The Google Pixel 9 (starting at $799) is a compact, well-balanced Android phone that brings an appealing design and advanced AI features to a broad audience. It shares many features with the Pixel 9 Pro ($999 and up), which means it has high-quality hardware, rock-solid performance, excellent cameras, and good battery life. It also promises the same seven-year software support window and includes most of the Pro's Gemini AI tricks. We wish Gemini was more fully developed at launch, but its abilities are still impressive compared with the competition. For $799, the Google Pixel 9 is an excellent value and the best mainstream Android phone for most people, earning it our Editor's Choice award.
Hands On With the Google Pixel 9
Design: On Par With Pricier Pro Models
The Pixel 9 shares much of its design language with the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro XL (starting at $1,099), meaning it's a rectangular slab with rounded corners. Measuring 6.0 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighing 7.0 ounces, it has the same dimensions and weight as the 9 Pro. For comparison, the Apple iPhone 15 ($799) measures 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches and weighs 6.02 ounces, while the Samsung Galaxy S24 ($799) comes in at 5.8 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches and 5.93 ounces. The Pixel 9 may be relatively heavy, but it feels comfortable and balanced in the hand.
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covers the 6.3-inch display and the rear panel. This isn't the absolute latest glass from Corning, but Victus 2 is good at resisting scratches and shattering and is the same material that protects the Galaxy S24. For additional durability, the Pixel 9 is rated IP68, meaning it can withstand dust and water. The iPhone 15, Galaxy S24, and Pixel 9 Pro share the same rating.
The outer frame is made of aluminum and features a matte finish in a color that matches the glossy back panel. A power button and volume rocker are on the right side. The buttons feel slightly stiff and have a shallow amount of travel. A down-firing speaker, USB-C (v3.2) port, and SIM card tray are embedded in the bottom edge. The Pixel 9 can support up to two SIM cards: one physical and one eSIM. This is the same as competing phones from Apple and Samsung.
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For biometrics, the Pixel 9 features an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and secure Face Unlock. The ultrasonic sensor is 50% faster than previous models, according to Google. In testing, it proved quick and reliable. Face Unlock works well and is secure enough to use with banking and financial apps.
The Pixel 9 is available in four colors: Obsidian (black), Peony (pinkish), Porcelain (white), or Wintergreen. I enjoy the latter two color options because they bring a bit of whimsy. The Wintergreen model I tested quickly earned the nickname "Greeny" around my home.
What's the difference between the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro? The Pro has an extra camera, more memory, more storage options, more AI tools, and different color options for $200 more. The Pro XL surpasses both in price, size, and battery life, but otherwise mirrors the feature set of the Pro.
Display: Sharp, Bright, and Fast
The Pixel 9 has a 6.3-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2,424 by 1,080 pixels at a density of 422ppi and a refresh rate that ranges from 60Hz to 120Hz. The screen is a hair larger and sharper than the Pixel 8's 6.2-inch, 2,400-by-1,080-pixel panel, though they share the same refresh rate. The 9 Pro has the same-sized screen, but it ups the resolution to 2,856 by 1,280 pixels for a higher pixel density of 495ppi. For comparison, the iPhone 15 has a 6.1-inch display with a resolution of 2,556 by 1,179 pixels and a fixed refresh rate of 60Hz, and the Galaxy S24 has a 6.1-inch panel with 2,340 by 1,080 pixels and a variable refresh rate ranging from 1Hz to 120Hz, which allows it to preserve battery life.
In terms of brightness, the Pixel 9 reaches 1,800 nits for HDR content and 2,700 nits at its peak. Virtually every time I needed to use the screen outside, the display was more than bright enough to frame photos or use apps without having to seek shade. It's brighter than the iPhone 15, which can reach 2,000 nits, and the Galaxy S24, which reaches 2,600 nits.
Performance: Plenty of Power for the Price
The Pixel 9 is powered by the Google-designed Tensor G4 processor, the same as the 9 Pro. It features 12GB of RAM and only two storage options: 128GB ($799) or 256GB ($899). The 9 Pro is available with 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.
Historically, Tensor chips do not fare well on artificial benchmarks since they are optimized for AI and machine learning applications. Google says the G4 makes app launches 17% faster and web browsing up to 20% quicker than last year's Pixels. Anecdotally, opening apps and browsing the web were plenty fast in testing.
The Pixel 9 wouldn't install Geekbench 6 via the Google Play Store, and sideloading didn't work either. However, I was able to successfully sideload PCMark and GFXBench.
In the PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark, which measures how well devices handle everyday productivity tasks, the Pixel 9 scored 10,648. This is a decent improvement on the Pixel 8's score of 9,959, but not as high as the Pixel 9 Pro XL's 12,634. The Galaxy S24, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, easily came out on top with 17,399.
On the GFXBench Aztec Ruins test, which gauges gaming performance, the Pixel 9 produced 60 frames per second (fps) at a resolution of 2,282 by 1,017 pixels, a notable improvement over the Pixel 8 (49fps). The Galaxy S24 still handily beat both at 85fps.
To further test performance, I played the resource-intensive Genshin Impact. At the highest graphics settings and a frame rate of 60fps, the Pixel 9 produced smooth animations and sharp graphics. The back of the phone neared lukewarm temperatures but remained comfortable to the touch.
Battery Life: A Step Up From the Pixel 8
The Pixel 9 packs a 4,700mAh battery, which is a little bigger than the Pixel 8's 4,575mAh cell and the same as the Pixel 9 Pro. In our battery test, in which we stream a full HD video over Wi-Fi while the screen is set to full brightness, the Pixel 9 lasted 11 hours and 45 minutes. This is a small but appreciated improvement over the Pixel 8's 10hours and 20 minutes, though it falls an hour short of the larger Pixel 9 Pro XL and far short of the iPhone 15 (16 hours) and Galaxy S24 (13 hours, 5 minutes).
Wired and wireless charging capabilities are unchanged compared with the Pixel 8. Wired charging maxes out at 27W, and no charger is included with any Pixel 9 device. Wireless charging peaks at 15W using the second-generation Pixel Stand and up to 12W using a standard Qi charger. The Pixel 9 is also capable of reverse wireless charging. For comparison, the iPhone 15 tops out at 20W when charging via cable, and the Galaxy S24 maxes out at 25W.
Recharging from 0% to 100% took approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes in testing. Plugging in for 15 minutes brought the Pixel 9 to 29%, while 30 minutes yielded a 50% charge.
Connectivity: Quick Wireless Speeds
All three Pixel 9 phones support 5G (sub-6GHz and mmWave), Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, and NFC.
On T-Moblie's 5G UC Network in New York City, the Pixel 9 reached speeds of 657Mbps down and 92.3Mbps up. A Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 running on the same network in the same location fared a little slower at 552Mbps down and 39.6Mbps up.
When tested on a Wi-Fi 6 router, the Pixel 9 hit 482Mbps down and 16.4Mbps up, better than the Z Fold 6's speeds of 380Mbps down and 15.6Mbps up. Taking the devices to the edge of the Wi-Fi network's coverage area, the Pixel 9 maintained a strong connection and hit 395Mbps down and 14.8Mbps up. The Z Fold 6 pulled in respectable numbers as well, with a download speed of 335Mbps and an upload speed of 15.6Mbps.
Call quality is decent. In a test recording, my voice was slightly muffled but still clear enough to understand. When I played loud music in the background, the Pixel 9 did an excellent job of rejecting and removing the noise; my voice sounded the same as it did before the music started, and the background music was only audible for a brief moment. The speakerphone gets quite loud, reaching 82.5dB in testing. Meanwhile, the earpiece speaker hit a high of 82.1dB. I find volumes around or above 70dB easy to hear, even with moderate background noise; the Pixel 9 does a great job here.
When I played music through the phone's stereo speakers, I recorded a high of 97.2dB, which is pretty loud. Low bass notes like those in The Knife's "Silent Shout" are difficult to hear. I recommend a good pair of Bluetooth headphones for fuller sound.
Cameras: Top-Notch Hardware and Software
The Google Pixel 9 features two rear cameras: a 50MP main shooter at f/1.68 and an 82-degree field of view with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a 48MP ultra-wide camera at f/1.7 and a 123-degree field of view. These two cameras are also found on the Pro models, though the Pixel 9 has a single-zone laser detect autofocus (LDAF) sensor while the Pro features a multi-zone LDAF sensor. Final images produced by the rear cameras are at 12.5MP with no option to take advantage of the full resolution. The Pixel 9 Pro models, conversely, can take full-resolution shots.
The images produced by the main camera are highly detailed and have colors that are closer to reality than previous models. Shadowy areas are rendered slightly darker than they appeared in real life.
The 48MP ultra-wide pictures share the same qualities as the main camera: realistic color paired with darker shadows. Distortion correction is applied to the edges of the frame and does a good job of straightening out curved lines of inanimate objects.
The Pixel 9 Pro models have an additional telephoto camera, which gives them more reach to shoot objects far away.
For selfies, the Pixel 9 uses a 10.5MP f/2.2 camera like the Pixel 8. These images contain nearly true-to-life colors and capture fine details. Portrait mode still has issues with clear items like glasses, but otherwise works well.
Low-light photography is impressive. Images taken in a nearly pitch-black room featured accurate (but splotchy) colors.
Video capture tops out at 4K60 for both the rear and front cameras. Optical image stabilization ensures video taken by the rear cameras is smooth, though it retains more movement than I would have liked. The colors are vibrant, with details nicely preserved across the frame. The front-facing camera doesn't have OIS and its video is a bit on the shaky side. Otherwise, the color and detail match the rear camera.
The Pixel 9 and 9 Pro share many of the same AI-enhanced photography tools. For an in-depth look at each feature, check out our Pixel 9 Pro XL review. Here, I'll provide a general overview.
Google's AI photography wizardry can already fix blurry images and even replace faces in a group shot so everyone looks good. New for the Pixel 9 is Add Me, which allows the photographer to join a group photo. The Add Me feature is found in the Camera app and provides detailed instructions to make sure whoever has the camera knows what to do. The resulting combined photos can look realistic or silly, depending on you, but the feature works, as you can see below.
Magic Editor also has a few new tricks. Auto Frame takes an image and reframes it to create a better composition. Sometimes, it zooms in, and other times, it zooms out with AI filling in areas that weren't photographed. This feature works great when you zoom in. Zooming out leads to mostly realistic results, though sometimes AI weirdness is visible, like in the sample below.
Reimagine is also found in Magic Editor and lets you enter a prompt to change the original image. In the example below, I changed my background by telling the phone that I wanted to have realistic dragons in it (yes, I reimagined dragons).
The Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL have these same camera features, though Google will upgrade 4K60 video to 8K30 with its Video Boost tool once you upload footage to Google Photos.
Software: Gemini AI
The Pixel 9 runs Android 14, and Google promises seven years of OS updates, security fixes, and feature drops. This policy matches Samsung's for the Galaxy S24. It's a headscratcher, though, that the phone doesn't ship with Android 15, which is nearly ready for release.
Gemini is the default voice assistant on the Pixel 9, though you can switch back to Google Assistant if you wish. When online, Gemini can use extensions to work with Assistant and other apps. However, Gemini cannot function without an internet connection. Asking it to do something like open Settings is impossible offline, though this is something Google Assistant can do online or offline. Gemini also saves your conversation sessions in a list with autogenerated titles that are accessible through its app, but the app lacks a search function. Gemini can be truly helpful when it works, but it can also be frustrating when it does not.
A couple of new apps are preinstalled on the Pixel 9: Pixel Studio and Pixel Screenshots. Pixel Studio allows you to generate images in various styles through a prompt. Below is an example of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in anime style and a photorealistic room full of guitars. Pixel Studio will not draw realistic humans, but you can prompt it to create humanoids.
Pixel Screenshots is a home for all your screenshots with a search field on the bottom. Google analyzes your screenshots in the background and generates captions that are attached to the corresponding image. It's a little rough in places, as you cannot select multiple images at once to create a Collection. However, it's useful when you need to find a screenshot you know you took. Screenshots still appear in Google Photos, as well.
Gemini Live allows you to have an ongoing conversation with Gemini via voice. Live works pretty well when it comes to conversing, though it does not handle interruptions as well as the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Gemini Live also cannot use extensions, meaning it cannot control smart home devices or show maps. This means that capabilities vary depending on which assistant you use, which can be frustrating.
Gemini Live is a feature of Gemini Advanced, which is behind a paywall and costs $19.99 per month. There is no annual plan option, and Gemini Advanced cannot be added to any other Google One plan, which is disappointing. Pixel 9 Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold buyers receive one year of Gemini Advanced for free, but Google Pixel 9 buyers do not.
Verdict: The Best Android Phone for Most People
The Pixel 9 is easy to recommend to anyone looking for an Android phone. We especially like its high-quality build, outstanding cameras, bright display, and Google’s seven-year software support window. At $799, Gemini AI's current shortcomings are more palatable here than they are on the pricier Pixel Pro models, and while there's still some work to do, there's no denying Google is already way ahead of the game. For the highest-end Android experience, we recommend Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra for its S Pen stylus and unrivaled productivity prowess. But for $500 less, most people will be very happy with the Pixel 9, and it should only get better with time as Google improves its AI capabilities. That makes it the Pixel we recommend the most and our Editors' Choice for mainstream Android phones.
The Pixel 9 combines thoughtful design, solid performance, and outstanding cameras in a compact Android phone enhanced by Google's burgeoning Gemini AI.
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