Google Pixel 9 Series Debuts With Tensor G4 SoC & Gemini AI

If you thought Google Pixel 9 series leaks were hyped, watch out for the Pixel hardware event and you would say otherwise. Bringing the latest Pixel 9 series to the market, the event was exhilarating with some most-anticipated hardware launches including Pixel Pro 9 XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

We saw a bunch of software and AI upgrades happening as well that could potentially pave the way for Google to become one of the best in the AI business.

Google Debuts Pixel 9 Series with Tensor G4 SoC

The Pixel 9 series made its debut at the Pixel Hardware Event on August 13. The latest family is bigger than ever adding another Pro-series smartphone giving you the option to choose from a 6.3” or a 6.8” Pro variant. 

Talking about the trio, they have upgraded to a rather elegant-looking pill-shaped camera bar at the back housing a dual or triple rear camera setup. The bezels at the front have seen a significant drop in thickness as well taking you closer to an all-in edge-to-edge display. 

A Gorilla Glass Victus 2 takes care of the display providing insane resistance to shatter and scratches. Google is using a 100% recycled aluminum frame to make the Pixel 9 so if you expect titanium or other high-end frames, you are free to browse the competitors.

Pixels have always been strongly associated with excellent camera setup and performance. Luckily, the Pixel 9 series doesn’t put you down even an inch. There’s some distinction between standard and Pro models though.

For starters, all the models sport a 50MP primary shooter and a 48MP ultrawide snapper that can double as Macro Focus. Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL take the lead with an additional (tertiary) 48MP telephoto snapper with 5x optical and 10x optical-like zoom.

Unfortunately, the front camera on-board vanilla Pixel 9 is capped at 10.5MP, but there’s autofocus. On the other hand, both Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL have upgraded to an impressive 42MP shooter with autofocus. Google claims these sensors are 30% more sensitive to light and have a wide 103° FoV. 

Talking about the chip, the devices have a brand-new Tensor G4 SoC paired with 12GB (Pixel 9) and 16GB RAM (Pro duo). We have heard a lot about the processor. Google says G4 SoC unlocks 20% faster web browsing, app launches are 17 percent faster, and more.

The storage capacity on the vanilla variant is 128GB and 256GB while both the Pro’s get up to 1TB of storage. Since there’s no expandable storage support, you need to choose the capacity keeping your usage in mind.

The chipset supports Gemini Nano with multi-modality which is another way of saying it doesn’t just generate texts but also speech, audio, and images. Hence, the Pixel 9 series will support Gemini Live as well as give you access to real-time voice conversations with a chatbot.

Google has added seven years of software updates with the trio (of course). Unfortunately, you will be losing one of the upgrades since the phones arrive with Android 14 instead of Android 15 with no word on when the latter will arrive. But hey, let’s see, these are Pixel devices, so things might play out eventually for these phones in the distant future.

When it comes to the battery, the trio fetches 45W of charging support capable of getting you from 0 to 70% in 30 minutes. We have seen a modest bump in battery capacities as well so that’s 4,700mAh for both Pixel 9 and 9 Pro while the Pro XL gets a slight edge with 5,060mAh. 

Google Pixel 9 Series Specifications

	Pixel 9	Pixel 9 Pro	Pixel 9 Pro XL
Display	6.3” OLED HDR10+ 120Hz with 2,700 nits with 1080×2424 pixels resolution (422 ppi)	6.3” LTPO OLED HDR10+ 120Hz with 3,000 nits with 1280×2856 pixels resolution (495 ppi)	6.8” LTPO OLED HDR10+ 120Hz with 3,000 nits with 1344×2992 pixels resolution (486 ppi)
Processor	Tensor G4 (4nm)
Storage	12GB RAM 128/256GB Storage	16GB RAM 128/256/512GB/1TB
Camera	Front: 10.5MP ultrawide Rear: 50MP dual pixel PDAF with OIS + 48MP ultrawide 123° dual pixel PDAF	Front: 42MP ultrawide Rear: 50MP dual pixel PDAG with OIS + 48MP ultrawide 123° dual pixel PDAF + 48MP telephoto dual pixel PDAF OIS with 5x optical zoom
Battery	4,700mAh Li-ion with 45W wired plus wireless and reverse charging		5,060mAh Li-Ion with 45W wired plus wireless and reverse charging
Features	IP68 dust/water-resistant, Stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 7 tri-band, Bluetooth v5.3, Dual-band GPS, NFC, Type-C 3.2, Satellite SOS, Under-display Fingerprint Scanner

Google Pixel 9 Series Pricing, Colors, and Availability 

The Google Pixel 9 series, unlike the latest iPhones, isn’t overpriced even with a price hike compared to the Pixel 8 series so that’s a relief.

Google Pixel 9 retails for a starting price of $799, Pixel 9 Pro at $999, and Pixel 9 Pro XL at $1,099. Yes, both vanilla Pixel 9 and Pro have seen a $100 price jump while the Pro XL is the entrant and thus, it has no benchmarking price to pit against. 

You get a year of Google One AI Premium plan free of cost that lands you in a heaven of 2TB of cloud storage and unprecedented access to Google Advanced. Call it a win-win and you would lie.

When it comes to the colors, all three phones have Obsidian and Porcelain as common. Pixel 9 gets Wintergreen and Peony while both the Pro models get Rose Quartz and Hazel colorways.