Google launches four new Pixel 9 phones but all it wants to talk about is AI

Google’s annual hardware event has been bounteous on the hardware front, but the company’s focus remains on AI, rather than hardware. “We’re infusing AI into everything we do”, says Google as the company leads the charge into an AI-defined future. Samsung has been doing the same with Galaxy AI and it’s only because Apple is behind the curve that we’ve not yet seen whether talk of Apple Intelligence is going to dominate the next iPhone launch.

Let’s not shy away from the huge hardware dump that Google just delivered, however. Only a week ago Google dropped a new streaming device and Nest Thermostat. Now we have the Pixel 9 family, a new Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds Pro get a refresh too. Underlining everything is Google’s AI Gemini.

Introducing the Pixel 9, powered by Gemini

The Pixel 9 family is made up of the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. There are two families of devices here – the Pixel 9 (from £799) all on its lonesome and the Pixel 9 Pro, where there are three devices.

New to the Pixel Pro family is a smaller model. The Pixel 9 Pro (from £999) is a 6.3-inch device this time around, but it has the same specs (apart from screen size and battery capacity) as the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The XL (from £1099) is a 6.8-inch device so effectively a replacement for the Pixel 8 Pro.

Although the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is bundled into the same family, there’s some disparity in the offering, which I’ll explain later.

Google is finally making its move with Gemini, which now comes as standard as the AI assistant. Google Assistant seems to have been retired, although for those who have used Gemini already, you’ll have noticed that Gemini will often refer to “Assistant” when performing some tasks, like adjusting the volume on your device.

What new hardware is on the Pixel 9 phones?

All the Pixel 9 phones are powered by Google Tensor G4. Google says this is its most efficient chip so far “designed by Google DeepMind”, while the new hardware is designed to run “Gemini Nano with Multimodality”. That means it can understand more than just written text, able to contextually understand images and audio.

The phones all get a RAM boost to support AI, with 12GB in the Pixel 9 and 16GB in the Pro models, but Tensor 4 is said to be 17 per cent faster for app launching and 20 per cent faster for web browsing, all while offering greater battery efficiency.

There are brighter displays too. The Pixel 9 Pro models get boosted to a 3000 nit peak brightness, while even the Pixel 9 can reach a 2700 nit peak, which should be great for delivering HDR images.

There’s a new design, of course, with a new camera bar across the back, so these phones have a fresh new look – but it’s still distinctly Pixel.

What’s new in the Pixel 9 camera?

Ask anyone what’s special about the Pixel phones and the immediate answer will be the camera. For a long time there’s been talk about “computational photography” – it’s always been a favoured expression I’ve heard when talking to Google about its phones. But in introducing the new phones, I caught reference to “AI-powered full stack camera experience”.

The main camera remains 50-megapixels, with a 48-megapixel ultrawide and these exact same cameras are on all the phones except the Fold. The Pixel 9 Pro then goes on to offer a 48-megapixel telephoto camera, with 5x optical zoom, which is the same as the Pixel 8 Pro previously.

It’s all change for the selfie cameras, with the Pro models getting a 42-megapixel front camera, while the Pixel 9 gets an upgrade to a 10.5-megapixel camera with autofocus to help you look sharp.

But despite the hardware being mostly the same, Google is saying that this is a new “imaging pipeline”, designed to make photos look even better. There’s a new panorama mode that works in low light, while there are new AI features too.

With Magic Editor now old news, it’s likely to be Add Me that’s gets the attention. This AI feature will remove the problem of someone always being missing from group shots (the photographer). Add Me will guide you through taking your shot, so you can swap photographers halfway through. It will essentially give you a double exposure, allowing everyone to get in that photo.

Magic Editor does have new skills, allowing you to reframe a shot with generative AI filling in the gaps, while “reimagine” will allow you to type what you want to add, and it will appear in your photo, like magic.

Video also gets a bump with 8K capture now supported.

A redesigned Pixel Fold

The new Pixel 9 Pro Fold is thinner and lighter, now opening flat which the previous model never did. The weight drops to 257g, compared to 283g of the previous model. But it also runs on Tensor G4, so this phone now has power parity with the other Pixel models it launches alongside.

The displays are larger, with a 6.3-inch cover screen with 20:9 aspect, so it’s very much like a normal phone. The internal display is 8 inches, but gets an 80 per cent brightness bump. The folding display bezel has been reduced a bit, but it’s still pretty thick compared to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.

There are some tweaks to the cameras, but it’s a different selection of hardware compared to the other Pixel 9 phones. You still get the 5x optical zoom, however, along with all the AI features. It still costs a massive £1749.

AI seeps in everywhere, but do you actually want it?

Aside from everything already mentioned, those who get the Pixel 9 Pro models will also find Gemini Live. This is designed to be a more free-flowing conversational version of Gemini – while Google’s subscription offering Gemini Advanced will be free for a year. Gemini Advanced allows access to Gemini across more apps (like Gmail and Docs), uses a more advanced Gemini model and gives you 2TB of storage.

Even without a subscription you’ll be able to create images on your phone thanks to Pixel Studio and these can be easily added to other apps for sharing. Talking of sharing, Gemini will keep track of your screenshots and be able to recall information from within them – be that phone numbers or booking references, so you don’t have go scanning to find things.

AI is also being used to boost call quality and there will be a Call Notes feature that can summarise your call once you’ve finished – the list goes on.

With Google positioning its new phones as AI first, the results remain to be seen. AI still remains a contentious topic, with a lot of hot air being blown around as brands jump on the bandwagon. Time will tell if the Pixel 9 phones – imbued with Gemini – are a step forward, or a gimmick.