The starting of a brand new route

Pros:
– Premium construct and end with IP68 ingress safety
– Excellent foremost and ultra-wide cameras
– Sharp and vibrant 120Hz OLED show
– Smooth and clear Android expertise
– A handful of AI characteristic with extra anticipated over time
– 7 years of software program updates promised
– Good general efficiency with comparatively lesser throttling

Cons:
– Slow charging; no charger within the field
– No telephoto digital camera but
– Expensive

Price: Rs 79,999
Rating: 4/5

The Pixel 9 arrived rather a lot sooner than regular; in truth, even earlier than Android 15 confirmed up. Thankfully, we had it with us lengthy sufficient to expertise two main variations of the OS on this gadget. So how does it stack up towards its predecessor and the competitors? Are there any main upgrades this time? Is it price shopping for but? Time to reply all these questions and extra.

Google Pixel 9 Design: Not as compact as earlier than however extra sturdy and polished

There is a noticeable change in design this time and largely for the higher. The curved edges of the body have been changed with iPhone-esque flat ones, and the edge-to-edge digital camera band on the again is now a pill-shaped island; it nonetheless protrudes fairly a bit. The telephone does look higher, and although nonetheless pretty compact as in comparison with most telephones round, it isn’t as compact because the Pixel 8. But it nonetheless feels nice in hand because of its rugged construct and a premium end with none tough edges.

The Pixel 9 has an aluminium body and a glass again and the load is slightly below 200 grams. The IP68 score for mud and fluid resistance has been retained. The display screen is completely flat and merges seamlessly into the body; no curved edges this time. The bezels are slim, and that features the underside bezel too. The show and the again are protected towards scratches by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The body and the digital camera island have a matte end, whereas the again is shiny. Despite that, fingerprints or smudge marks have been barely seen on the Peony (pink) variant that we acquired for assessment.

The quantity rocker in addition to the facility button are positioned alongside the appropriate edge. Their placement in addition to that of the in-display fingerprint scanner are spot on, and one can entry them with out stretching the fingers a lot. The scanner is well essentially the most responsive among the many previous three generations of Pixel telephones. The SIM tray is situated on the backside together with a USB-C port and a speaker. One can use an eSIM too. A reminiscence card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack stay absent.

Google Pixel 9 Display: Slightly bigger and brighter with 120Hz refresh price

Google lowered the scale of the show from 6.3-inch to six.2-inch on the Pixel 8 however is again to the previous once more on the Pixel 9. The HDR10+ compliant OLED show nonetheless sports activities Full HD+ decision and 120Hz refresh price, however is rather a lot brighter now with a peak brightness of 2700 nits. You don’t get granular refresh price changes like in case of telephones with LTPO shows and you’ll solely select between 60Hz (default) and 120Hz after enabling Smooth Display from the underside of show settings, one thing I’d advise you to do.

The display screen is shiny and sharp with glorious color replica and distinction out of the field. Pixel shows are usually tuned properly, which is extra of a necessity as you hardly get any color changes. You simply get two modes – Adaptive and Natural. The former makes the colors look barely extra vivid, whereas the latter does what the title suggests. Try each and select one which fits your style. Always-on show characteristic can be accessible when you like.

Google Pixel 9 Hardware and efficiency: Evolutionary improve in efficiency

The Pixel 9 is powered by Google’s fourth-generation Tensor G4 SoC that powers your complete Pixel 9 collection. The firm has dropped the additional core used within the Tensor G3 and gone again to an 8-core structure. Despite that, there was a soar in general efficiency, even when it isn’t an enormous one. In phrases of uncooked processing energy, it’s nonetheless no match for Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip however has actually caught up with their Gen 2 SoC in artificial benchmarks.

I need to add that artificial benchmarks aren’t the be-all and end-all of efficiency. Also, it’s laborious to gauge the AI crunching capabilities of the Tenson G4 utilizing our present set of benchmarks, and people skills could get even higher with time. That mentioned, the Tensor G4 breezes by way of day-to-day duties like accessing social media or chat apps, watching movies, searching the web, opening a number of tabs on a browser and switching between them with out a hiccup.

The Pixel 9 comes outfitted with 12GB RAM and 256GB inner storage. It is nice to see 256GB on the bottom variant itself (given its price ticket), nonetheless, the corporate has nonetheless caught to UFS 3.1 storage as a substitute of transferring on to UFS 4.0. Even some lower-priced telephones from competing manufacturers have been flaunting the sooner UFS 4.0 storage for nearly a few years now.

Moving on, the telephone usually stays cool however does get somewhat heat after half-hour of gaming or when you click on dozens of photographs at a go. It doesn’t get alarmingly sizzling however the efficiency does throttle because the temperature rises. But there was a noticeable enchancment on this entrance, with the efficiency dropping to about 70 per cent and to not 50 per cent as in case of the Tensor G3. The efficiency throttling does influence the body charges in gaming however isn’t noticeable in day-to-day duties.

We ran a number of artificial benchmarks to gauge its efficiency and examine it with that of its predecessors and final two generations of OnePlus flagship telephones with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and Gen 3 chips. You can verify the precise scores of the Pixel 9 within the picture under, whereas I paint a comparative image. In Geekbench 6, the Tensor G4 managed to outscore the G3 on the Pixel 8 by 13 per cent in single-core efficiency and by a powerful 24 per cent in multi-core. Interestingly, the scores are neck and neck with the Pixel 8 Pro that can be powered by the Tensor G3.

One factor to notice right here is that the G4 has one much less core than the G3, so fewer newer cores do the job higher. As in comparison with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 on the OnePlus 11, the Pixel 9 scores 21 per cent and three per cent higher within the single-core and multi-core benchmarks respectively. Similarly, within the PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark, the Pixel 9 manages to attain 12 per cent increased than the Pixel 8 however is kind of at par with the Pixel 8 Pro and OnePlus 11.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip manages to avoid the competitors by an enormous margin with a 20 per cent and 44 per cent lead in Geekbench (single and multi-core respectively) and a 20 per cent increased rating in PCMark as in comparison with the Tensor G4 right here.

Lots of catching as much as do for Google. On the intense facet, the Pixel 9 grew to become the primary Google telephone to max out the 3D Mark Wild Life benchmark. But within the Wild Life Extreme benchmarks, the outcomes weren’t spectacular with the Pixel 9 simply getting its nostril forward of the Pixel 8 and eight Pro whereas lagging behind the OnePlus 11 and 12 by an enormous margin of 40 per cent and 90 per cent respectively.

Having mentioned that, the real-world gaming efficiency of the Pixel 9 is completely acceptable, and you’ll play a lot of the video games on the market on it. You could should decrease the graphics setting in some instances for good body charges. Moving on to different issues, the sound output is fairly good. The two audio system on the telephone produce a loud and punchy sound output with good stereo separation. The telephone is Bluetooth 5.3 compliant and has tri-band WiFi with help for a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7 requirements. The name high quality and reception on this New Radio-compliant telephone have been completely effective in the course of the course of our testing.

Google Pixel 9 Battery backup: Improved battery life however not the charging velocity

The battery capability has seen a marginal increment from 4575 mAh on the Pixel 8 to 4700 mAh right here, however the precise battery life is noticeably higher. The battery lasts properly over a day of average use, and nearer to a day and a half if there isn’t a gaming or a lot of pictures concerned. What hasn’t modified in any respect is the charging velocity. Just like its predecessor, the Pixel 9 helps 27W quick charging utilizing USB-PD 3.0 chargers. Google nonetheless doesn’t embrace a charger within the bundle; only a USB-C cable.

We tried a bunch of third celebration 30W and better USB-PD chargers together with the Raegr RapidLink 1180 GaN charger that may go as excessive as 65W. The quickest time we clocked for charging the Pixel 9 from 1 per cent to 100 per cent was 88 minutes – precisely what we acquired for the Pixel 8. That makes it one of many slowest-charging telephones round. The solely saving grace right here is that the Pixel 9 has a barely higher-capacity battery. Most telephones priced at half of the Pixel 9 get the job accomplished in lower than half the time. A sooner charging answer is lengthy overdue for the Pixels.

Google Pixel 9 Camera efficiency: Excellent foremost digital camera, upgraded ultra-wide digital camera

Just like Pixel telephones from the previous three generations with out the Pro suffix, this too has two cameras on the again. There’s a 50MP major digital camera with dual-pixel PDAF and optical picture stabilisation (OIS) that appears to have been carried ahead from the Pixel 8, and its efficiency isn’t too totally different both. The ultra-wide digital camera right here sees an enormous change. The 12MP digital camera on the Pixel 8 has been changed with a 48MP unit right here with dual-pixel PDAF; this one has been borrowed from the Pixel 9 Pro fashions, which is nice.

The ultra-wide digital camera additionally doubles up as a top quality macro digital camera. A devoted telephoto digital camera current on the Pro fashions stays an absentee. The foremost digital camera captures some glorious pictures in shiny in addition to low gentle situations. The colors are pretty correct and the dynamic vary is superb, and the identical goes for the distinction in photographs. The captured photographs have ample element in regular in addition to low gentle. It is difficult to say if it performs any higher than the Pixel 8 (which itself was nice) but it surely actually isn’t inferior.

The telephone mechanically switches to Night Sight mode when the sunshine is low or you are able to do so manually. It brightens up the darkish areas within the picture simply sufficient with out going overboard or compromising on the element. Pixel telephones have been nice at portrait pictures and the Pixel 9 is not any totally different. In portrait pictures, the sting detection is spot on with a near-perfect background separation. It works properly with people in addition to different issues like flowers and animals.

As I discussed, there isn’t a devoted telephoto digital camera right here however the digital camera app does offer you a 2X zoom toggle, which might be termed as hybrid or digital. While they aren’t precisely lossless, the 2X zoomed pictures come out sharp, virtually what one would count on from an optical zoom. The telephone allows you to zoom in until 8X, however issues begin to get noticeably tender past 5X with a pointy drop intimately. The AI does its trickery to an extent however don’t get too bold.

Moving on to the 48MP ultra-wide digital camera, the output is spectacular and the colors and dynamic vary are corresponding to that of the primary digital camera. The greatest enchancment over the Pixel 8’s is its low gentle efficiency, and the colors and particulars are rather a lot nearer to that of the primary digital camera as in comparison with its predecessor. This is among the few ultra-wide cameras you should use in low gentle with out worrying about drop in high quality. The ultra-wide digital camera has auto-focus and may seize some excellent macro pictures from up shut.

The 10.5MP selfie digital camera appears to be ported from the Pixel 8 but it surely now will get auto-focus which boosts its efficiency. The entrance digital camera captures some noticeably sharper selfies with pure pores and skin tones. It has a reasonably broad FOV and is nice at clicking portrait selfies too. The rear cameras can report 4K movies at 24, 30 and 60 fps and slow-mo 1080p movies as much as 240 fps. OIS and gyro-EIS lend stability to the captured footage. A ten-bit HDR possibility can be accessible. The recorded movies from the rear cameras are sharp and stabilised and fairly good for this section. The entrance digital camera may report 4K movies at 30 and 60 fps.

Here are some pattern photographs from the Google Pixel 9:

Google Pixel 9 OS and person interface: As good as its will get on Android, now with extra AI tips

For the majority of this assessment, barring the ultimate week or so, this telephone ran Android 14. Like all Pixel telephones, you get the cleanest and the very best Android expertise in the mean time. You get a pure Android expertise with none bloatware and with the Material You design language. The person interface is fluid, completely lag-free and void of any main bugs; Android 14 had ample time to calm down in any case. Just per week in the past (on the time of writing), the telephone acquired an Android 15 replace.

That’s simply the primary of the 7 main software program updates Google has promised for the Pixel 9 collection. They began these further long-term software program commitments with the Pixel 8 collection and it’s good to see them proceed the custom right here. Post the Android 15 replace, there hasn’t been any main change in UI, nor have we come throughout any bugs price reporting to date. But there’s much more left to discover.

The buzzword for the Pixel 9 collection is AI, or ought to I say Gemini? You do get a handful of instruments on this telephone to mess around with, together with the favored Google apps which can be seamlessly built-in. But extra importantly, you get a super-charged digital assistant that’s able to doing much more than the standard Google assistant present in different telephones.

Features like object recognition utilizing Google Lens or speech recognition or translation have been already accessible. Now you have got issues like ‘circle to search’ whereby you circle an object on the display screen and Google provides you extra details about it. In addition to the Magic Eraser and Camouflage choices, you additionally get the Magic Editor to boost your photographs in several methods. Oh and Google additionally packs the Pixel Studio to utilize generative AI and let your creativity run wild and create photographs starting from regular to summary.

There are much more issues to discover and that will be a separate article in itself. Check Pixel Tips on the telephone once in a while to discover the brand new or enhanced options made accessible. Also be aware that AI, although enjoyable to make use of, continues to be in its infancy and can solely get higher with time. So preserve your expectations in verify until then.

Google Pixel 9: Price, options and verdict

The Google Pixel 9 is priced at Rs 79,999 for the 256GB inner storage variant with a one-year guarantee. The pricing, although not tempting, is best than that of the Pixel 8 at launch. It is an effective all-round telephone however I’d wait a bit longer for its worth to drop earlier than swiping my card. That’s all the time the case with all Apple and Google telephones at launch; they provide significantly better worth within the following 12 months.

As for options, there are a handful of them so that you can think about, together with some from Google. At the time of writing, Google’s earlier flagship, the Pixel 8 Pro with 256GB storage was listed for the same worth because the Pixel 9. In addition to a bigger, higher-res show, you additionally get a wonderful 48MP telephoto digital camera that provides 5X optical zoom. You will miss out on a barely extra highly effective SoC and a few AI options most likely, but it surely’s a really strong different.

If you’re searching for one thing as compact or smaller, there are two choices – 256GB variants of the Google Pixel 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S24. The worth of the previous fluctuates greater than the inventory market however is commonly noticed beneath 50K on Flipkart even exterior of mega gross sales, the place it sells even cheaper. Anything beneath Rs 50,000 is a superb worth for the Pixel 8. The Samsung Galaxy S24 can simply be scored beneath 60K presently and gives nice efficiency, glorious cameras and has some AI chops too. Take your decide.