Google Pixel 9 Pro Review: A Pocketable Champion

2024 is the yr Google lastly launched its complete vary of Pixel units in India, together with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. In brief, this yr, shoppers have loads of Pixel units to select from, relying on the price range. Beginning at Rs. 79,999 for the bottom Pixel 9 and going all the way in which to Rs. 172,999 for the book-style Pixel 9 Professional Fold.

On paper, the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL may solely differ when it comes to show dimension and battery, however the actual distinction lies in on a regular basis use. One is compact to slot in the smallest pockets and handy to make use of with one hand, whereas the opposite is big at 6.8 inches. This yr, Google added one telephone to its Pixel lineup, which is the Pixel 9 Professional, which we’ll evaluate right here. Very similar to how Apple introduced all of the bells and whistles from its Professional Max mannequin to Professional this yr, Google additionally tries to suit all of the firepower within the compact physique of the Pixel 9 Professional. So, who ought to precisely purchase this one or take into account an alternate flagship? I attempt to reply this in my evaluate.

Google Pixel 9 Professional Design: Compact type wins

• Dimensions – 152.8mm x 72mm x 8.5mm
• Weight – 199 grams
• Sturdiness – IP68 mud and water resistance

The Pixel 9 collection lastly ditches the bar-style rear again that housed the digital camera in a approach that was liked and hated by some. The excellent news is that there is a new island placement on the rear for cameras, and it seems mature. It’s straightforward on the eyes and makes the brand new Pixels shine in a crowded market with no distinct design besides the iPhones.

The Pixel 9 Professional is available in 4 color decisions

I just like the matte again panel and shiny body end on the Pixel 9 Professional. Because of the matte remedy, the again is not a fingerprint magnet; nevertheless, it’s a slippery telephone. I unintentionally dropped it twice throughout this evaluate, however fortunately, the 9 Professional survived each drops with out scratches. Not like the iPhone 16 Plus (Review), the Google Pixel 9 Professional does not wobble on a flat floor primarily as a result of the centre-aligned island on the again retains it even.

The Pixel 9 Professional packs a 4700mAh battery

Through the years, the Pixels have developed their design language, and the brand new 9 collection in some way maintains that in a great way. The polished end steel body feels strong within the hand, and Google has added further safety through the use of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on each back and front panels.

At beneath 200 grams, the Pixel 9 Professional is a helpful telephone with a fair weight distribution. The 8.5mm thickness can also be first rate. There’s IP68 mud and water resistance on board for peace of thoughts.

It weighs 199 grams

The Pixel 9 Professional beats the 9 Professional XL in comfort. The compact type issue is straightforward to make use of and one thing that is simpler to stay with every single day. I’d choose this over most large telephones due to the one-hand utilization as effectively, and it nails the fundamentals fairly comfortably—the benefit of checking notifications, typing, dialling numbers, and doing the whole lot with only one hand. Every little thing else in design is minimalistic, which can develop on you.

When it comes to colors, Google has at all times provided completely different shades, and this yr, the lineup is fascinating. The Pixel 9 Professional is out there in Rose Quartz, Hazel, Obsidian, and Porcelain – the one I acquired for the evaluate. General, the Pixel 9 Professional appears like a strong gadget and a premium one, too.

The Pixel 9 is a compact gadget that is handy to make use of with only one hand

Google Pixel 9 Professional Show: Flagship-grade

• Show – 6.3-inch, 1280×2856 pixels, 1Hz – 120Hz
• Show Kind – Flat, LTPO, OLED
• Show safety – Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (entrance and rear panels)

The smartphone has a wonderful show providing crisp, correct and pure colors. The Pixel 9 Professional, in comparison with the Pixel 8, packs an even bigger show – 6.3 vs 6.2 inches. The bezels across the show additionally appear slim, and the claimed screen-to-body ratio stands at 87 p.c. I favored the general color rendering, and you’ll love watching HDR movies on the show. With a peak brightness of 3000nits, the Pixel 9 Professional is brilliant outside, and daylight legibility isn’t an issue.

The telephone affords a peak brightness of 3000nits

Because of the compact dimension, the Pixel 9 Professional is certainly one of my most popular units for multimedia utilization and affords an honest 495PPI pixel density. With Widevine L1 certification, Pixel 9 Professional streamed Full-HD decision Netflix exhibits on demand. This yr, Google has shifted to an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, which is fast and nearly flawless for on a regular basis use. The punch gap for selfies is sort of non-distracting whereas watching movies or enjoying video games.

The bezels across the show are narrower in comparison with the Pixel 8 Pro

Google Pixel 9 Professional Efficiency: Hits and misses

• Google Tensor G4
• Titan M2 safety coprocessor
• 16GB RAM and 256GB storage

When it comes to uncooked efficiency, the Pixel 9 Professional does not provide the best possible, and also you guessed it proper, it will not beat telephones in the identical worth bracket. Google Tensor G4 is nice for searching, multitasking, and working Google’s suite of AI apps. Nevertheless, with regards to gaming and even graphic-intensive picture or video enhancing, the Pixel 9 Professional disappoints. However I am not shocked, because the Pixels have by no means been marketed as gaming or performance-driven units. Throughout my evaluate, the Tensor G4 dealt with mild picture enhancing and will run AI options with out stutters. The Pixel 9 Professional does not get scorching throughout intensive duties due to wonderful warmth optimisations. Like throughout our artificial benchmark assessments, the Pixel 9 Professional dealt with assessments effectively and under are the outcomes on your reference.

The pure Android expertise is one more reason many choose Pixels over different Android units. The Pixel 9 Professional runs Android 14 out-of-the-box and comes with Gemini (which I’ll discuss in a bit). These days, Google has been pushing its AI prowess beneath the identify Gemini, and it looks like an even bigger push than what now we have seen in all these years. It’s larger than how Google pushed Search, however I am not shocked. AI is the subsequent large factor for smartphones and empowers customers to do far more in much less time. As anticipated, the software program expertise is fluid, and the Pixel UI is clear of bloatware, Pixel’s largest benefit over rivals.

Google Tensor G4 powers the Pixel 9 Professional

Whereas reviewing, I downloaded the Android 15 replace, which was largely much like Android 14, with some added options, like Theft Detection Lock and Non-public Area. Amongst all new options, the App Archiving needs to be my Android 15 choose, a characteristic introduced final yr by Google that’s solely making its approach as a system-wide possibility with the most recent replace. The characteristic lets customers save storage on an app that is used not often.

Because of the shape issue, the Pixel 9 Professional is my go-to gadget for rapidly typing emails and has one of many first rate haptic motors for typing suggestions. The loudspeaker is a loud one and is great for a mid-size room. As talked about above, the Pixel 9 Professional was my gadget choose for many of my multimedia wants, due to the show high quality and speaker output. The 9 Professional can connect with cell networks in areas like a basement the place different telephones battle to be linked to a community. The decision high quality is first rate on the gadget, and we had no issues with 5G on each Airtel and Jio networks.

It incorporates a 42-megapixel selfie digital camera

Google Pixel 9 Professional AI

2024 has been the yr of AI push for smartphone producers, so why ought to Google maintain again? The Pixel 9 collection comes with a number of AI options. The primary is the Gemini assistant, which makes use of multimodal fashions with which customers can work together through voice, textual content, or footage. The corporate added an all-new Add Me characteristic to the digital camera, which can by no means allow you to miss out on group pictures with the assistance of AI. The Tremendous Res Zoom, a characteristic that has been a part of Pixels ever since Pixel 3, has been improved and affords high-quality zoom as much as 20x. Pixel 9 collection will get the all-new Pixel Studio, a picture generator app powered by what Google calls an on-device diffusion mannequin working on Tensor G4 and Imagen 3 text-to-image mannequin. There are extra additions, like the brand new Climate app that will get AI enhancements, Hold Notes that integrates Gemini, and Pixel Screenshots to organise screenshots on the gadget. We’ve got mentioned AI capabilities on the brand new Pixels in our Pixel 9 Pro XL review, so you can read it here.

Pixel Studio makes use of generative AI to convey creativeness to life

Google Pixel 9 Professional Digital camera: “Pixel-able”

• 50-megapixel main digital camera
• 48-megapixel ultra-wide and 48-megapixel telephoto
• 42-megapixel selfie digital camera

Pixel 9 packs the identical digital camera setup as its greater sibling, the Pixel 9 Professional XL. Leaping straight to digital camera outcomes, the daylight pictures on the 9 Professional come out crisp with pure colors (true-to-life colors) and loads of particulars. The dynamic vary is great in a few of the samples I captured, and pores and skin tones are bang-on. Portraits are wonderful, and blur is dealt with splendidly. The telephoto digital camera is nice and does not disappoint in a few of the difficult conditions. I managed to seize some wonderful 5x pictures.

Pixel 9 Professional comes with a triple digital camera setup

The ultrawide digital camera on the 9 Professional additionally shines. It captured some actually good pictures throughout digital camera assessments, which you’ll be able to see under. Macro lovers can benefit from 9 Professional’s ultrawide digital camera, although Samsung has performed higher in macro pictures this yr. The Pixels are a league aside with regards to digital camera comparisons, be it with Samsung or an iPhone.

Daylight samples from the first digital camera (faucet photos to increase)

Shut-up shot utilizing ultrawide digital camera (faucet picture to increase)

Low-light pictures is one other spotlight of the 9 Professional. I clicked some wonderful low-light pictures with loads of particulars, managed noise, and protecting colors in verify. Pixel’s automated night time mode labored effectively for me. In fact, you’ll be able to take issues into your management and tweak settings to get higher outcomes. The portraits come out good, although, there’s scope of enchancment. 

Low-light digital camera samples (faucet picture to increase)

Portrait shot in low mild (faucet picture to increase)

The selfie digital camera on the 9 Professional is wonderful; lastly, the entrance digital camera improve has paid off—wonderful pores and skin tones captured in numerous mild circumstances. On the video entrance, the Pixel 9 Professional has improved drastically in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional. Nevertheless, it isn’t nearly as good for movies because the iPhone in the meanwhile.

Photographs taken utilizing 1x, 0.5x, 2x and 5x (faucet picture to increase)

Low mild pictures taken in 1x, 0.5, 2x and 5x (faucet picture to increase)

Google Pixel 9 Professional Battery: Respectable

• 4700mAh battery
• As much as 55% charging in about half-hour
• Wi-fi charging assist

Don’t underestimate the Pixel 9 Professional simply due to its sheer dimension. In my assessments, I discovered the Pixel 9 Professional to be a succesful gadget when it comes to battery efficiency. With heavy utilization, the Pixel 9 Professional lasted a complete day with 15-20 p.c left until the top of the day. Whereas with medium utilization, the telephone can simply last as long as 36 hours.

Pixel 9 Professional comes with fast-charging assist

The Pixel 9 Professional does not ship with a charger like modern-day flagships. It helps 27W wired charging and as much as 15W wi-fi charging. I examined the telephone with a 45W charger, and it matched the model’s claimed quick charging figures. The telephone, nevertheless, takes roughly 100 minutes to cost totally.

The Pixel 9 Professional is a tool that may outshine many compact flagships on the market

Google Pixel 9 Professional Verdict

The Pixel 9 Professional is a superb selection for many who need Pixel-like digital camera prowess. Its compact type issue is the most important spotlight, and the great factor is that Google this yr hasn’t saved marquee options restricted to 9 Professional XL. You get all of the bells and whistles of the larger sibling at a lesser worth with the 9 Professional. The battery shocked me with its backup, and it shines in most situations. The prolonged software program assist ought to give potential patrons confidence.

The Pixel 9 Professional comes with a single 16GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration

The one downgrade is the dearth of industrial quality efficiency credentials, which you’ll be able to expertise solely when gaming or enhancing movies or pictures on the gadget. Lengthy factor quick, the place the chipset is required to deal with graphic-intensive duties is the place 9 Professional feels it stays behind the competitors. It is excessive time that Google opts for Snapdragon or MediaTek for its chipset necessities, as Tensor can not outrun its closest rivals.

If you need the perfect digital camera expertise, you’ll be able to’t go fallacious with the Pixel 9 Professional, however if you add gaming and different graphics-intensive duties, I’ve to ask you to look one other approach.

At Rs. 109,999, the Pixel 9 Professional feels barely costly for what it affords, however you’ll be able to take into account it as a premium for all of the top-tier Google options arriving this yr, together with AI.

When speaking about options, the Pixel 9 (Review) is certainly the closest sibling you’ll be able to take into account, minus some options. The Samsung Galaxy S24+ (Review) can also be nearer to the Pixel 9 Professional when it comes to packaging, whereas you may as well have a look at the iPhone 16 Pro, which is barely dearer.