The google Pixel 9 The Pixel 9 Pro keeps up with the more expensive Pro models, with an identical design and all the key Pro specs included. Should you skip the Pro and get Peony’s Pixel 9? Absolutely not (sorry, Peony, CALL ME!). The Pixel 9 Pro has perks that justify the price and then some. In fact, depending on how much of a Pixel fan you are, the Pixel 9 Pro may even pay for itself.
Before we get to those perks, let's not forget the Pixel 9. It actually has the most important Pro specs, like the same Google Tensor G4 processor. Apple offers its basic features iPhone 15 Last year's chipset, but the iPhone Pro models have more advanced silicon. Google gives every flagship phone the same engine (as does Samsung, to be fair).
The Tensor G4 is designed to run Google’s AI models, and all Pixel 9 phones will receive Android OS updates, security patches, and Pixel feature improvements for the next seven years. That’s a big deal, and adds a lot of long-term value to even the less expensive Pixel 9.
Then there are the cameras, always a key Pixel feature. The Pixel 9 has the exact same main and ultra-wide camera modules as the Pixel 9 Pro. There’s no zoom, but the other two are identical. Not only do they have the same resolution, but the same sensor and lens, too.
Samsung makes the best camera phone you can buy right now, but only its Galaxy S24 Ultra has the best camera specs. The base Galaxy S24 has totally different cameras, and they're not nearly as good.
With the new design, the Pixel 9 looks almost exactly like the Pixel 9 Pro: its dimensions are identical, down to the millimeter. That means it also has room for the same battery inside and charges just as quickly (although the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the really fast charger).
The Pixel 9 Pro's 16GB of RAM will be very important, more on that later
Why pay $200, £200, or AU$350 more for the Pixel 9 Pro when the Pixel 9 has the more important specs? Well, let’s talk about the differences and what those differences will look like in the years to come.
The Pixel 9 Pro has a whopping 16GB of RAM inside, which is more than almost any other smartphone you can buy right now. Google isn’t trying to win a spec war, it’s looking toward the future of AI. Right now, AI is a mishmash of machine learning models that run on the phone, in the cloud, or as a mix of both. That means the phone is doing a lot of work and also multitasking whenever it uses AI — and it’s ALWAYS using AI.
Now, having more RAM is important for performance, but as AI features grow in scope, RAM will be the bottleneck that holds older phones back. It is worth having more RAM on your new Pixel.
The Pixel 9 has the same cameras, not the same software
What about the cameras? The Pixel 9 Pro’s 5X zoom may be worth the price difference between the phones, if you take a lot of photos. The Pixel 9 will be great for selfies, portraits, landscapes, and group photos. If you want to take photos of your kid playing ball or performing on stage, you need zoom. But zoom isn’t the only real advantage of the Pixel 9 Pro’s cameras.
In my testing, the photos I took with the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro looked remarkably similar in terms of color, lighting, and dynamic range. However, the Pro camera does have a Pro mode that lets you produce images at a full 50MP resolution. The Pixel 9 always takes a 12MP photo, which is a great size for sharing, but you can do more with a larger photo if you want to edit it later — and a Pixel is the best phone out there for editing photos, with its unique AI tools.
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More importantly, the Pixel 9 Pro simply made better decisions when I let the camera choose. When I took a close-up photo of a flower, I expected a blurry, bokeh-y background. The Pixel 9 was more likely to switch to a very wide aperture, exposing the entire photo evenly, including the background. The Pixel 9 Pro created better bokeh and made more artistic decisions.
I also noticed a significant difference when working with the Pro's raw photos compared to JPG files when I wanted to edit my photos. Having a larger 50MP raw file (technically a DNG) gave me more raw material (pun intended) for a better final image that looked more like what a real DSLR could produce.
Whether you use AI or not, a year of Google One is important
The Pixel 9 Pro really pays for itself thanks to AI and the cloud. The Pixel 9 has almost all the AI features you'd want from the Pixel 9 Pro, except for some Super Res Video Boost tools in the video camera. You can use Gemini live on the Pixel 9, and Gemini works across all Google apps, just as it does on the Pixel 9 Pro.
Gemini Live isn't free. It's part of the Google One AI Premium plan, which gives you Google Advanced and 2TB of cloud storage. Google One AI Premium Plan It costs $19.99 / £18.99 / AU$32.99 and you get the first month free.
The Pixel 9 Pro comes with a full year of the Google One AI Premium plan for free. If you subscribe to the Premium AI plan, you’ll save $219.89 / £208.89 / AU$362.89 on the first year if you opt for the Pixel 9 Pro. The Pixel 9 Pro is only $200 / £200 / AU$350 more than the Pixel 9.
Will the Google One AI Premium plan keep you entertained for a full year? Maybe not, but getting 2TB of cloud storage is also worth it. The cost to subscribe to Google cloud storage with 2TB of space is $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$19.99 per month, without AI add-ons. I added Google Gemini Advanced, when it became available, to my personal Google cloud storage plan, and I use it frequently for fun and interesting tips.
Whether or not you want all that AI, I highly recommend subscribing to Google Cloud Storage. You can use the 2TB of storage space on Gmail, Google Photos, Google Docs, and backups for your Android phone, both on desktop and mobile devices.
Without the value of a Google One plan, plus the hardware advantages of the Pixel 9 Pro, the Google Pixel 9 just isn’t a good choice. It’s not a good deal to buy one. It’s a beautiful phone, whether you buy the sweet Wintergreen, or the stunning Peony, or one of the boring colors. Sadly, it makes a lot of sense to buy the Pixel 9 Pro instead. Settle for Hazel, the best Pixel 9 Pro color, or maybe Rose Quartz.
I wish Google would give Pixel 9 buyers the same year of Google One AI Premium and Pro camera software options. The Pixel 9 needs that added value. Even if you don’t care about AI, you’re simply missing out on too much if you choose the Pixel 9 over the Pixel 9 Pro.
