Pixel 9 pre-orders are live! Where and how to get a new Pixel
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Google just announced the entire Pixel 9 family — consisting of four phones! Three of them are the classic-looking Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, and Pixel 9 Pro XL, with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold being treated as a slightly different class device. Well... it is foldable!
Where do you pre-order the Pixel 9 phones? Well, the Google Store, naturally! As long as you are shopping in the US, Japan, or Europe.
The launch is celebrated with — you guessed it — special deals! Pre-order now and you get instant store credit, or gift cards in Amazon — $200 for the Pro models, $100 for the Pixel 9. And, on the Google Store, you can trade-in an old phone for a pretty penny — Google will give you around $700 for a Pixel 8 Pro, about $540 for an old Pixel 7 Pro, provided all is well with it.
Grabbing a Pixel ensures you'd be on top of that AI tidal wave that's coming to mobile. Google has taken a stance and has said that it will be looking to fuse AI, Gemini, and Android — in general — together. But Pixels always get the cool features first. And some of them remain exclusive.
Gemini is slowly pushing the old Google Assistant out of the picture, and the new tricks it comes with in the Pixel 9 line are:
- Multimodal integration - you will be able to ask Gemini to pull data from multiple of your Google apps and services and accomplish tasks with them. For example "Find my resume from Drive, summarize it in a paragraph", or "On which day next week will I be free to go to the movies?".
- Gemini Live - natural conversations with the Assistant. Just chat, or discuss ideas, or ask multiple questions. Interrupt and change topics on the fly!
- Add Me - when taking group photos, take a picture of the group, then swap in with someone else. Pixel AI will be able to stitch a photo as if you were all in it
- Auto Frame - part of the Magic Editor. Will edit and change framing of photos, based on what the AI knows about good photography practices
- Reimagine - edit a photo via text prompt. Type out what you'd like to see and have the AI edit selected parts of the photo for you
- Video Boost - will upscale video up to 8K resolution. Now works twice as fast
- Weather app - Gemini Nano will now give you a quick summary of weather conditions
- Magic List - ask phone to create complex shopping lists automatically. "Plan a taco dinner for 6, one vegetarion option"
- Screenshots app - use Gemini Nano to quickly sort and recall old screenshots that you once took in order to remember something. On-device processing only
- Call Notes - comes up after a voice call with a quick summary of your conversation. On-device processing thanks to Tensor G4
This is coming to all new Pixels, thanks to Tensor G4, but there's still reason to go for the Pro models — of course.
The Google Pixel 9 Pro cameras are kind of leaving the regular non-Pro in the dust — with the enhanced camera capabilities and Video Boost that can upscale your videos to 8K. You get an extra 5x telephoto camera, multiple stages of lossless zoom (0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x), and Pro Mode in the camera. Google was very proud of the new Pro phones saying they are reclaiming the crowns for best pictures and best video from phone cameras.
Don't be scared by the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL being separated into two different devices. The only difference between them is size. Of course, from that, we get a difference in battery capacities, and the Pro XL does charge faster. But, in general — features, performance, cameras, screens — these are spec-for-spec the same smartphones.
So, if you want a more compact handset, but don't want the Pixel 9 that has some features cut out — you have a Pixel 9 Pro that's the same, but has all those Pro features. If you like the old form factor of the Pixel 8 Pro — the Pixel 9 Pro XL is its natural successor. Of course, if you want a smart, fast Pixel phone and don't care about the camera bells and whistles — you get that with the Pixel 9, and you save a few bucks.
Pre-order bonuses are live until the 28th of August, so make that call. Pre-orders will close and shipping will start on the 7th of September.
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