Jalen Sigh Tech

Verdict

The Pixel 9 Pro offers a more compact Pro Pixel experience with only minor compromises compared to the larger XL model. It remains an impressive snapper, and its AI prowess is unmatched compared to the Android competition. However, the Tensor G4 chipset works hard to deliver the flagship experience, resulting in a phone that can get warm pretty often.

Introduction

The Google Pixel 9 Pro might sound like a familiar device, but it’s totally different this year. 

Remember the 6.7-inch screen of previous Pixel Pro devices? That’s now exclusive to the new Pixel 9 Pro XL, instead replaced by the same 6.3-inch screen as the regular Pixel 9. In essence, that results in a much more compact device with the same Pro-level features and functionality you’d expect. 

Not content with a simple screen change, the Pixel 9 Pro also sports a complete overhaul of the Pixel design language with this year’s release, sporting a much-needed redesign that brings the Pixel 9 collection more in line with the Android competition. There are also upgrades to its impressive camera offering and arguably the most holistic approach to GenAI on smartphones we’ve seen yet. 

Plus, in stark contrast to some competing Android manufacturers, the experiences between the Pixel 9 Pro and the new 6.7-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL are near-identical, making the decision as simple as whether you want a big screen or small screen. 

I’ve spent the past week using the Google Pixel 9 Pro, and here’s what I found out.

Design

• More compact than the Pixel 9 Pro XL
• Updated design is a nice touch
• Nice to use one-handed

The Pixel 9 Pro is an interesting prospect, representing the first time we’ve seen a Pro-level Pixel device available in a more compact form. I wouldn’t say it’s in true small phone territory at 6.3 inches, especially compared to truly compact options like the 5.9-inch Asus ZenFone 10, but it’s certainly more comfortable to hold than its behemoth 6.7-inch sibling. 

The 0.4-inch difference in the screen size might not sound that significant, but it makes a whole lot of difference in the hand. It’s narrower, shorter and easier to reach all areas of the screen as a result, making it the ideal Pro Pixel for those with smaller hands. Plus, at 199g, it’s a whopping 22g lighter than its larger sibling, more comparable with the likes of the iPhone 16 Pro.

Elsewhere, the Pixel 9 Pro, along with the rest of the Pixel 9 family, represents a significant design shift, moving away from the rounded edges of its predecessor. The flat edges, rounded corners and polished aluminium frame give it a more modern, almost industrial aesthetic. It’s hard to argue against its similarities to the likes of the iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S24, but it carves its own path with its signature camera bar.

However, even that has been updated for this year’s collection to be less intrusive, taking the form of a sleek pill that no longer stretches across the entirety of the rear of the device. As a result, the camera bar no longer snags in my pocket – one of my biggest complaints about the Pixel 8 design. 

Though it has been present on the past few generations of Pixel Pro, I still appreciate the matte finish on the phone’s glass back, resisting fingerprints and smudges far better than glossy counterparts, while providing an almost satin-like feel. 

Speaking of which, that rear glass, along with the display, are protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 for added durability, along with the same flagship IP68 dust and water resistance present on the best smartphones in 2024. 

If I had one complaint about the Pixel 9 Pro, it’d probably be its colour options. Like previous Pixel releases, Google has kept the more vibrant, attractive colour options exclusive to the regular Pixel 9, with the Pro models available in more understated options like Porcelain, Rose Quartz, Hazel and Obsidian. 

I’d have loved to see that vibrant Peony pink available on the Pro models in place of the more subdued Rose Quartz for example, but alas, apparently ‘pros’ don’t appreciate colour – in Google’s mind, anyway.

Screen

• Compact 6.3-inch OLED screen
• Packed with premium screen tech
• Great for bingeing video content

The Pixel 9 Pro represents a first for the Pixel Pro line, sporting a more compact 6.3-inch OLED screen – the same size as the entry-level Pixel 9 – complete with slimline bezels and rounded corners that give it a rather charming look. 

It sports the same Super Actua display tech that delivers a boosted 3000nits peak brightness that doesn’t struggle, even in bright sunlight, along with staples of flagship screen tech like an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate that lets the screen drop down to as little as 1Hz in a bid to save battery life while still being buttery smooth in everyday use. 

It’s essentially a premium middle ground for those who want more than what the Pixel 9’s non-adaptive 120Hz, FHD+ resolution and 1800nit peak brightness screen offers but without the extra bulk and size of opting for the 6.7-inch Pro XL. It’s an idea that Apple has already proved effective with its dual Pro and Pro Max offerings, and I’m expecting similar results here. 

It may not beat the Pixel 9 Pro XL in the resolution department at 1280 x 2856, compared to 1344 x 2992, but the difference in screen size means that the Pixel 9 Pro is the more pixel-dense of the two at 495ppi compared to 486ppi. 

Whether you’ll notice this in everyday use is another story altogether; to my eyes, both the Pixel 9 Pro and XL are vibrant, crisp and detailed, easily giving some of the best screens from Apple and Samsung a run for their money.

Cameras

• Same 50MP primary camera as Pixel 8 Pro
• Upgraded 48MP ultrawide and telephoto lenses
• One of the most capable camera systems around

Camera tech has always been the main reason to opt for a Pixel device over much of the flagship competition, and that trend very much continues with the Pixel 9 Pro.

The main 50MP octa-PD snapper, complete with f/1.68 aperture and a fairly large 1/1.31-inch sensor, remains unchanged compared to its predecessor, though the 48MP ultrawide and 48MP 5x telephoto cameras benefit from a boosted 1/2.55-inch sensor to capture more detail and bolster low-light performance – and it shows. 

Regardless of the camera you choose to snap with, the Pixel 9 Pro takes impressive snaps with that classic Pixel look, aiming for true-to-life colours instead of being overly vibrant like snaps from the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Samsung’s approach does make for attractive posts on social media, but I appreciate Google’s more accurate, subdued approach here. 

Low light remains a strong point for the main camera, producing images that aren’t aggressively over-brightened like those you sometimes see from the likes of Vivo, instead more closely matching what you see with the naked eye. The colours are more subdued, but there’s still plenty of detail available. 

The larger sensors also make the auxiliary cameras more capable in low-light conditions, but they’re still not quite in the same league as results from the primary snapper. 

Speaking of, the upgraded 48MP ultrawide’s autofocus tech allows it to double up as a macro lens with surprisingly good results, capturing both close-ups and scenic vistas with plenty of light and detail. We’re not quite at the same level as the exceptional macro performance from the Sony Xperia 1 VI, but that phone also costs £300 more. 

The 48MP 5x telephoto is one of my favourites on the market right now. It might not have the same extreme levels of zoom offered by the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Honor Magic 6 Pro, capping out at 30x, but the upside is that all photos in that range will be of a decent quality. I’m not sure you can say the same for anything above the 30-50x mark on competing telephoto lenses.

Of course, the cameras are only half of the story, with Google bolstering its camera tech with a variety of AI-powered shooting modes and editing tools to really help you get the best out of the smartphone camera, ranging from handy features like Magic Eraser to more unique features like Add Me. How often you’ll use these features will depend on your use-case, but it’s a handy toolkit to have in your back pocket. 

Performance

• Tensor G4 chipset
• Boosted 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB storage
• Can get quite warm when gaming

The Pixel 9 Pro, like the rest of the Pixel 9 collection, is powered by Google’s latest Tensor G4 chipset, so performance should be pretty comparable across the range – though the Pro models are bolstered by a boosted 16GB of RAM to really shine in the AI department. The Pro models also come with up to 1TB of storage for those who need vast amounts of storage. 

With that said, don’t expect the Tensor G4 to beat the Android competition in benchmark testing. Like previous Tensor chipsets, the G4 focuses more on AI prowess than pure performance power, though there is more of a gap appearing this year. 

In benchmark testing, the Tensor G4 delivered a minor bump in results compared to last year’s Tensor G3, though the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-equipped flagship competition offers vastly better CPU and GPU performance and it simply pales in comparison to the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite found in the likes of the ROG Phone 9 Pro. 

However, there’s an odd disparity between the benchmark results that we don’t often see here at Trusted Reviews, in that the benchmarks don’t mirror what I experienced with the Pixel 9 Pro.

In everyday use, the phone absolutely flies. No doubt aided by the slick 120Hz LTPO screen, the Pixel 9 Pro is as zippy as you like, opening apps and taking photos instantly, and I could chuck practically any game at it and it’d run well – with the caveat that it’d start to get warm after fairly short periods of gameplay. 

More than 20 minutes of casual shooter Zombie Gunner Survival saw the sides of the phone get uncomfortably hot, even though there wasn’t any apparent effect on gameplay performance. Still, that means that mobile gamers should probably look elsewhere – the Pixel 9 Pro is not the phone for powerful triple-A gaming experiences. 

I suspect that the Tensor G4 is having to work harder than usual to deliver the smooth and slick experience we all expect from a flagship phone, and that results in a phone that can get warm fairly often. This is also an issue with the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL, but with the Pixel 9 Pro’s smaller chassis unable to dissipate heat quite as well, the build-up of warmth is more noticeable here. 

Elsewhere, expect staples of flagship connectivity in the form of 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC for card payments, and there’s a rapid ultrasonic fingerprint scanner built into the display for speedy identification purposes. 

Software & AI

• Huge focus on AI
• Genuinely handy AI tools and features
• Seven years of OS upgrades

Having launched a little earlier than usual, the Pixel 9 collection doesn’t actually ship with the next big version of Android, instead shipping with the nearly one-year-old Android 14. 

It doesn’t really matter however with new Android 15 features like a redesigned camera app UI and single-app screen recording already present on the Pixel 9’s iteration of Android 14, and you can bet that the Pixel 9 collection will be among the first to run the Android 15 update once it’s ready. 

Besides, with a whole host of new AI features and functionalities, you probably wouldn’t notice that the phone is running even Android 14. It’s largely down to the aforementioned Tensor G4 and its ability to run multimodal AI on-device, and that meant that I could, for example, take a photo of a plant and get Google Gemini to identify its species within seconds.

It also allows for some genuinely handy new AI-powered functionality like Pixel Screenshots, which lets you search for information within screenshots using natural language, and Pixel Studio lets you generate images in a number of different styles. 

Then there’s Gemini Live, Google’s answer to ChatGPT. It’s not actually exclusive to the Pixel 9 collection, instead available as part of the AI Premium subscription, but the Pixel 9 Pro comes with a free one-year subscription. Importantly, it’s a more conversational way to brainstorm and find out information, with a natural back-and-forth with Gemini.

These are a few headline features, but there’s so much more to the AI experience in the Pixel 9 Pro. It permeates practically every aspect of the experience, including AI-powered weather reports in the new Weather app, taking calls on your behalf (in the US, anyway) and a whole host of image and video editing tools, offering a more holistic approach to on-device generative AI than the likes of Honor and even Samsung. 

Elsewhere, the stock Android experience is a pleasant one, though it does lack some of the high-level customisation and handy software tweaks offered by competing Android skins. Still, it remains one of the best software experiences around, and with an industry-leading seven years of OS upgrades, security patches and Pixel Drops to come, it’ll no doubt get even better over time. 

Battery Life

• 4700mAh battery
• Comfortable all-day battery life
• Slower charging than Pixel 9 Pro XL

Battery life is an area where Pixels have traditionally struggled, but Google has done a good job of ironing out those kinks over the past few generations. As such, we’re now at a point where the 4700mAh Pixel 9 Pro can comfortably last all day, and even into the second day depending on just how much you’re hammering the battery.

On days where I wasn’t using my phone all that much – around three hours of screen-on time with around two hours of music playback in the background – I’d get through a 16-hour day with close to 50% charge left in the tank, and with little drain on standby, I got to the afternoon on the second day before it needed plugging in. 

On more demanding days with around five or six hours of screen-on time, it’d get closer to the 15-20% mark, and you’ll likely have shorter battery life if you game, with a 30-minute casual gaming session draining an above-average 12%, but I still think it’s just about enough for the vast majority of users. 

Still, if battery life is important to you, the Pixel 9 Pro XL and its larger 5060mAh cell may service your needs better, with around an extra hour of screen time before reaching for that charger, in my personal experience. 

Speaking of which, charging is one of the few non-size-related areas where the Pixel 9 Pro differs from its larger sibling. While the Pixel 9 Pro XL benefits from a slightly boosted 37W charging, the Pixel 9 Pro remains at 27W, and that equates to a notable difference in charge speeds.

In tests, the Pixel 9 Pro XL saw 50% charge in 24 minutes and a full charge in 80 minutes, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro took 37 minutes to hit the 50% mark, with a full charge clocking in at 101 minutes, a whopping 21 minutes longer. That’s slower than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24, let alone the S24 Ultra, putting it more in line with the year-old iPhone 15.

It’s a similar story with wireless charging, with the Pixel 9 Pro capped at 21W instead of 23W, though you’ll need a Pixel-branded wireless charger to hit those speeds anyway, maxing out at 12W otherwise. 

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