The Pixel 9 smartphone lineup features some impressive upgrades from last year’s Pixel 8 models, with four new phones to choose from — which should offer ideal options for everyone. The base level Pixel 9 is 6.3”, and there’s a new Pixel 9 Pro that offers upgraded performance without the bigger screen for those that like the smaller size. The Pixel Pro XL offers a larger, 6.8” screen for a slight price bump. All Pixel 9 models have sharp OLED displays, and they’re brighter, so images will be easier to see in any lighting conditions, Pixel 9 is 35% brighter than last year’s models with a peak brightness of 2700 nits. The Pro models have even brighter screens, with a peak brightness of 3000 nits.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL models are lined up in the back row with the Pixel 9 Pro models in front.
But it’s the Pixel 9 Pro Fold that really impresses, because it’s almost indistinguishable from the Pixel 9. Despite its folding screen, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is only a tenth of an inch thicker than the Pixel 9, with a 6.3” external screen and an 8” internal screen when unfolded. It’s the perfect form factor for a foldable phone, providing a normal phone sized handset but unfolding into a reasonably sized tablet. Its external screen is the same as the Pixel 9 with a max brightness of 2700 nits, and the internal screen has the same brightness, though it’s slightly lower resolution. Still, both screens should look sharp, whether you’re using them in bright light or a dim room.
The Pixel 9 Fold is shown in a green case on the right with the Pixel 9 Fold in black and white on the right.
The design of all of the Pixels is a bit different this year, with a flat edge instead of rounded, and a scratch resistant Gorilla Glass Victus 2 screen. The result is a smartphone that looks very similar to a modern iPhone, but Google promises that the updated design is twice as durable as previous generations.
The Pixel is also getting a substantial performance boost, which is likely needed to power the phone’s new AI features, many of which run on device. All of the phones use Google’s new Tensor G4 processor, which is faster but also more efficient, giving these phones about 20% more battery power than Pixel 8 models for true all-day battery life. The phones’ memory received a boost across the board as well, with 12GB RAM for the base Pixel 9 model and 16GB for RAM Pro models. This should mean smooth performance for all tasks, including AI features – though in Google’s live demo of the device some of the AI features took a fair amount of time to complete, so we’ll have to see exactly how it performs in real world situations.
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The Google Pixel 9 models have two flavors of AI baked in: basic Gemini and Gemini Advanced. With Gemini, your phone can respond to natural language queries and consolidate information from sources across your device, so you can ask it to reference information in email, your calendar, your photos, or even YouTube videos. For example, you can ask Gemini to make a workout plan based on an email from your trainer, or whether any of the concert dates you saw on a poster fit into your schedule. And the Gemini-powered Pixel Call Assist can now listen in and summarize conversations (it will notify everyone on the call when you do this) for easy reference.
Gemini Advanced allows free-flowing natural language conversations and deeper analytical features, such as the ability to craft emails for you based on their context and to upload and analyze multiple documents. Gemini Advanced requires a Google One AI Premium Plan, which is currently $20 per month, though a year’s subscription is included with Pro models.
Since the cameras on most of our phones get a lot of action, it's not surprising that a lot of the new AI features are for photos. Pixel Studio Image Generator can create entirely new images based on prompts. And if you want to improve your existing images, Magic Editor can change the composition of a photo, framing it better or adding things that were cropped out of your original shot. You can even change the background or other parts of the image simply by prompting. A new Add Me feature lets photographers put themselves in an image, by taking a photo with you in it, and then another where you’re snapping the picture: the Pixel 9 then combines them seamlessly so it looks like everyone is in your family photo.
All of the Pixel 9s also come with a great new safety feature: Satellite SOS. This lets you contact emergency services from anywhere, via satellite, regardless of your carrier or plan.
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Of course, all of this functionality come at a price. Here’s what you’ll pay for the Pixel models:
- Pixel 9 retails for $799
- Pixel 9 Pro retails for $999
- Pixel 9 Pro XL retails for $1099
- Pixel 9 Pro Fold retails for $1799
If you’re in the market for a new phone, the Pixel 9 is the best deal of the lot. It has the same processor as the other Pixel 9 phones, and even though it has a little less memory you should still get great performance. The bright OLED screen isn’t as good as the Pixel 9 Pros, but it’s still impressive. It also uses the same 50-megapixel camera as the Pro models, though the selfie camera is lower resolution (10.5 megapixel compared to the Pro’s upgraded 42 megapixel). Still, for the price difference, you’re getting a great phone.
You can pre-order all of these phones now: the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL ship on August 22, while the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold ship in September.
[Image credit: Techlicious]
Elizabeth Harper is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience covering consumer technology and entertainment. In addition to writing for Techlicious, she's Editorial Director of Blizzard Watch and is published on sites all over the web, including Time, CBS, Engadget, The Daily Dot and DealNews.
