Welcome to August 2024, and Google has finally brought its ‘Pro’ hardware into a size that everyone can enjoy. The Pixel 9 Pro is a 199g masterpiece of industrial design, featuring a new flat-sided satin-finish frame and a redesigned ‘floating’ camera bar. In the UK, it has arrived as the primary vessel for ‘Gemini Nano’, Google’s most advanced on-device AI model. It is a sleek, impeccably built device that has shifted the focus from ‘stock Android’ to a deeply integrated, proactive AI companion.
The technical headline is the Google Tensor G4 chip. Designed specifically for the ‘Gemini’ era, it features 16GB of RAM, the highest ever in a standard-sized Pixel, to ensure that AI tasks like ‘Pixel Screenshots’ and the ‘Magic Editor’ run locally with near-zero latency. The screen is a 6.3-inch ‘Super Actua’ LTPO OLED (2856 x 1280) that reaches a staggering 3,000 nits of peak brightness, making it the most visible display in direct sunlight to date. On the imaging front, it features a triple-camera system: a 50-megapixel main, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide with macro, and a 48-megapixel 5x telephoto lens. It also introduces ‘Add Me,’ a technical feat that uses AR to composite the photographer into a group shot after it’s been taken.
Connectivity is future-proofed with Wi-Fi 7 and ‘Satellite SOS’ for emergency communications off the grid. The 4,700 mAh battery is intelligently managed to provide over 24 hours of life, supporting 30W fast charging. It also features a new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that is significantly faster and more reliable than the previous optical models. The Pixel 9 Pro is a landmark bit of tech; by packing its most advanced AI and professional camera hardware into a manageable, premium form factor, Google has created the most ‘human’ smartphone on the market.