How the usual fashions stack up

Google Pixel 9

Sharper, brighter, smarter

The Pixel 9 introduces a brighter OLED show, extra RAM for smoother multitasking, and the next decision ultrawide digicam, but it surely comes with the next value and a design which may divide opinions.
Professionals

Larger decision ultrawide digicam

Extra RAM for multitasking

Brighter OLED show
Cons

Larger value at $799

Design could be divisive

Marginal processor enchancment
Google Pixel 8

Compact energy, price range pleasant

The Pixel 8 affords a stable, compact design with sturdy battery life and quick charging, although it sacrifices RAM and digicam 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 digicam 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 seems to be to be a worthy flagship providing in its personal proper. Throughout the context of flagship Pixel phones, its asking value of $799 is definitely a neater tablet to swallow than the Pixel 9 Professional’s a lot increased $999 MSRP.

With the Pixel 9 now obtainable for pre-order, let’s have a look at 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.

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Worth, specs, and availability

The essential variations

The Google Pixel 9, priced at $799, was introduced for pre-order in August 2024. It incorporates 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 comparable show specs however with 8GB of RAM, the Tensor G3 processor, and a smaller battery. Each fashions are IP68-rated and run Android 14.

	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 digicam	10.5-megapixel	10.5MP
Rear digicam	50-megapixel Large, 48-megapixel Extremely Large	50MP large + 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

pixel 9 phones stacked on top of each other

The Pixel 9 falls according to the remainder of Google’s 2024 smartphone portfolio when it comes to 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 system a moderately industrial feel and appear.

A doable level of competition is Google’s selection to change the looks of the now-iconic Pixel digicam bar on the rear of the cellphone. Final 12 months’s Pixel 8 had a digicam bar that blended into the facet body of the system, whereas the newer Pixel 9 has its digicam bar separated into its personal island.

Whether or not this design change is optimistic or adverse is, after all, topic to private desire. The excellent news is that the Pixel 9 nonetheless very a lot seems to be like a Pixel cellphone, with a lot of the distinctive Pixel DNA current and accounted for.

By way of colorways provided this 12 months, the Pixel 9 launches in Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen, and Peony. As 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

Pixel 9 from the front with its display on

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 greater 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 charge, and HDR assist. Protecting the display this 12 months is a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus 2, a newer-generation tempered glass answer than the Pixel 8’s normal Gorilla Glass Victus.

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Internals

Say howdy to the Tensor G4 processor

Google/Pocket-lint

In terms of inside {hardware}, the Pixel 9 is a basic instance of an easy 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 should assist future-proof the system 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 are able to count on the Pixel 9 to obtain a further Android OS replace that the Pixel 8 will miss out on.

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Cameras

The ultrawide lens will get a giant decision bump this 12 months

The Pixel 9 shares the identical 50-megapixel most important digicam sensor as its predecessor, the Pixel 8. Adjustments in picture high quality will due to this fact 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 digicam, a major 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 digicam now consists of autofocus, which was missing in final 12 months’s mannequin. This could, in concept, assist produce sharper pictures 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

Using the AI wallpaper feature on the Pixel 8 over a cosmic background.

Total, the Pixel 9 seems to be a stable, if unremarkable, improve over final 12 months’s Pixel 8. The shift in design language is solely a matter of particular person desire, although I personally have blended emotions concerning 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.

Editor’s Alternative

Google Pixel 9

Pixel 9 incorporates a 6.3-inch show and a well-recognized design. It helps the addition of a 48-megapixel ultrawide lens to its rear digicam array alongside Google Gemini and AI options.

Finest 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 incredible design and a stellar digicam, for a lower cost.

I predict that Google’s largest problem with the Pixel 9 would be the similar as final 12 months’s Pixel 8 — the system is located between the extra reasonably priced Pixel 8a and the extra premium Pixel 9 Professional. Whether or not there’s satisfactory room throughout the search big’s pricing ladder for this in-between system is not but solely clear.