Google Pixel 9 Pro Review

Verdict

The Pixel 9 Pro provides a more compact Pro Pixel experience with only minor concessions contrasted to the larger XL design. It continues to be an impressive snapper, and its AI expertise is unparalleled compared to the Android competitors. However, the Tensor G 4 chipset strives to provide the flagship experience, leading to a phone that can obtain warm rather frequently.

Intro

The Google Pixel 9 Pro could sound like a familiar tool, but it’s absolutely various this year.

Remember the 6 7 -inch screen of previous Pixel Pro tools? That’s now special to the new Pixel 9 Pro XL, rather replaced by the very same 6 3 -inch screen as the regular Pixel 9 Fundamentally, that leads to a far more small gadget with the exact same Pro-level features and functionality you would certainly expect.

Not web content with a straightforward screen change, the Pixel 9 Pro additionally sports a complete overhaul of the Pixel design language with this year’s launch, sporting a much-needed redesign that brings the Pixel 9 collection a lot more in line with the Android competitors. There are also upgrades to its outstanding camera offering and perhaps one of the most alternative strategy to GenAI on smartphones we’ve seen yet.

And also, in raw comparison to some competing Android manufacturers, the experiences between the Pixel 9 Pro and the new 6 7 -inch Pixel 9 Pro XL are near-identical, making the decision as simple as whether you want a cinema or small screen.

I’ve spent the past week using the Google Pixel 9 Pro, and here’s what I figured out.

Style

• A lot more small than the Pixel 9 Pro XL
• Upgraded design is a great touch
• Great to utilize one-handed

The Pixel 9 Pro is a fascinating prospect, standing for the first time we have actually seen a Pro-level Pixel gadget readily available in a much more small kind. I would not say it’s in real small phone area at 6 3 inches, particularly contrasted to genuinely compact options like the 5 9 -inch Asus ZenFone 10, however it’s absolutely more comfy to hold than its leviathan 6 7 -inch sibling.

The 0. 4 -inch difference in the screen dimension may not seem that considerable, but it makes a lot of distinction in the hand. It’s narrower, much shorter and much easier to get to all locations of the display because of this, making it the optimal Pro Pixel for those with smaller hands. And also, at 199 g, it’s a tremendous 22 g lighter than its larger brother or sister, more comparable with the similarity the iPhone 16 Pro.

Elsewhere, the Pixel 9 Pro, along with the remainder of the Pixel 9 family members, stands for a considerable style change, relocating away from the rounded sides of its precursor. The level sides, rounded edges and brightened aluminium frame provide it a much more contemporary, practically industrial visual. It’s difficult to refute its similarities to the likes of the apple iphone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S 24, yet it sculpts its own path with its signature camera bar.

Nevertheless, also that has been upgraded for this year’s collection to be much less invasive, taking the form of a smooth tablet that no more stretches throughout the entirety of the back of the tool. As a result, the camera bar no longer snags in my pocket– among my largest issues about the Pixel 8 layout.

Though it has actually been present on the past few generations of Pixel Pro, I still appreciate the matte finish on the phone’s glass back, standing up to finger prints and smudges much much better than shiny equivalents, while supplying an almost satin-like feel.

Mentioning which, that back glass, along with the display, are secured by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for included longevity, in addition to the same flagship IP 68 dust and water resistance present on the most effective smart devices in 2024

If I had one grievance regarding the Pixel 9 Pro, it ‘d most likely be its colour alternatives. Like previous Pixel launches, Google has maintained the more dynamic, attractive colour alternatives special to the routine Pixel 9, with the Pro designs readily available in even more underrated options like Porcelain, Rose Quartz, Hazel and Obsidian.

I would certainly have liked to see that vibrant Peony pink offered on the Pro designs instead of the extra subdued Rose Quartz for example, but alas, evidently ‘pros’ don’t appreciate colour– in Google’s mind, anyhow.

Screen

• Compact 6 3 -inch OLED display
• Loaded with premium display tech
• Great for bingeing video material

The Pixel 9 Pro stands for a first for the Pixel Pro line, showing off an extra compact 6 3 -inch OLED screen– the very same dimension as the entry-level Pixel 9– full with slimline bezels and rounded corners that give it an instead captivating appearance.

It sporting activities the exact same Super Actua show tech that supplies an enhanced 3000 nits peak brightness that does not battle, even in intense sunshine, along with staples of front runner screen technology like an LTPO-enabled 120 Hz refresh price that lets the screen drop down to as low as 1 Hz in a quote to conserve battery life while still being buttery smooth in everyday use.

It’s essentially a costs middle ground for those that desire more than what the Pixel 9’s non-adaptive 120 Hz, FHD+ resolution and 1800 nit optimal illumination display deals yet without the added bulk and size of selecting the 6 7 -inch Pro XL. It’s an idea that Apple has actually already confirmed reliable with its twin Pro and Pro Max offerings, and I’m anticipating similar results here.

It may not beat the Pixel 9 Pro XL in the resolution division at 1280 x 2856, contrasted to 1344 x 2992, yet the distinction in display size implies that the Pixel 9 Pro is the more pixel-dense of the two at 495 ppi contrasted to 486 ppi.

Whether you’ll discover this in daily use is another story altogether; to my eyes, both the Pixel 9 Pro and XL are lively, crisp and in-depth, easily offering several of the most effective displays from Apple and Samsung a run for their money.

Video cameras

• Exact same 50 MP primary cam as Pixel 8 Pro
• Updated 48 MP ultrawide and telephoto lenses
• One of one of the most qualified video camera systems around

Cam technology has always been the main reason to go with a Pixel gadget over much of the front runner competitors, and that fad quite continues with the Pixel 9 Pro.

The primary 50 MP octa-PD snapper, full with f/ 1 68 aperture and a rather huge 1/ 1 31 -inch sensing unit, remains unchanged compared to its precursor, though the 48 MP ultrawide and 48 MP 5 x telephoto video cameras gain from an increased 1/ 2 55 -inch sensing unit to record even more detail and strengthen low-light performance– and it reveals.

Regardless of the cam you select to snap with, the Pixel 9 Pro takes excellent snaps with that said timeless Pixel appearance, aiming for true-to-life colours rather than being extremely vibrant like breaks from the Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra. Samsung’s strategy does create eye-catching blog posts on social media sites, but I appreciate Google’s more precise, restrained approach here.

Reduced light continues to be a strong point for the major video camera, generating pictures that aren’t boldy over-brightened like those you sometimes see from the similarity Vivo, rather much more closely matching what you see with the nude eye. The colours are extra controlled, however there’s still plenty of detail offered.

The larger sensing units additionally make the supporting cams much more qualified in low-light problems, but they’re still not quite in the same organization as arise from the primary snapper.

Mentioning, the updated 48 MP ultrawide’s autofocus tech enables it to double up as a macro lens with surprisingly great results, capturing both close-ups and breathtaking panoramas with lots of light and detail. We’re not fairly at the exact same degree as the exceptional macro performance from the Sony Xperia 1 VI, yet that phone also costs ₤ 300 much more.

The 48 MP 5 x telephoto is just one of my favourites on the marketplace today. It could not have the exact same severe degrees of zoom used by the similarity the Samsung Galaxy S 24 Ultra and Honor Magic 6 Pro, topping out at 30 x, yet the benefit is that all pictures because array will be of a decent top quality. I’m uncertain you can say the very same for anything above the 30 – 50 x mark on contending telephoto lenses.

Naturally, the electronic cameras are just fifty percent of the tale, with Google boosting its camera tech with a range of AI-powered shooting modes and modifying tools to truly aid you get the best out of the mobile phone electronic camera, varying from helpful attributes like Magic Eraser to a lot more special attributes like Include Me. Exactly how commonly you’ll use these features will certainly rely on your use-case, yet it’s a handy toolkit to have in your back pocket.

Performance

• Tensor G 4 chipset
• Improved 16 GB of RAM and up to 1 TB storage
• Can get quite cozy when pc gaming

The Pixel 9 Pro, like the rest of the Pixel 9 collection, is powered by Google’s most recent Tensor G 4 chipset, so performance must be rather comparable throughout the array– though the Pro designs are bolstered by an improved 16 GB of RAM to truly beam in the AI division. The Pro designs additionally come with as much as 1 TB of storage for those that need substantial amounts of storage space.

With that said stated, do not anticipate the Tensor G 4 to beat the Android competitors in benchmark testing. Like previous Tensor chipsets, the G 4 concentrates extra on AI prowess than pure efficiency power, though there is even more of a void appearing this year.

In benchmark testing, the Tensor G 4 supplied a minor bump in results compared to in 2014’s Tensor G 3, though the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 -geared up front runner competitors offers vastly much better CPU and GPU performance and it just fades in comparison to the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite discovered in the likes of the ROG Phone 9 Pro.

However, there’s a weird difference in between the benchmark results that we don’t commonly see below at Trusted Reviews, because the criteria don’t mirror what I experienced with the Pixel 9 Pro.

In day-to-day usage, the phone absolutely flies. No doubt aided by the glossy 120 Hz LTPO display, the Pixel 9 Pro is as zippy as you like, opening applications and taking photos instantaneously, and I could chuck virtually any type of video game at it and it ‘d run well– with the caveat that it ‘d begin to obtain cozy after fairly brief periods of gameplay.

More than 20 minutes of laid-back shooter Zombie Artilleryman Survival saw the sides of the phone get uncomfortably warm, even though there wasn’t any evident effect on gameplay performance. Still, that implies that mobile players need to most likely look somewhere else– the Pixel 9 Pro is not the phone for effective triple-A gaming experiences.

I presume that the Tensor G 4 is having to work harder than typical to provide the smooth and glossy experience most of us anticipate from a flagship phone, and that causes a phone that can get warm rather commonly. This is additionally a concern with the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL, however with the Pixel 9 Pro’s smaller framework incapable to dissipate heat rather too, the build-up of warmth is extra obvious here.

Somewhere else, anticipate staples of flagship connectivity in the type of 5 G connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5 3 and NFC for card settlements, and there’s a rapid ultrasonic finger print scanner constructed right into the display for fast identification purposes.

Software application & & AI

• Huge concentrate on AI
• Truly handy AI devices and features
• 7 years of OS upgrades

Having actually released a little earlier than common, the Pixel 9 collection does not really ship with the next large version of Android, instead shipping with the almost one-year-old Android 14

It does not actually matter however with new Android 15 attributes like an upgraded video camera app UI and single-app screen recording currently existing on the Pixel 9’s iteration of Android 14, and you can wager that the Pixel 9 collection will certainly be amongst the very first to run the Android 15 update when it prepares.

Besides, with a whole host of brand-new AI features and functionalities, you probably wouldn’t observe that the phone is running even Android 14 It’s greatly to the abovementioned Tensor G 4 and its capability to run multimodal AI on-device, which implied that I could, as an example, take an image of a plant and obtain Google Gemini to determine its types within secs.

It also allows for some really handy brand-new AI-powered capability like Pixel Screenshots, which allows you search for information within screenshots utilizing all-natural language, and Pixel Workshop lets you generate photos in a number of different styles.

Then there’s Gemini Live, Google’s answer to ChatGPT. It’s not in fact special to the Pixel 9 collection, rather available as component of the AI Costs membership, yet the Pixel 9 Pro features a cost-free one-year registration. Importantly, it’s a much more conversational method to brainstorm and find out details, with an all-natural back-and-forth with Gemini.

These are a few headline features, but there’s so much even more to the AI experience in the Pixel 9 Pro. It permeates almost every facet of the experience, consisting of AI-powered weather reports in the brand-new Weather condition app, taking get in touch with your behalf (in the US, anyhow) and an entire host of image and video editing and enhancing tools, supplying a more holistic technique to on-device generative AI than the likes of Honor and also Samsung.

Elsewhere, the supply Android experience is a pleasant one, though it does lack a few of the high-level customisation and helpful software application tweaks supplied by completing Android skins. Still, it remains one of the very best software application experiences about, and with an industry-leading seven years of OS upgrades, security patches and Pixel Drops to come, it’ll no question get back at better with time.

Battery Life

• 4700 mAh battery
• Comfortable all-day battery life
• Slower billing than Pixel 9 Pro XL

Battery life is a location where Pixels have typically battled, however Google has done a good task of straightening out those kinks over the previous few generations. Because of this, we’re currently at a point where the 4700 mAh Pixel 9 Pro can comfortably last all day, and also into the 2nd day depending on simply just how much you’re hammering the battery.

On days where I had not been utilizing my phone all that much– around three hours of screen-on time with around two hours of music playback in the background– I would certainly get through a 16 -hour day with close to 50 % charge left in the storage tank, and with little drain on standby, I got to the mid-day on the 2nd day prior to it required connecting in.

On even more requiring days with around 5 or six hours of screen-on time, it would certainly get closer to the 15 – 20 % mark, and you’ll likely have shorter battery life if you game, with a 30 -minute casual gaming session draining an above-average 12 %, but I still assume it’s almost sufficient for the vast majority of individuals.

Still, if battery life is very important to you, the Pixel 9 Pro XL and its larger 5060 mAh cell might service your requirements better, with around an extra hour of display time prior to grabbing that battery charger, in my personal experience.

Speaking of which, billing is one of minority non-size-related locations where the Pixel 9 Pro varies from its larger sibling. While the Pixel 9 Pro XL gain from a slightly improved 37 W billing, the Pixel 9 Pro stays at 27 W, and that relates to a remarkable difference in charge speeds.

In tests, the Pixel 9 Pro XL saw 50 % fee in 24 mins and a complete fee in 80 minutes, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro took 37 mins to hit the 50 % mark, with a full cost clocking in at 101 mins, a whopping 21 mins longer. That’s slower than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S 24, not to mention the S 24 Ultra, placing it extra in line with the year-old iPhone 15

It’s a comparable tale with wireless charging, with the Pixel 9 Pro covered at 21 W as opposed to 23 W, though you’ll require a Pixel-branded cordless charger to strike those rates anyway, maxing out at 12 W or else.

Newest bargains