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Google’s decision to roll out its Pixel 9 series phones much earlier than usual undoubtedly took a lot of people by surprise, including us over here at Phandroid. It hasn’t even been a full year since the launch of the Pixel 8 phones, but Google has deemed it necessary to unveil its new flagships a couple of months earlier than its usual schedule. As a result, we now get to play with this year’s Pixel 9 phones before Apple’s 2024-series iPhones.
There’s a lot of hype for the Pixel 9 Pro this year – in addition to the new design, there are now two sizes to choose from, in addition to the base model Pixel 9. So what else do this year’s Pro Pixel phones come with? Let’s take a look.
While the past few Pixel Pro models came in a single larger size, the 9 Pro features two different display sizes at 6.3 inches (1280 x 5826 pixels) and a much larger 6.8-inch variant (1344 x 2992 pixels). They’re also much brighter now than previous models, with a peak brightness of up to 3,000 nits, alongside the usual 120Hz refresh rate.
Both phones do look mostly similar though, and feature a refreshed design with flatter sides and rear panels, and a newly-styled camera island which ditches the design language that we saw on the Pixel 7 and 8. Inside both handsets you’ll find Google’s latest Tensor G4 chip (more on this later), as well as storage configurations starting at 16GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, maxing out at 1TB.
There are differences with battery capacity however – since the 9 Pro XL is larger, it comes with a 5,060 mAh battery versus the slightly smaller 4,700 cell inside the 9 Pro. Both phones will come with what Google describes as “fast charging,” although don’t go expecting Xiaomi-tier charging speeds here.
Google equips its Pro models with a third telephoto lens in addition to the primary and ultrawide cameras. As a result, both the 9 Pro and Pro XL feature a 50 MP main camera, accompanied by a 48 MP ultrawide sensor (with Macro Focus) and a 48 MP 5x telephoto lens. Meanwhile, there’s a 42 MP front facing camera with autofocus, which takes on selfie and video call duties.
Of course all the usual camera software and AI tricks are present here, including Google’s much-hyped “Zoom Enhance” feature, which was disappointingly absent from the Pixel 8 despite being advertised as a major feature.
For software, it should be noted that the Pixel 9 series still launches with Android 14, with Android 15 expected to roll out at a later date. As with the Pixel 8 series, Google advertises up to seven years of software updates, which includes security patches and its regular feature drops.
The phones are also heavily marketed with Gemini AI onboard (unsurprising given the industry’s massive obsession with generative AI at the moment), although whether this is enough to sway potential adopters will be a subjective matter. While the AI features that we’ve gotten so far from Google are mostly impressive, a lot of Pixel fans have long yearned for a more hardware-focused approach when it comes to upgrades, especially with the Pixel Pro phones.
Given the mixed benchmark results of the Tensor G4 and lack of other perceived “Pro” features such as larger camera sensors and rapid charging speeds for example, one wonders if Google’s game plan this year is enough to take on competing brands such as Samsung or Xiaomi, for example.
The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL start at $999 and $1,099, respectively.
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