Google’s latest flagship phones are here, earlier than usual, showcasing a new design, hardware, and even more AI features than last time. The lineup now includes four devices—the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. For the first time, consumers in India will be able to buy all four phones. I’ve been using the smaller Pixel 9 for a few days now, priced at Rs 79,999, and here’s what’s new with the entry-level Pixel.
First off, the Pixel 9 has a new design compared to last year’s Pixel 8. The sides are now flat like the iPhone 15 or Samsung Galaxy S24, the rear camera cover has been replaced with a pill-shaped camera bar that still sits horizontally on the back, and the front bezels are now solid across the entire surface. Despite the new camera bar design, you can still tell it’s a Pixel from a distance. Also new is the glass protection, which is now Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on both the front and back. The phone still retains the IP68 rating from last year’s model.
The Pixel 9 display is brighter and has uniform bezels across its entire surface
Google has put a slightly larger 6.3-inch display on the Pixel 9, which makes the phone taller compared to the Pixel 8. The display is still a Full HD+ OLED panel with a 60-120Hz refresh rate, but it is now brighter. You also get an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint reader instead of the optical one found on the older model. Our review unit came in Porcelain, but the phone is also available in Obsidian, Peony, and Wintergreen shades.
The familiar camera cover is gone from the back, replaced by a pill-shaped strip. However, the camera strip sticks out just like before. The phone has a dual camera setup on the back, with the same main camera sensor as last year, but with an improved 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle sensor. The pill-shaped glass casing inside the camera strip is also larger than last year. The front-facing camera is the same as the Pixel 8, with a 10.5-megapixel sensor, but it now has autofocus.
The new camera bar reminds me of the Google search bar
The Pixel 9 series is the first in recent Pixel history to not get the latest version of Android at launch, but that’s because these phones also launched earlier than usual. With the Gemini Nano model running on the device, you get Android 14 out of the box and a long list of AI features. The phone is powered by the new 4nm Tensor G4 chipset paired with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The new SoC enables a lot of the latest AI features, and I’ll be testing them out thoroughly. There are also new apps like Pixel Screenshot, which lets you search for content using screenshots, and Pixel Studio, which lets you create images from scratch. In addition to the AI boost itself, Google also claims that the new SoC offers improvements in performance and efficiency. I’ll be testing those claims in my full review.
Finally, you get a slightly larger 4,700mAh battery with the new Pixel 9, but it still supports 27W fast charging like before. The phone also offers wireless charging.
Google’s Pixel 9 offers some nice improvements over last year’s Pixel 8, especially with its new ultra-wide camera, brighter display, and Tensor G4. There are also a bunch of new AI features on the phone, and there are quite a few of them. But are all these improvements and AI additions enough to justify the price hike, and can the Pixel 9 compete with upcoming phones like the iPhone 16 series? Stay tuned for the full review to find out.
