Skip to main content

You really need to be careful with your Pixel 9 Pro Fold

A person opening the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

We’ve got good news and bad news. The good news? You can repair your Pixel 9 Pro Fold‘s screen if you happen to accidentally break it. The bad news is the cost won’t be far off from what you paid for the phone in the first place, even if you decide to repair it yourself. The inner screen for the device is available from iFixit for a whopping $1,199 — quite the pretty penny when you consider the phone itself starts at $1,799.

It’s a jump up from the cost to buy a replacement Pixel Fold screen, which was “only” $899. For what it costs to repair the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s screen, you could buy an iPhone 16 Pro Max. That’s a lot of money for a DIY repair, a process that should (in theory) make repairs a lot less expensive. By the way, the $1,199 is just for the part itself — the full repair kit adds on just $8, bringing it to a total of $1,207. The kit includes all of the necessary tools, including a pair of tweezers, screwdriver, bits, spudger, picks, and more.

iFixit repair kit for Pixel 9 Pro Fold
iFixit Image used with permission by copyright holder

The rest of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold components were already released earlier this year for much more reasonable prices; in fact, the most expensive component other than the screen would be the rear cameras for just $250.

Recommended Videos

We looked for less expensive sources for repair components, but had little luck. It seems that the primary culprit behind the cost is the screen itself, which is unsurprising given how it folds. Although there are third-party sites that will let you buy the necessary components, we were unable to find a trusted source that offered the screen at a lower price.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

If you’re either keen to be able to repair your phone by yourself, or recognize that accidents happen, then take a look at HMD’s range of easily repaired smartphones, including the HMD Skyline. A replacement screen costs just $99 from iFixit, and we’ve seen an HMD representative change the part out in under 10 minutes. If you’re notoriously clumsy, it may be the better choice, no matter how good the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is.

Patrick Hearn
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…
Google’s Pixel Weather app just got two new features. Here’s how they work
The Pixel Weather app on a Google Pixel 9.

The Pixel Weather app has been the focus of a lot of attention lately as Google revamps the user experience and adds more features. Now, there's more good news: two of those promised functions — the Pollen count card and immersive vibrations — are newly available, at least for some users.

Thanks to "immersive weather vibrations," the Pixel Weather app vibrates to match the animated backgrounds it displays, with intensity levels that mirror the precipitation amount (because it's not just rainfall), according to 9to5Google. Of course, if you don't like the feature, you can disable it in the account menu.

Read more
I tried a new Android phone that puts some of the best smartphone cameras to shame
The rear camera setup on the Oppo Find X8 Pro.

It’s been a few years since I was surprised by a smartphone camera’s zoom performance. With Samsung offering 100x zoom on its Galaxy S Ultra lineup, little has shocked me with smartphone cameras — until now.

The Oppo Find X8 series is the successor to the Find X7 series from last year, and alongside several other improvements, there’s also been a significant upgrade in one area: the 30x zoom. Oppo and OnePlus have great cameras at shorter zoom distances, and at a recent briefing, I discovered that we can now add the 30x zoom to the list.

Read more
5 phones you should buy instead of the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL sitting upright outside.

If you’re in the market for a new smartphone, you could be eyeing the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. And there’s nothing wrong with that — it’s a great phone! It has Google’s Tensor G4 chip inside, along with 16GB RAM, up to 1TB storage, plenty of Google Gemini AI goodies, ample storage, and a fantastic triple lens camera system. Plus, it even comes in a gorgeous pink Rose Quartz color.

But as great as the Pixel 9 Pro XL is, there are also plenty of other excellent alternatives if you want to save some money or get even better features. Here are some phones to consider instead of the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Google Pixel 9 Pro

Read more