The Pixel 9 series was officially unveiled at Google’s most recent #MadeByGoogle event which, as a break from previous years, took place in August, allowing Google to get a much needed head start on the upcoming iPhone 16 series launch.
The event saw a wide range of products, features and AI implementations revealed with 4 new Pixel phones in total announced: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The combining of the Fold line into the more general Pixel numbered series, while confusing at first, should help streamline Google’s overall product offering schedule and ensures their latest Tensor processor is used in all of their new Pixel phones, all at the same time.
For this review, we’re going to focus mainly on the new Pixel 9 Pro XL with a mini review of the Pixel 9 Pro near the end.
Design & Build Quality
Right off the bat, users of previous Pixel models, especially the recent 8 and 7 devices, will notice just how much more ‘squared off’ the sides of the device are. Lining up with the design aesthetic of both Apple and Samsung’s flagship devices, the Pixel 9 Pro XL definitely gives off a premium look and feel.
While we were slightly worried that the squared off edges would make the device uncomfortable to hold, Google have done a good job of blended the sides with the front and real panels and, if anything, this new design make the device easier to hold as there’s more to grab on to when using it with one hand.
The 6.8″ Super Actua OLED panel is surrounded by a very thin bezel, on a par with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and a polished aluminium frame. The rear and front glass sections are extra strong Gorilla Glass Victus 2 panels and, overall, Google is claiming the Pixel 9 Pro XL to be twice as durable as last year’s what. What that actual means in real world testing, we’re not sure but we’re not looking to fire this phone down a flight of stairs to find out.
The peak brightness now also goes all the way up to 3000nits which is fantastic when using the device in direct sunlight, everything pops also when viewing HDR content on the display.
When it comes to security, backed by its Titan M2 chip, the Pixel 9 Pro XL supports secure face unlock, which can be used for banking apps like Revolut, which is very handy but they’ve also included an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor which is noticeably faster than the optical sensor on previous Pixel generations.
Around the back is the contentious camera bar which, while still iconic to the Pixel line, has itself been slight ‘squared off’ with its prominent edges that now go all the way around the camera model, a change from previous generations which saw the bar blend into the sides of the device. It’s definitely a substantial camera bump but, overall, it matches the phone’s design aesthetic nicely so we’ve no real issues with it.
What we do have an issue with is that Google has moved the placement of the bottom firing speaker from the right to the left hand side of the USB-C port so, when holding the phone with my right hand and propping it in place with my baby finger, it now sits directly over the speaker slot.
A #FirstWorldProblem, I know, but still something we wish wasn’t the case. Similarly, when holding the phone in landscape with the speaker to the right hand side, it’s now located on the ‘bottom’ half of the phone so again, you just need to make sure you don’t block it with the palm of your hand.
Those minor gripes aside, the Pixel 9 Pro XL feels extremely well built and also feels great in the hand. The matte glass rear panel is so smooth and premium feeling while also adding an additional bit of grip.
The accompanying official Google ‘Hazel’ hard protection case also feels smooth to the touch and doesn’t take away too much from the overall look of the device, it even helps soften the angular edges of the camera bump. Google has done a fantastic job of creating a truly flagship-level device.
Software
The Pixel 9 Pro XL runs 2023’s Android 14 out of the box, quite the change from previous Pixel launches as they would normally arrive with the brand new version of Android.
Google has been releasing early beta versions of Android 15 over the last few weeks and months so it’s only a matter of time before it enters public availability and makes its way onto these new Pixel 9 line of phones.
That said, Android 14 still packs a slew of handy features across the OS and everything is powered by the latest Tensor G4 processor and 16GB RAM, the most RAM in a Pixel device to date.
AI, as expected, is being introduced and evolved right across the device’s apps and new Gemini Assistant, which is now the go to assistant when setting the device up for the first time.
If you do decide to pick up one of the new Pro models, you’ll also be given a one year trial to the Google One AI Premium Plan (usually €21.99/month) which gives users access to their new ‘Gemini Live’ interactive voice assistant.
Throughout our time testing this new way of interacting with Gemini, it was extremely intuitive, responsive and impressive in its overall speed. It still wasn’t flawless with some factual inaccuracies around things like product specs for newly launches tech devices etc but that’s quite similar to all the other currently available AI voice assistants at the moment.
The updated Weather app, with its AI generate weather report, is nicely designed and pretty useful. We don’t seem to have access to the live radar weather feeds yet though for some reason.
Other AI features which were announced at the launch event, such as Pixel Studio, a dedicated AI image generation app exclusive to the new Pixel 9 series, isn’t functional in Ireland yet here and the ‘Call Notes’ option in the Phone app, which used AI to capture and transcribe the contents of a call, also wasn’t accessible. Hopefully they become available in the near future.
Cameras
As is the case with each new Pixel line, Google have focused (pun intended) a lot of attention and love on the camera set up in this new 9 series, with the Pro line getting extra love, as to to warrant their Pro nomenclature.
In the rear camera bar is the Pro line’s triple camera offering. a 50MP wide angle lens, a new 48MP ultrawide lens with 123 degree FOV (which also acts as the macro lens for capturing shots as close as 2cm) and a 48MP 5x telephoto lens which, thanks to its large megapixel count, when combined with additional info from the other two lenses, can offer optical quality shots at 10x magnification.
And below is where the above photo was taken from.
In daylight settings, the camera is absolutely fantastic and its improved ultrawide angle lens (whilst ever so slightly reduced FOV) can capture some fantastically detailed wide shots.
Panorama mode has also been fully rebuilt, starting with a new UI that will guides you to pause for a capture at each spot along the horizon. Once you’ve taken the length of panorama you want, the phone then runs the image through its full HDR+ pipeline, including Night Sight, for the best low light panoramas we’ve captured on a phone yet.
Some of the interesting new AI features making their way to the Pixel series cameras include one called ‘Add Me’ which, as the name suggests, allows the photographer to be added to a group shot.
When using this particular feature, which sits right beside other more general photo options like ‘Portrait’ and ‘Night Sight’ in the Pixel Camera app, it combines Google’s AR platform with 15 on-device AI models running on the new Tensor G4 processor to give you the best results.
It basically takes one shot, creates a ‘sticker’ style overlay on the viewfinder so the first photographer can hand the phone off to one of the people in the photo so they can be added to the second, ‘combined’ version.
Below are the two separate photos taken with the third one the AI generate combined result.
It’s definitely a handy feature when you want that wide, non-Selfie style, photo of you and your friends and is quite the party piece when showing it off to friends and family.
Introduced on last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, Google Magic Editor options in the new 9 series also get quite the boost with new features such as ‘auto frame’ and ‘Reimagine’. Below is a before and after of a shot a took where I asked Magic Editor to ‘reimagine’ some wild flowers on the road.
Also previously announced at last year’s Pixel 8 series launch, ‘Zoom Enhance’ finally makes its way to the Pixel 8 and 9 devices and, using AI, helps to ‘enhance’ a photo you’d like to zoom in on with varying results.
It appears to work best on more prominent lines and angles with more natural formations and items such as trees coming out slightly ‘AI-ified’. You can see a before and after example below with the full shot below to show where it was taken from.
Around front, the Selfie camera also got a very nice megapixel bump from 10.5MP to 42MP. The field of view also got a nice upgrade from 95 degrees to 103, making it the widest, and highest megapixel Selfie sensor in a Pixel phone to date. Below you can see the increase FOV from last year’s Pixel 8 Pro along with a warmer white balance.
It’s definitely handy for wider group selfie shots or for simply getting more of your background in shot.
Video capabilities on the new Pro devices also got some AI attention with upgrades to last year’s ‘Video Boost’ which now supports ‘Super Res Zoom’ and ‘Night Sight’, allowing you to capture much more detailed and stabilised videos, either at 20x digital zoom or in low light conditions.
When shooting videos in either of these situations, you’ll need to enable either ‘Video Boost’ in the video settings panel in the camera app or select ‘Night Sight’ in the Video mode carousel.
Once the video is captured, it will be uploaded to the cloud for Google to work its AI magic and, around 1-2 hours later, depending on the videos length, it will be automatically added back into your camera roll, right alongside the original video with a notification from Google Photos informing you the clip is ready.
Below are two screenshots from a 20x digitally zoomed video captured on the Pixel 9 Pro XL, with the noticeably clearer shot the result of ‘Super Res Zoom Video’, coming from the phone’s ‘Video Boost’ mode.
Here is the original viewpoint for the above video, showing just how zoomed in the above screenshots are (taken from the very centre of the frame.)
While, in an ideal world, the phone itself would be able to capture these amazingly clear, vibrant and stabilised HDR videos, I still think, even if you’ve to wait a couple of hours, the results are totally worth it for the quality you get.
You even have the option to ‘boost’ your 4K/30fps video captures to 8K although, it’s ever so slightly misleading having the actual ‘8K’ option in the camera settings app.
We’d also look the opportunity to capture 4K/60FPS video with HDR enabled without having to send it to the cloud to be boosted.
All that said, Google really has done a fantastic job of elevating the camera experience across both photography and video on the Pixel 9 Pro devices. There’s so much users can do to get the very best out of the content they capture and its definitely one of the most competent and feature packed camera offerings on a mobile device today.
Battery Life
The Pixel 9 Pro XL packs a 5060mAh battery so just marginally larger than last year’s 5050mAh battery in the Pixel 8 Pro. Saying that, with the new, more power efficient G4 processor and new vapour chamber for cooling, we’ve noticed improved battery life, even when using the phone aggressively during our review period.
We were able to get through a full intense day, from 8am to 11:30pm with still some battery in the tank. On less taxing days, we were still clocking in close to five hours of screen on time with 33% battery left so there’s definitely improved battery life performance.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL, in particular, also supports Google’s fastest charging speeds to date with 37w with a compatible charger, getting you 70% charge from flat in 30 minutes. Again, with the correct wireless charger, the Pixel Stand 2nd Gen to be exact, you’re able to wireless charge the 9 Pro XL at 23w.
Google Pixel 9 Pro (Mini Review)
With the launch of the new Pixel 9 series, Google has introduced their flagship model in two formats, the smaller Pixel 9 Pro (which is identical in size to the Pixel 9) and the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL, which we’ve covered extensively in the review. We’ve been playing with both devices over the last week with the majority of our time spent using the XL model.
When looking at the Pixel 9 Pro, you’re getting an identical experience, bar the obvious size reduction to both the screen (6.3″ vs. 6.8″ Super Actua display) and battery size (4700mAh vs. 5060mAh). Also, when it comes to battery, for whatever reason, the 9 Pro’s wired charging speeds are capped at 27W, compared to the XL’s 37W offering.
Saying that, given the smaller size display and still somewhat large battery size, the Pixel 9 Pro’s battery was even more impressive than its XL counterpart with us achieving a day and a half of pretty intensive use before needing to look for a charger.
Those differences aside, fans of more ‘compact’ devices whilst not looking to compromise on things such as processing power and camera capabilities are sure to be interested in the Pixel 9 Pro. The improved battery life will also add a feather to its hat when people are trying to decide between the two devices.
It, like the 9 Pro XL, feels nice and premium in the hand is obviously that bit more manageable to use one-handed than its larger sibling. It’s got the same 16GB RAM also so has no issue with power intensive processes and can edit photos with very little issue.
Conclusion
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is the pinnacle of what Google has to offer when combining their very best hardware and software capabilities in a smartphone. The new design aesthetic, premium finish, class-leading cameras and AI evolutions make the Pixel 9 Pro XL the phone to beat in 2024.
Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Pricing & Availability
The Pixel 9 Pro/Pro XL are available for pre-order now via the Google Store and go on sale Thursday, August 22nd, starting at €1,219 for the 128GB Pixel 9 Pro XL model and €1,119 for the 128GB Pixel 9 Pro model.
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is also available on Three Ireland, Vodafone and through Harvey Norman. The colour options for both devices include Hazel (green) Rose Quartz (soft pink), Obsidian (black) and Porcelain (off-white/cream).
If you pre-order/purchase either device before 6th September, Google will also double your storage option for free, which is a nice little incentive and, being honest, the 128GB is too small for a Pro device in 2024.
Our review device was provided by Google Ireland.
REVIEW: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
- Design & Build Quality
- Software
- Cameras
- Battery Life
Summary
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is the pinnacle of what Google has to offer when combining their very best hardware and software capabilities in a smartphone.
