Google Pixel 9 Pro vs. Pixel 8 Pro: Is it time to upgrade?

Google has lastly let the world in on its not-so-well-kept secret: the Google Pixel 9 collection is right here, and all 4 new telephones have one thing to supply. The Google Pixel 9 is the entry level to Google’s newest units, whereas the Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold is Google’s second-generation foldable.

And in the event you purchased the Google Pixel 8 Professional final yr, chances are you’ll marvel if the Google Pixel 9 Professional is well worth the improve. Must you get the smaller Pixel 9 Professional or the bigger Pixel 9 Professional XL? Is there a distinction between all these units moreover the dimensions and a brand new processor? Lastly, in the event you’re coming from an older cellphone or shopping for into the Pixel ecosystem for the primary time, is it value shopping for the Pixel 9 Professional or Pixel 9 Professional XL, or is final yr’s Pixel 8 Professional adequate?

Right here’s how the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL examine to the Pixel 8 Professional.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: specs

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: design and show

The Pixel 9 Professional XL can finest be thought of the substitute for the Pixel 8 Professional, however for the primary time this yr, it has a smaller brother designed for individuals who desire a Professional expertise in a smaller kind issue. Designed to supply alternative without having to sacrifice the core specs, the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL each have the identical specs other than show dimension and battery capacities. As Christine Romero-Chan put it in our Pixel 9 Professional evaluation, it’s the Goldilocks of the Pixel 9 slabs.

The previous has a 6.3-inch Tremendous Actua show, whereas the Pixel 9 Professional XL has a 6.8-inch Tremendous Actua show. In the event you’re contemplating upgrading from the Pixel 8 Professional, you’ll in all probability discover the XL most snug, however in the event you’ve held off on shopping for the 8 Professional as a result of the 6.7-inch show was too massive, you’ll need to take into account the Pixel 9 Professional.

The brand new Tremendous Actua shows are the brightest on a Pixel but, with as much as 2,000 nits HDR and three,000 nits peak brightness. This makes them 25% brighter than the Pixel 8 Professional and among the brightest shows on any cellphone thus far.

One in every of our favourite issues about Pixel telephones is the array of shade choices. Google is aware of find out how to make telephones in engaging colours, particularly in a manner that isn’t garish or cheesy. The Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL each are available 4 trendy colours: Obsidian (aka White), Porcelain (aka Black), Hazel, and Rose Quartz. There’s no follow-up to the unimaginable blue Pixel 8 Professional, however the Rose Quartz shade is a good alternative this yr.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: efficiency and battery

A brand new cellphone means a brand new processor, however there’s no huge change in structure or provider. The Pixel 8 Professional was powered by the Tensor G3, and the Tensor G4 powers the Pixel 9 Professional collection. Recognizing the necessity for added reminiscence, particularly with the AI-first expertise, the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL each additionally include 16GB of RAM (versus 12GB within the Pixel 8 Professional).

The Tensor G4 is designed to carry enhancements in day-to-day duties whereas additionally making certain that each one Pixel 9 units can run Google’s most superior AI modals effectively. Google says the Tensor G4 is the primary processor to run Gemini Nano with multimodality. This implies you’ll get the very best AI efficiency — 45 tokens per second, to be exact — with any of the brand new Pixel 9 collection, and all of them can acknowledge textual content, picture, audio, and speech inputs.

Google isn’t the primary to launch AI options, and it gained’t be the final, however in the event you purchase the Pixel 9 Professional or Professional XL, you’ll get a yr of Gemini Superior without spending a dime (it usually prices $20 per thirty days). Gemini can be the default assistant on all Pixel 9 telephones, though you may change it again to Google Assistant in the event you favor.

The Google Pixel 9 Professional XL technically has a bigger battery (5,060 mAh) than the Pixel 8 Professional (5,050 mAh), however at simply 10mAh larger, it’d as properly be equivalent. The battery life on the Pixel 8 Professional left many individuals with issues, and in our opinions, we discovered that each telephones dwell as much as Google’s promise of 24-hour battery life. In the event you aren’t a heavy consumer, this may be prolonged by half a day.

This yr, Google is considerably bettering the charging of its Professional telephones. The headline is that Google now provides a 45W charging brick, however none of its telephones help the complete velocity. The Pixel 9 Professional is proscribed to 27W, whereas the Pixel 9 Professional XL maxes out at 37W. Each telephones obtain round 50% battery in half-hour, after which take between 60 and 90 minutes to cost to full.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: cameras

The cameras on the Pixel 9 Professional are largely the identical as these on the Pixel 8 Professional, albeit with a number of small tweaks. Which means you get the identical triple digicam system, together with the 50-megapixel large digicam, 48MP ultrawide digicam with Macro Focus, and the 48MP telephoto lens that provides 5x optical zoom.

Google is thought for making magic by pairing AI with glorious digicam {hardware}, and the Pixel 9 Professional provides nice photographs at numerous zoom lengths (together with 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x, and 10x) all with out additional {hardware}. Tremendous Res Zoom — which helps you to zoom as much as 30x — is now additionally out there in video for the primary time.

The front-facing digicam is a great addition from final yr. The Pixel 8 Professional sports activities a ten.5MP ultrawide selfie digicam with an f/2.2 aperture, however the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL have the very best of any Pixel thus far. The brand new 42MP selfie digicam provides 4x the element and presumably can use pixel binning to let in way more mild on the 10.5MP vary. Count on a lot better selfies on the Pixel 9 Professional versus the Pixel 8 Professional.

Google is nothing if not constant in its cameras, and the Pixel 9 collection brings enhancements in all the fitting areas. In our Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL opinions, it’s clear Google has pushed the digicam capabilities of the newer telephones to the restrict, with the Professional often outshining the iPhone 15 Professional. Of specific point out is the energy of the Pixel’s “point-and-shoot” capacity, the place it’ll take constantly great-looking photographs with out the necessity for post-capture edits. The Pixel has all the time been an incredible “shoot-and-forget” digicam, however the newer telephones push that to a fair increased stage.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: software program and updates

In the event you’re a Google Pixel fan, you will have observed that this yr’s launch is early — a lot sooner than ever earlier than.

Earlier launches befell in October, so the Pixel collection was the primary to run the newest Android OS, however this yr’s launch is simply too early for that. Android 15 remains to be in beta, and the Pixel 9 collection gained’t launch with Android 15 out of the field. As an alternative, there’s Android 14 out of the field, with a future replace to Android 15 set to reach when it’s out there.

It’s unclear whether or not this improve to Android 15 will rely as one of many seven assured model updates. Nonetheless, Google is promising 7/7/7 as its replace schedule: seven years of updates, seven years of safety updates, and 7 years of Pixel function drops. This implies it needs to be supported till August 2031, whereas the Pixel 8 Professional will probably be supported till October 2030. With this yr’s launch timing, nonetheless, each telephones ought to technically finish with the identical Android model.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: AI options

As you would possibly anticipate, the brand new Pixel 9 collection debuts many AI options. A few of these might come to the Pixel 8 Professional in future Drops, but it surely’s unclear which of them and whether or not some might require the Tensor G4. Google understands find out how to make magic with software program, and a few of these options might be simply as transformative as Magic Eraser was three years in the past.

Add Me will doubtless be essentially the most used of those new options because it solves one of many largest issues: find out how to take a photograph together with your good friend that isn’t a selfie. Certain, you may ask a random stranger, or you may simply depend on Google. Add Me works by taking two photographs — one with you and one together with your good friend — after which stitching them collectively. It’s a chic resolution to a really actual drawback and one which’s prone to delight many individuals.

Magic Eraser can be getting a small replace within the type of Auto Body. Magic Eraser can now recompose a photograph to enhance the composition of a photograph, and you can too sort a immediate to generate new objects and add them to the photograph. There are additionally AI-powered enhancements to Video Increase, which may apply HDR+ at any zoom stage and may upscale to 8K, though the latter is proscribed to only the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL.

One new addition that’s significantly helpful is the Pixel Screenshots app. We’ve all taken screenshots of essential info — akin to house codes or Wi-Fi passwords — solely to by no means be capable to discover these screenshots later. Now, screenshots go into the devoted app, and you may simply ask Gemini that will help you discover them by offering particulars.

For instance, ask Gemini on your house codes, and it’ll move your request on to the Pixel Screenshots app. The app will floor the codes and present you the corresponding screenshots. It’s surprisingly neat and needs to be fairly useful for almost anybody.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: value and availability

The Pixel 8 Professional began at $999 and got here with 12GB of RAM alongside 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage. The Pixel 9 Professional begins on the identical value with the identical storage choices, whereas the Pixel 9 Professional XL is $100 extra. Each of the Pixel 9 collection telephones include 16GB of RAM.

Basically, this implies the Pixel 9 Professional XL — which is essentially the most related in dimension to the Pixel 8 Professional — is barely costlier this yr. Very like the value enhance for the Galaxy Z Fold 6, it’s exhausting to really justify this, though at the very least the Pixel 9 Professional is extra of an improve than Samsung’s newest foldable.

The Pixel 9 Professional XL is now out there extensively at retailers, with lots of the finest Pixel offers nonetheless out there. The Pixel 9 Professional launches on September 4, with many pre-order offers nonetheless out there.

Google Pixel 9 Professional vs. Pixel 8 Professional: verdict

Must you improve from the Pixel 8 Professional to the Pixel 9 Professional or the Pixel 9 Professional XL, or do you have to purchase the Pixel 8 Professional as an alternative of both of the brand new units? The reply depends upon what you’re searching for. There’s a powerful probability you can snag an incredible Pixel 8 Professional deal, which remains to be a wonderful buy.

For most individuals, the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL are the telephones to purchase. The enhancements are all in the fitting areas, and a yr of Gemini Superior (value $240) makes both a compelling buy over the Pixel 8 Professional. The Tensor G4 is performing properly up to now, the rise in RAM makes all of the distinction, and the result’s two telephones with common reward.

If you need a smaller cellphone that doesn’t compromise on the Professional options, get the Google Pixel 9 Professional. If you need the superb Professional expertise, however with a bigger display that’s almost equivalent in dimension to the Pixel 8 Professional, get the Pixel 9 Professional XL.

In the event you’re at the moment holding on to a Pixel 8 Professional, your resolution is a bit totally different. In case your Pixel 8 Professional remains to be working properly and also you don’t have any points with it, the Pixel 9 Professional (or the 9 Professional XL) is unlikely to be a revolutionary improve for you. The upgraded specs are actually good, however in addition they aren’t life-changing. In the event you like your Pixel 8 Professional simply fantastic, go forward and maintain on to it. However when you’ve got additional money to burn and like having the latest and shiniest cellphone, the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL gained’t go away you disillusioned.