Google’s Pixel 9 series is set to be unveiled soon, on August 13, 2024, but that hasn’t stopped leaks from flooding the internet. News site 91mobiles recently shared marketing material for the smartphone line, revealing plenty of important details.
The design of all three models largely matches the descriptions mentioned in previous reports. According to the screenshots, each smartphone has polished metal sides with a matte back panel. Android Headlines claims that four colors will be available at launch: Rose, Obsidian, Porcelain, and Hazelnut.
Around back is the protruding camera island. And while we’ve known the lens array inside differs from phone to phone for some time now, we now have a better idea of what to expect. The leak claims the standard Pixel 9 only has a 50MP wide-angle camera “and a 48MP ultra-wide camera.” The Pixel 9 Pro and XL house the same pair, but add a 48MP telephoto sensor.
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold also has three lenses, but at reportedly lower resolutions. It houses a 48MP main camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide lens, and a 10.8MP telephoto option. Additionally, the front-facing selfie cameras differ between the four. The Pixel 9 has a 10.5MP camera, the 9 Pro and XL models have a 42MP lens above their displays, and the 9 Pro Fold “will have a 10MP selfie shooter.”
Hardware specifications
Under the hood, each of the Pixel 9 smartphones will be powered by the Tensor G4 chipset; however, the amount of memory will vary. The standard Pixel 9 is said to have 12GB of RAM, while all others can “have up to 16GB of RAM.”
Whether this will translate to a significant performance boost over the Pixel 8’s Tensor G3 remains to be seen. Previous rumors said it would be a “smaller improvement than initially planned,” but others claim it will “deliver 15 percent more performance.” Benchmark tests uncovered last month point to the former being true. The Tensor G4’s results weren’t bad, they just don’t indicate any major improvements over the previous generation.
While resolutions weren't mentioned, the leak implies that all four models may be slightly better than the Pixel 8 series.
Google is sticking with Actua displays, but this time they’re bigger. Both the base phone and the Pixel 9 Pro have a 6.3-inch display, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a 6.8-inch display, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s outer display is a 6.3-inch Actua Front. Opening the foldable reveals a massive 8-inch Super Actua Flex display.
Characteristics
As for the features, Circle to search is back, and so is Gemini. Screenshots show that buyers will receive a free one-year subscription to Gemini Advanced, which is a nice deal.
91mobiles also highlights two key new features. Emergency SOS will protect you from malware and phishing attempts and inform you of nearby fires, floods and more. Then we have Pixel Screenshots, which is referred to as a “watered down” version of Microsoft Recall.
It allows users to save information about an image that they might want to recall later. At first glance, it looks like you'll be able to add text descriptors to images manually, but without more details, we don't know for sure.
We'll have to wait until the next Pixel event on August 13. However, we're at a point where there's very little we don't know about other than getting our hands on these phones. As always, take all the information in this leak with a grain of salt.
Be sure to check out TechRadar's roundup of the best Pixel phones for 2024.
