In the ever-evolving world of mobile technology, Google’s Pixel series continues to set new standards.
At the August 13 “MadebyGoogle” event, Google dropped the new Pixel 9 series, including the Pixel Fold, marking a significant leap in smartphone innovation.
At the heart of this transformation is Gemini, Google's most advanced AI, now fully integrated with the custom-designed Tensor G4 chip.
This combination redefines how we interact with our devices, making them faster and smarter in ways that truly matter.
Whether handling calls, keeping you organized, or capturing that perfect shot, the Pixel 9 series showcases Google’s commitment to putting AI at the forefront.
So, let’s break down what is new with the Pixel 9 series and why this might be the most interesting Android lineup we've seen yet.
Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL
Design
Let’s kick things off with the Pixel 9’s new design—a major leap forward for the Pixel lineup. Google rolled out four new phones: the base Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL and the reimagined Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The entire Pixel 9 lineup has been re-engineered from the ground up, sporting a refined appearance with an evolution of the iconic camera bar. The design is both stunning and comfortable to hold.
The base phone, the Pixel 9 boasts a new design with flat matte metal sides and a polished glass back and is available in four colors, Porcelain, Obsidian, and then Wintergreen and Peony.
The Pro phones switch to glossy rails with a soft-touch glass back and come in Obsidian, Porcelain, Hazel, and Rose Quartz.
Across the board, these phones are equipped with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass Victus 2, doubling the durability of the previous generation.
Display
First up, is the base model, the Pixel 9 features a 6.3-inch OLED Actua display with a resolution of 1080 x 2424 pixels, boasting 35% more brightness than its predecessor, a rocking peak brightness of 2700 nits.
Your screen will be popping, whether watching Netflix or squinting at your emails in broad daylight.
The Pro models flex their muscles with Super Actua LTPO OLED displays, with the Pixel 9 Pro maintaining the same size as the base model and the XL offering a 6.8-inch screen.
The 9 Pro boasts a 1280 x 2856-pixel resolution, while the Pro XL go even further with a resolution of 1344 x 2992 pixels.
Both hit an astonishing peak brightness of 3000 nits and variable refresh rates from 1 Hz to 120 Hz, ensuring a smooth and vibrant viewing experience whether you're out in the blazing sun or chilling in a well-lit room, your eyes won't miss a beat.
Underneath that bright display, Google slipped in a new ultrasonic sensor for Fingerprint Unlock and it's 50% faster than the previous-gen optical sensor. Just a quick tap and you're in.
Performance
The Pixel 9 lineup is powered by Google’s fourth-generation Tensor G4 chip, developed in collaboration with DeepMind to optimize advanced AI models.
This chip, built on Samsung’s 4nm process, includes one Cortex-X4, three Cortex-A720s, and four Cortex-A520s, paired with an ARM Mali-G715 MC7 GPU.
The Pixel 9 is the first to launch with Gemini Nano with Multimodality, Google’s most sophisticated on-device AI model, making AI-driven tasks faster and more intelligent.
The third-gen Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) in Tensor G4 can achieve an industry-leading mobile output rate of up to 45 tokens per second, more than double the peak rate of Pixel 8 with Gemini Nano.
Google has also upgraded the memory across the entire Pixel 9 series, features 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM for the Pixel 9 and 16GB for the Pro models, with storage options ranging from 128 up to 1TB, so that your phone can keep up with future AI advances.
To maintain the thermal and battery performance, The Pixel 9 Pro features a new vapour chamber, and more advanced cooling technology to maintain peak performance.
For connectivity, the entire lineup supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3.
Camera system
The Pixel 9 series features an advanced dual-camera system with a 50 MP wide lens and a 48 MP ultrawide lens.
The Pro models add a third 48 MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom.
The base model has a 10.5 MP front camera, while the Pro models boast a 42 MP front camera for sharper selfies, especially in low-light conditions.
Battery Life
Pixel 9 devices deliver significantly more battery life than the Pixel 8 devices, thanks to optimizations across Tensor, AI, and software.
Both the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro have a 4700mAh battery, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a larger 5060mAh battery.
Both Pixel 9 and 9 pro models support fast charging up to 55% in about 30 minutes using Google’s 45W USB-C charger while the Pixel 9 Pro XL gets 70% at the same time.
Satellite SOS
The entire Pixel 9 lineup is the first in Android history to include Satellite SOS, allowing you to contact emergency responders and share your location even without cellular service. This feature will first be available in the US.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold represents the pinnacle of Google’s mobile computing. It’s noticeably thinner and lighter than the first-gen foldable.
When folded, it’s like a regular Pixel 9 Pro with a 6.3-inch OLED display, 1080 x 2424 resolution, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus.
But the real magic happens when you unfold it. You get an 8-inch tablet with a gorgeous Super Actua Flex (LTPO) display that’s 80% brighter than before, with a resolution of 2076 x 2152 pixels and a variable refresh rate of 1 to 120Hz.
Both front and inner displays can go up to 2700 nits of peak brightness. It’s the biggest and most versatile screen on any phone today.
The hinge mechanism is built with multi-alloy steel and aerospace-grade high-strength aluminium, ensuring durability without compromising style.
Under the hood, it's got the same Tensor G4 chip and 16GB of RAM as the rest of the lineup, with up to 512GB of storage.
The camera setup is solid too, with a 48MP main sensor, 10.8MP telephoto, 10.5MP ultrawide, and dual 10MP selfie cameras on both displays.
Plus, a 4650mAh battery with 45W fast charging and wireless charging keeps you powered up.
Everyday AI
Google's phones have always been all about software and the Pixel 9 lineup takes that to the next level with the new Gemini assistant.
By pairing the Tensor G4 chip in your phone with TPUs in the cloud, from weather updates to photo perfection, Pixel 9’s features are designed to enhance your daily life effortlessly.
Take the new Pixel Weather app, for example, which comes to standard on all Pixel 9 phones.
Now, AI makes the weather check experience more useful and enjoyable.
The app is beautifully designed with hyper-accurate forecasts, and Gemini Nano crafts a custom AI weather report just for you—no more digging through numbers to figure out your day.
Plus, you can tweak the app to show exactly what you care about, like the UV index for your sunscreen check.
Pixel Call Assist has been a game-changer for dealing with spam, phone trees, and hold times.
Now, it’s even better with Call Notes—a private feature that automatically summarizes your conversations.
So, if you’re on a call without a pen handy, Call Notes has your back, saving all the important details right on your device. And it’s all private—no cloud involved.
Ever lose track of a screenshot? Pixel Screenshots has you covered by turning your screenshots into a searchable, organized visual library.
It’s like having a personal archive of everything cool you find online—recipes, codes, gift ideas, you name it. Powered by Gemini Nano and Tensor G4, this app makes your screenshots searchable by content.
The best part? It’s all private and on-device, just like everything else on Pixel.
Pixel Studio is another fresh addition.
It’s an on-device image generator powered by Tensor G4 and Google’s Imagen 3 model.
Just type what you want to create, and boom—you’ve got it. And with RCS on iPhone now, everyone gets the same high-quality images, no matter what phone they’re using.
Now let’s talk about the Pixel Camera—the world's first fully AI-powered camera experience.
Google rebuilt the entire camera system, so every shot you take is stunning, no matter the lighting or situation.
This year, the new HDR+ pipeline brings incredible improvements across exposure, sharpness, detail, and more.
Panorama mode now includes Night Sight, making stunning low-light panoramas possible.
The new Add Me feature helps you include yourself in group photos, using augmented reality to guide your hand for the perfect shot.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s Made You Look feature uses fun visuals on the outer screen to capture your child’s attention, making it easier to snap that perfect baby photo.
And that’s not just for photos—it’s for video too. Speaking of video, the Pixel 9 Pro takes it to a whole new level with Video Boost.
You can now shoot super Hi-Res zoom videos up to 20X with HDR+ on every single frame.
Plus, it can even upscale your videos to 8K and let you pull 33MP stills from any frame—perfect for creators and streamers looking for that perfect thumbnail.
Conclusion
All things work together well. With each Pro model offering one year of Gemini Advanced and 2 terabytes of cloud storage, the Pixel 9 Pro becomes a generative AI powerhouse.
Continuous updates through Pixel Drops and seven years of OS and security updates ensure that your Pixel 9 will keep getting better over time.
The author is a contributor and a tech enthusiast