Every glowing review I have written of a folding phone has a slightly bittersweet quality. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold, OnePlus Open, and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold are exceptional phones — some of the best on the market. There’s something special about having a small foldable tablet in your pocket, whether watching a video, using a spreadsheet, or reading an article — and it’s exciting to think that a folding iPhone is only a few years out.

However, every review ends with a similar line: I wouldn’t recommend buying one. The reasons are that they all have suspect durability and high prices, and you can have one but not both.

If the phones were affordable, then you could justify the durability concerns on the grounds of how much more you’re getting than a standard phone; and if they were tough but expensive, the same would be true. The problem at the moment is that folding phones are both. They cost at least a 1.5 times the multiple of other flagships, and have far more vulnerable hardware, with screens sometimes cracking and hinges breaking due to light water damage or particle ingress.

It’s not a rule — my Pixel 9 Pro Fold has survived a year of constant use with minimal wear — but it’s far more likely than a standard phone. This also means that they’re hard to recommend used because the older a phone is, the closer it is to reaching a catastrophic hardware problem.

However, with Google’s newest folding phone, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, they have somewhat addressed this issue. It starts at $1,799, like the last one, and it looks basically the same—albeit in new colors—and has a disappointingly similar chip.

However, for the first time, the Pixel 10 Pro Fold is a folding phone with IP68 dust and water resistance. This is a folding phone you could shower with, drop in a pool, and so forth — and though you wouldn’t do such things, the point is that if it is tested to withstand those conditions, then it’s up for the other irregularities of daily life. The screen is still softer and more breakable than a standard phone’s, but it’s a lot easier to recommend now.

It’s also the only folding phone to have this, which is surprising to me. As Chinese manufacturers compete to make folding phones thinner — which makes them feel cooler, but also raises concerns about durability — Google has opted for practical innovation.

I still don’t recommend it — it’s so expensive, and Pixels have been underperforming this year — but it’s far easier to recommend this time.