At the Made for Google event today, the company announced its latest Pixel phone line-up, the Pixel 9 series. This series includes the entry Pixel 9 along with the step-up in features Pixel 9 Pro, the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. All four phones are powered by the new Google Tensor G4 chip.
The Google Tensor G4 chip is the most efficient yet, says the company, and was designed with Google DeepMind in mind, optimized to run the most advanced AI models. It will be the first processor to run Gemini Nano with Multimodality, which helps your phone understand text, images, and audio. To complement this, memory has been upgraded to 12GB RAM for the Pixel 9 and 16GB RAM for the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL.
All four phones are also designed with the camera front and center, a new design for the camera bar. There are also updated finishes that incorporate silky matte glass on the back along with polished metal sides. They’re also twice as durable as the Pixel 8 series models.
For the first time, the Pro model also comes in two sizes: Pixel 9 Pro (6.3”) and Pixel 9 Pro XL (6.8”). Both come equipped with a bright Super Actua display and new 42 MP front camera for sharper and brighter selfies in low light. Beyond the display size, charging speed, and power, these two phones are virtually identical.
As the entry point into the line, the Pixel 9 is no slouch. It, too, has a 6.3” Actua display that Google says is 35% brighter than the Pixel 8. You also get the same main and ultra-wide cameras as the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, a massive upgrade from just 12MP in the Pixel 8 to 48MP in the Pixel 9. The front camera also now has autofocus for even sharper selfies. The Pixel 9 also affords approximately 20% longer battery life during active use with the screen on when compared to Pixel 8.
Accessible to Gemini Advanced subscribers, owners of these phones will be able to use Gemini Live to get assistance, allowing for a free-flowing conversation with Gemini from the phones or the new Pixel Buds. This might be help planning an event, figuring out household repairs or renovations, or even brainstorming gift ideas.
There’s also Pixel Studio, a new image generator powered by combining an on-device diffusion model running on Tensor G4 and the Imagen 3 text-to-image model in the cloud. With a UI optimized for easy prompting, style changes and editing, you can quickly bring your ideas to conversations with friends and family.
Pixel Screenshots is an exclusive app for Pixel 9 that helps you save, organize, and recall important information you want to remember for later. It analyzes the content of screenshots and images and makes the information searchable in the app. It will also include links to where you found everything and a summary of what you’re looking at with relevant information.
The weather app has also been improved with these phones. The Pixel Weather app is designed with accurate weather forecasts and Gemini Nano will generate a custom AI weather report to get you a sense of the day’s weather.
New AI features have been added to the cameras, like Add Me for adding you to a group photo even if you’re the one behind the camera, a rebuilt Panorama option for detailed shots in low light, new editing capabilities in Magic Editor, Auto framing, Video Boost, and more. With Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, you can use the 48MP 5x telephoto to record high-resolution zoom videos all the way to 20x with Super Res Zoom Video.
Clear Calling further improves audio quality and the new Call Notes feature sends you a private summary and full transcript of your phone call shortly after you hang up, perfect for saving phone, confirmation, or order numbers, dates and addresses, or even contact names. To protect privacy, Call Notes runs fully on-device and everyone on the call will be notified if you have activated the feature.
The newest Pixel 9 devices are the first Android phones to include the new Satellite SOS, so you can contact emergency responders via satellite and share your location, even without cellular service. Satellite SOS will be available first in the U.S. on Pixel 9 devices, regardless of your carrier plan. For the first two years on Pixel, it will be available at no extra cost.
To ensure that you get the most out of these devices, Google is supporting all three phones with seven years of OS, Pixel Drops, and security updates.
In Canada, the Pixel 9 starts at $1,099 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL starts at $1,499. Both will be available on August 22. The Pixel 9 Pro, starting at $1,349, is coming this Fall.
What about the Pixel 9 Pro Fold? This ultra-thin phone with a bigger display boasts an advanced camera system and the same Google Tensor G4 chip. It has a fluid-friction hinge that easily opens and folds flat as needed. The bright Super Actua Flex display is 80% brighter than Pixel Fold, so you’ll be able to see your screen clearly even when it’s bright outside. It features scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and boasts an IPX8 rating for water resistance of up to 1.5 meters for 30 minutes of submersion.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold incorporates Google AI as well, and you can leverage features like split screen with paired apps for multitasking and dragging and dropping, dual screen with Google Meet, and the aforementioned features like Pixel Screenshots, Pixel Studio, and Add Me along with existing favourites like Circle to Search, Summarize, Magic Editor, Best Take, Video Boost, and, of course, Gemini.
It has a triple rear camera system with an upgrade to the ultrawide camera that now supports Macro Focus. Both front cameras, meanwhile, now support Face Unlock whether folded or unfolded.
In addition to existing features like Dual Screen Preview, Tabletop Mode, and Rear Camera Selfie, there’s also a new feature called Made You Look. It helps get your little one to smile for a photo by displaying an animation on the outer screen to grab their attention while snapping a picture.
Enjoy additional features like multiview on YouTube TV for watching up to four preselected events at once on the large inner screen, and optimized gaming experiences for games like Asphalt Unite and Disney Speedstorm, which support tabletop mode on the large inner screen. Minecraft and Candy Crush Soda Saga have also made optimizations for a more immersive experience. Optimizations are coming later this year for games like NBA Infinite and League of Legends: Wild Rift.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold will be available starting September 4. It comes in Porcelain or Obsidian and starts at $2,399 in Canada.