Google Pixel 9 review: a good phone overshadowed by great ones ...
Google’s cheapest Pixel 9 offers almost everything that makes its top-flight sibling one of the best smaller phones available, cutting a few key ingredients to price match Apple and Samsung.
The Pixel 9 costs £799 (€899/$799/A$1,349) shaving £200 off the asking price of the stellar Pixel 9 Pro while sitting above the excellent value sub-£500 Pixel 8a from May. That pits the new Pixel directly against Apple’s new iPhone 16 and Samsung’s Galaxy S24.
Design and Display
The Pixel 9 is identical in size and shape to the 9 Pro with matt aluminium sides and glass front and back. It has the same bold camera design on the back and a similar good-looking 6.3in OLED screen on the front. The display is not quite as sharp or bright as the 9 Pro, but the difference is minor.
Performance and Battery
Inside it has the same Tensor G4 chip with at least 128GB of storage, but less RAM with only 12GB not the 16GB of its more expensive sibling. In day-to-day usage the difference is not noticeable and does not hold the Pixel 9 back in apps or AI for now. The battery lasts about two days between charges and fully charges in just over 80 minutes using a 27W or greater USB-C charger.
Software and Features
The Pixel ships with Android 14 and seven years of software support including an upgrade to Android 15 in the autumn, making it one of the longest-lasting phones on the market. The Pixel 9 also runs Google’s latest Gemini Nano AI models.
Camera
The Pixel 9 has the same 50-megapixel main and 48MP ultrawide cameras as the Pixel 9 Pro, but lacks a telephoto zoom camera and some of the high-end features. Photos from the main camera are great across a range of lighting conditions. The ultrawide is pretty good too, and has a fun macrophotography feature for closeup shots. The main camera can zoom in on the sensor for a 2x magnification, but relies on digital zoom to go further.
Pros and Cons
Pros: seven years of software updates, great camera, good screen, good battery life, recycled aluminium, impressive local and generative AI features, fast fingerprint and face recognition.
Cons: no zoom camera, face unlock option not as secure as Face ID, raw performance short of best-in-class, not good enough value.
The Pixel 9 is undoubtedly the best non-Pro flagship phone Google has made. It has a good balance of premium looks and features, shaving a bit off the cost of its top-tier phone of the same size. However, without a telephoto camera and the best AI features, which are limited to the more expensive 9 Pro series, the standard Pixel 9 is just a bit too close to the much better value Pixel 8a in features and capabilities.
That leaves it in a difficult spot. If the £999 Pixel 9 Pro blows the budget, then £800 for the Pixel 9 is still a lot to spend when you can get 80% of the experience for just over half the cost with a £419 Pixel 8a. The Pixel 9 is therefore a good phone that is overshadowed by better Google phones at both ends of the spectrum. It might be worth waiting for a sale to make the price more tempting.
