Google Pixel 9 Pro Review: A Pocketable Champion

2024 is the yr Google lastly launched its whole vary of Pixel units in India, together with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Briefly, this yr, customers 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 would possibly solely differ when it comes to show measurement 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 cellphone 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 contemplate an alternate flagship? I attempt to reply this in my evaluate.

Google Pixel 9 Professional Design: Compact kind wins

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

The Pixel 9 sequence 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 appears to be like 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 therapy, the again is not a fingerprint magnet; nevertheless, it’s a slippery cellphone. 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 would 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

Over time, the Pixels have developed their design language, and the brand new 9 sequence in some way maintains that in a great way. The polished end metallic body feels stable within the hand, and Google has added further safety by utilizing Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on each back and front panels.

At below 200 grams, the Pixel 9 Professional is a helpful cellphone with an excellent weight distribution. The 8.5mm thickness can also be respectable. 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 kind issue is straightforward to make use of and one thing that is simpler to reside with day-after-day. I’d decide this over most massive 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 all the things with only one hand. Every thing else in design is minimalistic, which can develop on you.

When it comes to colors, Google has all the time supplied completely different shades, and this yr, the lineup is attention-grabbing. The Pixel 9 Professional is offered in Rose Quartz, Hazel, Obsidian, and Porcelain – the one I obtained for the evaluate. General, the Pixel 9 Professional appears like a stable 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 Sort – Flat, LTPO, OLED
• Show safety – Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (entrance and rear panels)

The smartphone has a superb show providing crisp, correct and pure colors. The Pixel 9 Professional, in comparison with the Pixel 8, packs a much 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 preferred 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 outdoor, and daylight legibility is rarely an issue.

The cellphone presents a peak brightness of 3000nits

Because of the compact measurement, the Pixel 9 Professional is one in all my most popular units for multimedia utilization and presents 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 virtually 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 would not supply 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 gentle picture enhancing and will run AI options with out stutters. The Pixel 9 Professional would not get scorching throughout intensive duties because of wonderful warmth optimisations. Like throughout our artificial benchmark assessments, the Pixel 9 Professional dealt with assessments effectively and under are the outcomes to your reference.

The pure Android expertise is one more reason many desire 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). Currently, Google has been pushing its AI prowess below the title Gemini, and it looks as if a much bigger push than what we now have seen in all these years. It’s larger than how Google pushed Search, however I am not shocked. AI is the subsequent massive factor for smartphones and empowers customers to do rather more in much less time. As anticipated, the software program expertise is fluid, and the Pixel UI is clear of bloatware, Pixel’s greatest benefit over rivals.

Google Tensor G4 powers the Pixel 9 Professional

Whereas reviewing, I downloaded the Android 15 replace, which was principally much like Android 14, with some added options, like Theft Detection Lock and Personal Area. Amongst all new options, the App Archiving must be my Android 15 decide, 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 hardly ever.

Because of the shape issue, the Pixel 9 Professional is my go-to gadget for shortly typing emails and has one of many respectable 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 decide for many of my multimedia wants, because of the show high quality and speaker output. The 9 Professional can connect with cellular networks in areas like a basement the place different telephones wrestle to be linked to a community. The decision high quality is respectable 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 sequence 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 by way of 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 presents high-quality zoom as much as 20x. Pixel 9 sequence 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, Preserve 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 Digicam: “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 larger sibling, the Pixel 9 Professional XL. Leaping straight to digital camera outcomes, the daylight photographs 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 superb, and blur is dealt with splendidly. The telephoto digital camera is nice and would 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 photographs throughout digital camera assessments, which you’ll be able to see under. Macro lovers can make the most of 9 Professional’s ultrawide digital camera, although Samsung has executed higher in macro photographs 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 photographs to develop)

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

Low-light images is one other spotlight of the 9 Professional. I clicked some superb low-light photographs with loads of particulars, managed noise, and preserving colors in verify. Pixel’s computerized night time mode labored effectively for me. After all, 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 develop)

Portrait shot in low gentle (faucet picture to develop)

The selfie digital camera on the 9 Professional is superb; lastly, the entrance digital camera improve has paid off—superb pores and skin tones captured in several gentle circumstances. On the video entrance, the Pixel 9 Professional has improved significantly in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional. Nevertheless, it’s not nearly as good for movies because the iPhone in the mean time.

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

Low gentle photographs taken in 1x, 0.5, 2x and 5x (faucet picture to develop)

Google Pixel 9 Professional Battery: First rate

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

Don’t underestimate the Pixel 9 Professional simply due to its sheer measurement. 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 an entire day with 15-20 p.c left until the top of the day. Whereas with medium utilization, the cellphone can simply last as long as 36 hours.

Pixel 9 Professional comes with fast-charging help

The Pixel 9 Professional would 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 cellphone with a 45W charger, and it matched the model’s claimed quick charging figures. The cellphone, nevertheless, takes roughly 100 minutes to cost absolutely.

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 alternative for individuals who need Pixel-like digital camera prowess. Its compact kind issue is the largest spotlight, and the nice 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 help ought to give potential consumers confidence.

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

The one downgrade is the shortage of professional 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’t outrun its closest rivals.

If you would like the most effective digital camera expertise, you’ll be able to’t go incorrect with the Pixel 9 Professional, however once 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 presents, however you’ll be able to contemplate 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 contemplate, minus some options. The Samsung Galaxy S24+ (Review) can also be nearer to the Pixel 9 Professional when it comes to packaging, whereas it’s also possible to have a look at the iPhone 16 Pro, which is barely dearer.