Calling the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 series in general something simple and affordable is no longer possible. This year, the Pixel 9 series has become strangely expensive, and that will be my main complaint about this whole event with supposedly Google-engineered smartphones (at least that’s what Google claims on their website).
On Google’s website, you can also read that the Pixel 9 series is not just plain hardware; instead, the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro models come equipped with the Gemini AI Assistant. It seems like no one is releasing anything this year without mentioning artificial intelligence.
Let’s address the pricing right away. The standard Pixel 9 costs $799 at the time of this review. The Pixel 9 Pro, which is the same size as the Pixel 9 but with some improvements, costs $999, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL is priced at $1,099. This is certainly not cheap, but at least in the case of the basic Pixel 9 model, I find the price does not quite match the value.
I’ll insert my SIM card and try to live with the relatively tiny Pixel 9 for several days before sharing my observations. In my daily life, I use the Xiaomi 13T, and I chose this phone mainly because of its price, included features, screen quality, and performance. At least on paper, the Xiaomi 13T beats the Pixel 9 in almost every aspect.
Of course, we could always compare the Pixel 9 to the previous generation Pixel 8, but even here, the official price has gone up by 100 dollars. So, what improvements does the Pixel 9 offer? The new Pixel 9 has a 0.1-inch larger screen, it’s also brighter, it comes with the Tensor G4 processor (which isn’t much different from the Tensor G3), 12 GB of RAM compared to the 8 GB RAM in the Pixel 8, a slightly improved ultra-wide-angle camera, and a marginally larger battery.
Technical Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
| Operating System | Android 14, seven years of major updates |
| Display | 6.3-inch OLED, 1080 x 2424, 20:9 aspect ratio, ~422 ppi, 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, 2700 cd/m² max brightness, Always-On Display, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 |
| Processor | Google Tensor G4 (4 nm), Octa-core: 1×3.1 GHz Cortex-X4 & 3×2.6 GHz Cortex-A720 & 4×1.92 GHz Cortex-A520, Mali-G715 MC7 GPU |
| RAM | 12 GB |
| Storage | 128*/256 GB |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band, Bluetooth 5.3 (A2DP, LE, aptX HD), NFC, USB Type-C 3.2, UWB, 3G/4G/5G |
| Positioning | GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS, NavIC |
| Additional Features | Ultrasonic under-display fingerprint reader, gyroscope, barometer, compass, IP68 dust and water resistance |
| Cameras | Rear: 50 MP, f/1.7, 25 mm, 1/1.31″, 1.2µm, dual pixel PDAF, multi-zone laser AF, OIS main camera; 48 MP, f/1.7, 123˚, 1/2.55″, dual pixel PDAF ultra-wide camera; LED flash. Front: 10.5 MP, f/2.2, 20 mm ultra-wide selfie camera |
| Dimensions & Weight | 152.8 x 72 x 8.5 mm, 198 g |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4700 mAh, 27 W wired charging, PD3.0, PPS, 15 W fast wireless charging with original Google charger, 12 W wireless charging with Qi-compatible charger, reverse wireless charging |
Design and Build
The Pixel 9 is a well-built, but small-sized phone. The brilliant Google engineers have managed to swap the positions of the power and volume buttons in certain areas, which isn’t uncomfortable, but it’s simply distracting because you’re not used to this button layout. Otherwise, it has metal edges and glass on both sides. The metal edges around the perimeter are slightly squared, reminiscent of the Galaxy S24 Ultra and older iPhone design ideas.
One of the few things I really like about the new Pixel 9 series models is the camera bump. Yes, it’s quite large, but the bump is stylish, bold, and has a slightly rugged feel. When you see this camera bump, it’s immediately clear that it belongs to the Pixel 9 series. The prominent bump almost screams for a case to protect it. In fact, within the first week of use, I got a scratch on the corner.
Usually, I briefly mention the speakers, but with the Pixel 9 (I can’t speak for the other series models), I must say that the sound could definitely be better. The so-called stereo sound is quite unbalanced between the speaker at the bottom of the phone and the one at the top, which is meant for voice calls. Also, the phone doesn’t have a built-in digital sound equalizer; you can only find it in apps like YouTube Music.
Overall, the Pixel 9 leaves a very good impression with its build quality, especially if you’re looking for a smaller phone, though for the price, I didn’t expect anything less.
Display
The switch from a 6.67-inch Xiaomi to a 6.3-inch Pixel 9 isn’t too drastic; it’s only minimally noticeable. The main issue could be the keyboard feeling cramped on the smaller 6.3-inch screen, but otherwise, the display is quite nice, with relatively thin bezels. However, the cutout for the selfie camera is noticeably large, and given the price of the Pixel 9, it could have been made a bit smaller.
The Pixel 9 uses an OLED panel, and this particular model comes with a 120 Hz refresh rate option, which you have to activate manually. Only the Pro models, however, have LTPO technology, which can lower the refresh rate to save battery. I couldn’t find exact information, but it seems that the Pixel 9 operates either at 60 Hz or 120 Hz, without the ability to switch from 120 Hz to 60 Hz automatically, let alone reduce it to 10 Hz or even 1 Hz like some other models with LTPO can.
Overall, the display leaves a decent impression, but for this price, I expected a bit more.
Software
The Pixel 9 and the Pixel series, in general, can be described as a stripped-down Android experience. This year’s Pixels come with Android 14, while Android 15 is not expected until October. There are a few features unique to Pixel (and partly Samsung), such as Circle to Search, but mostly, if you’re coming from Xiaomi, Samsung, or another Android manufacturer, you might find many built-in features are missing. Circle to Search works and does so reasonably well, but I am more concerned about the missing features.
One of the most annoying limitations of the Pixel 9 is the inability to change the number of icons on the home screens, which is limited to 5×5 icons. Because of their rounded shape, the icons can appear quite small. Of course, most people solve this by using a different Android launcher. Another issue is document scanning, which directs users to Google Drive—a less than ideal solution.
If there’s one thing that’s excessive and meaningless, it’s the various security and app update notifications or prompts to take action. Just leave me alone! I don’t want to deal with this! These prompts become less frequent after a few days.
The camera app also seems a bit cluttered, even though it is initially intended to be simple and quick to use. It includes various additional photo options, such as Live Photos (similar to iPhone’s feature, where the phone captures video without your knowledge and attaches it later). The main criticism of the camera app is its inability to disable certain Google-thought-to-be-great features, such as aggressive HDR.
It is quite convenient to separate a personal user account from work-related tasks, if that’s important to you. You can set up a work email, Teams, and other necessary apps in a separate account. Switching between accounts is quick, and work tasks don’t interfere with your daily routine, and vice versa. I have actively used this feature in Xiaomi phones for some time, and it was important to have a separate account during the Pixel 9 trial period.
Overall, it’s not bad, but there is a sense of emptiness regarding some of Google’s choices about what might be useful in everyday life.
Performance
Like all modern Android smartphones priced above $250, the Pixel 9 has no major issues with daily performance. In fact, there are no problems at all, to be precise. I was unable to install the AnTuTu performance test on the Pixel 9, though I’m not sure why. However, based on online sources, the AnTuTu scores for this smartphone range from about 1,071,616 to 1,284,962. Many have mentioned that the Tensor G4 processor doesn’t differ much from the G3, which is likely true, with only minor differences.
I was slightly surprised by the heating of the Pixel 9, though it only happened a couple of times during the first few days of use, without any apparent reason. At least none that I could see. In one instance, the phone was just in my pocket, and in another, it was sitting untouched on the table next to my computer.
When it comes to gaming and the Pixel 9’s power, I didn’t experience any issues either. However, no one could convince me to play PUBG or CoD: Mobile on this 6.3-inch screen. For such entertainment, you really need a significantly larger display to see opponents properly, without the control icons taking up most of the screen.
Once again, it’s not bad, but it’s also not worth nearly $1000.
Camera
The Pixel 9 might be held back by its price, as the camera setup doesn’t offer anything particularly special in terms of hardware, rather than software. It’s not bad, but for this price, a telephoto camera would be a reasonable expectation. The phone is equipped with a 50-megapixel wide-angle camera with optical image stabilization and a 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. One notable feature is the camera’s autofocus, which is slightly above average and can even capture smaller objects. You could even try photographing autumn spiders in the forest, if the mosquitoes don’t bite all your exposed skin.
The HDR on the Pixel 9 works aggressively, with continuous background processing to enhance images. Pixel has years of experience in this field, so there’s little to complain about regarding the use of HDR.
One of the tricks worth mentioning is the “Add Me” feature, which allows you to take a photo with friends and then insert yourself into the shot afterward. However, it’s quite obvious that there’s something synthetic about it. There are also a couple of other camera tricks, but they aren’t unique to the new Pixel 9 series. I’ve already mentioned the feature where it creates a video from photos during capture, and unfortunately, this option cannot be disabled. The portrait mode works quite well, artificially blurring the background. Many competitors struggle with background blurring around hair, but the Pixel 9 handles it impressively.
Good Lighting:
If you want better camera hardware, you’ll have to wait for the Pixel 9 Pro or jump straight to the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL. The Pro models come with a 5x periscope telephoto camera, 8K video recording, and slightly better autofocus.
Here are some spiders in the forest. Not every smartphone would be able to focus on them.
One objection regarding photos in lower ambient lighting is this: why on earth is night being turned into day?
Worse Lighting:
Overall, the Pixel 9 cameras perform better than the roughly year-old Xiaomi 13T, but not significantly enough to justify paying the price difference.
Battery
The Pixel 9 comes with a decent 4700 mAh battery, but it only supports 27W wired charging and 12W wireless charging via Qi. If you own a Pixel Stand, it will charge at 15W. It also includes reverse wireless charging. However, these specs feel rather minimal for its price and for the year 2024. Plus, the charger is not included in the box, so keep that in mind.
Interestingly, reverse wireless charging is restricted—you can’t activate it while the phone is charging. The phone’s wireless charging can also be finicky. I have a Baseus car mount/charger, which works perfectly with iPhone models, but the Pixel 9 didn’t recognize it as a wireless charger.
You need to be cautious when choosing charging tools in general. The Pixel 9 doesn’t come with any included, and it treated several chargers I had at home with disdain. A warning appeared on the screen about very slow or no charging at all when I used a Xiaomi 33W charger. However, everything worked fine with the Xiaomi 67W charger and Samsung 25W charger. It seems that the Pixel 9 prefers charging tools that support Power Delivery.
Conclusion
I must admit that I’m not impressed with the Pixel 9 due to its price. You can get the same features and better equipment from Xiaomi or Samsung during a sale for half (or even less) of the Pixel 9’s price.
Currently, it’s hard to counter the Pixel brand against the mentioned Xiaomi and Samsung brands. Both competitors offer reasonable Android update durations, good cameras, and comparable or even faster charging.
Yes, there was a time when Pixel was considered a holy grail with its clean interface, speed, updates, and even its price. But now, everything has leveled out with competitors, and the Pixel’s price has risen significantly. I wouldn’t be willing to pay more than $650–700 for the Pixel 9, and only if I were looking for a smaller-sized phone.
