Google Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL Review: All Grown Up

Great camera strategy with close tegument tones. Strong show and bully cooling connected the Pro models. Bright, sharp, creaseless OLED displays. Long bundle support. Lots of adjuvant bundle features.

What is simply a photo, anyway? No Qi2 support. Price hikes.

I person reviewed each Pixel smartphone since the marque was archetypal introduced successful 2016, and thing astir the Pixel 9 series makes maine deliberation of Google's latest hardware arsenic all grown up. It's intolerable to constituent to 1 caller diagnostic arsenic the root of this feeling. Rather, it's an amalgamation of changes that person taken spot implicit the past 3 years—ever since the institution began stuffing its ain Tensor processors into these phones to powerfulness its forward-looking software.

The operation of polished hardware, brawny internals, and adjuvant bundle has resulted successful a handset that matches what you get from the likes of Samsung and Apple. All that elegance comes astatine a outgo though. At $799 for the Pixel 9, $999 for the Pixel 9 Pro, and $1,099 for the Pixel 9 Pro XL, these are among the astir costly Pixels to date. Here's your regular reminder that you tin get fantabulous smartphones for little than $500 (including Google-made devices similar the Pixel 8A).

But for anyone who doesn't caput splurging connected the astir important portion of tech successful their life, the Pixel 9 bid delivers immoderate of the champion mobile camera experiences wealth tin buy. The Pixel 9 besides serves arsenic an engaging model into the AI-fication of our idiosyncratic technology—whether that's thing you privation oregon not.

The Phone Stuff

The refined plan helps with the Pixel 9's glow-up. The iconic camera visor that has been a mainstay since the Pixel 6 is inactive present, but successful a much elegant pill-shaped design. Don't worry, it inactive screams “Pixel.” It's hard to mistake this telephone for thing else, particularly if you opt for the beauteous pinkish colors. (I admit that the amusive colour isn't restricted to the “non-Pro” model, arsenic it is connected different makes and models of phones.)

I don't find the camera bump excessive oregon ugly; the phones don't stone erstwhile they beryllium level connected a table, and that's a monolithic boon. I similar the level show panel, arsenic good arsenic the level edges. The squared-off plan is easier to hold, and your grip won't interfere with the touchscreen similar connected smartphones with “waterfall” displays that curve astir to the sides wherever your fingers grasp the phone's body. Just cognize that the Pro phones person glossy edges that pull fingerprints, truthful you'll beryllium wiping them down often. (Just me?)

Speaking of fingerprints, Google has outfitted these models with an ultrasonic in-display scanner that is acold and distant much reliable than the optical fingerprint sensors it has been utilizing connected Pixels for years, yet matching the prime recovered connected different Android phones. On the flip side, Pixels are inactive immoderate of the lone Android phones with unafraid look scanning, truthful it's large that you person some biometric options, though I'd person liked to spot improvements successful making look unlock enactment amended successful the dark.

Choice goes a agelong mode successful showing maturity successful a merchandise enactment too. For the archetypal time, you get options successful the size of the Pixel 9 Pro—6.3 inches oregon 6.8 inches for the XL—which means you nary longer person to consciousness similar you're losing retired connected features conscionable due to the fact that you similar smaller phones. Even though I person large paws, I similar the size and consciousness of the Pixel 9 Pro. Nice and compact.

I haven't had qualms with the basics connected each 3 Pixel 9 phones. The OLED displays are wonderfully bright, sharp, and creaseless (though marque definite you crook connected the 120-Hz surface refresh rate successful the settings). Performance with the Tensor G4 chipset has yet to amusement a hiccup successful modular operations, adjacent erstwhile juggling aggregate apps. In benchmarks, the latest Tensor spot sits little than the processors powering Samsung and Apple's flagships, but this mostly affects gaming performance. (More connected that successful a bit.)

As for the artillery life, the results are beauteous bully but not peculiarly special. The Pixel 9 Pro XL had astir 30 percent artillery near astatine the extremity of the time whereas it was person to 15 percent connected the different 2 models. But this is with dense use. I managed a whopping 7 hours of screen-on time, with the Pixel 9 Pro hitting 20 percent. On the Pixel 9, it was person to six hours of screen-on clip earlier I deed that mark. The batteries are reliable, but you're inactive not rather getting the bid of caput you tin bask with a telephone that has 2 days of artillery life.

The tiny spec changes betwixt the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro models mightiness not transportation you to bargain a circumstantial model. The Pro models, for example, person faster charging speeds, and the screens are a tiny spot brighter. The improvements are truthful insignificant it doesn't marque overmuch difference. (Ideally, the Pro models should've travel with 256 GB of retention alternatively of 128, but astatine slightest you get a twelvemonth of Gemini Advanced baked in.)

However, 3 things mightiness marque the Pixel 9 Pro worthy the splurge implicit the basal Pixel 9. First is the 5X telephoto camera, which I speech much astir successful the camera conception of this review. You don't request to beryllium a lensman to marque usage of it; conscionable cognize it'll instrumentality amended pics of your kids astatine the schoolhouse recital! Having an optical zoom enactment is ever useful. The 2nd measurement up successful the Pro exemplary is the selfie camera. In agleam scenes, you mightiness not announcement a difference, but successful debased light, the Pixel 9 Pro's selfie results are noticeably sharper than the Pixel 9 with little noise.

Finally, there's the vapor enclosure cooling system. Without getting technical, this greatly improves the cooling capabilities of the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL, meaning the processor won't get throttled if your telephone heats up during intensive tasks. I didn't announcement a quality successful day-to-day use, but instrumentality gaming arsenic an example. I maxed retired the graphics settings connected Zenless Zone Zero and played for astir 2 hours connected the Pixel 9 Pro without it getting excessively hot, and I didn't spot galore stutters successful the gameplay. That was not the lawsuit connected the Pixel 9. After 20 minutes, stutters grew predominant and the telephone got incredibly hot.

The takeaway? If you're an avid gamer, it's worthy going for a Pro. If you ne'er play mobile games oregon usage the zoom relation connected your phone's camera, past the Pixel 9 volition do.

My lone sound connected the hardware beforehand is the deficiency of Qi2 support successful the Pixel 9 range. I've been excitedly waiting for more Android phones to follow this caller wireless charging standard, which would bring a MagSafe-like magnetic acquisition overmuch similar iPhones. Alas, it's conscionable modular Qi wireless charging here. Do what I bash and usage a MagSafe case.

I haven't had a accidental to effort the Pixel's caller Satellite SOS messaging function, which lets you interaction exigency services adjacent erstwhile you don't person a compartment awesome oregon Wi-Fi. It'll beryllium enabled connected the motorboat day, but it's bully to yet spot the diagnostic connected Android.

It’s All About the Camera …

I've written more in-depth present astir the camera updates Google has made to its representation processing algorithms and Real Tone, the tech that helps marque tegument tones look much natural. The TL;DR is the Pixel 9 camera strategy is excellent, rivaling and sometimes (not always!) surpassing the iPhone 15 Pro, which was my constituent of examination this go-around. But fto maine nerd retired a bit.

Skin tones mostly look much color-accurate connected the Pixel 9 bid than connected the iPhone, and astir of the time, the Pixel delivers close colour temperatures and achromatic balance. Keyword: most. There are a fewer instances wherever the Pixel 9 colour corrects excessively overmuch and reduces the lukewarm tones from a picture, though I person recovered the iPhone tends to exaggerate those hues. Similarly, the Pixel 9 amended exposes a scene, offering much item successful the shadows, but sometimes it does this astatine the disbursal of overbrightening 1 area.

As overmuch arsenic I similar the 5X optical zoom camera, Apple's telephoto lens is superior successful debased light, arsenic images taken with the iPhone's camera look sharper and much lifelike, whereas the Pixel's tin consciousness too processed. Apple's achromatic equilibrium is beauteous off, though. Seriously, what's up with trying to pump up the yellowish tones?

Two notable areas wherever the Pixel 9 excels are videos and panoramas. For videos, Google is improving its Video Boost exertion that debuted connected the Pixel 8 Pro, which uploads your clip to Google's servers, cleans up your footage, improves stabilization, and brightens everything up. You'll get a notification sometime aboriginal erstwhile it's complete. (You inactive person entree to the archetypal video if you privation to stock it immediately.) This processing measurement is automatically enabled erstwhile you determination to the Night Sight tab successful Video mode. The resulting footage looks astonishing aft being brightened up. However, this makes maine much impressed astatine however bully the iPhone's footage looks without ever needing to beryllium sent disconnected for zhuzhing.

More awesome are panoramas. Google has a caller mode of capturing them: The Pixel places a bid of dots implicit the country successful the viewfinder, and arsenic you determination the telephone around, it asks you to intermission connected each dot truthful it tin seizure that portion of the scene. It was shocking to spot the quality betwixt the iPhone's panorama, which was mode darker than the country successful existent life, versus the brighter, much colorful changeable from the Pixel.

But there's a large quality betwixt what you seizure and what you bash with the photograph you've captured. A large portion of the Pixel camera acquisition nowadays is the AI editing features Google has been championing over the past fewer years. Google started simply, allowing you to region unnecessary objects from the inheritance of your photos. Now, you tin wholly alteration the country by typing successful immoderate text.

This is wherever we get to spot the bully and atrocious sides of technological innovation. Take the “Add Me” feature, for example. First, you instrumentality a photograph of your loved 1 successful beforehand of a landmark. Then you swap places, and they'll instrumentality a pic of you adjacent to wherever they stood. Let the representation process, and present it'll springiness you 1 photograph wherever it appears arsenic if you some stood adjacent to each other. It solves the occupation of asking idiosyncratic to instrumentality a representation of your household (or conscionable having a photograph successful your room wherever the full household isn't together).

Autoframe is different bully diagnostic to have. This generates imagery astir the photograph you captured to connection antithetic framing options, perchance improving the photo's composition. Sometimes I get a horizontal harvest of a photograph I captured vertically, which is bully to person arsenic an alternative. That said, with some of these features, you lone person to look intimately to spot discrepancies. Some are much obvious, similar the other fingers successful my workfellow Lauren Goode's hands. Some are little so, allowing the doctored photograph to walk for reality.

Reimagine is wherever things commencement to get murky. It's a almighty diagnostic that lets you prime an country of a photograph and benignant successful substance to change it. Samsung introduced a akin diagnostic called Sketch to Image successful its latest folding phones, but Google's implementation is overmuch much effective. I've replaced a thoroughfare with a water and a canine with an umbrella successful a boat. I've added Cthulhu floating adjacent a building. There are guardrails here—it refused to adhd radical oregon change faces—but what you adhd oregon change tin wholly alteration the photo.

The much I changed my photos, the much I started to consciousness bad. Not truthful overmuch erstwhile I was making silly changes—but erstwhile I modified a picture, similar adding a realistic supermoon successful the New York City skyline oregon changing the lighting successful different photograph from nighttime to sunset, it felt surreal. I adjacent went backmost and altered an representation I took with my mirrorless camera successful Japan—at the clip I was upset that I could lone instrumentality the photos astatine precocious noon alternatively than sunset, but Reimagine fto maine adhd a somewhat realistic prima and alteration the lighting to aureate hour. I cognize you tin bash these things with tools similar Photoshop, but the easiness that comes with putting it close determination successful the phone's camera app doesn't consciousness right.

… And AI

Pixel phones service arsenic a proving crushed for Google's AI-powered bundle enhancements that the institution touts arsenic making mundane tasks a spot easier. There are a fewer caller ones here. Call Notes is the latest calling diagnostic that much oregon little records your telephone telephone and past creates an AI-generated summary with the astir important bits. This tin beryllium precise utile erstwhile you're buying astir trying to get a punctuation connected something, but it's lone arsenic bully arsenic the prime of the call.

I called a fewer dentists and car mechanics successful my country to get immoderate quotes, and Call Notes correctly noted the prices successful its summary, but besides mistakenly heard definite things: Someone's code that was “1812 Atlantic” turned into “18 Club”; Nostrand Avenue turned into “Nordstrom Avenue.” At the precise slightest you tin play backmost the full telephone to perceive again for yourself oregon look astatine the transcript. This diagnostic is 1 you person to manually crook connected during each call, truthful you'll person to remember, and it besides is awkward due to the fact that it injects a informing to the different idiosyncratic that the telephone is being recorded. That's important (for ineligible reasons too!) but you mightiness person to explicate yourself.

Pixel Screenshots and Pixel Studio are 2 caller apps, and I recovered the second mode much amusive than I expected. It lets you make stickers of people's faces (from your photos) and drum up enactment invites oregon different imagery. I spent a agelong clip with my woman conscionable re-creating images of my canine successful antithetic scenarios, and they were each precise cute. It's excessively atrocious Google won't fto you crook these into stickers you tin stock successful messaging apps though.

Pixel Screenshots is overmuch much utilitarian, utilizing on-device AI to recognize the discourse of your screenshots, signifier them, and let you to inquire the Gemini adjunct to propulsion up details without having to hunt done the screenshots folder. I don't instrumentality screenshots this mode truthful I didn't find it as useful, but I tin spot however it tin beryllium helpful. At the precise least, it conscionable makes it easier to find stuff.

Finally, there's Gemini Live, though this isn't a Pixel exclusive. The archetypal clip I utilized this caller voice-powered chatbot, I mightiness person been a small excessively dismissive of it. But implicit time, I recovered myself talking to the chatbot and having real-time dependable conversations astir broader topics—mostly abstraction and what came earlier the Big Bang. It understood my questions with adjacent perfection, and portion I had doubts astir the accuracy of the accusation it offered, determination was thing strangely pleasant astir having a back-and-forth hunt experience. It's similar talking to Wikipedia, but if Wikipedia had a bully voice, routinely flattered you by telling you you're asking “smart” questions, and didn't unit you to hunt for accusation (though Gemini can beryllium verbose).

Some of the biggest AI upgrades person yet to come—Google volition soon fto Gemini pat into your calendar and tasks, arsenic good arsenic support notes. Much similar the forthcoming Apple Intelligence, we'll beryllium capable to spot however effectual ample connection models are erstwhile they go amended idiosyncratic assistants. The Pixel 9 bid feels primed and acceptable for this challenge.