Google’s Pixel 9 Pro XL : Built for AI

Google’s Pixel series has no less than four phones this year, including a foldable. From the line-up, we look at the Pixel 9 Pro XL, the largest of the three candy-bar style phones and the variant that most likely will suit those who tend to use their smartphones to the hilt.

Leaving aside the foldable Pixel phone for its own review, there are two Pro non-foldable models and they share the same features and capabilities but differ in size, battery, weight, screen resolution, and price. The Pro XL is ₹1,24,999 and ₹1,39,999 for 256GB and 512GB versions and the 9 Pro is ₹1,09,990 for a 256GB version.

All Pixel phones have always offered a special and ‘clean’ software experience, free of unsolicited apps and pushy bells and whistles and the latest in Android, which, after all, belongs to Google. In addition, there’s that special Google camera that leads the way in creating sheer magic with software. By now, Android has settled down and matured and the Pixel phones are no longer just a showcase for the newest version. In fact, at launch, Pixel phones were not running Android 15, but 14, with 15 having just arrived. The Pixel devices have instead marched into the AI world with the chatbot Gemini and many other features. Hardware isn’t an afterthought, however, and the Pixels are redesigned.

Signature look

While still remaining unmistakably Pixel-esque, the entire line-up sees something of a design refresh this year. And for the most part people like what they see. Most prominently the camera housing that used to be in a wrap-around bar now doesn’t flow into the edge of the phone but is its own island - and a big one. A good quality case would be a good idea to add to the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection and would keep the camera island from unbalancing the phone.

The new Pixel phones are more sleek and luxuriously flat - like the iPhone - and for the XL, in particular, is smooth with a wonderful feel on the back. The corners have been prominently rounded. Users have described the Pixel 9 phones as being like a piece of chocolate. The colours on the Pixel phones always create a buzz because of the way they are executed with the materials setting off the design. On the 9 Pro XL and 9 Pro, they are Porcelain (sort of white), Obsidian or classic black, Hazel and Rose Quartz. There are no new buttons on the Pixel devices. On the XL, the power button is still quite high up on the right and it’s easy to get confused between that and the volume rocker on what is quite a tall phone. But all in all, it’s still a beautiful phone, in a refreshed way.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s crowning glory is its expansive 6.8 inch display. This is what makes it a good choice for focused busy users who have a lot to do on their device. The screen is an LTPO OLED with an adaptable refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz. It has a resolution of 1344 x 2992 ppi and a peak brightness of 2000 nits, quite sunlight friendly.

The Pixel 9 series phones all run on the Tensor G4 chipset as does, of course, the Pixel 9 Pro XL. It’s supposed to be designed specifically to handle all the AI the Pixels are to be known for. There’s 16GB of RAM to work with, a chunk of which is reserved just for the chatbot Gemini. The storage variant in India starts at 256GB. You also get 2TB of storage on Google for a year.

The Tensor G4 doesn’t have the same benchmark performance as some other top-tier Android flagships and even gets a bit hot when gaming. But it does power the software and AI, which is what it’s tuned to do. Not really meant to be the phone of choice for gamers, the performance on the Pixel 9 Pro’s in any case handles regular phone functions fast and smooth. In fact, there’s a certain buttery smoothness Pixels are known for, and the Pixel 9 Pro delivers on that fluidity.

Introducing Gemini

Gemini is to be found in its own dedicated app, but otherwise is deeply integrated into the phone to deliver smart features all through. You can opt for Gemini to replace your regular Google Assistant. This will be disorienting for those who have already been using Google Assistant actively because functions are currently divided between the two assistants, with Gemini not yet having taken over the more personal tasks. Tapping the mic button in the search bar, for instance and asking Google what’s on your agenda this week, will lead to you being redirected to download an extension, switch to Google Assistant, or go to Calendar. But Gemini is still being developed, so things change ever so often, and in time, Gemini will replace Google Assistant. Another confusing aspect for now is that there is more than one level of Gemini, the Advanced being a paid subscription. New Pixel 9 users get a free trial and Pro users get a year to use it. One more element of confusion is that some features work only with the Workspace or business version. But for now, there’s plenty to explore.

Gemini does one thing better than the regular assistant - it has conversations with you in a natural ‘back-and-forth’ manner. There’s an additional button in its own app that triggers Gemini Live. Once in this mode, you can converse with the chatbot via voice just as if it were a person. You can even interrupt as it speaks and there will be no loss of understanding and context. You can talk about anything at all. Information, advice, ideas - anything. One particularly rewarding experience is if you use Gemini to learn or improve a language. Those who learn French (and there are millions in India who do so) and have no chance to practise conversation and chat any time with Gemini live. Accents are perfect and the pace and style entirely natural, so it’s easy to practise, stopping whenever you like to ask for corrections and feedback in a way that you can’t in actual conversation. Learning a language with the non-live or regular side of Gemini is also amazing as one can get detailed analysis and feedback. An AI doesn’t get tired of explaining and re-explaining or of giving infinite examples. Gemini can be used on many Android phones, as well as on iPhone via the Google Search app available on the App Store.

One use of AI, and not just on Pixel phones, has been to jumpstart creative ideas, make enjoyable images, and so on. The Pixel 9 Pro phones can do this with Gemini, whom you can ask to make whatever image you dream up, but also through a standalone app called Pixel Studio, whose capabilities really should have been just combined with Gemini. There’s also a separate app to help you keep track of information from your screenshots. People often just snap a screenshot to capture a piece of information in a hurry but lose track of it later. The screenshot app can read into the text on screenshots - which are, after all, images - and identify it for you. This too could really have been combined with one of the other apps, perhaps Photos. There’s also the Pixel Weather app, which has been much talked about for its nice intelligent widgets.

Smart cameras

Coming to the cameras, the setup isn’t dramatically different from the previous generation, but there are AI features that make them unique and enjoyable. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has the same 50MP primary camera with a max aperture of ƒ/1.7 and a 48MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom — which is very usable. There’s also a 48MP ultra-wide lens. The front camera is 42MP and gives nice skin tones, good exposure, and overall accurate photographs and greatly improved video.

The AI features are central to Google’s approach to phone photography. It’s difficult to take a photo that is really bad because the software processes the image to get rid of flaws. Some users do believe images from Pixel phones to be over-processed, but for the average user, it works reliably and very well. This is true also of night photography, which Google has worked on since the beginning of the Pixel series. The camera app uses AI driven algorithms to detect scenes and optimise settings, including low light photography, for which noise reduction and enhanced object detail are at work. One of the interesting new features present in the camera app is Add Me, which allows you to take a photo of others and then a second photo to add yourself to the image. You have to be very careful to plan the shot carefully, otherwise you could end up with unfortunate flaws, such as overlapping another person. Executed well, the feature is quite magical. Another amazing feature is the Magic Editor, which can reimagine any part of an image you select. You can, for example, place yourself on the beach by asking the app to change the background. Care is taken not to include identifiable places and people, so no serious damage can be done. It’s something of a gimmick but a very enjoyable one, if you have the time to play around.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is, in fact, overall a truly enjoyable phone, with a lot to explore, especially as new features drop frequently. The operating system has moved on to Android 15, and interesting new capabilities crop up. These, on this expansive screen, are doubly enjoyable to use.