Pixel 9 Pro Fold teardown reveals promising repairability but with durability concerns

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has officially hit the teardown table, and it’s already creating buzz. iFixit and JerryRigEverything have revealed the inner workings of Google’s latest foldable flagship, with mixed reviews highlighting its strong points and a few glaring flaws.

Let’s start with iFixit, the team that loves pulling gadgets apart. Their teardown gave us a peek at what they call “the most exciting foldable yet.” The Pixel 9 Pro Fold comes with impressive modularity, with easily swappable parts like the USB-C port and SIM card tray. Even more interesting, iFixit found that the outer screen and back cover could be removed with just a prying tool — no heat gun required. But, of course, no phone is perfect. While it aces modularity, the battery removal process? A total letdown. Those pull tabs under the 4.68Wh and 13.4Wh batteries simply don’t do their job, requiring more muscle than should be necessary.

Over at JerryRigEverything’s durability and bend test, things took a nosedive. While the Pixel Fold’s hinge remains tough as nails (well, almost), the screen didn’t fare as well. The inner display scratched at level two on the Mohs scale — yep, that’s fingernail territory. In the bend test, the real problem wasn’t the hinge, but the antenna lines next to it. They popped off like toast in the morning, mirroring last year’s issue. For comparison, Samsung’s Z Fold 6 shrugged off a similar test with barely a bend.

One bright spot from the teardown? A new vapor chamber. According to Zach from JerryRigEverything, most of the thermal dissipation happens from the backside of the device when folded, with heat flowing from the Tensor G4 to the vapor chamber. While it’s great for keeping things cool, that folding plastic screen seems like a risky spot to vent all that heat.

Overall, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold pushes the boundaries for foldables in repairability, but when it comes to durability, it feels like history repeating itself.