We reviewed the Google Pixel 9 more than two months ago, and in our opinion, it was the best Pixel Google ever made. Now, after about three weeks of use, we are reviewing its elder sibling, the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Here are our thoughts about the phone and whether we found it worth its price tag of Rs 1,09,999.
Design & Display
Similar to the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro gets flat sides with a compact form factor. However, the sides are glossy instead of the matte frame on the Pixel 9. In addition, the back panel on the 9 Pro is matte instead of the glossy panel on the Pixel 9, which is better because the Pixel 9 attracted a good amount of fingerprints.
Design-wise, we feel this is one of the best smartphones of 2024. It gets a 10/10 in most areas, including comfort while holding the device, one-handed usability, premiumness, looks, etc. It is surely an eye-catcher, and the Rose Quartz shade we got surely has the baby pink vibe. It looks elegant yet catchy at the same time, and we can’t praise this design enough.
The only quirk with the design is the positioning of the buttons. As I said in the Pixel 9 review, the volume rocker should have either been on the left or on top of the power button. However, the quality of the buttons remained high in terms of how tactile they felt while clicking.
Durability shouldn’t be an issue either, as the device is protected with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the rear and front, while the frame is made of aluminium. It is also IP68 rated, so using the Pixel 9 Pro in rain or areas with excessive dust shouldn’t hurt it.
The Pixel 9 Pro’s Haptics are truly outstanding. They are both precise and powerful, ensuring you’ll feel notifications even when your phone is tucked away in your pocket. The stereo speakers are equally impressive, delivering robust sound with noticeable bass and excellent stereo separation. Vocals and other musical elements are crisp and clear, creating a truly enjoyable listening experience.
Coming to the display, it is a 6.3-inch Super Actua LTPO OLED display with a 1.5K Resolution of 1280 x 2856 pixels resolution, 495 ppi, 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 3000 nits peak brightness and 2000 nits HDR brightness.
As it’s an LTPO panel, the Refresh Rate can go down up to 1Hz, depending on the content on the screen. Compared to the Pixel 9, this is a better panel in terms of how low the refresh rate can go as the Pixel 9’s panel is capped at 60Hz on the lower end, and in terms of brightness as Pixel 9 Pro display is much brighter as well.
Brightness and refresh rate weren’t an issue with the Pixel 9 Pro’s panel. The panel is responsive and, once again, one of the best on any Android flagship. In terms of colours, they are kept on the natural end of the spectrum rather than being too vivid, such as what you’d see on a Samsung flagship. The viewing angles and the sharpness of the content are excellent, and so is the immersiveness due to the even bezels on all four sides.
Remember to change the resolution of the display through display settings to the maximum available because it’s set to the lower option out of the box.
Like the Pixel 9, the Adaptive Touch feature automatically adjusts the screen’s sensitivity so you can use it without any unusual behaviour, even with wet hands. It also automatically increases the display’s sensitivity if it detects you are using a screen protector or tempered glass.
Then, the ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor used in the Pixel 9 Pro was also a much-needed upgrade over the previous Pixel devices. The performance improvement is evident, especially in terms of speed. The accuracy of the sensor also remains high.
Performance & Software
The Pixel 9 Pro is powered by Google’s Tensor G4 processor, has 16GB RAM, and has 256GB storage. It is sold in a single variant in India.
The Tensor G4 falls short in performance compared to its competitors, but this gap is noticeable primarily under heavy workloads or in benchmark tests. Previous iterations of Tensor chips have struggled with issues such as thermal management, network reception, and rapid performance throttling, raising concerns about their overall reliability.
While I noticed that the Pixel 9 didn’t face any of the major issues I listed above, for some reason, the Pixel 9 Pro did. It was quick to heat up when using 5G, which is exactly the opposite of the Pixel 9. I also observed that 5G wasn’t working in the same areas where it worked fine on my Galaxy S23 Ultra. Apart from the 5G issue, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth performance remained optimal.
Aside from these two issues, the Pixel 9 Pro performance remained smooth for the most part. The user interface felt fluid and highly responsive, with smooth animations for the most part, though not consistently throughout.
I did face a couple of hiccups in animations, but those were likely part of the Android 15 update because the Pixel 9 on Android 14 worked just fine and didn’t have any of the issues I am about to list below.
Firstly, there was a bug where the lock screen clock font would shrink on its own, and I would have to re-apply it to fix it. Then, the device began to lag regarding the transition animation between the lock screen and the Always-on display. This got fixed after a reboot, though.
None of the issues were significant and something a software update couldn’t fix. You’ll be getting a good number of software updates as the device is set to receive 7 years of OS and security patch updates, which should be ideal for those who hold on to their smartphones for a long time.
Gaming performance is decent but not the best compared to flagships powered by MediaTek or Snapdragon chips in the same segment.
The Pixel 9 Pro excels in software, offering a smooth, minimalist experience packed with advanced AI features—perfect for those who prioritize seamless functionality over flashy extras.
In the Pixel 9 review, we briefly explained the new AI features of the Pixel 9 series, and all of those are present in the Pixel 9 Pro as well. These include the new “Add me” feature in the camera app, Magic editor in the Photos app, Pixel screenshots app, Pixel Studio, Circle to Search, and more.
Aside from these, the vanilla Pixel 9 won’t offer you some extras, but the Pro does. That includes a free one-year Gemini Advanced subscription, which you can claim via the Google One App after you have set up your device.
The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL also feature a dedicated Thermometer app enabled by specialized hardware exclusive to these models. The app measures the temperature of objects around you using the additional sensor on the back. While it works as advertised, I found little practical use, apart from trying it out once purely out of curiosity and for the sake of the review.
The new Private Space feature in Android 15 and features like Theft Protection are also useful for users who want to keep their data secure and safe. A bunch of Gestures are also on offer, such as Flip to Shhh, tap to check phone, lift to check phone, flip camera for selfie, double-tap power button to open camera, and more.
I would have appreciated it more if it also had the double-tap to wake up screen gesture instead of the single tap, but it seems like we’ll have to work with what we have, as Google doesn’t seem to be planning to add that gesture anytime soon.
Features like “Now Playing,” which identifies tracks playing nearby, and extensive lock screen customization options enhance the already exceptional software experience on the Pixel.
Battery Life
For some reason, the 4700mAh battery on the Pixel 9 Pro struggled to get me through the day at times. While I didn’t have to plug it in midway during the day, by the time my day ended, I would hardly have any juice left, which wasn’t the case with the Pixel 9, even though it had the same battery capacity as the Pixel 9 Pro.
With the Pixel 9 Pro, I got around 6.5 to 7 hours of screen-on time and about 24 hours of total usage time, including scrolling through Instagram, making WhatsApp calls, chatting, browsing on Chrome, watching videos, and listening to music. This is a similar usage pattern as the Pixel 9, which got me around 7 to 8 hours of screen-on time, but with the 9 Pro, I couldn’t cross 7 hours most of the time.
While the 9 Pro sports a more efficient panel than the Pixel 9, the higher battery usage could be attributed to the higher resolution of the display compared to what the vanilla Pixel 9 offers.
With heavier use, such as navigation and gaming, the device will likely require a top-up before the end of the day. The battery life was also inconsistent overall, as one of the usage cycles only got me about 5 to 5.5 hours of screen-on time.
I further had to rely on a third-party app to measure the battery stats because, unfortunately, Android 14 and 15 have a bug that causes the screen-on time to reset randomly, and Google hasn’t fixed it yet.
The standby battery drain at night was noticeably high, with the device losing around 5-6% and occasionally up to 8%, even with Wi-Fi and Mobile Data turned off.
The Pixel 9 Pro’s charging time remains identical to that of the Pixel 9, as both phones support the same 27W wired charging speeds. The Pixel 9 Pro took nearly 2 hours to charge from 0 to 100% with the CMF 65W GaN PD charger, while the wireless charging speed is painfully slower.
Cameras
For optics, the Pixel 9 Pro gets a triple rear camera setup, including a 48-megapixel f/2.8 telephoto camera with up to 5x Optical Zoom and OIS support, a 50-megapixel f/1.68 primary Wide-Angle camera, and a 48-megapixel f/1.7 ultra-wide-angle camera. On the front, it has a 42-megapixel f/2.2 camera for selfies and video chats.
The camera app retains a clean UI, and while most of the other features remain identical to the Pixel 9 camera app features, such as the Pro mode, Palm timer, top shot, guided frame, button shortcuts, rich P3 colour format, Ultra HDR, timer light, and more.
The photos captured outdoors are stunning, delivering vibrant, true-to-life colors that pop without looking overdone. The dynamic range is excellent, balancing highlights and shadows beautifully, while every detail in the shot stands out with remarkable clarity. From the lush greens of trees to the vivid blues of the sky, the colors remain rich, natural, and lifelike—showcasing Google’s classic Pixel camera tuning.
Due to the wider field of view, ultra-wide-angle photos allow you to capture a noticeable amount of scenery in front of you. EDGE distortion could have been handled better, but in terms of detailing and colours, I have no complaints.
Portrait photos are equally impressive, with colours maintaining their natural, lifelike quality. Edge detection is precise, ensuring subjects are perfectly separated from the background. The bokeh effect appears smooth and natural, free from any inconsistencies. Exposure levels are well-balanced, and the sharpness and detailing are spot-on, enhancing the overall quality of the shots.
Compared to the Pixel 9, the 9 Pro has an extra telephoto sensor on the back that shoots detailed zoomed photos. The maximum zoom in is capped at 30x, but even when zooming in that far, the detailing is reasonably retained with good colour composition.
You get optical zoom up to 5x, and up until there, there’s not a noticeable loss in terms of overall quality, and the shots still look impressive. Even if you go further than 5x, as I mentioned, the software does a good job of enhancing the photos for high sharpness.
The camera performs admirably in low-light conditions, managing exposure effectively while preserving a high level of detail. The photo quality is imposing, and even upon zooming in, the finer details remain sharp and easily discernible. Shots clicked under artificial lighting also look outstanding if we talk of colour and details.
With night sight enabled, the exposure is cranked up, but for some reason, the colours look better with night sight disabled, even in low lighting. Also, keep in mind to keep the device stable when clicking with Night sight enabled, as even the slightest movement could blur the shot, as it did in my case. I truly appreciate how well the device captures low-light photos, maintaining clarity with virtually no noise.
Finally, the selfies are far better than the output of the Pixel 9. The Pixel 9 Pro not only shoots detailed selfies but also handles the skin tones impressively. Unlike the Pixel 9 selfies, the HDR doesn’t seem overdone. Overall, the Pixel 9 Pro offers an all-rounded camera experience with nearly nothing to complain about.
