Pixel 9 Pro Fold durability test reveals a critical weak point

The fact that so many of us are able to carry around smartphones — these fragile glass and metal sandwiches barely thicker than a magazine — without accidentally snapping them in half at least once a day is something of a small miracle. And if that weren’t incredible enough, foldables exist on just another plane entirely, openly mocking the gods. Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is quite the achievement for the company, and shows just how much was learned the first time around. But is it a phone that can survive a little use and abuse, or will it fail to withstand punishment?

Zack from JerryRigEverything is putting the Pixel 9 Pro Fold quite literally under the knife in one of his latest durability tests. Things start out strong, and like we’ve seen ourselves, Google really stepped up its engineering game with this second-gen model, crafting a folder that looks and feels better than many standard phones. Even initial durability trials go well, with the exterior screen resisting scratches up to a Mohs rating of 6. But once we get to the actual folding display, reality sets in, and even fingernails leave permanent scars in the finish. That’s not surprising, but still a good reminder of where your expectations need to be when you’re picking up a foldable, even in 2024.

If you can’t handle nails on a chalkboard, you may want to skip past Zack taking a razor blade to all the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s aluminum surfaces. Even if you get through that, we quickly go from bad to worse, with the phone going up against a handful of sand and dirt. Google doesn’t claim dust resistance here, and the horrible noises that immediately start coming from the phone’s poor hinge seem to confirm the lack of protection.

The interior screen succumbs to the heat of a lighter’s flame quickly, but at least fails without melting. The front display fares quite a bit better, with less permanent damage done.

Folded closed, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold resists being snapped in half remarkably well, giving out a few creaks of protest but not outright breaking. Opened up, though, it doesn’t take much backwards pressure to bend the screen past the limits of its tolerances. In a slightly concerning development, the precise spot where the front panel of the phone gives way and bends is exactly where its antenna break pokes through. That feels like something Google’s going to want to reinforce the next time it builds a foldable.

To the phone’s credit, the hinge itself did survive this bend test — though if the phone’s rendered unusable, even that’s not really a saving grace. At least it’s reasonably repairable! For a handset this thin, even compared to standard phones, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold feels like it does a pretty solid job enduring the worst of what Zack can throw at it, and while we always knew it was going to fail at some point, hopefully this has you feeling a little more confident about picking up Google’s latest foldable as your next daily driver.