Google Pixel 9 Pro Review: I Wanted to Love it

Value When Reviewed

From $999

Greatest Costs Right this moment: Google Pixel 9 Professional

In the event you weren’t following the Pixel 9 launch intently, you could possibly be forgiven for considering that AI was the one fascinating factor about Google’s new telephones. 

As official advertising exhibits, there are numerous makes use of of synthetic intelligence throughout all 4 Pixel 9 fashions. But in day-to-day utilization, AI is remarkably simple to disregard or miss. 

Throughout my month of testing the Pixel 9 Professional, my direct interactions with it have been fleeting and the outcomes combined. 

However you shouldn’t be shopping for any of those telephones for AI alone. The 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Professional has loads of different strings to its bow, packing almost all the bigger Pixel 9 Professional XL’s specs right into a extra compact physique. 

In that regard, it’s extra of a brand-new mannequin than a successor to the 6.7-inch Pixel 8 Professional and the sort of Professional we’ve been ready a very long time for. Does it do sufficient to grow to be the perfect telephone within the Pixel 9 lineup? Almost, however not fairly. 

Design & Construct

• Redesigned digital camera module 
• Premium, sturdy construct 
• IP68 water and dirt resistance 

Identical to the remainder of the Pixel 9 household, the 9 Professional has had a design revamp.  

The Pixel 8’s massive digital camera visor is gone, changed by a smaller module with rounded corners. It nonetheless stands out a good distance from the again of the telephone, however doesn’t interrupt usability whereas flat down on a desk not like most. 

Rounded corners give the telephone a smooth, outlined look, and it’s additionally evident on the perimeters of the telephone. Mixed with a totally flat show, it feels extra like an iPhone than ever earlier than. 

Many individuals, together with our Critiques Editor Chris Martin (in his evaluate of the common Pixel 9), are disillusioned that Google has given up its signature look.  

However personally, I like it. The 9 Professional seems to be smooth and refined, but it’s nonetheless unmistakably a Pixel. That’s very true for the Obsidian (black) mannequin I examined, although it’s additionally obtainable in Porcelain (off-white), Rose Quartz (pink) and Hazel (gray).  

Whichever mannequin you select, a matt coating on the again avoids seen fingerprints, although it’s one of many slipperiest ones I’ve used shortly. 

The 9 Professional seems to be smooth and refined, but it’s nonetheless unmistakably a Pixel

I’d extremely suggest pairing the telephone with Google’s official case, which prices £34.99/$34.99. The mix of a polycarbonate shell and microfibre lining helps cushion the telephone from any impression whereas wanting good within the course of. 

In the event you’ve bought your eye on a brightly-coloured Pixel 9 Professional, it’ll be a disgrace to cowl it up, so I’d recommend getting the telephone in one of many extra muted finishes and including one among these vibrant instances as a substitute. 

Alongside IP68 water and dirt resistance, I felt snug utilizing the Pixel 9 Professional (in its case) in any atmosphere.  

In fact, the case will add weight to a tool that already isn’t the lightest at 199g. Nevertheless, the additional safety and wonderful construct high quality greater than makes up for it.

Haptic suggestions is on by default, and presents customisable vibrations whereas typing, navigating and enjoying related media. It really works tremendous for on a regular basis utilization, however lacks the additional oomph discovered on the Galaxy S24 Extremely whereas gaming. 

It’s additionally price mentioning sustainability right here. All of the aluminium housing and round 20% of the machine in complete is recycled materials, whereas no plastic has been used all through the packaging.  

By way of repairability, iFixit offers the 9 Professional XL a repairability rating of 5/10, so it’s more likely to be the identical for the common Professional. 

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.3-inch FHD+ 120Hz OLED display 
• Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner 
• Twin stereo audio system 

Google has outfitted all of the Pixel 9 telephones with new technology Actua shows, and it makes a giant distinction on the 9 Professional. 

The primary enchancment is brightness. With a peak brightness of 2700 nits, it’s simple to see in virtually all environments – together with direct daylight. Inside, I recorded a most of 949 nits, which is without doubt one of the highest we’ve seen on any telephone. 

Identical to the common Pixel 9, it’s a 6.3-inch OLED panel, making it very compact in a world of principally big flagship gadgets (together with the 6.7-inch 9 Professional XL). 

Not like the common mannequin, although, the 9 Professional has an LTPO display. This implies its refresh charge can routinely alter between 1-120Hz relying on what you’re doing, which ought to assist to minimise energy consumption. 

The Pixel 9 Professional’s show is a pleasure to make use of. It’s up there with the perfect screens you’ll discover on any telephone

Simply be sure to allow the ‘Clean show’ toggle in Settings, which oddly isn’t utilized by default. With it turned on, the show felt impressively easy and responsive, particularly when scrolling. 

A most decision of 1280 x 2856 (495 ppi) is spectacular, although it’s set to 960 x 2142 out of the field to assist with battery life. Be sure you change ‘Display screen decision’ to ‘Full decision’ to make the small particulars look even higher. 

Alongside the OLED tech, which delivers wealthy, vibrant colors and deep blacks, the Pixel 9 Professional’s show is a pleasure to make use of. It’s up there with the perfect screens you’ll discover on any telephone. 

Inside it, you’ll discover one thing simply as spectacular: the under-display fingerprint scanner. After years of underwhelming optical sensors, Google has lastly upgraded to an ultrasonic model (additionally discovered on Samsung’s Galaxy S24 collection), and it makes an enormous distinction. 

In comparison with the Pixel 8 I reviewed final 12 months, it’s a lot faster and extra dependable at unlocking the machine, logging into banking apps or authenticating funds. 

Nevertheless, all of that can be achieved utilizing Google’s tackle Face ID, which is completely seamless when the lighting is nice. Having each is an actual plus for the Pixel 9 Professional. 

By way of audio, the telephone has twin stereo audio system. Although one among these doubles because the earpiece, it means the sound is projected straight in direction of you. It will get impressively loud with none audible distortion. 

Specs & Efficiency

• Google Tensor G4 chipset 
• 16GB RAM on all fashions 
• 128-, 256- or 512GB of non-expandable storage 

Google has been utilizing its personal chipsets in Pixels since 2021, and that’s no totally different on the Pixel 9 collection. The entire handsets use its newest Tensor G4 chipset, reasonably than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or the MediaTek Dimensity 9300. 

Nevertheless, I can confidently say that you simply don’t want to fret a few lack of energy. Alongside 16GB of RAM on all fashions, the Tensor G4 delivers very good efficiency on the Pixel 9 Professional in each situation. 

That features any common on a regular basis duties, be it internet looking, social media, taking images or navigation. However the telephone can be greater than able to gaming, with easy framerates maintained all through the likes of Name of Responsibility: Cellular, Genshin Impression and Asphalt Legends. 

Even throughout these demanding workloads, the Pixel 9 Professional solely ever bought barely heat to the contact. Google is clearly doing one thing proper in relation to thermal administration. 

Nevertheless, pretty much as good as efficiency is, I’m involved that energy effectivity isn’t fairly up there with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The underwhelming battery life suggests which may be the case. 

The Tensor G4 delivers very good efficiency on the Pixel 9 Professional in each situation

With no assist for expandable storage, the bottom 128GB mannequin may not be sufficient for many individuals. I’d suggest getting at the very least 256GB, although 512GB and 1TB are additionally obtainable. 

Connectivity is simply as nice as you’d anticipate, with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, Twin-SIM (one bodily, one eSIM), GPS and NFC all included. 

Google Pixel 9 Professional benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp important rear digital camera 
• 48Mp 5x telephoto 
• 48Mp ultrawide 
• 42Mp selfie lens 

The Pixel 9 Professional’s rear cameras are virtually an identical to final 12 months’s 8 Professional. You continue to get a triple-lens setup, consisting of 50Mp important, 48Mp telephoto and 48Mp ultrawide, with minor tweaks to the latter the one modifications right here. 

I hoped for some extra upgrades, however when the cameras have been already so good, it’s simple to see why Google has caught with them. 

The primary lens is the one you’ll use most frequently, and it continues to ship wonderful outcomes more often than not. The signature Pixel look isn’t true to life, however the additional pop of vibrancy and distinction makes photographs look very visually interesting. 

Alongside very good element and nice dynamic vary, the Pixel 9 Professional (and 9 Professional XL, which has an identical digital camera specs) is the last word point-and-shoot Android telephone. You’ll be able to simply snap a delightful picture and add it straight to social media with none modifying, such because the one beneath.

Nevertheless, that ease of use means it’s not precisely very best for digital camera fans. There are some ‘Professional’ choices inside the digital camera app, however nothing just like the vary provided by one thing just like the Xiaomi 14 Extremely. 

The Pixel 9 Professional is the last word point-and-shoot Android telephone

A devoted ‘Portrait’ mode makes you crop the picture to both 1.5x or 2x, reasonably than utilizing the telephoto lens for optical zoom.  

Portraits are typically good, with Google’s Actual Tone characteristic guaranteeing pores and skin tones are captured with spectacular accuracy. Nevertheless, I discovered it extra spectacular on pets than individuals – it tended to wrestle with edge detection on human hair.

In low mild, Google’s ‘Evening Sight’ mode does a exceptional job of brightening even the darkest scenes whereas preserving most particulars. It made a dimly lit music venue look a lot brighter than it really was, although this was as unrealistic because it was spectacular. 

These options are nothing new however for group images, you is likely to be tempted to make use of ‘Add Me’, a characteristic at present unique to the Pixel 9 collection. It permits the photographer to be included in group photographs, with another person taking a second picture that’s overlaid on high of the unique. 

Nevertheless, if you’d like images to look real, I’d keep away from it. The AR overlay that helps you line up the second photograph might be complicated, and it depends on everybody being neatly spaced out and never touching one another. Even while you do all these issues, outcomes are hit-and-miss. 

Not like some telephones, switching digital camera lenses on the Pixel 9 Professional doesn’t lead to a drop-off in high quality. The 48Mp ultrawide provides the flexibleness of a 123° subject of view, enabling panorama images that simply wouldn’t have been doable with the principle lens. 

By default, Macro Focus is ready to ‘Auto’, which suggests it makes use of the ultrawide for close-up images. It means that you can get impressively near your topic, although disabling it and utilizing the principle digital camera can ship extra aesthetically pleasing outcomes. 

Then there’s the 48Mp telephoto, which permits optical zoom at as much as 5x. For each a day on the seaside and at a live performance, this proved invaluable. It’s the massive digital camera benefit the Professional telephones have over the common Pixel 9, which solely has important and ultrawide on the again as standard. 

You additionally get a greater front-facing digital camera on the Professional and Professional XL. It’s now a 42Mp sensor, and able to clear, crisp selfies in virtually all lighting circumstances. Portrait-style photographs are strong right here, and it’s good to have the choice for a wider 0.7x photograph. 

The Pixel 9 Professional can technically shoot video at as much as 8K 30fps, although this depends on its Video Enhance characteristic upscaling 4K footage. The result’s a real enchancment, although with out an 8K show, I can’t ensure of its high quality. 

Battery Life & Charging

• 4700mAh battery 
• As much as 27W wired charging 
• As much as 21W wi-fi charging 

The Pixel 9 Professional has a 4700mAh battery. It’s a step down from the 9 Professional XL’s 5060mAh cell, matching the common Pixel 9 as a substitute on account of chassis dimension limitations. 

Sadly, battery life is not any higher. It will get me by most days of reasonable utilization, however I’m typically reaching for the charger by the night if I’ve been out for a number of hours. Until you barely use the telephone, don’t anticipate it to ever final for 2 full days. And this was on the default display decision reasonably than full.

Underwhelming battery life could be tolerable if Google had outfitted the Pixel 9 Professional with real quick charging, however it hasn’t

Apparently, our standard PCMark battery check suggests battery life is above common, with a formidable rating of 13 hours and 19 minutes. As we already know, benchmarks don’t essentially mirror real-world utilization, as is the case right here. 

Underwhelming battery life could be tolerable if Google had outfitted the Pixel 9 Professional with real quick charging, however it hasn’t. As a substitute, you’re restricted to 27W speeds, and even that depends on you having a suitable charger – there isn’t one within the field.

Frustratingly, the Pixel 9 Professional XL will get barely sooner charging at 37W. Learn extra in our The reality about Pixel 9 charging speeds article. 

Utilizing one I already had at house, it went from 0-42% in half-hour, with a full cost taking round 1 hour and 40 minutes. Definitely not the slowest on the market, however irritating while you’ll in all probability be charging most days. 

Wi-fi charging is a handy various, however this tops out at 21W, and solely you probably have the suitable Pixel Stand accent. Common Qi speeds are restricted to 12W, whereas reverse wi-fi charging (for charging earbuds and different small equipment) is even slower. 

Software program & Apps

• Runs Android 14 
• Seven years of updates 
• Hit-and-miss AI options 

Out of the field, the Pixel 9 Professional runs Android 14. An August launch means Android 15 isn’t obtainable on the time of writing, however the telephone might be first in line to get it. Google will then assist the 9 Professional with seven years of each OS and safety updates, which is the joint better of any telephone with Samsung. 

You’re in all probability accustomed to the slick consumer expertise on Pixel telephones by now. For my part, the Pixel software program expertise is essentially the most user-friendly of any telephone, with unique options reminiscent of Name Screening and Now Enjoying including to total package deal. The whole lot I stated in regards to the core software program expertise in my Pixel 8 evaluate nonetheless applies – it’s up there with the easiest. 

However you’re in all probability studying this part to be taught in regards to the AI options, and there are plenty of them. Maybe essentially the most important is Google Gemini, which has changed Google Assistant as the principle digital assistant on the telephone. 

On the floor, it’s much more succesful than earlier than, providing higher context-based dialog and strategies, plus pictures from the net in seconds. I used to be additionally impressed with the best way it recognised the mannequin of an outdated characteristic telephone from a fast photograph. 

Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless frustratingly restricted in some areas. There’s no direct integration with Google providers reminiscent of YouTube Music or Nest on the time of writing, whereas even timers and the search bar on the house display nonetheless default to the outdated Assistant. 

Gemini can also’t create generative AI pictures out of your command, although the brand new Pixel Studio app can. It means that you can fine-tune the exact pictures you’re searching for, with typically spectacular outcomes.  

A devoted Pixel Screenshots app is separate from the Google Images app. It types and collects knowledge about all of the screenshots you’re taking, permitting you to search out one thing particular with a fast search. 

For my part, the Pixel software program expertise is essentially the most user-friendly of any telephone

Then there are the photograph modifying options. Earlier fashions have already had the likes of Picture Unblur, Magic Eraser and Greatest Take, and are actually joined by Add Me (see digital camera part for extra particulars). 

One other large new addition is Reimagine, which is buried inside Google’s Magic Editor instruments. In concept, it means that you can choose a part of a picture and alter it to something you’ll be able to consider. As a rule, any remotely advanced requests I made have been rejected, however it’s spectacular when it really works.  

See the photograph beneath of a UFO touchdown in central London, which was one among 4 choices you could possibly select from. 

In fact, a characteristic like this comes with its personal dangers. It’s simple to see how Reimagine may very well be used to trigger hurt, with no specialist abilities required to create practical faux pictures.  

Nevertheless, until you realize it’s there, Reimagine will in all probability be left undiscovered. The identical might be stated for just about all the AI options: the day-to-day expertise of utilizing the telephone is basically AI-free, until you rely the summaries Google has added to go looking outcomes for everybody.  

Value & Availability

When purchased outright, the Pixel 9 Professional begins at £999/$999. That will get you the 128GB mannequin I examined, although it’s additionally obtainable with 256GB (£1,099/$1,099), 512GB (£1,219/$1,219) or 1TB (£1,449/$1,449) of storage. 

It’s obtainable direct from Google, but in addition through a spread of third-party retailers. See the total choice in our information on the place to purchase the Pixel 9 collection. 

Given these excessive costs, you would possibly choose to purchase the telephone on contract and cut up the fee into extra manageable month-to-month funds. See the perfect choices within the UK and US beneath. 

That outright beginning value places it according to lots of the greatest telephones you should buy, together with the Samsung Galaxy S24+ (from £999/$999) and iPhone 16 Professional (from £999/$999).  

It sits in the course of the Pixel 9 lineup (excluding the 9 Professional Fold), with the common Pixel 9 beginning at £799/$799 however the 9 Professional XL costing at the very least £1,099/$1,099. 

Must you purchase the Google Pixel 9 Professional?

Sure, however provided that you’ll be able to stay with the mixture of underwhelming battery life and sluggish charging. The Pixel 9 Professional is a superb telephone, however these two weaknesses might be dealbreakers for many individuals when a telephone prices this a lot. 

It’s a disgrace, as a result of the telephone is sensible in virtually each different space. A premium design consists of the perfect construct high quality we’ve ever seen on a Pixel but, whereas a surprising show and top-tier cameras complement the expertise completely. 

The 9 Professional additionally excels on the software program facet, with slick Android 14 and 7 years of updates. Not all of the AI options hit the mark, however people who do are spectacular, and you may simply ignore the others (and at the very least they’re obtainable out of the field not like Apple Intelligence).

In some ways, the Pixel 9 Professional presents the no-compromise compact telephone expertise I’ve been craving. However these two large shortcomings imply I can’t absolutely suggest it. 

Specs

• Android 14 with seven years of updates 
• 6.3-inch FHD+ 120Hz LTPO OLED 
• Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner 
• Face Unlock 
• Google Tensor G4 chipset 
• 16GB RAM 
• 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB non-expandable UFS 3.1 storage 
• 4700mAh battery 
• 27W wired charging 
• 21W wi-fi charging
• Reverse wi-fi charging 
• 50Mp f/1.7 important digital camera 
• 48Mp f/1.7 ultrawide digital camera 
• 48Mp f/2.8 5x telephoto digital camera 
• 42Mp f/2.2 entrance digital camera 
• Twin stereo audio system 
• USB-C 3.2 
• 5G 
• NanoSIM +eSIM 
• Wi-Fi 7 
• Bluetooth 5.3 
• IP68 
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2 
• 152.8 x 72 x 8.5 mm 
• 199g