold supports 25W charging with Google’s Pixelsnap chargers or 30W charging via a wired connection. Google says the phone should have a battery life of over 24 hours and has a 4,750 mAh battery.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 has a 4,800 mAh battery, which lasted just over 28 hours in our testing. The Z Fold 8 doesn’t have built-in Qi2 magnets but can charge wirelessly at 20W or via a wired connection at 45W. The foldable is one of Samsung’s first phones to feature a silicon-carbon battery, allowing it to have higher capacity in a smaller footprint.

The cameras are one of the main points of difference between the Pixel 11 Pro Fold and the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold has three rear cameras: a 48 MP wide one with a larger 1/1.56″ sensor, and the same 10.5 MP ultra-wide and 10.8 MP telephoto lens from the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. All three cameras also support Google’s software-activated Super Res Zoom feature, which lets you allows for 30x zoom compared to the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s 20x zoom The smartphone’s external and internal 10 MP selfie cameras are also unchanged.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is immediately different because it only has two rear cameras: a 50MP wide and a 50MP ultra-wide. Both represent a significant step up from the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s 200MP camera. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 also has 10 MP external and internal selfie cameras.

Of course, hardware is only part of what makes a smartphone camera great, and both Samsung and Google offer their own software features to further differentiate things. For example, Samsung lets you record from the front and rear cameras simultaneously and has added an updated ProVisual engine that’s supposed to remove noise from shots. Google has added an even broader collection of features to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, including a feature called Magic Capture that automatically crops and removes blur from photos, and Camera Looks, which lets you apply custom film qualities to your photos, much like the iPhone’s Photographic Styles.

With RAM prices already high and foldables costing more to build than single-screen phones, neither the Galaxy Z Fold 8 nor the Pixel 11 Pro Fold are cheap. Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold starts at $1,900, a $100 jump from the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s $1,800 starting price. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 also starts at $1,900, technically $100 less than the starting price of the previous Galaxy Z Fold 7, but by no means affordable.