Google’s Pixel 9 lineup is a Pro show

Google’s Pixel telephone lineup is getting a small bigger this year. The Pixel 9 bid present counts 1 modular exemplary — the Pixel 9 — and 3 Pro models: the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. They each connection updated designs, caller Tensor G4 processors, and AI features up the wazoo.

The Pixel 9’s updated plan connection is giving iPhone from the beforehand — the curved edges are retired and level sides are in. The backmost panel, however, is each Pixel. The camera barroom is present an elongated, free-floating camera oval protruding from the backmost of the phone.

The modular Pixel 9 keeps the aforesaid basal size and signifier with a bigger 6.3-inch screen, and the 9 Pro XL is astir the size of the Pixel 8 Pro with a bigger 6.8-inch screen. The Pixel 9 Pro is the caller offering, landing close successful the middle: astir the size of the Pixel 9 with astir of the 9 Pro’s features connected board.

The telephone formerly known arsenic the Pixel Fold, present updated arsenic the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, features tweaks chiefly to its size and shape. It’s present 5.1mm heavy erstwhile unfolded, compared to 5.8mm. It’s besides taller than the erstwhile model, measuring 155.2mm connected the agelong borderline with a 6.3-inch outer screen; the Pixel Fold measured 139.7mm agelong with a 5.8-inch screen.

After immoderate exhaustive probe including making a spreadsheet, I tin accidental erstwhile and for each that I cognize what makes a Pro telephone worthy of the “Pro” moniker: tons of RAM. Okay, possibly that’s not it exactly, but each 3 Pro devices bash travel with 16GB of RAM. The Pixel 9 comes with 12GB now, too. That matters erstwhile you’re trying to tally AI on-device, and the Pixel 9 bid comes with an updated Gemini Nano exemplary that adds multimodality truthful it tin analyse images and code arsenic good arsenic text.

New AI features coming to the Pixel 9 bid see a caller Recall-like quality to catalog and retrieve accusation from your screenshots; unlike Microsoft’s approach, it lone works with screenshots you instrumentality manually. It happens on-device and is simply a Pixel-exclusive feature. There’s besides a caller app called Pixel Studio that uses generative AI to crook your substance prompts into illustrations, though it doesn’t tally on-device.

But astir of the AI magic is reserved for photos, arsenic usual. And arsenic usual, you’ll beryllium near questioning the quality of a photo fixed the imaginable of these tools. Magic Editor has a caller enactment to “reimagine” a scene. Rather than conscionable tweaking lighting, you tin prime parts of an representation and usage substance prompts to wholly alteration them with generative AI. There’s besides a diagnostic called Add Me, which helps you adhd idiosyncratic to a radical photo. The UI guides you done the process of taking an archetypal photo, past letting the lensman manus disconnected the telephone and measurement into the framework for a 2nd shot, which AI merges into a azygous framework with everyone accounted for.

The Pixel 9 bid volition beryllium the archetypal Android phones successful the US to travel with Satellite SOS, which, overmuch similar Apple’s outer exigency feature, volition assistance you link to exigency services erstwhile you’re extracurricular of telephone reception. That’ll travel aboriginal this year, presumably with Android 15. With Google’s hardware lawsuit earlier than accustomed this year, this harvest of Pixel phones volition vessel with Android 14 alternatively than syncing up with the latest Android OS release. But similar the erstwhile procreation of Pixel phones, the Pixel 9 bid volition travel with 7 years of OS updates and information patches.

On the camera front, the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, and 9 Pro XL each usage a 50-megapixel f/1.7 similar past year’s models, and they each travel with updated ultrawide cameras. The 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL see a caller 42-megapixel selfie camera with autofocus. The Pixel 9 inactive uses a 10.5-megapixel selfie camera, but it gains autofocus for the archetypal time.

Google has enactment successful immoderate enactment nether the hood, too. Panorama mode features a caller UI and enactment for Night Sight, and the HDR Plus pipeline has been adjusted to fine-tune sharpening and contrast. Video Boost — an off-device AI-powered processing diagnostic lone disposable connected the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL — tin beryllium utilized to make upscaled 8K footage and works with digitally zoomed video clips to adhd backmost item and creaseless retired transitions arsenic you zoom successful and retired betwixt lenses.

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s camera specs inactive lag down the different Pro Pixels. It has a 48-megapixel f/1.7 main camera and lower-res ultrawide and telephoto cameras compared to the 9 Pro and Pro XL. Pixel camera PM Isaac Reynolds tells maine that the Fold’s hardware has improved comparative to past year, including caller matching selfie cameras connected the interior and outer screens. But much precocious camera hardware would person made for a thicker phone, truthful compromises person been made.

But the interior surface is the main attraction connected a folding phone, and not lone is it bigger this clip astir — 8 inches versus 7.6 — but it besides gets overmuch brighter astatine up to 2,700 nits successful highest brightness mode, compared to 1,450. That should marque it overmuch easier to usage extracurricular successful agleam light.

The Google Pixel 9 goes connected merchantability connected August 22nd, and it starts astatine $799, which is simply a $100 terms bump implicit past year. The Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL commencement astatine $999 and $1,099, respectively, with the XL shipping connected August 22nd and the 9 Pro arriving successful September. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold costs $1,799; it ships connected September 4th.