The big day for Google in terms of hardware wasn’t last week when it introduced the Google TV Streamer, it happened today at the Made by Google event: the new smartphone family has just seen the light of day. And the plural has never been more inclusive: nothing more, nothing less four new mobile phones; The crown jewels are where the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Google Pixel 9 Pro XL shine. They lead the way.

The new foldable mobile, the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold; the new smartwatch, the Google Pixel Watch 3; the new headphones, the Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 and the three new “normal” phones, the Google Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro XL. How many devices did Google bring to cross the August equator, right? It will still be a while before Android 15 sees the light, that was the only thing we were missing.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and Google Pixel 9 Pro XL technical specifications

New design, new processor, and more AI everywhere

The design of the new smartphone family unfortunately favors right-angled edges for those of us who prefer softened edges (the edges look soft). The hand-scratching style that Apple recaptured for its iPhone eventually spread to the majority of Android manufacturers. And Google fell for it too; although it had already defined its charisma with its familiar rear photo module, this time it is oval and without growth on the back edges.

The heart of the Google Pixel 9 Pro and Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is the new Google Tensor 4, an evolution of last year’s Google Tensor 3 that remains in the 4nm manufacturing process. The increases in power and AI capabilities allow the new Pros to retain Gemini Nano as the onboard language model. The Google Pixel 9 Pro also includes 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM with up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage as standard.

The screen is one aspect where the two brothers see differences, as the diagonal shows the size of each: 6.34 inches on the Google Pixel 9 Pro and 6.73 inches on the Pixel 9 ProMaximum brightness hits 2,000 nits, the panel is LTPO OLED with a maximum refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and both have a punch-hole cutout at the top for the 42-megapixel selfie camera — a significant jump over the Google Pixel 8 Pro’s 10.5-megapixel front-facing camera.

The two high-end models have a triple rear camera, very similar to the 2023 Pro, housed in the aforementioned oval module that now separates from the sides of the phone. Google is making a bet 50 megapixel sensor as main the one with a mechanically stabilized lens (OIS). The rest of the cameras are 48 megapixels: the usual wide angle and a telephoto with 5x optical zoom and OIS.

Google is continuing the seven years of major Android updates that it has released with the Google Pixel 8, but there is a downside: since all Pixel 9s arrive on the market with Android 14 and not Android 15, they will receive the same number of versions as their siblings from last year. Not a very advantageous move for recent smartphones.

Beyond the software, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL offer an ultrasonic fingerprint reader under the display. 4,700 mAh battery on Pro and 5,060 mAh battery on Pro XLIt has stereo speakers, IP68 certification, and Corning Gorilla Glass 2 for the display.

Google Pixel 9 Pro and Google Pixel 9 Pro XL price and availability

The two phones are available to reserve starting today on the Google Spain store (and other Pixel markets). Those who purchase either model will receive a one-year Gemini Advanced subscription with 2TB of space on Google One. The starting prices for both models are as follows:

• Google Pixel 9 Pro 16/256 GB.1,099 euros.
• Google Pixel 9 Pro XL 16/256 GB.1,199 euros.

Cover image | Google

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