Google’s Pixel phones have always been “AI-first” but that idea takes on a different meaning when everyone fromMicrosofttoApplehas an AI product to push. In a world whereGeminiis the center of Google’s attention, the company needs a phone that can make thegenerative AImodel approachable and practical for normal people, and the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL could very well do the trick.
Besides introducing hardware capable of new on-device AI tricks and a dramatic redesign, Google is using the Pixel 9 Pros to push its AI products more generally. Regardless of which Pro you pick, you’ll get one year of Google’s AI subscription, Google One AI Premium, which includes access to Gemini Advanced, the ability to use Gemini inside services like Google Docs and Gmail, and 2TB of storage. The hope is that if Google can give you a taste of its top-of-the-line AI experience, you’ll stick around for the long term.
It remains to be seen whether that’ll happen, but the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL make a case all their own. Both the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL are available to pre-order now, starting at $999 for the Pixel 9 Pro and $1,099 for the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and will ship on September 4th and August 22nd, respectively. As for the details of what you’ll get when they arrive, here’s what we know.
Pixel 9 Pro
The Pixel 9 Pro brings a new squared-off design, the Tensor G4 chip, and new AI features like Pixel Screenshots to Google’s flagship smartphone line. It’s available starting September 4th.
Pixel 9 Pro XL
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is Google’s first pass at an iPhone 15 Pro Max-style giant smartphone, with a Tensor G4 and new AI features like Pixel Screenshots. It’s available on August 22nd.
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Google’s Pixel 9 Pro celebrates the camera bump
The Pro and Pro XL are different, but familiar
The phone really splits the difference between being boxy and aggressively curved. Nowhere is that more apparent than the camera bump itself. Google always features its cameras prominently, but this time the three lenses and sensors are on a floating, oval-shaped island rather than a bar that stretches from one side. It stands out in a good way.
It also looks a lot like theiPhone 15 Pro, down to the smooth, matte back and shiny, polished sides. Google’s clearly arriving at some of the same ideas for differentiating its “Pro” phones that Apple has been using for years. Even offering two sizes, with the 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Pro and 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL, is an Apple move. Google is at least more fun when it comes to colors. The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL come in porcelain (a warm cream), obsidian (black), hazel (a greenish-gray), and a new rose quartz (light pink).
The sum of better parts
In the push to get more AI-powered software features running locally, Google’s using a new, more powerful Tensor G4 chip for the entire Pixel 9 line. In the 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, it’ll be accompanied by 16GB of RAM, and anywhere from 128GB to 1TB of storage.
While the Pixel 9 Pro XL technically has a larger battery than the Pixel 9 Pro (Google says 5,060mAh compared to 4,700mAh), both phones are expected to get over 24 hours of battery life, and even more with Extreme Battery Saver enabled.
Like with the Pixel 8 Pros, Google’s using its custom Super Actua displays for better visibility outdoors and higher refresh rates. The 6.3-inch Super Actua display on the Pixel 9 Pro is a 1280 x 2856 pixel resolution LTPO OLED, with refresh rates anywhere from 1 to 120Hz and up to 3000 nits of peak brightness. The 6.8-inch Super Actua display on the Pixel 9 Pro XL is technically a 1344 x 2992 pixel resolution LTPO OLED, but is otherwise the same. Both screens use Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 to survive scratches and bumps.
In terms of cameras, the biggest change is probably to the front-facing selfie camera. On the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL, it moves from the Pixel 8 Pro’s 10.5-megapixel camera, to a 42-megapixel camera. That’s a lot more potential detail to capture. The back cameras are more or less the same, with a main 50-megapixel wide camera, 48-megapixel ultrawide, and 48-megapixel telephoto.
The ultrawide, while the same number of megapixels as last year, is moving from an f/1.95 aperture to an f/1.7 aperture for improved low-light performance and macro shots. In a first for the Pixel, the telephoto’s up to 30x Super Res Zoom will also apply to video, opening up new possibilities for capturing clips at a concert or game, even if you don’t have the best seats.
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The Pixel 9 Pro brings desktop-class AI to mobile
More photo editing and a new way to remember everything
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gemini is a major star of Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL software features. The AI assistant is integrated at the system level with a long press of the power button, and capable of the question-answering and photo-analyzing you’d expect if you’ve used Gemini or ChatGPT. An advantage of using Gemini on an Android phone, however, is the awareness it has of your screen, making it capable of answering questions about whatever you’re looking at, in and out of apps.
In terms of photo editing, Google’s trying a few new things. The Magic Editor is still present and still able to replace backgrounds, erase people, and resize objects, but now, thanks to a feature called “Reimagine”, you may also let AI more dramatically change or add to your photo just by circling a section and typing in what you want to see. Google’s also trying to improve group photos. A new option called Add Me lets you capture a photo of your friends, then have your friends capture a photo of you, and then it combines the two for one seamless group photo.
The biggest new idea on the Pixel 9 is a new exclusive feature called Pixel Screenshots. Like Windows Recall, which uses captured images of your computer screen to answer questions about things you’ve seen and done, Pixel Screenshots takes everything you’ve taken a screenshot of on your phone and turns it into a database you can ask questions about, whether it’s a favorite recipe or your license plate number.
The difference between the two is the amount of control you have. Recall was designed around capturing whatever is on your screen at set intervals, even if its private information. Pixel Screenshots relies on you deciding to take a screenshot to remember something. That’s a meaningful difference.
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The Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL seem like Google’s best smartphones yet
And they’re coming out soon
It’ll take testing the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL to see if all the changes Google has made are good ones, but these new phones at least get points for being different. Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL are available to pre-order now for $999 and $1,099, and will ship on September 4th and August 22nd, respectively. Regardless of which phone you buy, you’ll get a year of Google One AI Premium at no additional cost.
