Pixel 9 Pro XL review: Brilliance behind the AI [Video]

Starting early can be a risky move, but Google’s out-of-sync launch pushes the Pixel 9 Pro XL into the spotlight before Apple. Here’s what it’s like to live with it.

Having jumped straight from the Pixel 9 Pro to the 9 Pro XL, it’s been an interesting transition. For all intents and purposes, if you’ve already seen the smaller Pro, then the XL offers a bigger, bolder experience with a few added perks.

On that note, check out Abner’s in-depth review of the Pixel 9 Pro with a section dedicated to the full AI suite. We’re diving deeper into the hardware here, as features are identical across the Pro tier. It echoes many of my sentiments, while also providing more insight into what the smaller phone has to offer.

Design and finishing

Google barely hinted at the hardware changes at the launch event, and that seems a little shortsighted to me because the shiny new skin is such an unexpected breath of fresh air. Maybe I wanted to hate the boxy shape because I love the Pixel 8 Pro’s soft curves. Instead, I’m—hyperbole aside—stunned by how much I like the updated size, shape, and feel in the hand.

It’s toned, firm, and beautifully flat on all sides. I’ll pour one for the camera bar, but at least it survives in the lump of the floating back plate. Fat trimmed and corners folded. It’s still “Pixel” out of the box, but with consideration for the overall future aesthetic.

The display is nearly as good as the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it falls short due to the Samsung phone’s anti-glare coating. This beautiful, color-accurate screen enhances the content you interact with and consume on it.

I’ve never hidden my love for seamless bezels. They’re just the icing on the cake. The only downside is that you have to deal with a larger, lower display notch. Like all notches, this one blends into the background and doesn’t detract from the quality of the panel.

Teardowns have shown that the haptic motors have moved to a new location under the display, and I think I’m going to be bold and say that I actually think haptics have finally surpassed the iPhone for the first time. I’m in love with every vibration-based interaction.

Unlocks are faster than ever, thanks to the ultrasonic scanner. Out of habit or just for peace of mind, I registered my thumb a couple of times on each hand. It helped a lot when I used a screen protector, and I recommend doing so if you want additional screen protection.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s speakers deliver a nice amount of punch, so if you want to watch a video or listen to a podcast without speakers or headphones, you’re good to go.

G4 Tensor

People who are truly invested in tech are more likely to complain about the lack of inherent power in Tensor chipsets. I agree, to a point. At over $1,000, we shouldn’t hide the fact that Google is falling behind and isn’t releasing smartphones with comparable power to its competitors.

But here’s the thing: I don’t mind, and most people simply won’t notice or will never realize that the latest Galaxy phone has a much more powerful processor.

At the moment, there is virtually no perceptible difference between the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 series because of how the Tensor SoC has been tuned and improved. This is a great thing in some ways, as it is consistent from year to year.

Everything I tend to do on a modern smartphone is snappy and precise, but to play devil’s advocate, I don’t think you should have to compromise like someone who spends a significant amount of money on a brand new phone. The lack of UFS 4.0 storage is a particular sore point, in my opinion. Adopting the latest flash storage would be a no-brainer to address any immediate performance hit.

Those complaints aside, when using the Pixel 9 Pro XL, Google’s annoying or stubborn decisions aren’t particularly noticeable issues. The company shouldn’t hide behind software refinements, though. You shouldn’t have to compromise at this price, which, let’s not forget, has increased year over year and is now $1,100.

I hate to talk about gaming, but it just doesn’t feel that smooth here over a prolonged period. On the other hand, you probably won’t be looking at this phone anyway if you’re a hardcore mobile gamer. I prefer my Steam Deck for gaming on the go and maybe some Gameboy emulators on my Pixel, which work flawlessly.

If you try to push the Pixel 9 Pro XL, it shouldn’t overheat unless it’s pushed to the limit this year. The vapor chamber is clearly working because the back of the phone gets warm to the touch rather than containing all the heat in one area, which reduces performance. This only happened when I shot a lot of 4K video at 60fps on a sunny day. Unlike the 7 Pro and 8 Pro, I didn’t notice any thermal throttling when I did this.

Cellular connectivity was not an issue for me on the previous two generations. On the downside, I recently switched cellular providers and have slightly worse service where I live, so I can’t say for sure if the new Exynos modem has fixed any issues you may be having. For what it’s worth, I haven’t had any dropped connections or inconsistent service.

No Android 15, no party

Not having the latest OS with the latest Pixel is something I have come to terms with, but perhaps this sets a precedent. In recent years, Google has tried to decouple or untangle OS updates and instead provide meaningful changes with app and Google Play Service updates. A great example of this is Quick Share.

If Gemini is the future, then perhaps we’ll get updates to our Assistant and improved cloud-based features, rather than complete remakes of Android, and in a way I can live with that.

Android 14 is virtually identical to the build we’ve been using on our phones for almost a year. Thanks to QPR updates and improvements, it’s now even more refined.

I have a bone to pick with Google regarding some of the added features. We need to get away from geo-restrictions on specific features. Amazing features like Satellite SOS are only available in the US, which is a toss-up for those of us in the rest of the world. I would like to at least have that as part of the security features.

Gemini and AI Stack

All the hype around Gemini and AI features makes the updated Assistant experience feel a little weird. In context, Gemini is great. In practice, it’s missing a lot of basic functionality. For example, it’s annoying when you ask Gemini to do things that Assistant is capable of and get a mushy response or nothing useful. I don’t doubt this will improve over time, but Gemini should be ready for primetime.

Without getting too deep and retracing old tracks, check out Abner’s full review of the AI ​​stack in his Pixel 9 Pro review. Despite the controversy surrounding Reimagine, more guides are being added every day. This probably should have been done before launch, but now the genie is out of the bottle.

This is the most advanced AI phone, for better or worse.

Camera

Ah, the Pixel camera. A favorite aspect of any Google phone, but also one that I sometimes feel could be improved. There’s a lot I love here, and a few things that still bug me year after year.

The new image signal processor means the Pixel 9 Pro XL has better and faster processing than ever before. When you take the phone out of your pocket and press the shutter button 99 times out of 100, you’ll get an incredible image, especially with the improved ultra-wide lens. I prefer pressing the shutter button to take a photo, but I’ve been known to take an ultra-wide selfie, so the improvements mean more fun there.

The telephoto lens is as good as ever up to 20x. Beyond that, things break up quite a bit, but there’s more detail than on the 8 Pro. When things did break up, I tried using Zoom Enhance to clean things up, but it’s not quite the feature I was hoping for. In fact, it’s not that great, and you can get better third-party sharpening options from the Play Store. At first glance, your images look drastically improved, but take a second to look closer and things look synthetic and strangely alien, especially human subjects.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL’s biggest strength remains its excellent point-and-shoot capability. Many social apps have also been tweaked so your uploads look great. However, as you delve into the extra settings, things start to get confusing.

_{You can see the full resolution gallery here.}

I have no idea what happened, but the once excellent portrait mode is broken. The edge detection is atrocious at times. You get blurry sections that overlap with key components of an image, and it would be better to step back and use the telephoto lens to get background blur effects. When you do this, the results speak for themselves, so my advice is to go for it.

The biggest pain point for me is the video modes. Video zoom is still broken unless you use Video Boost. So when recording video, switching between lenses and zooming in or out is choppy as the system switches between lenses. Enabling Video Boost smooths out zoomed clips, but that adds another layer of upload-process-unload.

The same goes for 8K video. I’m not entirely sure if it’s native 8K and could be simply upsampled to 4K and then processed in the cloud. Standard 4K video looks crisp, clean, and the camera doesn’t overheat when recording longer clips. I’d love to see Google add a LOG profile in the future, but we need more care and attention to video on Pixel phones in the future, as most people record on their phones almost as often as they take photos.

Duration and charging

Like many people who complain about the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s battery life, I think I could make it a two-day phone without stressing over a charger. Standby time is where I’ve seen the most benefit. If you’re not glued to the phone or don’t use it frequently, it’ll take at least a couple of days for it to die out.

While I hate how flawed “screen time” is as a metric, for those wondering: 7 hours has been my lowest average. In reality, I barely hit 3.5 hours most days, and I have more than 55% time remaining in that time frame.

Even using only mobile data doesn’t hurt too much. The battery is very impressive, but the updated charging has some caveats. It’s not 45W or even 37W when using the new official USB-C charger. In our testing, it feels closer to 32W. That said, going from 0 to 65% in about 30 minutes is a big improvement and enough to get me going in the morning.

Final considerations

Despite how it may seem, the Pixel 9 Pro XL was a significant surprise. Google has made a lot of noise and boast about its AI capabilities on Made by Google, but the flagship device is the pinnacle of what the series has been able to offer to date, something I seem to say ad nauseam with every release.

At best, I haven’t enjoyed a new Android phone like this in a long time. At worst, and according to many die-hard Pixel detractors, it’s another overpriced Pixel that doesn’t offer the best of everything. Coming directly from the Pixel 8 Pro, I thought the differences wouldn’t be that pronounced, but the design changes alone feel like major improvements in ways I didn’t anticipate.

There’s been a line in the sand with the latest Pixel releases. Google will continue to do things its way, whether we like it or not. I can’t help but think of the Pixel 6 when I use the 9 Pro XL. What I mean is that this phone feels like a layup, a safe play with enough balance and solid positioning right before a Pixel 10 tries to nail it down further ahead.

I’ve tempered my feelings about the Pixel 9 Pro XL. I’m liking it a lot more than I ever expected, but it’s not a perfect Pixel. I hope Google reconsiders some of its decisions in the coming year and makes them a priority for the next generation.

Even so, despite some of its perceived hurdles, I can’t help but appreciate all the little tweaks and changes that make for a truly excellent smartphone. Take away the AI ​​and Google has just made one of the best phones, period.

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