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 sequence 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 gadgets, whereas the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is Google’s second-generation foldable.

And if you happen to purchased the Google Pixel 8 Pro final yr, it’s possible you’ll marvel if the Google Pixel 9 Pro is well worth the improve. Must you get the smaller Pixel 9 Professional or the bigger Pixel 9 Professional XL? And is there any distinction between all these gadgets apart from the dimensions and a brand new processor? In the event you’re coming from an older telephone or shopping for into the Pixel ecosystem for the primary time, is it price shopping for the Pixel 9 Professional, or is final yr’s Pixel 8 Professional ok?

Right here’s how the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL evaluate 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 many who need a Professional expertise in a smaller type issue. Designed to supply selection while not having to sacrifice the core specs, the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL each have the identical specs apart from show measurement and battery capacities.

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 comfy, however if you happen to’ve held off on shopping for the 8 Professional as a result of the 6.7-inch show was too massive, you’ll wish to contemplate the Pixel 9 Professional.

The brand new Tremendous Actua shows are the brightest on a Pixel but, with as much as 2000 nits HDR and 3000 nits peak brightness. This makes them 25% brighter than the Pixel 8 Professional and among the brightest shows on any telephone up to now.

Certainly one of our favourite issues about Pixel telephones is the array of colour choices. Google is aware of learn how to make telephones in engaging colours, particularly in a approach that isn’t garish or cheesy. The Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL each are available 4 fashionable 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 colour is a good selection this yr.

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

A brand new telephone means a brand new processor, however there’s no massive change in structure or provider. The Pixel 8 Professional was powered by the Tensor G3, and the Tensor G4 powers the Pixel 9 Professional sequence. 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 deliver enhancements in day-to-day duties whereas additionally making certain that every one Pixel 9 gadgets 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 perfect AI efficiency — 45 tokens per second, to be exact — with any of the brand new Pixel 9 sequence, 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 if you happen to purchase the Pixel 9 Professional, you’ll get a yr of Gemini Superior without cost (it usually prices $20 per 30 days). Gemini can be the default assistant on all Pixel 9 telephones, though you may change it to Google Assistant.

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 would as nicely be an identical. The battery life on the Pixel 8 Professional left many individuals with issues, so it’s unclear simply how a lot better the battery might be. If the Pixel 9 Professional XL battery does show to be higher, this will likely be right down to the effectivity of the Tensor G4 processor. The Pixel 9 Professional has a smaller 4,700mAh battery which is more likely to have inferior battery life in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional.

This yr, Google is giving the Pixel a much-needed charging increase. The Pixel 8 Professional gives 30-watt charging that takes a telephone to 50% in half-hour, whereas the entire Pixel 9 Professional sequence now helps 45W charging. For the Pixel 9 Professional, this implies as much as 55% cost in about half-hour, whereas for the Pixel 9 Professional XL, Google says it’s going to go as much as 70% in about half-hour. There’s additionally Qi wi-fi charging, however no assist for MagSafe-like Qi2 magnetic wi-fi charging.

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 couple of small tweaks. Which means you get the identical triple digital camera system, together with the 50MP vast digital camera, 48MP ultrawide digital camera with Macro Focus, and the 48MP telephoto lens that gives 5x optical zoom.

Google is understood for making magic by pairing AI with glorious digital camera {hardware}, and the Pixel 9 Professional gives nice pictures at varied 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 obtainable in video for the primary time.

The front-facing digital camera is a fine addition from final yr. The Pixel 8 Professional sports activities a ten.5MP ultrawide selfie digital camera with an f/2.2 aperture, however the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL have the perfect of any Pixel up to now. The brand new 42MP selfie digital camera gives 4x the element and presumably can use pixel binning to let in far more gentle on the 10.5MP vary. Anticipate a lot better selfies on the Pixel 9 Professional versus the Pixel 8 Professional.

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 came about in October, so the Pixel sequence was the primary to run the newest Android OS, however this yr’s launch is simply too early for that. Android 15 continues to be in beta, and the Pixel 9 sequence gained’t launch with Android 15 out of the field. As a substitute, there’s Android 14 out of the field, with a future replace to Android 15 sdet to reach when it’s obtainable.

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 characteristic drops. This implies it ought to be supported till August 2031, whereas the Pixel 8 Professional will likely be supported till October 2030. With this yr’s launch timing, nevertheless, each telephones ought to technically finish with the identical Android model.

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

As you may anticipate, the brand new Pixel 9 sequence 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 learn 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 possible be essentially the most used of those new options because it solves one of many greatest issues: learn how to take a photograph along with your pal that isn’t a selfie. Positive, you may ask a random stranger, or you may simply depend on Google. Add Me works by taking two pictures – one with you and one along with your pal – after which stitching them collectively. It’s a chic answer to a really actual downside and one which’s more likely 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 it’s also possible to kind a immediate to generate new gadgets and add them to the photograph. There are additionally AI-powered enhancements to Video Enhance, which may apply HDR+ at any zoom stage and may upscale to 8K, though the latter is proscribed to simply 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 vital info — comparable to condominium codes or Wi-Fi passwords — solely to by no means be capable of discover these screenshots later. Now, screenshots go into the devoted app, and you may simply ask Gemini that can assist you discover them by offering particulars.

For instance, ask Gemini to your condominium codes, and it’ll cross 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 ought 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 sequence telephones include 16GB of RAM.

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

The Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL can be found to preorder as of August 13. The Pixel 9 Professional XL formally goes on sale on August 22, whereas the smaller Pixel 9 Professional gained’t be formally obtainable till September 4.

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 a substitute of both of the brand new gadgets?

The reply, as at all times, is determined by what you might be in search of. There’s a powerful probability you could snag an incredible Pixel 8 Pro deal, which might make it a superb buy. Equally, if you would like the blue model from final yr (which is basically beautiful), you should go for the Pixel 8 Professional.

Nevertheless, if you happen to’re new to the Pixel ecosystem, we suggest shopping for the brand new Pixel 9 Professional sequence. There’s no cause to pay the identical value for final yr’s telephone. We do suggest the Tensor G4 over final yr’s Tensor G3 processor, so keep away from the Pixel 8 Professional if you happen to will help it. In order for you a smaller model of the Professional telephone with out the trade-offs that come from a non-Professional just like the common Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Professional is the one to purchase. In order for you the following technology of the Pixel 8 Professional in the same measurement (albeit 0.1 inches bigger), the Pixel 9 Professional XL is your pal.

In the event you’re at the moment holding on to a Pixel 8 Professional, your determination is a bit totally different. In case your Pixel 8 Professional continues to be working nicely 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 definitely good, however in addition they aren’t life-changing. In the event you like your Pixel 8 Professional simply advantageous, go forward and maintain on to it. However when you have additional money to burn and like having the most recent and shiniest telephone, the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL gained’t depart you disillusioned.