Customer Ratings & Reviews

As stated in the title of this review, to sum this up the Pixel 9 is a niche device that charges flagship prices for midrange hardware based around the idea of being a creators phone with a nice camera. Short Takeaways Pros Great camera although a little overprocessed with default settings Nice OLED display Battery life that is normally very good Long Software Support Cons Subpar performance that takes away from user experience Bad finish/build quality Overheating which leads to bad battery performance Default settings making the phone perform worse and look worse out of the box The Google branded phones have been one of my favorite phones since long before they were called Pixel. I started off with Android with the very first Motorola Droid phones. They had the hilarious iCant ad comercials back then. What I love about the Pixel phones (previously Nexus) is the vanilla or close to vanilla Android OS that you get with them. Additionally you get the promise of long running support on them. I have a kid rocking my recently retired Pixel 3 XL. The Pixel 9 continues these things I like, but at the same time picking up some things I don't. To start with, the older Nexus devices as well as Pixels had midrange hardware, and that was ok. They were priced cheaper and the lack of bloat on the devices made them perform about the same. Additionally they had nice cameras (starting with the Pixel series). Now the Pixel is sporting the latest Tensor 4 processor. Problem is, its not much better than the Tensor 3, and the GPU wasn't upgraded at all, simply had a slight clock boost. This leads to the phone feeling rather sluggish at times, especially during animations. For gaming, because of the weaker performance this phone is not worth considering. Its about half as fast as other devices, causing it to have a rather lackluster experience in demanding mobile games. The Pixel 9 base model doesn't come with a vapor chamber like the other models which is an issue. I found multiple times while outside in Oklahoma that the device got extremely warm causing it to throttle more than normal and battery life started tanking. Finally on the cons side of things, the settings this thing ships with make it feel even worse. For starters the display is capable of 120hz, but ships with it locked at 60hz. And its very noticable in use. Switching this to Adaptive Refresh Rate makes it feel a bit better. If you really want the best experience though you need to enable developer options then Force Max Refresh Rate. This will lock it to 120hz and barely has an effect on battery life. Secondly the default colors are flat. This is an aesthetic choice to go with the Pixel theme, but it really makes the phone very muted. Changing the color profile makes it much more vibrant and appealing to look at. And even though the screen is OLED (which notoriously have lower brightness), the peak brightness on the Pixel 9 is plenty even on the bright Oklahoma days. The camera is the other area where this device shines. I'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but even I can appreciate a good picture. The Pixel doesn't disappoint there and generally has really good photos, though for my taste they are over processed to the point of appearing artificial. I am a little disappointed that the Pro features that you'd find on other devices are locked out of this one, and you don't get the telescoping lens, but the addition of the wideangle lens is nice. Overall very happy with the camera. And finally the after thought, AI. I feel like I can't be the only one who is struggling to find real use cases for AI in day to day life, but thats where I'm at. Pixel 9 introduces a few new features that I find mostly to be gimmicks. The first one you'll notice is the "Add Me" feature within the camera. This allows you to take a picture of you and your friends, with all of you in the same picture by using AI to fuse together two shots. Its not perfect and I never found myself needing to use it, but its there. Secondly there is Pixel Studio, which allows you to to use AI to generate pictures like you can do through many online photo generators. I have only toyed around with it briefly, as I don't find this very useful to me. But for those that like to do it, its there. And the last one of note is Gemini live which is an AI that you can have an actual conversation with. Its just like using Gemini within your browser except you can use your voice. So if you really like the AI chatbots, this might be your thing.

The first is that Google provides seven years of system and security upgrades. That is priceless to any user, most phones develop irritating glitches when their android version is outdated and require an alternative app to do the security lifting. The second is the camera, Pixels have long been thought to provide the best quality. I have found this one excellent for me. It produces colors that are the same as the ones I see visually, and it has very high definition. In other respects it performs much like other phones, but the processor is very quick and 128 GB storage is ample for me, though other users might prefer more. Since Android is a Google product (like the Pixel) I feel assured that all the moving parts will play well together.

Overall very satisfied with the Google Pixel 9. I've had it for over a month, and it's a great phone that does come with a few trade offs. Solid, sturdy phone with a good hand feel (Make sure to get a good case). Smooth, fast interface and navigation. Really good battery life (around 24 hours with average daily use, less if you are doom scrolling reels or playing games for long periods). The AI assistant is very useful and makes hands-free operation and tasks easy. Good camera for average, everyday use, and takes great pictures, but lacks advanced camera options like full manual mode, Astro photography, and 4k video. Wireless charging is sub-par and slow. Does not have expandable memory slot. If you want amazing camera options the Pixel 9 Pro has it, but you will sacrifice battery life (my fiance bought the Pixel 9 pro when I got my Pixel 9, and as a photographer, she loves the 9 Pro). I would highly recommend the Pixel 9 to an average user not looking for the hottest bells and whistles, but just a solid, sleek phone for normal daily use. It's an awesome phone at a great price, and I see myself being happy with it for years to come.

As someone who loved the Pixel 4 for many years, I skipped the 5 and officially left the Pixel fan club after the 6 came out due to its buggy performance. Well I'm happy to say that the Pixel 9 has exceeded my expectations. Is it perfect? No, not at all, but after using the iPhone 15 Pro, Samsung S23+, S24 Ultra, and the Z fold 6, the software of this phone is a breath of fresh air. Everything just works and I don't have to deal with duplicate apps or OS stutter. Not only is the design of the phone gorgeous, but the software too. It's like having an iPhone that's actually fun to use. I can't believe I'm saying this but Gemini has been so useful for recipe ideas, house chores, and school work. I absolutely love it compared to Siri, Bixby, or the old google assistant -- and they're improving it every day. I also love that it's integrated with all the platforms I use on a regular basis: on my laptop, on this phone, Google docs, Google Sheets, Google Home, Gmail , etc... The biggest issue with AI is the way its integrated. A ton of people can't find a decent use-case for it because developers clumsily stick it in places it doesn't belong. Trust me, this one "belongs" and doesn't get in your way. It's not perfect... My CONs might be that some apps aren't great with the Tensor processor (and android in general). Social media is especially egregious. Snapchat compresses videos and photos so much that I feel embarrassed posting them. The filters are laggy and choppy. Zooming within the app is a mess.. The same could be said for instagram and all other social media. I really hope Google does something to motivate these developers more. It's such a shame to have a phone touted as one of the best at photography & social media -- only to have its apps hold it back. There's also a considerable lag when attempting to pull up your photo library within these apps to post a pre-taken picture. I have to way about 7 seconds for things to load but it's only in IG and snapchat so seems like an app issue. Lastly, the screen brightness calibration is poor. It gets plenty bright in direct sunlight but indoors the adaptive process is way to dim for my taste. No amount of resetting that seems to fix the issue. I really wish they'd up the baseline brightness a bit.

Was able to use my Google Pixel 6 for 3 full years before issues and decided to buy the Pixel 9. The phone is smaller in compared to the Pixel 6 but faster and way more responsive. The AI integration works well but I did not buy the phone for that feautre. Setup and data transfer was easy. All I had to do was turn on the new phone and scan a QR code on my old one. The traditional setup questions occur and the transfer begun. Over bluetooth and connected with a cable, the transfer took 30 mins but could have been made faster if I was connected to WiFi. Overall, the phone performs great for the value. Highly recommend.

Phone is excellent. All the stuff & capabilities one would expect. Camera is super, gives my DSLR's strong competition for a lot of situations. Especially wide-field night captures. A subject has to be really special for me to strap on a backpack full of cameras and glass.

This is one of my favorites phones I've owned. It is fast and reliable and just all around solid with plenty of battery life for my use. The phone recharges fast for my needs. Sometimes quirks pop up like the screen will freeze, but that's a computer for ya. I sporadically ran into small freezing with my iPhones in the past. I really love that the phone has a great camera and seven years of security and other software updates promised by Google. You can't get that kind of software support from most companies.

I went from a Pixel 4a to this phone, Really gorgeous screen. Occasionally it gets a little warm to the touch, but not alarmingly so. You have a computer, the power of which could not be imagined even a few decades ago in your pocket. Some heat is to be expected. I normally mod my phones out with special loaders, etc. I think I'll keep the pixel launcher, because it seems quite easy to use, with an intuitive interface.

Great phone for the money. Offers everything I need then some. Great purchasing experience at Best buy, knowledgeable staff, and easy transaction. Even put the new screen protector on for me.

Was in need of a replacement phone for my Pixel 7 and found the 9 on sale at Best Buy. Great price and love the 9. A big fan of the Pixel and saw no need to move into the 10.

Good phone. Seems good quality but lacks a lot of customization. Came over from having an iphone since 2007 hoping to get more features and customization. Instead I got less and all the games have tons of adds...

My original intention was to replace my Samsung Galaxy S21 that was dying with the newest Galaxy available at a reasonable price. I was in a hurry and none of the stores in Austin Texas had any in stock and I need a phone the next day. My alternative was the Pixel 9, which I found at the Best Buy store in South Park Meadows in Austin. I bought the phone and set it up the night before going to Costa Rica. The setup went well and I was semi-functional when I boarded the plane. I continued my setup on the plane and luckily it worked extremely well during the entire trip. I am very pleased with the Pixel 9.

I bought this phone as a mother's day gift knowing it was mostly going to be used for photos and watching YouTube videos. It replaces an old Pixel 6 and it is a clear upgrade from that phone. The software is intuitive and easy to use. The photos remain top notch. The processing is fast and responsive and the battery life is good. It was on a great promotion that made it the best choice amongst the other competing flagships. Depending on the price and user preferences other phones might make more sense to you but if selfies and photos are your main use you can't go wrong with a pixel.

1. Outstanding Camera – Delivers sharp, vibrant photos with its 50 MP main and 48 MP ultrawide lenses, backed by smart AI features like Super Res Zoom. 2. Smart AI Features – Comes with the new Tensor G4 chip enabling advanced tools like “Add Me” and Gemini AI assistant for smarter user experience. 3. **Excellent Battery Life** – Lasts more than a full day with nearly 23 hours of video playback in tests. 4. **Bright and Smooth Display** – Features a 6.3" OLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate and peak brightness of 2,700 nits for great visibility. 5. **Long-Term Software Support** – Offers 7 years of Android updates, making it a future-proof choice for longevity.

Google's latest flagship base model is an awesome phone to use. Its faster than previous models and all the connectivity issues that plagued my pixel 8 are long gone with upgraded hardware, and the new styling kinda resembles iphone but honestly its better imo. Then there's Gemini ai. Think chatGPT built into your phone ready for whatever. There are even premium ai models for subscription for the more arduous tasks that the base ai can't handle. All in all the pixel 9 is a slam dunk compared to the 8 they definitely outdid themselves.

Amazing phone, amazing touch screen, great reaction, straight response time, everything about the phone is amazing.And I had great customer service at best amazing.They helped a lot

Love this switched from Samsung s22 and love the features. From someone who's used both iPhone and Samsung this is a good mutual ground.

Google really knocked it out if the park this year with the Pixel 9 (I think with the 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and mostly with the 9 Pro Fold)! I got 2 of these Pixel 9s for my parents and only time will tell if they're great in the long term, but the feel in hand, general speed of the Tensor G4 in day to day use, and cameras make this a very compelling option for most people. The lack of a telephoto lens isn't too big of a deal for most, and I don't foresee it being so for my parents. I daily drive Android and iOS, and I've never been compelled to use the iPhone for anything over any Android phone I've owned short of shooting video. Google's flavor of Android (yes, they own it, but they still customize the heck out of it) is my personal favorite, and does without all of the Samsung redundant apps and over the top glitz (for instance). The only reason I'd say anyone should upgrade to the Pro or Pro XL models over the standard 9 is if you need more camera options ("pro controls"), demand the best screen specs, and plan to use on board AI features (RAM bump). The Pro Fold is a whole different story that only intense tech enthusiasts and those with oodles of cash should be looking into. Throw in the promotions Google was (and hopefully will again) running for trade in, especially for iPhones, and it's an easy sell!

Runs very smooth. No hick up with using it. Picture quality is great.

I've had a number of pixel and Google phones. The nexus , moto x4 pixel 5 and the 5a, the pixel 7 and now the pixel 9. There have always been improvement along with problems. The 9 is the same. Brighter screen , no light flash on finger print sensor, no heating problems so far. What I feel are issues: as with the 7 there are parts of the screen that seem unresponsive at times. Maybe the phone is just to slow to respond. A continuing issue is the fingerprint reader is still unreliable which is very aggravating. They refuse to go back to capacitive reader which is extremely reliable. The face detector only works in well lit aeas, and you have to wake it to work. I have also found android to be buggy. Speech recognition is about as reliable as the fingerprint reader, which I use all the time when texting. Their best model five was the pixel 5 which was the last pixel before they started with their own processor. The battery life is good but the camera is about average for a phone these days. I've had enough of giving Google a chance and moving on to another brand. Possibly Apple. At least you get better performance for your money and the face recognition is top notch. To me pixel phones aren't worth the money anymore, and that you don't get any value in them when you go to trade them.