We’ve come a long way since Google unveiled their first phone, the Nexus One in partnership with HTC back in 2010. This year Google announced four Pixel 9 phones, with the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL launching in retailers today.
While the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL are now available, we’ll be seeing the Pixel 9 Pro Fold in early September with the Pixel 9 Pro set to arrive later this Spring.
We’ve been given review units of the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL and tested them out for the past week. For those wanting a smaller phone, you can check out Scott’s review of the Pixel 9 here and we’ll have the more exciting Pixel 9 Pro review as soon as Google can supply the hardware,
In terms of comparisons, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the direct replacement for the Pixel 8 Pro. It has a similarly sized display, triple camera and overall the best Pixel experience.
While it has a similar form, the price has jumped. While the Pixel 8 Pro is priced at $1,699, the Pixel 9 Pro XL clocks in at $1,849 to start – though it bumps a few key specs and includes new AI features powered by Google’s Tensor G4 processor.
In terms of use, I’ve had the Pixel 9 Pro XL going in my pocket for six full days and here’s how it went.
Hardware
Design
The Pixel 9 Pro XL feels good in the hand and for the first time it feels like a truly premium device.
The phone has a gorgeous matte glass back which has a silky finish with a flat, polished metal frame around the outside which just adds to that ‘lux’ feeling. The phone has a ‘solidness’ to it, which, while it is similarly sized to previous Pixels, it’s also a little heavier at 221g – the same as an iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Google has redesigned the camera bar on the Pixel 9 series, with a rounded pill shaped camera island rather than the phone spanning bar from more recent Pixels. The new camera bar includes three camera sensors as well as a Multi-zone LDAF (laser detect auto-focus) sensor and also a thermometer.
Even with the redesigned camera island, the phone sits well on the desk, with the camera bar propping the phone up slightly making it easy to see notifications. I like the horizontal camera bar on earlier Pixel phones, but the new island looks pretty good.
The flat 6.8” Super Actua Display on the front melts almost seamlessly into the frame which continues that higher end production quality in the Pixel 9 series.
The volume rocker and power button on the left sit just above the side rails, and have a satisfying click to them. There’s a USB (3.2) Type-C port on the bottom with a downward firing speaker and SIM tray on either side – though you can just use eSIM if you choose.
For those interested in their phone design, the small section at the top is for the 5G mmWave antenna – with the Pixel 9 Pro XL supporting both sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G.
While I love the classic black finish of the Obsidian rear, Google has also released the phone in Porcelain (White), as well as Hazel and Rose Quartz.
If you’re on the fence about which colour, you can also grab a Google case in those colours which leaves just the metal camera bar showing.
Overall, the Pixel 9 Pro feels like a step up from Google in terms of design, with a premium feel and look all round.
Performance and Connectivity
Google has launched the Pixel 9 range powered by their latest Tensor G4 processor. Google has also upped the RAM on the phones with 16GB in the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The base storage still starts at a measly 128GB, though Google offers up to 1TB of storage (in Obsidian only) if you want to pay $2,549.
Google says the Tensor G4 has seen improvements in speed with the processor 20% faster for web browsing and 17% faster loading apps.
The Tensor G4 has also allowed Google to include Gemini Nano with Multi-Modality, the first time they’ve been able to run it on a mobile form factor. This brings the option to include multiple inputs in Gemini to get the best out of their AI Assistant.
As for performance on a day-to-day basis the Tensor G4 seems a little snappier than the Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8 Pro. Some games were able to handle more on-screen assets and it did feel more fluid when navigating around the system.
Of course, as we found with previous Pixel phones, the usual benchmark apps are not available through Google Play to test it out.
Google has included a load of connectivity features in the Pixel 9 Pro XL including Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.3, the full suite of GPS, GLONASS, BAIDU etc. support, and there’s also a new Ultra-wide band chip inside for proximity reliant features like unlocking your phone with your Pixel Watch 3, finding lost devices and more.
Display and Audio
The Pixel 9 Pro XL includes a 6.8-inch 1344 x 2992 resolution Super Actua LTPO OLED display in 20:9 aspect ratio, with speakers at either end providing the audio.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL has nicely uniform bezels around the display. It’s in a taller 20:9 aspect ratio which can be difficult to wield one handed. The display is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 which offers improved drop performance if you do try and have an accident.
Google’s ‘Smooth Display’ is back, utilising the LTPO tech to offer refresh rates from 1-120Hz, making it liquid smooth when scrolling or playing games. There’s full HDR support offering full 24-bit depth for 16 million colours and frankly it looks excellent.
My favourite feature by far however is the bump in peak brightness to 3000 nits (a jump from 2400 nits last year) making the screen incredibly easy to see even in bright sunlight.
After much feedback, Google has finally used an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the Pixel 9 series. I am happy to say that after many years, the Pixel now unlocks super fast when using the under-display sensor – but we’d all secretly love the rear fingerprint sensor back.
On the audio front, the Pixel 9 supports stereo sound, utilising the earpiece and downward firing speaker on the bottom to create a pretty good sound. It’s a nice full sound, though it lacks in the lower end.
The Pixel 9 series also supports Spatial Audio if you have the right earbuds or headphones.
Camera
As you’d expect, Google has stacked the camera bar on the rear of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, with the front selfie camera also getting a bump in specs.
The rear camera array includes a 50 MP main sensor, a 48MP Ultra-Wide sensor with 123° field of view that can also double as a macro sensor for shots as close as 2cm, and a 48 MP telephoto sensor with optical zoom up to 5x.
On the front, Google has updated the 12MP front-facing sensor used on the Pixel 8 Pro to a massive 48MP sensor on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which also has a wider 103° field of view. The camera is again embedded in a punch hole notch in the display but at this stage I barely notice these selfie cameras.
The photos from the Pixel are stunning as usual, with crisp details and bright colour captured in each shot. It’s almost impossible to take a blurry shot, with each snap looking crisp in almost any lighting conditions.
Camera AI
All your favourite features are back this year, including the Magic Editor and Best Take features we saw launch last year, and Magic Audio Erase for video has been updated as well.
This year, Google is adding more AI features in the form of Add Me, a way to add yourself to a shot after you’ve taken it, Auto frame in Magic Editor which offers hints on framing reframe your new or old photos, and Reimagine in Magic Editor which lets you completely recompose your shot. There’s also updates to Audio Magic Eraser, and Zoom Enhance, as well as improvements to video.
Add Me
If you find yourself the photographer for group shots, and often missing out on being in the photo – then Add Me is a feature for you. The feature shows up as a feature on the Google Camera carousel to the left of “Portrait’ and once selected takes you through the whole process easily.
It’s quite a cool feature, and being present on the main carousel should make it a feature people try out.
Auto Frame in Magic Editor
Auto Frame is a new feature in Magic Editor which you find when editing your pictures in the Google Photos app. Magic Editor will suggest new framing of the photos you’ve taken based on ‘known photographic techniques’, you can even remove people or things in the background to finish the edit.
Re-Imagine in Magic Editor
Re-Imagine in Magic Editor is another feature launching in Photos on the Pixel 9 series. The feature allows you to use AI to re-imagine your images using a prompt.
I found it hit and miss, with far too many time receiving the error ‘Magic Editor can’t complete this edit. Try a different edit.’
Zoom Enhance
The Zoom Enhance on a Pixel is actually quite impressive. The Pixel 9 Pro XL includes a 5x optical zoom, but can also offer a 30x zoom. Zoom Enhance lets you crop out a section of a photo and have Google AI process it to make it look like a zoomed in shot.
It’s super simple to do from Google Photos simply open the photo, tap edit and then scroll to the Zoom Enhance option under ‘Tools’
It’s actually pretty impressive when looking at the source and the end result.
Battery and Charging
There’s a 5,060 mAh battery in the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which Google says will last over 24 hours, with the option for a 100-hour Extreme Battery Mode.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL battery life got me through a full day of pretty hard use going from around 6am until I plugged in around 9-10pm with around 10-20% left at the end of the day. That’s pretty decent. I’m less than a week into the battery testing, but it seems like an all-day phone even with some hotspoting and plenty of videos played.
As with the last couple of Pixel phones there’s no charger included in the box – though you do get a USB Type-C cable. The Pixel 9 Pro XL does support a faster charging speed, as do the rest of the Pixel 9 series – if you purchase their new 45W USB Type-C charger for $49.99.
The Pixel 9 series now supports fast wired charging rates up to 27 W on Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro and up to 37 W on Pixel 9 Pro XL. Unfortunately we haven’t gotten our hands on a Pixel Charger for the review, but on their Store page, Google advise that the ‘Pixel 9 Pro XL can charge to 70% in about 30 minutes’.
I have a 45W USB Type C charger and couldn’t get the advertised speeds, instead I got 40% in 30 minutes, with the phone taking just over 50 minutes to get to 70% and over an hour and a half to reach full – even with Adaptive Charging turned off.
I look forward to checking the charging on the Pixel Charger when it’s released though.
Software
Android
Google is launching the Pixel 9 series with Android 14, an unusual occurrence given the latest version of Android is on-board. The Pixel 9 will receive Android 15 as soon as it’s released – likely in the coming weeks – and will continue to receive OS updates, and monthly Security updates and Pixel Feature drops for seven years.
AI
You will see all the recently launched AI powered features including Circle to Search, and Call Assist with auto-detection for Spam Calls and one of my favourite features – Assistant Voice Typing which is scarily good – but of course, as with the Pixel 9 Launch event, the focus is on Gemini and the new AI features.
Gemini
Gemini is a big part of Google’s future. Google launched the Gemini app in Australia back in May ahead of the Pixel 8a launch.
My initial impressions of Gemini from the Pixel 8a review was mixed, with a lot of basic functionality like setting reminders or timers just not working. Thankfully you can do all those things, and even Smart Home integration is a lot smoother.
With all the basics starting to fall in line, Google is bringing more features to Gemini at a fast pace. Google is also keen to show off Gemini at it’s best and so they’re throwing in a 12-month Google One AI Premium plan with any Pixel 9 Pro phone purchased. The plan includes Gemini Advanced, as well as bringing Gemini to your Gmail and Docs, and 2TB of Drive storage.
Gemini now also includes Gemini Live, a conversational experience that, while still in development, responds quite well. There’s no multi-modal input in Gemini Live as yet so you can’t show it a picture and nor can it output anything yet but you can simply just talk to it which is an interesting experience – giving you a chance to throw ideas around, with Gemini playing the role of sounding board and giving feedback.
Gemini also has access to your Gmail and Google Drive which is actually an interesting experience. I actually used this during tax time to quickly prep by finding invoices in my Docs and Gmail.
There was a slight bit of weirdness with the voice model saying ‘Absolutely’ in an American accent before continuing to answer in an Australian accent. I asked Gemini Live about it and it actually adjusted its model to answer with a ‘Sure thing’ in an Australian accent for subsequent queries.
Overall Gemini is getting more and more interesting, and I can see where Google is heading. My major issue is finding things to use Gemini for as I tend to enjoy researching projects online – so it seems, like a lot of people, I’m waiting for a killer use case for conversational AI.
Pixel Screenshots
I take a lot of screenshots, however I don’t often know where to find those screenshots as I go about my week and look for them later. This is where Pixel Screenshots comes in. You can organise into collections – wifi passwords, menus, shopping lists and more, then search for them using AI.
Google is using Gemini to assess your screenshots as you snap them, offering an AI generated summary at the top if it finds the information. It can be hit and miss, but when it works, it works well.
It works pretty well simply using the search in the App to find your information. It even transcribed most of the menu for me.
A small bug bear is the lack of ability to jump to the Screenshots app when you take a screenshot. A part of the Screenshots app is trying to organise collections of your screenshots, so being able to jump straight there at the time would be great.
Pixel Studio
Google is also launching Pixel Studio on the Pixel 9 series. Pixel Studio at its core is an AI image generator running right on your phone.
It’s a simple, straightforward interface that lets you either generate an image from a text prompt which you can modify, or play around with an existing image, including removing objects or even clipping parts out to create stickers to add to your AI images.
The ease of use means you can quickly take someone’s offhand comment in a chat, and generate a unique image and put it into the chat in just a few seconds.
Should you buy it?
The Pixel 9 series, especially the Pixel 9 Pro XL represents a big jump in terms of design and build quality for Google.
The hardware powering this new design, including the Tensor G4 offers improvements in terms of performance as well as connectivity over the previous generation. The Pixel 9 Pro XL also offers decent battery life while still powering one of the brightest and best displays I’ve used on a phone.
The major factor for me has been how invested I am in using AI – and the answer is, not very – although the AI implementations in the camera like Magic Editor, are amazing. I love the design and performance of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, but I’m still waiting for that killer AI use case beyond the camera features to drag me in.
As a phone though, this is a great device that feels fantastic in the hand and offers improved performance over the Pixel 8 Pro. Google will be launching with new features set to arrive monthly via Pixel Feature Drops, which is where I’m keen to see some new features hit over the next year.
Check out the detailed review from Chris over at GadgetGuy for another local perspective on the Google Pixel 9 Pro
Daniel has been talking about, learning about and using tech since he was able to toggle switches and push buttons. If it flashes, turns on or off or connects he wants to use it, talk about it and learn more about it. Like this article? Buy me a coffee!
