Pixel 9 Pro Review: Google built the dream compact phone
Google Pixel 9 Pro Intro
The Pixel 9 Pro seems to be everything you ever wanted in a relatively compact flagship phone – it brings a fast chipset optimized for AI, a camera system with a powerful telephoto lens, and solid battery life.
If you are looking for all of that, but in a bigger size, that would be the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL model, but here we focus on the smaller, 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Pro. Google also has a third phone, the vanilla Pixel 9, which is exactly the same 6.3-inch size as the Pixel 9 Pro, but lacks a telephoto camera and is missing some "Pro" features.
Also, all these Pixel models now cost more, and the Pixel 9 Pro specifically goes for $1,000, as much as an iPhone 15 Pro. Pixel phones were traditionally excellent value and just a couple of years ago, the Pixel 7 starting price was just $600.
So let's see if Google has finally managed to build the dream compact flagship phone to justify this price hike.
Table of Contents:
Also read:
- Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Preview: The AI flagship has even more cool tricks, but at a higher price
Google Pixel 9 Pro Specs
Tons of RAM and a chipset made for AI
Let's kick it off with an overview of the specs, before we dive deeper with all the new features:
| Pixel 9 | Pixel 9 Pro | Google Pixel 9 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Size 152.8 x 72 x 8.5mm 198g | Size 152.8 x 72 x 8.5mm 199g | Size 162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5mm 221g |
| Display 6.3-inch Actua 1080p 60-120Hz | Display 6.3-inch Super Actua 1280p 1-120Hz | Display 6.8-inch Super Actua 1344p 1-120Hz |
| Processor Google Tensor G4 12GB RAM | Processor Google Tensor G4 16GB RAM | Processor Google Tensor G4 16GB RAM |
| Storage 128GB – $800 256GB – $900 | Storage 128GB – $1,000 256GB – $1,100 512GB – $1,220 1TB – $1,450 | Storage 128GB – $1,100 256GB – $1,200 512GB – $1,320 1TB – $1,550 |
| Android 14 7 years of OS updates | Android 14 7 years of OS updates | Android 14 7 years of OS updates |
| Dual Rear Camera 50MP main, f/1.68, 1/1.31" sensor 48MP ultra-wide, f/1.7 - 10.5MP front cam | Triple Rear Camera 50MP main, f/1.68, 1/1.31" sensor 48MP ultra-wide, f/1.7 48MP 5X zoom, f/2.8 42MP front cam | Triple Rear Camera 50MP main, f/1.68, 1/1.31" sensor 48MP ultra-wide, f/1.7 48MP 5X zoom, f/2.8 42MP front cam |
| Battery 4700 mAh | Battery 4700 mAh | Battery 5060 mAh |
| Charging 27W wired 15W wireless | Charging 27W wired 21W wireless | Charging 37W wired charge 23W wireless charging |
Google Pixel 9 Pro Design and Display
How great it is to have a Pro phone in a compact form factor
Hazel is our favorite Pixel 9 Pro color (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro is completely redesigned this year, embracing the modern smartphone look with flat sides and thinner, uniform bezels around the screen.
Google also says it is twice as durable compared to last year's model. This seems to be based on drop test data, but we have no specifics. We don't see any fancy materials, so it must be the new flat-side design that contributes to this.
The 9 Pro features a matte glass back, so smudges won't be an issue, while the sides use polished aluminum. The phone has IP68 water and dust protection rating too.
The available colors are:
- Obsidian – black/dark gray color
- Porcelain – warm white
- Hazel – green/brown (similar to Pixel 7 Pro)
- Rose Quartz – light rose color
You have your power and volume buttons all on the right hand side, so no changes in that.
You also have your typical modern unboxing experience – slim box, phone, cable, user manuals, no charger or a case included in the box.
It comes with a 6.3-inch screen, a great middle ground that feels neither too big, nor too small (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro comes with what Google calls a Super Actua display in a 6.3-inch size.
We love this screen size – it's neither too big, nor too small, a perfect middle ground.
As for the Super Actua technology, it just indicates that the screen has slightly higher resolution and brightness compared to the "just" Actua screen on the non-Pro Pixel 9. You should also know that it has a 1Hz to 120Hz variable refresh rate, which is great, and the resolution is 1280p, so a bit higher than on the regular model.
For years, Google has used an optical fingerprint scanner embedded in the screen, but now it is upgrading that to an ultrasonic one on the Pixel 9 Pro, which should work better. Plus, you avoid the issue of optical sensors shining light on your face at night.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Camera
A zoom camera on a compact Pixel, and we love it!
We love having a 5X zoom camera on such a compact phone (Image by PhoneArena)
There are two aspects of the camera experience on the Pixel 9 Pro: the hardware, and the cool new AI features.
As for hardware, we are very excited to have a true dedicated zoom camera for the first time on a compact Pixel phone. The native 5X zoom periscope lens is great for far away objects, and you can use it to get close-up shots of your pets and even take portrait photos.
The main and ultra-wide cameras are identical across all three Pixel 9 series phones. You've got a 50MP main shooter with an f/1.68 aperture and a large, 1/1.31" size sensor, and then you have a 48MP, f/1.7 ultra-wide camera, but with a much smaller 1/2.55" sensor size.
That's the hardware, but you know that Google's main focus has been on software. The company has improved the processing of images with a new HDR+ pipeline and improved Real Tone, so colors and the overall look of photos should be better.
Many of the improvements actually don't even come from better detail or image quality, but are camera features that were missing, such as the portrait mode preview, so you can finally see what a portrait photo looks before you take it.
And here are some photos from the Pixel 9 Pro series:
Pixel 9 Pro Main Camera
The Pixel 9 Pro features a 50MP camera that is mostly the same as the one on the 8 Pro from last year. The sensor size is still 1/1.3" size sensor, practically identical to the sensor of the iPhone Pro Max and Galaxy Ultra. However, compared to camera flagships from brands like Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, those use a larger, 1-inch sensor.
Photos still have that "Pixel look" with outstanding dynamic range and if we had to point one change that would be the slightly warmer colors.
Ultra-wide Camera
Google made the jump to a 48MP ultra-wide camera on the last year Pixel 8 Pro, and this year it only slightly tweaks the formula with a different sensor. The 9 Pro seems to use the same resolution, but a slightly smaller sensor size paired with a lens with faster aperture, though. Overall, this means that ultra-wide photos look much the same as on the previous generation.
One thing to note here is just how clean photos look, with almost no noise, which is great for an ultra-wide shooter.
5X Zoom
The 5X telephoto camera is the biggest improvement in this compact form factor. It gives you that extra range and it looks quite good, plus it has decent stabilization if you plan to use it for video.
And then we have all the cool new AI features.
Add Me – this is probably the coolest new trick in the Pixel camera bag. It is meant for group photos where you don't have anyone nearby to take your group photo. So you can take one shot of your friends, and then trade places with them, and they take your picture with some help from the phone to get the composition similar. The Pixel then combines those two pictures, inserting you into the first group photo with all of your other friends.
Reimagine – This comes as part of the Magic Editor, and basically allows you reimagine your whole picture. To do this, you can just type "replace the background with a sunset" and AI will do it for you. Or you can add fireworks, or butterflies, or whatever else comes to mind.
Auto Frame – This one uses the knowledge of composition rules and suggests various ways to recompose a shot, so that it looks cooler.
Video Boost – This impressive feature launched last year and it basically sends your video to the Google Cloud where it gets processed and in a few hours, you get back an improved version. The mechanics of Video Boost on Pixel 9 Pro remain the same, but the processing time is shorter and your video can now be upscaled to 8K quality (the Pixel native video quality is still 4K). Google says this 8K quality is so good, you can just get 30MP photo snaps out of the footage and they will look great. We can't wait to test that one.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Performance & Benchmarks
New chip coupled with lots of RAM for some AI trickery
Tensor is still not the fastest chip around, but at least it heats up less now (Image by PhoneArena)
The Pixel 9 Pro runs on the same Google Tensor G4 chip as the other Pixels in the series, and it is coupled with a whopping 16GB of RAM.
Having that much RAM on board is great, and Google says that part of that RAM remains reserved just for AI tasks.
The Tensor G4 chip itself brings some improvements to CPU and GPU performance, but its focus remains on AI.
And in terms of storage, the base Pixel 9 Pro has 128GB on board and it costs $1,000. You also get a 256GB, 512GB and even a 1TB storage option.
LISTEN HERE: Pixel 9 Pro microphone quality recording
LISTEN HERE: Pixel 9 Pro loudspeaker quality recording
Google Pixel 9 Pro Software
The Pixel 9 Pro launches with Android 14 and with a promise of seven years of OS updates. This is probably the longest software support in the industry, especially considering how Google delivers those updates the moment they are released, while other companies like Samsung take months to roll them out.
Speaking of updates, we expect the newer Android 15 version to start arriving on this phone in September.
But what is new in terms of software anyway?
It's Google we are talking about, so you know that has to be about new AI features.
Pixel Studio – type what you want to see, and AI on the phone will create an image to match your text prompt. You can further refine it to be in a specific style, such as more cartoonish or more cinematic.
Weather app – believe it or not, up until now, you did not have a native Weather app on Pixel phones (they used weather information from the web)! So we are so glad to see this new app, crafted in the typical whimsical Pixel styling.
Screenshots app – another new app, this one is a collection of all your screenshots with the power of AI behind it, allowing for powerful searches. So it's now much easier to save something interesting you see online as a screenshot and then look it up with a search in this app.
Satellite SOS (only in the US) – the Pixel is the first Android phone to get the Satellite SOS feature that Apple first introduced last year. And just like Apple, Satellite SOS will be free on Pixels for two years. We still don't know what will be the cost of that feature after that period expires.
Keep Magic List – this allows you to create "magic" lists in Google Keep by asking Gemini things like "what ingredients do I need to make tacos", and it sounds super helpful for your next grocery trip.
Call Notes – you get a private summary of your conversation after a call ends thanks to on-device AI. Note that you need to turn this feature on manually and the other party will be notified that the call is being recorded.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Battery
No big changes to battery size
If we compare the Pixel 9 Pro to the similarly compact Pixel 8 model from last year, you can spot a very tiny increase in battery size.
The Pixel 9 Pro features a 4,700mAh battery, while the Pixe8 comes with a 4,575mAh cell, so that's about 3% bigger.
Google, however, claims the Tensor G4 is its most "efficient" processor yet, and with this increase you might get a slight boost in battery life. Just don't expect massive changes.
As per Google, the Pixel 9 Pro has "24+ hours" battery life, or up to 100 hours with Extreme Battery Saver.
And as for charging, Google has a new 45W charger that it introduces along with the Pixel 9 series, but none of the new phones actually support the full 45 watts of power.
The Pixel 9 Pro charges at speeds of up to 27 watts, so you get 55% of power back with a 30-minute top-up.
It also supports wireless charging. The speeds there are up to 21 watts if you use the Google Pixel Stand 2nd Gen, but if you just use a regular Qi charger, the max wireless charging speed is up to 12W.
Summary
The Pixel 9 Pro is clearly the best compact Google phone ever.
With a new, more durable design, a brighter screen, faster chipset, ultrasonic fingerprint reader and especially that new Zoom camera, it gives you everything you might expect in a true flagship.
But it also comes with a new $1,000 price, much higher than older Pixel phones.
Is that justified? The answer is... 'maybe'.
Our advice would probably be to wait until you see a good deal on this phone and chances are you might be able to save a few Benjamins off the retail price. For all else, the Pixel 9 Pro is a winner.
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