Customer Ratings & Reviews

There's a lot to like about the Google Pixel 9 and I have been a fan of the Pixel phones since the Pixel 5. There are moderate improvements in the Pixel 9. Physically the phone is slightly larger in every dimension than the Pixel 8 (by 1-2mm L/W/D) and slightly heavier (by 10g). This doesn't sound like much, but I found it to feel noticeably larger in my hand and pocket. Setup was very easy with the setup wizard and all my apps and setting transferred over effortlessly. With the Tensor 4 processor and 12GB of onboard RAM everything is smooth, smooth, smooth! I have some apps that on other phones seemed a bit laggy or glitchy, but on the Pixel 9 I don't notice anything of the sort. The screen is nice and bright and the adaptive brightness works surprisingly well. Of course, AI is the latest fad for all things electronic and the Google Gemini AI works well without being overbearing or obtrusive, but I have not used it to the full potential. As a photographer and specifically an astrophotographer who regularly shoots in low light situations, I think where the Pixel 9 differentiates itself is in the camera and in low light situations. Taking video in a moderately dim basement living space, there is a HUGE improvement in the clarity and colors of video. Think SD vs HD quality. I was honestly shocked by this improvement. Low light video is much sharper and far less grainy. I didn't have a chance to try the camera for night time photography, but I am excited to see how the camera performs for things like the Milky Way and northern lights with the long exposure feature. The only negative I would point to is the battery life does not seem as robust as compared to the Pixel 8, by about 20% over a 12 hour span.

The Pixel 9 is an excellent phone. Beautiful design and build quality. Great performance, battery life and a beautiful display! As a very long time iOS user, I had to try out the new Pixel 9. So far I have been very pleased with the overall experience. Setup took some time as I had to update software and apps. I also had to sign into absolutely everything which was very time consuming. First thing you are going to notice out of the box is the beautiful build quality. The Pixel is a very elegant feeling phone, and no, the camera bump isn't an issue. I actually like it and it hasn't been a problem. The display is excellent. At first, I was not impressed. I could tell the screen was running at 60fps and it was hard to look at. After digging into the settings, I realized I had to turn on 120hz mode. They say it will use more battery but it is worth it to me, 100%. Speaking of the battery, it is awesome. After 12 hours of normal use, full brightness and 120hz mode enabled, I am still at 65%. Another great feature that is very fun is the A.I. assistant, Gemini. I have had it creating photos for me, answering questions, chatting with me and more. It has been a blast and is so cool to have an A.I. built into my phone. The camera is great too. Takes pretty good pictures and has a cool "Add me" feature where you can basically edit yourself into a photo on the fly. Maybe a bit of a gimmick but a super cool feature. Overall, the Pixel 9 is a great phone and has been fun to use. I definitely recommend this or any phone in the Pixel 9 lineup.

Pathetic customer service at the counter, need more training.

I recently picked up the new Pixel 9, and after spending a week with it, I’m ready to share my thoughts. First off, the new design of the Pixel 9 is sleek and modern, but it’s hard to ignore that it looks quite similar to a phone from another big-name manufacturer.... While it’s visually appealing, it doesn’t bring any groundbreaking design innovations to the table. On the plus side, Google’s integration of the rear cameras is a highlight. The camera setup on the Pixel 9 is clean and well-integrated, looking far better than some of the three or four-camera monstrosities you see on other phones. Personally I'd prefer if they would just pick a design and stick with it for a few years instead of changing it every year. In terms of hardware, the improvements are not as pronounced as you might expect. The Pixel 9’s performance isn’t a giant leap forward from the Pixel 8. I don't feel like you're going to see giant leaps in terms of performance at this point in the technology of cell phones. As far as performance differences between the 6, 7, 8, and 9, all of which I have owned, honestly most people aren't going to notice any difference. The real strength of the Pixel 9 lies in its new software features. Many of these new capabilities will probably make their way to the Pixel 8 and 7 through updates, so the hardware alone might not justify an immediate upgrade if you're coming from a current Pixel phone. But the Pixel's strong point has always been it's cameras and they are great as usual, as well as the simplicity of the software and the features they have and add with updates. Google claims that the Pixel 9 is twice as durable as the Pixel 8, which is certainly an impressive claim. However, I’m not about to test that claim, not on purpose—let’s just say I'll take their word for it. I can say that my Pixel 8 Pro, although I do have a dBrand Grip case on it, which isn't anywhere near an Otterbox or similar, and I don't have a screen protector, but I drop the thing all the time. On the ground, on concrete, bouncing out of my lap, out of my truck onto concrete, and everytime I cringe and think that did it... but it doesn't have a scratch on it and works fine. Could be the case, could be the phone, could be both. Just saying The phone continues to excel in the photo and video departments, which, as mentioned, has always been a strong suit for the Pixel line. The new “add me” feature for group photos is particularly impressive. It works quite well, making it easier to ensure that everyone in your group is included in the shot without having to retake multiple photos. Some of the new AI features are a bit hit or miss, though. For example, the “Reimagine” tool in photo editing can produce some great results, but it’s not always consistent. Sometimes it enhances your photos beautifully, while other times, it falls short. The Gemini AI, which handles various queries and responses, is programmed with Google’s preferred output rather than providing straightforward answers. I tested it by asking it to say something specific, and it was surprisingly sensitive to certain inputs, which made it feel a bit restrictive. While it's not a new feature to just the Pixel 9, one standout feature is the Audio Magic Eraser. I tested it with a video I took while driving on the interstate, with the windows down, music playing, and talking to my wife. The Magic Eraser did an excellent job of selectively removing background noise so that I could focus on specific sounds, whether speech or music. This feature worked impressively well. I do like the inclusion of the eSOS feature, which you can set up in the "Safety" app. It’s a handy tool for emergency situations and worth setting up for peace of mind. Just familiarize yourself with how to access it and use it. And don't rely on it solely. It uses satellites so you do have to have a pretty clear view of the sky with the phone to connect. And as far as I can tell, it looks like it's a message only service. So if that's the case and there's no calling feature, it won't be useful in some situations. Overall, the Pixel 9 is a solid phone with several impressive features, especially in the realm of photo and video capabilities. You can now also get the Pro version in the same, smaller size. Whether it justifies spending a couple of hundred dollars more for the Pro version depends on your specific needs and whether the additional features are worth the cost to you.

More improvements, more backsliding, more gimmicks… the Pixel trend doesn’t change with Google’s Pixel 9. I’m sticking with the Pixel brand and would recommend this phone to others. [ Good as usual ] Seven years of product support and software updates. The first Android phone to receive updates. Quick and easy access to quality product support from Google, directly on the phone (based on my experience). These alone have been reason enough for me to remain a loyal Pixel user since the very first generation. Great cameras for close wide shot photography (upgrading to the Pro model for the telephoto lens is very much worth considering). Clean Android experience with smooth performance. The Tensor 4 isn’t a benchmark chart-topper, but it did very well with the apps and games I threw at it. [ The improved ] The forward (selfie) camera has massively improved. It has a much higher resolution than the Pixel 8, and when taking pictures with both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 9 side by side in good lighting, I noticed a huge increase in captured detail. The display has significantly increased peak nit brightness. Compared side-by-side to the Pixel 8 in daylight, the increased brightness and vividness of color, while not huge, is noticeable. It’s hard to judge the battery within the time frame given to TIN reviewers because it usually takes a while for usage and standby times to improve to their ‘normal’ levels. However, the Pixel 9 seems to have better battery longevity from the start than the previous several (at least) generations. Video recorded with the main/rear camera has noticeably clearer detail compared to the Pixel 8. [ The truly new ] The satellite eSOS is a fantastic addition to the Pixel line which will undoubtedly save lives. I’m disappointed that Google is only offering it for free for two years (at least initially) rather than the full seven-year support period, which I imagine Google could have subsidized by offering users paid plans for non-emergency satellite texting services through the satellite carrier. But these are still early days and we still don’t know what to expect from this feature/service in the future. [ Backsliding ] The broadly-rounded display corners cut off too many pixels and too much content. When an app or game displays an ad, sometimes the ‘X’ button is half cut off by the rounded corner. Some app and game UI elements are also partially cut off. This extreme case of aesthetics trumping functionality and usability is the wrong direction for the Pixel line, in my opinion. Google is moving to replace the old assistant with Gemini. The problem is that my experience with Gemini has been a finicky mess. On more than one occasion when I asked it to broadcast a message, and after being prompted for the message, I said “alarms”, it canceled the broadcast and instead brought up the ‘alarm’ tab of the Clock app, which is not what I wanted. When I was setting a timer in the Clock app, it informed me that this is something I can ask the assistant to do, and provided me with a 'try now' button. Tapping on it told me that sorry, Gemini can't do that… despite this actually being a feature Gemini supports. It’s plain crazy that Gemini doesn’t support all the features the old Google Assistant does/did. Gemini isn’t always as easy to use as it should be. For example, if I summon Gemini when viewing an article in the native Chrome app, I have an ‘Ask about this screen’ option which provides context to my prompt; I can then ask Gemini to summarize the article. But, if I were viewing the same article instead from the news feed (swiped from the home screen), this option does not show, and I’d have to go through a fairly ridiculous number of steps to copy and paste the web address into the Gemini prompt. Even if these issues were resolved, an over-glorified auto-complete large language model black box prone to hallucination is not what I want from my phone’s assistant. Moving the SIM card tray next to the microphone at the bottom of the phone and changing the microphone to look almost exactly like the SIM tray ejection hole is an absurd design choice. There will be many people jamming a SIM tray ejector tool hard into that microphone hole–because of the visual ambiguity–and left wondering why the SIM tray isn’t popping out. What the heck, Google? [ The gimmicks ] The new photo editing feature ‘Add Me’ is just a mash-up of what ‘Best Take’ and ‘Magic Editor’ could already do; nothing innovative. With some care taken and mindfulness of limitations, it can produce useful results. The limitations of generative AI are still clear with Reimagine in Magic Editor, and the new Pixel Studio app. For better or worse, edited photos very much look edited. It will mess up the number of appendages on a generated animal. It will disfigure subjects it creates in bizarre ways. It will entirely ignore large portions of your prompts. And worst of all, Magic Editor will usually refuse to make edits of photos containing a person, and will often vaguely error out saying it “can’t complete this edit”. This stuff feels like it belongs in a child’s toy more than a serious product. It would be nice if Google put some focus on implementing some actually useful, serious features. When the heck are we going to get camera focus stacking, Google? I’ve been asking for this for many years. They continue to ignore simple ‘quality of life’ stuff that I and many others have asked for, like expanding the incredibly limited lock screen text. I can barely get in an ‘if found’ and ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) phone numbers, with no room for anything else like a blood type or important medical information that an emergency responder would find useful. Unfortunately, gimmicks sell, so gimmicks we will get. Oh, and more subscription options (like Gemini Live)… while also increasing the price of the phone with each new generation.

I had to change my review right away! Because I've never had any of Google phone before, I didn't know how to work it correctly. That was changing things, looking for missing apps, trying to figure out why they would make this phone this way with a horrible display. When I finally was able to do a review, I still was a little upset at how long it took me to get the phone because of the delivery company. I originally went into the review of this phone with low expectations because of the price of the phone. So when I got the phone, and was done using it and trying out as many features as possible, I was disappointed because of the display of the phone. So I hurried up and did my review, and didn't think much of it afterwards. So one day when talking to a friend of mine, the phone came up and I forgot he had one. So after talking to him, and him give me a whole bunch of pointers on what I could do, it changed my whole perception of the phone! The display on this phone is top-notch! Once I was able to turn the lighting of the screen all the way up, I was pleasantly amazed! The pictures on the pixel nine are really stunning! You would also be amazed at just playing videos from this phone and how nice it sounds! It is lacking a little bit in base, but that's to be expected given a circumstances of it just being a phone without large speakers. I was doing a little bit of experiment with the feature on the phone were you could come by multiple shots and make one picture. I thought that was really cool and it's something I would use frequently. I was taking pictures in the day and at night, and the shadows look great. This phone is definitely worth a buy!

Very slow wireless charging. My pixel 9 shows 10 hours to fully charge on 2 different QI certified chargers. Finally found an Anker QI charger that will only take 5 hours. Pics of text in low light are blurry. Digital zooming also results in blurry and unusable pics. Phone came preloaded with tons of Google apps, half that I didn't want. And many like Google TV cannot be uninstalled. I thought pixels were bloatware free, but this is not the case. Battery life is very good. And the screen is bright with good resolution. The on button is above the volume switches, which is annoying as I use the power button a ton and rarely the volume, but keep hitting volume buttons. Overall, this phone seems like a 5 year old flagship and not a 2024 version. Very disappointed

Google _ Pixel 9 128GB (Unlocked)-Obsidian works good.

Pixel is the cleanest and latest android phone. Good performance.

Great exterior design. The system is smooth. Satisfied. Love the photos.

I'm no tech expert but so far so good. 100% better than the pixel 6 I tried for not even an hour. Signal strength great. Bluetooth connection great ( android auto ) battery life is also great even with always on display. Darn good phone ! Obviously battery is still learning my phone usage but it still lasts me 2 days.

excellent device, pickup was also quick. Google has outdone itself.

Great phone, a good camera, and useful AI. Amazing display.

The device build quality is good and touch feels good….

I switched from a Samsung and I think this is the perfect middle ground between iPhone and Android. As someone who has had both!

I love this phone. It replaced my cheap Samsung smartphone that I had for 2 years. The feel of hardware in my hands, it's user interface unique to Google Pixel was a major upgrade and I enjoy using my phone so much more now.

I'd like to trade in this phone for the deal you're offering. -OK, good idea. Since that isn't in stock all you need to do is ship us your phone, we'll assess it and make sure the value is correct, and you should receive your new phone in roughly 4-6 weeks. ^^^^^ This is how you sell phones. ^^^^^ Also, your terms of service plainly state you replace stolen gift card funds, which you've violated every single day for the last 3 weeks. That isn't going away.

This is an iPhone identifying itself as an Android or vice versa. Question to Google- You are selling it as an android phone with android14 OS, UI mimics iphone, did you do a user journey review, customer persona analysis before designing the UI? isn't it common sense that an Android user would love a "customizable" android? The heart rate monitor and other health apps do not work without the watch. Phone takes 8 hours to charge on a 30W charger. UI is copied from iphone. No basic app customization. " I buy android because of Android, not because its apple". Phone heats up and you can iron your clothes with it. Phone is heavy on camera bezel. Gemini should answer questions about the phone its talking from, but it doesn't.

This phone has so many problems that my Samsung s22 did not. I'm constantly closing and reopening apps to get them to work. Swiping only works half the time. Finger print sensor works less than half the time. The camera zoom is horrible compared to older phones. This is the only pixel I will ever own

The Bluetooth doesn't work with certain devices like Ford cars and Samsung watches. Customer service is terrible.