Pixel 9 Pro Is Great (If You Ignore the AI)
The Google Pixel 9 Pro has a lot to live up to: It’s the company’s new flagship phone, arriving amid intensifying competition in artificial intelligence . As Google faces accusations of monopoly , this is the company’s chance to justify its unified ecosystem, and the Pixel 9 Pro unfortunately falls short in this regard.
Still, it’s a great product in its own right. While much of the brand name is trying to sell you technology that will probably need another 10 years in the oven, the Pixel 9 Pro handles regular phone tasks better than any Pixel in recent memory. It has all the benefits of the older models, but with an improved design that is long overdue.
Pixel 9 Pro is finally pocketable
The big selling point of the Pixel line of smartphones tends to be its unique software, but while the Pixel 9 has a few AI tricks to keep up with Apple Intelligence , my favorite change this year is the phone itself.
That’s because the Pixel 9 Pro is now available in two sizes for the first time. There’s the “new” Pixel 9 Pro XL, which is actually about the same size as previous Pro models, and the regular Pixel 9 Pro, which functions more like the Pixel 9 Pro Mini compared to previous Pixel Pro models. Despite the same naming scheme as previous Pro models, this is a fresher option.
While the XL is more in line with expectations, the regular Pixel 9 Pro finally gives us a Pro Pixel phone the same size as the base Pixel. This means you no longer have to choose between compactness and power. As someone who almost always chooses professional models but tries to get the smallest option, I’m delighted.
To get a phone this size, you have to make a few compromises, namely a slightly smaller battery and a predictably smaller screen with a lower resolution. Everything still feels luxurious and the trade-offs are worth it in my opinion.
It’s also lightweight at 7 ounces, compared to the iPhone 15 Pro’s 6.6 ounces. The biggest difference here will be your case, which, thanks to a trick, will fit the base Pixel 9 too.
That’s because both phones have the same basic layout, right down to the size of the new, redesigned camera panel. Google made the camera panel smaller and more round this year, and while it still protrudes just as much as the old one, the more minimalist look is a little easier on the eye.
Also pleasing to the eye is the 9 Pro’s matte finish, which is much less reflective and much less of a fingerprint magnet than the glossier back of the base Pixel 9. The hazel color my phone came in is also nice, a deep white with a greenish tint. although you can purchase the black, white or pink model if you prefer them. I miss the blue option called Bay that was in the Pixel 8 line.
However, this is perhaps the most premium smartphone Google has created to date. There’s also a foldable Pixel 9 Pro called the Pixel 9 Pro Fold , which goes on sale next month. I’ve seen a pre-release version of this phone but haven’t had a chance to test it.
Gemini still feels inadequate
Pixels typically do well with their unique software like Live Transcribe or Call Assistant, but the Pixel 9’s feature additions are more iterative than usual, and none of the new exclusives really stand out—at least in any good way.
The first thing you’ll probably come across is the “Add Me” option, which you can swipe to while taking a photo. Add Me uses local processing to stitch two photos together so no one misses out on being in the shot. Essentially, you take a photo of your friend or partner and then hand them the phone so they can take a photo of you. “Add Me” will combine photos as if you were both in the frame at the same time.
This is a smart idea and I’m excited to try it out on my upcoming honeymoon. Unfortunately, as with the Magic Editor on previous Pixel models, it still feels like a demo.
Google tells me that Add Me doesn’t use generative fill, which means you won’t get a smooth background like in the Magic Editor, but it still falls prey to some basic Photoshop hints. The figures added to the frames usually look like they were cut and pasted from a magazine, and poor lighting and shadows give them away. Size can also be an issue: people look smaller or larger than they are in real life. The same can be said for depth: my fiancé tried to position his arm behind where I was sitting so that it would seem like he was hugging me, but instead it just sort of blended into my shoulders.
“Add Me” also only works with people, so don’t feel like you have to cheat with it. I tried this on some anime figures I had on hand and it didn’t recognize them.
The new Screenshots app works better, although I doubt many people will use it. The app uses locally processed AI to add titles and descriptions to your screenshots, helping you search through them faster. You can use it for things like concert tickets or hotel Wi-Fi cards, and in my use, the tool’s descriptions were mostly accurate. It can also read and summarize any text that may be in your screenshots, which can be useful for school notes or boarding passes.
The problem is that it is limited to screenshots, not photos. Even if you take a photo of your physical boarding pass, you need to remember to take a screenshot of that photo in order to use screenshots. I tend to take screenshots a lot, but I feel like due to the limitations this app will remain mostly among casual users. Google’s upcoming Ask Photos feature is set to help more people, but there’s no word yet on its release date.
And perhaps the most controversial app to debut with the Pixel 9: Pixel Studio. It’s essentially an AI image generator with a basic editor added, although you can also use it to edit your own photos rather than those created by the AI.
Pixel Studio uses a combination of local processing and the Imagen 3 model, which is also used in Gemini, but something must have broken along the way. Gemini’s security measures tend to be pretty strict, but like X’s Grok , Pixel Studio can give you some pretty unexpected results.
Some precautions are still in place: the bot will refuse to create images of real people, from celebrities to something as generic as “grocery store cashier.” The problem is that Pixel Studio seems to be more tolerant of violence than Gemini and has no problem depicting copyrighted characters.
I was able to obtain a few near-accurate images of Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Mickey Mouse, and while these on their own may not draw the ire of their corporate owners, here are a few more incriminating images of Mickey Mouse that I obtained with just a little hint:
I even managed to get a version of Mickey depicted as a member of the KKK, although for your sake I’ll refrain from posting it.
However, it’s not the best option for a brand new tool, and parents should be careful with parental controls before handing their child the Pixel 9. Using the tool as intended, I found the images it produced to be quite formulaic. and doesn’t actually cost any carbon emissions .
Unfortunately, I feel the same way about Gemini Assistant , which, while not exclusive to the Pixel 9 series, received some updates to coincide with its release. It’s supposed to be more context-aware now, able to take information from your screen and use it in your responses, although I’ve never been able to get that to work. The ad puts more emphasis on the new Gemini Live mode, which is exclusive to Gemini Advanced users and allows conversations using AI-powered cloud voice. Pixel 9 Pro owners get a free year of Gemini Advanced with purchase, so you can try Live right out of the box.
I found Gemini Live to be friendly, but not all that useful, since it mostly added an extra step between me and information I could have found with a quick Google search. To keep him on the right path, he had to be redirected frequently, and he would often break off midway, requiring another prompt before continuing. The hallucinations were also rampant, with the bot saying things like “New Yorkers usually carry an umbrella with them at all times, just in case,” when I asked if it would rain today. Considering my friends and I got soaking wet twice this weekend, that’s either not true or we’re just a bunch of transplants in disguise.
The tone of the conversation was also a bit off-putting, and while I had no problem with the bot cutting me off, I didn’t like the overly friendly, PR voice it gave me. I felt mistreated, receiving nonsensical responses like “the technical team has fixed the problem” or “sorry, I lost connection” on occasions when Live stopped responding and required a reboot. The problems persisted despite the “technical team” being mentioned, and my Wi-Fi was stable, so the connection was probably not the culprit.
Overall, I’m still sad to hear that Google Assistant will be going away soon, something Google emphasized during the Pixel 9 announcement. Gemini still can’t do simple things like adjust phone settings or set reminders, which Google Assistant can has been done with ease for many years. For what I actually use my phone for, I’d rather go with the lighter, simpler standard assistant.
Camera superior to iPhone
As the name suggests, photography is another category where the Pixel series excels. This year’s camera upgrades are a bit more subtle, with the rear camera’s megapixel count matching the Pixel 8 Pro (50MP wide, 48MP ultra-wide, 48MP telephoto), but with improvements to autofocus. The selfie camera’s resolution has increased noticeably, from 10.5MP to 42MP, but in practice the photography is much better across the board, with photos almost indistinguishable from those taken on my iPhone 15 Pro – something I wasn’t sure about. Said about the Pixel 8 Pro, even though this phone technically has better ultra-wide and telephoto lenses.
To get you started, here are some daytime shots taken at 12MP at various zoom levels and lighting. By default, your phone will select this quality level to save space.
And here are some 50MP photos that you can enable by tapping the gear in the bottom left corner of the camera app, then the Pro tab, and the 50MP icon in the Resolution section.
Photos are bright and detailed: Portrait mode is especially useful for close-up shots, while Night mode brightens the night sky. I found the latter generally useful, but a little artificial at times. This can be frustrating since night sight is turned on automatically by default, but you can turn off automatic night sight by tapping the cog in the bottom left corner of the camera app and tapping the circle with a diagonal line running through it under More Light . . You will still be able to use the night sight manually by navigating to it in the camera app.
For comparison, here are some similar shots from my iPhone 15 Pro, with night shots in particular coming out much darker – although I’m limited in how dark my tests can be due to the general ambient lighting where I live.
And here are some pictures taken with my Pixel 8 Pro.
Overall, while the lens hardware remained virtually unchanged, I found that I had to make far fewer adjustments to get subjects to pop into frame this time around, likely due to this model’s upgraded sensors.
Productivity is still dropping
Performance is the Pixel 9 Pro’s Achilles heel. With the new Google Tensor G4, it still lags behind rival pro phone models in non-Google apps.
This is because the Tensor series is designed to support Google AI and other Google-developed products such as Magic Editor, and it works great for them. It also doesn’t interfere with light tasks like web browsing, but if you’re a gamer or video editer on your phone, you may notice some minor glitches.
In the Geekbench 6 synthetic test, which gives a general idea of performance, I got a score of 1,924 in single-core tasks and 4,628 in multi-core tasks, which is just above the Pixel 8 Pro’s scores and well below the 2,938/. I got 7250 on my iPhone 15 Pro. Synthetic tests can’t tell you everything, but they’re not a promising start.
To test real-world performance, I turned the phone on to Genshin Impact , a graphics-intensive open-world game. Here, I was only able to get a smooth 60fps when using the game’s lowest settings, which make what should be gorgeous 3D anime graphics look like borderline pixelated graphics. Increasing the settings brought the frame rate down to around 45-60, but also caused the phone to get a bit warm, and the maximum settings pretty quickly made it too hot to handle.
That’s a shame, because these results are roughly in line with what I got on the Pixel 8a, a budget model with last year’s chip. On the other hand, my iPhone 15 Pro can play on High settings at 60fps without much issue.
While the Pixel 9 Pro isn’t a gaming phone, the numbers here don’t paint a good picture for other demanding apps. If you want to stay in the Android ecosystem but don’t plan on using Google’s Pixel-exclusive software often, consider an alternative flagship like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra .
Battery life
I haven’t had the Pixel 9 Pro long enough to properly test its battery, so I’ll update this section with more details when I have them. For now, Google promises an average of 31 hours of battery life with intermittent mixed use and with battery-saving features turned on by default.
Brighter display
Before we wrap things up, it’s worth touching on the slightly brighter display. While it still tops out at 120Hz with the same HDR support and aspect ratio, its peak brightness has been increased from 2,400 nits to 3,000 nits, which I found I needed quite a bit. Maybe I’m getting older, but in direct sunlight I had to set the brightness to about 93% before the screen actually blew up. Inside, I managed to get away with a more modest 65%.
That’s higher than I needed on the Pixel 8a , so chances are my standards have just risen. This screen is definitely better than previous models, capable of displaying more vibrant colors thanks to double the contrast ratio. If it weren’t for the small size, I could watch entire movies on it, like I wanted to do while watching a scene from the Super Mario Bros. movie.
Is the Pixel 9 Pro worth buying?
Using the Pixel 9 Pro is hardly any different than previous models, but it’s still a great way to buy Google’s flagship phone, which starts at $999.
One of the reasons I didn’t choose the Pixel for personal use is the size, as well as what I consider to be a rather unsightly camera bump. While camera bump is definitely still noticeable, both of these issues have now been more or less resolved. The base Pixel 9 Pro feels like a significant improvement whether you’re simply carrying the phone in your pocket or laying it on your desk.
The camera is also definitely worth the price of the Pro model, even without the significant improvements in app performance. On paper, the specs are better than most phones from companies not named Samsung, and Google’s post-processing requires extra effort from the phone’s lenses. It’s nice to finally have high-end Pixel cameras in a pocketable form factor.
The only thing that bothers me about this phone is the AI. Google really wants Gemini to take off, for obvious reasons, but it keeps failing under stress tests. There are some irresponsible things you can do with image generation, and as an assistant, Gemini is still struggling with the basics that Google Assistant solved years ago. Longtime Pixel favorites like Clear Calls still work great here, but the Pixel 9’s newest AI offerings aren’t worth the upgrade.
This could jeopardize the Pixel 9 lineup as Apple Intelligence is just around the corner , although even Apple doesn’t seem to be entirely comfortable with AI just yet, as it will reportedly hold back some key features for next year.
With that in mind, the Pixel 9 Pro will likely be a safe upgrade as it will likely keep up with the competition for a while. And if AI isn’t your thing (I still can’t find anything beyond situational use cases for it) , this phone could work for you for years to come . It’s stylish, functional and finally compact: everything you need in a small rectangle for your pocket.