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Google Pixel 9
Sharper, brighter, smarter
The Pixel 9 introduces a brighter OLED show, extra RAM for smoother multitasking, and a better decision ultrawide digital camera, nevertheless it comes with a better worth and a design which may divide opinions.
Professionals- Increased decision ultrawide digital camera
- Extra RAM for multitasking
- Brighter OLED show
Cons- Increased worth at $799
- Design is likely to be divisive
- Marginal processor enchancment
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Google Pixel 8
Compact energy, funds pleasant
The Pixel 8 affords a stable, compact design with sturdy battery life and quick charging, although it sacrifices RAM and digital camera decision in comparison with its successor.
Professionals- Lower cost at $699
- Compact and light-weight
- Robust quick charging battery
Cons- Much less RAM, solely 8GB
- Decrease ultrawide digital camera decision
- Older Gorilla Glass safety
Google has formally unveiled the Pixel 9 to the world, introducing the handset alongside different brand-new {hardware} at its annual Made by Google {hardware} event.
Whereas much of the hype naturally surrounds Google’s new higher-end choices — the Pixel 9 Professional, Pixel 9 Professional XL, and Pixel 9 Professional Fold — the vanilla Pixel 9 appears to be like to be a worthy flagship providing in its personal proper. Inside the context of flagship Pixel phones, its asking worth of $799 is actually a neater capsule to swallow than the Pixel 9 Professional’s a lot larger $999 MSRP.
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How we test and review products at Pocket-lint
We do not do arm-chair analysis. We purchase and check our personal merchandise, and we solely publish purchaser’s guides with merchandise we have truly reviewed.
With the Pixel 9 now accessible for pre-order, let’s examine the way it compares with final 12 months’s Pixel 8, and assess whether or not Google has made sufficient modifications to tempt customers to improve to the brand new mannequin.
Value, specs, and availability
The essential variations
The Google Pixel 9, priced at $799, was introduced for pre-order in August 2024. It contains a 6.3-inch OLED show, 12GB of RAM, Tensor G4 processor, and improved cameras. The Pixel 8, launched in October 2023 at $699, has related show specs however with 8GB of RAM, the Tensor G3 processor, and a smaller battery. Each fashions are IP68-rated and run Android 14.
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Google Pixel 9 Google Pixel 8 Model Google Google Show 6.3-inch Actua 6.3-inch, Actua OLED, 2400 x 1080, 428ppi, 60-120Hz, as much as 2000nits RAM 12GB 8GB Storage 128GB, 256GB 128GB / 256GB Battery As much as 24 hours 4575mAh, 30W quick charging, 12-18W wi-fi Ports USB-C USB-C Working System Android 14 Android 14 Entrance digital camera 10.5-megapixel 10.5MP Rear digital camera 50-megapixel Large, 48-megapixel Extremely Large 50MP vast + 12MP ultrawide Dimensions 6.0 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9mm, 187g Weight 6.9oz (196g) 187g IP Score IP68 IP68
Design and construct
The Pixel 9 joins in on the flat design pattern
The Pixel 9 falls consistent with the remainder of Google’s 2024 smartphone portfolio by way of aesthetics. Following the business pattern set by Apple with the discharge of its iPhone 12 sequence, the Pixel 9 adopts a boxier and flatter design than its predecessor.
Your entire Pixel 9 chassis leans into this new design language, with tighter nook radii and flat sides, giving the machine a somewhat industrial feel and appear.
A doable level of competition is Google’s selection to change the looks of the now-iconic Pixel digital camera bar on the rear of the cellphone. Final 12 months’s Pixel 8 had a digital camera bar that blended into the facet body of the machine, whereas the newer Pixel 9 has its digital camera bar separated into its personal island.
Whether or not this design change is constructive or destructive is, after all, topic to non-public choice. The excellent news is that the Pixel 9 nonetheless very a lot appears to be like like a Pixel cellphone, with a lot of the distinctive Pixel DNA current and accounted for.
When it comes to colorways provided this 12 months, the Pixel 9 launches in Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen, and Peony. Compared, the Pixel 8 launched in Obsidian, Hazel, and Rose.
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Show
The Pixel 9 show is an efficient deal brighter than its predecessor
Google has outfitted the Pixel 9 with a brand new 6.3-inch OLED panel, which the corporate says is 25% brighter than final 12 months’s mannequin. The show dimension is barely bigger than the Pixel 8’s 6.2-inch display, however the total footprint of each units stays comparable. The Pixel 9 is only a hair larger total to accommodate the brand new show.
Different show particulars stay unchanged year-over-year, together with the 2400 x 1080 FHD+ decision, 120Hz refresh price, and HDR help. Protecting the display this 12 months is a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, a newer-generation tempered glass resolution than the Pixel 8’s commonplace Gorilla Glass Victus.
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Internals
Say hi there to the Tensor G4 processor
Google/Pocket-lint
With regards to inner {hardware}, the Pixel 9 is a traditional instance of a simple spec bump. Google’s new Tensor G4 processor replaces final 12 months’s Tensor G3, and RAM has been elevated from 8GB to 12GB.
Not a considerable quantity has modified past this, and we’ll have to put the brand new Tensor G4 by way of its paces to get a greater thought of how a lot of an enchancment it’s over the outgoing processor.
The bump in RAM is especially welcome, as it’s going to assist future-proof the machine over time. That is very true contemplating Google is maintaining its promise of seven years of safety and OS updates for the Pixel 9. If issues maintain true, we will count on the Pixel 9 to obtain an extra Android OS replace that the Pixel 8 will miss out on.
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Cameras
The ultrawide lens will get an enormous decision bump this 12 months
The Pixel 9 shares the identical 50-megapixel primary digital camera sensor as its predecessor, the Pixel 8. Modifications in picture high quality will subsequently rely extra on developments in Google’s computational photographyalgorithms, which we’ll want to check in the actual world.
The larger story right here is the Pixel 9’s new 48-megapixel ultrawide digital camera, a big step up in decision in comparison with the Pixel 8’s 12-megapixel ultrawide lens. Once more, head-to-head comparisons will reveal extra particulars, so we’ll reserve judgment for now.
For selfie followers, Google is providing another bonus with the Pixel 9: the front-facing digital camera now contains autofocus, which was missing in final 12 months’s mannequin. This could, in concept, assist produce sharper photographs than the earlier technology was able to delivering.
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Verdict: Is the Pixel 9 a worthy successor to final 12 months’s Pixel 8?
Worth proposition
General, the Pixel 9 seems to be a stable, if unremarkable, improve over final 12 months’s Pixel 8. The shift in design language is totally a matter of particular person choice, although I personally have combined emotions in regards to the change. In any other case, the brand new mannequin largely builds on the sturdy basis first laid by Google with its watershed Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro launch again in 2021.
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Prime Decide
Google Pixel 9
Pixel 9 contains a 6.3-inch show and a well-known design. It helps the addition of a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens to its rear digital camera array alongside Google Gemini and AI options.
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Greatest Worth
Google Pixel 8
Google’s Pixel 8 affords many of the high-end Pixel 8 Professional’s key options, together with a robust processor, an important design and a stellar digital camera, for a cheaper price.
I predict that Google’s largest problem with the Pixel 9 would be the similar as final 12 months’s Pixel 8 — the machine is located between the extra inexpensive Pixel 8a and the extra premium Pixel 9 Professional. Whether or not there’s satisfactory room throughout the search large’s pricing ladder for this in-between machine is not but totally clear.
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