Google’s phones don’t sell nearly as well as Apple or Samsung’s, but we still think you should pay attention to the launch of the new Pixel 9 Pro.
For one thing, Google’s smart software is some of the best in the business. You get a beautiful, clean interface and plenty of clever AI tricks. For another, Pixel phones take some of the best pictures in the business.
With the Pixel 9 Pro, Google is now offering its full range of flagship features in a compact package for the first time. It is arguably the most interesting phone in the entire four-part product line.
ShortList spent most of the week with the Pixel 9 Pro – here are 5 things you should know about it…
1. This is the only brand new Pixel model, but it is not cheap
There are four phones in the Pixel 9 lineup, but as we mentioned in the introduction, the Pixel 9 Pro is the most interesting of all. That’s because it’s the only model that’s completely new.
Google has never before made a “Pro” phone with all the bells and whistles in a compact form factor. That’s exactly what we have with the Pixel 9 Pro, which does everything the Pixel 9 Pro XL does, but with a smaller 6.3-inch display and a relatively lightweight 199g body.
You’re paying £100 less than you did for the Pixel 9 Pro XL, although it still looks like Google is trying to sneak a price increase through here. With a starting price of £999, the Pixel 9 Pro costs the same as last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL now starts at £1,099.
2. The design is elegant, but a bit too familiar
Google has replaced its existing Pixel design template with something altogether sharper and flatter. Normally, that would be a good thing, and the Pixel 9 Pro is certainly as pleasing to the eye as it is to handle.
However, in moving away from the established Pixel design, Google has moved closer to Apple’s. From every angle except the back, the Pixel 9 Pro looks a lot like an iPhone, and that’s a bit of a shame.
We’ve always admired the Pixel series for being a little different in terms of design, with rounded edges and a prominent camera visor on the back. Google has at least kept an echo of that signature camera, with an unusually wide pill-shaped module, but all in all, the new look of the Pixel 9 family is rather all too familiar.
3. The screen becomes incredibly bright
We loved the brightness of the Pixel 8 Pro’s OLED screen, but the Pixel 9 Pro’s display is even brighter.
Google claims that 2000 nits can be achieved in high brightness mode (HBM), with a peak of 3000 nits when watching HDR movies. After cranking the screen up to full brightness, we tend to believe them.
With a maximum resolution of 2856 x 1280 pixels, it’s also nice and sharp, but annoyingly you have to select this higher resolution in the settings menu. Google chooses a lower setting by default, probably to extend battery life.
However, once we cranked up the power, we didn’t have any major issues with endurance, so we advise you to give it your all.
4. The cameras are excellent
The least surprising thing you can say about a Pixel phone is that it takes brilliant photos, and that’s definitely true of the Pixel 9 Pro.
Its triple-camera system isn’t too different from last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, but it’s somehow more impressive in such a small phone. Apple offers a similarly high-quality “pro” camera system in a small phone with the iPhone 15 Pro, but even then it doesn’t come close to the Pixel’s 5x telephoto camera.
No matter which camera you use, the shots are sharp and high-contrast, whether it’s the 50MP main camera, the 48MP telephoto lens or the 48MP ultra-wide angle lens. The new 42MP front camera takes great selfies.
There are a few cool new AI tricks too. Zoom Enhance lets you sharpen zoomed-in shots after you’ve taken them, while Add Me lets you add yourself to a group shot, essentially stitching two photos together via an intuitive live preview.
5. Google’s AI is getting better, but it’s not there yet
We just mentioned a few new AI camera features, and Google is really going all-in on artificial intelligence with the Pixel 9 Pro. In fact, the new version of Android (Android 15) isn’t even ready for the phone’s launch, although Google’s seven-year update promise means there’s plenty of time for that.
There are a few new AI features to add variety. Google’s Gemini AI assistant is now the default offering instead of Google Assistant, and it’s much smarter for certain things. You can interact with it in natural language and it will respond accordingly, composing messages, answering questions, and generally behaving like a real assistant.
Conversely, it still does stupid things like completely muting messages when we ask it to play something by Four Tet, or answering us from the other room when we’re obviously talking to the Google Nest speaker right in front of us.
The new Pixel Studio is a cool toy that creates AI-generated artwork based on natural language parameters. I’m not sure what mood a “capybara with glasses playing chess” represents, but Google’s AI recreated it to order anyway.
Pixel Screenshots isn’t as showy, but could actually be useful. It scans all your screenshots, summarizes any text, and makes them searchable, while also letting you organize them into neat collections.
Google Pixel 9 Pro: Conclusion
With the Pixel 9 Pro, Google has followed Apple’s example and squeezed all of its Pro features into a more compact form factor. It has also followed Apple’s design guidelines, meaning the Pixel range no longer stands out quite as much from the crowd.
That’s not a huge problem, though. The Pixel 9 Pro remains an excellent phone with a superb screen, brilliant cameras, and some of the sharpest, smartest software on the market.
We could have done without the stealthy price hike that Google is making across the entire Pixel 9 range, but rest assured that for £999 (and up) you’re getting a really capable and extremely pocket-friendly smartphone.
