Customer Ratings & Reviews

The new Pixel 9 Pro XL becomes even smarter with full Gemini integration replacing the standard google assistant by default. The new Gemini assistant offers much more depth in what it can do and how you can communicate with it. In my opinion a lot of the AI functions they advertise are more of a gimmick currently than anything, like Add me that allows you to superimpose yourself into a group photo if you don't have anyone else around to take your photo or Video Boost that requires you to have massive amounts of google cloud storage to be useful. Where it starts to shine though is Gemini's ability to integrate and scrape from your other applications via extensions where you can ask it to find an email, summarize a document, check traffic for upcoming appointments, and have a full-blown conversation with your phone using Gemini live. A few caveats with this however, you can gain a lot of this functionality on other brand phones by using the Gemini app and a google one subscription so it’s not necessarily "proprietary" to the Pixel lineup, and it requires an internet connection. Performance-wise the new Tensor G4 is a minimal leap over the G3 meaning it is still massively behind every other premium phone on the market in synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark. They did give extra ram, now up to 16gb, which helps with the AI tasks that are performed locally in particular the magic photo editor. Where they have greatly improved is the cooling solution for the phone, they have finally incorporated a vapor chamber so during heavy use you don't experience the overheating that has plagued the previous generations of this processor. No more video stuttering and much smoother performance in games. Also, somewhat subjective, but the new modem utilized with the pixel 9 pro does seem like a proper improvement over the previous gen. The build quality is fantastic for this generation as well as being aesthetically pleasing with the new squared off edges and the now iconic camera bar on the back. The screen is one of the absolute best on the market, reaching an incredible 3000 nits at peak brightness and incredible efficiency thanks to its ability to scale from 1hz-120hz refresh rate. Improvements to the display, cooling system, and the software have improved battery life. I get an extra 2-3hrs of screen time over the Pixel 8 Pro I was utilizing previously which is huge. Google still advertises that you will receive 7 years of updates with this phone which is a nice commitment from them if they hold up their end of the bargain. Overall, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is a great phone with some unique features and awesome build quality for this generation. If the AI features impact you and the way you use it is ultimately up to you, but I think most will find some use in it and enjoy the simplicity it offers to complete certain tasks. If you are an android user, this is one of the best experiences you can get currently on any smartphone

Very dissatisfied. Previous cell was a Samsung. Pixel is not as user friendly. I can not recommend this product.

First off, this Pixel XL Pro phone is quite big and a little on the heavy side - by far the biggest phone I have ever owned while still managing to be an attractive phone. The camera bulge is also quite large but not so obviously so once inside a case. Kudos to Google for making the setup process to copy from an old phone to the new one as simple, thorough, and complete as is even possible: every app and it's configuration along with every data file and document were copied and properly configured. Amazing! The screen displays everything clearly, sharply, and properly colored even in bright sunlight. The camera system takes gorgeous, detailed, colorful pictures - easily besting my wife's iPhone 14 picture of a red tailed hawk perched on the roof of a neighbor's house. Although I don't plan on using the builtin speakers for listening to music very often, it did sound pretty good when I tested it - it also can get rather loud. This Pixel 9 XL Pro is plenty fast - much faster than the Pixel 6a it is replacing. Apps load and run quickly. Software updates also download and install quickly (more quickly using Wi-Fi, 😀). This phone has plenty of storage and memory. I wish I could rant and rave about the AI aspect of the phone but my use of it has been minimal as I am not a big fan of that technology. Phone calls sound clear. Cellular connections are very good except in areas where no one else gets a signal either. To sum it up, this is by far the best Pixel phone that I have owned as well as the best phone overall that I have ever owned. Highly recommended

The phone was working fine, and all of a sudden, we noticed it had been stuck for the past few days. Its not even 7 months, the battery is draining in few hours and phone stooped working

This is my third phone from the Pixel line. My first was a Pixel 3, which was a decent phone, but I rarely got to use the camera because it had a known problem with the autofocus. My second was a Pixel 6A, which had an initially troublesome fingerprint reader (which was later resolved with a firmware update). Now the Pixel 9 Pro XL. It's a beautiful phone and a nice mix of features. Let's start with the packaging. Simple box, but there isn't any plastic in the packaging. The phone comes with a SIM eject key and a USB-C to USB-C cable (No wall adapter). And then the typical legal paperwork. The phone itself is about 6.5 inches long, 3 inches wide. I was surprised to find that the edges are straight and not curved like on the Pixel 6A. Most of the phone is 9mm thick. But the camera bump is distractingly thick. It adds an extra 4mm to the phone's thickness. While it's oval in shape, it too has straight edges and while I've only had it for two days, there is quite a bit of dust collecting in the corner from the camera bump to the rest of the phone. I do like that the camera bump is across the back of the phone. Which means there isn't any lopsided wobble when you place it down on a table. It provides a stable angle when sitting on a table. The back glass is super smooth. It feels nice in my hand, but I am worried that the smoothness will cause it to fall out of my hand. So I have a case on order. The glass on the Pixel 9 is now the Gorilla Glass Victus 2. But I still installed a tempered glass screen protector for both the front screen and the camera. Setup went really quickly. Since I'm coming from another Pixel phone, I was genuinely surprised how easily it was to transfer to this Pixel 9 Pro XL. I expected my apps to pop in and I would need to spend an hour to organize my App Drawers, screens and widgets to match my old Pixel 6A. To my delight, everything popped over to the new phone. All my contacts, photos, messages which I expected and it downloaded all my apps, but I was surprised how the apps were organized into drawers, names of the drawers, the placement of the drawers and the same order of apps within the drawers, widgets that were laid out across the screens, even my preference to use a different messaging app and its placement in the home bar all transferred to the new phone. A handful of apps even signed me in automatically. All of this was something I was partially dreading to set up on the new phone but it automagically was done for me. Big Kudos to Google for making that so easy to transfer. After two days of use, here are some of the things that I've noticed. The screen is powerfully bright. It's rated at something like 3000 nits. No problems viewing it in sunlight. But it's also blindingly bright when using it in the dark. The Pixel 9 Pro XL also adds in a very vivid display. It's sharp and colors are vibrant. I do have to point out that the corners of the display are widely arched. I wouldn't have noticed it, but some in-game advertisements place their closing X in the very corner and those locations aren't addressable on this Pixel 9 screen so sometimes you have to twist between landscape or portrait mode to find the X or tap on whatever visible squiggle you can see of the X. Battery life has been great so far. With my Pixel 6A, I could go a full day of mixed usage and consume 70% by the time I go to charge the phone before bed. So far with the Pixel 9, I have the same usage pattern and only consume 40%. I don't expect this to last throughout the lifetime of this battery, but it's a great start. Speaking of lifetime, I've been frustrated in the past with Moto's 1 OS upgrade support (you get the OS it comes with plus the next major OS release). The Pixel 9 blows this expectation out of the water with 7 years of OS and security updates! Plus, the Pixel 9 brings me back to wireless charging which was missing in the Pixel 6A. My Pixel 6A has an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint sensor. It wasn't very accurate when I first got it and after a firmware update, it got fixed. The Pixel 9 does not mis-step. It unlocks very quickly. Add to that, the Pixel 9 also has face unlock, something I haven't had in my previous phones. It's fast to set up and fast to unlock. I even like how the front facing camera has a ring of light around the camera to indicate it's looking for you. Pixel phones have been known for their cameras and the Pixel 9 Pro has stepped it up. A 42MP front camera with an Ultrawide field of view. On the back, a triple camera system with a 50MP Wide view, a 48 MP Ultrawide and a 48 MP Telephoto giving you 5x zoom. These all give you super clear photos, but with the AI capabilities provided by the Tensor G4 processor, we get features like Add Me which allows you to take a second picture to swap photographers to add the original photographer into the photo! The Magic editor now gives you Auto frame, Reimagine (to allow it to add objects into the photos based on text prompts), Zoom enhance and Video Boost. Google Gemini has found a home on the Pixel 9. Once activated, press and hold the power button to quickly access Gemini and then you can prompt Gemini via text, voice and even add in a photo and allow the helpful assistant provide intelligent answers to questions, generate images, create lists and even take call notes for you. There is, however, a Gemini Advanced that I've been hesitant to jump into. The Pixel Pro offers 1 year of free access to Google's AI models and 2TB of storage. But after that year, it requires a paid subscription. This Pixel 9 Pro XL has been the best initial experience of any of the Pixel phones I've had. It definitely qualifies as a flagship phone with all the latest features from Google. As such, it commands a flagship price and when comparing these features to other flagship phones, the price is justifiable.

First off, I've been using Pixel devices since the Pixel 2, however, I've always owned the latest Samsung or iPhone on the side due to work and past reliability issues, including overheating and battery on the Pixel. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has not overheated on me yet, unlike the 8 Pro, and the battery lasts me all day and night, similar to my 15 Pro Max. I will say the iPhone does have better battery depending on what you are doing, but this is a great improvement over past models. The overheating issue has so far been fixed due to the Pro models having a vapor chamber that past models have not had. Overall, I would say if you are looking to switch back to Android or try it out for the first time, then this is definitely the best way to go. I will say I've also owned the S24 Ultra, and I prefer the Pixel 9 Pro XL over the Ultra due to the rounded corners. They are similar in size; however, the Ultra's sharp corners make it hard to use and hold, unlike the rounded ones on the Pixel.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is arguably the best native Android experience you can get from a flagship phone. Everything that was promised by Google for Android is there, unlike other Android phones that will remove certain features in favor of their own version, or for seemingly no reason at all. Thankfully, Google offers it in a Pixel phone that's probably it's most premium looking and feeling yet. The phone is slim, albeit thickest at where the camera bar is. But the phone does not rock around when placed on a flat surface or even while using the touchscreen on the phone. When held in hand, it feels smooth and comfortable thanks to the rounded edges. While the back is matte, the edges are glossy, which attract fingerprints, but it isn't so much a big deal because it can't be seen from the front or the back on the phone when looking straight on. Plus the glossy edges do give it a premium look. The only visible branding is the G on the back, and in the Obsidian color it's very discreet while still clearly visible if that makes sense. It's not loud, and looks professional. The display gets really bright which is useful outdoors. The display comes in the "High resolution" setting by default, which is 1008 x 2244. When switched to "Full resolution" you get the maximum 1344 x 2992 the phone is capable of, at the cost of more battery usage. How much battery usage varies greatly on the user, but for average daily use that doesn't include any gaming, I've found the difference negligible and prefer to switch it to Full. It has 2 different color modes, Adaptive- which makes colors more vibrant and saturated, and Natural, which gives more accurate colors, but appears more muted by comparison. The Pixel 9 Pro XL comes in Adaptive by default. With the Smooth display setting enabled, it uses variable refresh rate, to automatically raise the refresh rate up to 120 Hz for some content. The user interface animations are the best I've seen for Android though sometimes they get in the way of usability. Locking and unlocking the phone has an aesthetically pleasing swipe animation while the phone's brightness dims or brightens. When you and minimize apps, the animations are smooth and the icons wiggle back into place on the home screen from the "force" of the shrinking window when an app is minimized. When you have a video floating in PIP (picture-in-picture) mode and hold down on it to drag, a Remove button appears below to remove the video from PIP. That's pretty standard for Android. But with the Pixel, when you drag it to the Remove button, the Remove button enlarges and engulfs the PIP video, which shrinks down to go inside that button while the video still remains playing. It doesn't actually close until you release your finger from it. It's just aesthetically pleasing. The Pixel's user animations have a lot of personality to them, and when you're switching over from a different Android phone they're very noticeable and you learn to appreciate them quickly. Switching back to another phone may make it harder considering what a pleasant user experience the Pixel offers. Something else I've noticed is that I usually hate the circle icons and folders for Android. But on the Pixel I don't mind them. It just seems to fit with the whole user interface experience they have going on, which includes the animations. The sound is amazing and gets plenty loud, and clear without distortion. They don't sound tinny, nor is it very bassy. The stock apps are great because they're from Google, and they're the ones we often find ourselves going to the Play Store to download and install anyway on other phones. However, with other phones, they usually don't allow you to uninstall their stock apps- only disable them. What you're left with is 2 versions of an app, taking up valuable storage space, especially when it's the base model, like this 128GB. There are also exclusive features that Google apps have only available to Pixel phones, such as the Audio eraser. It's a handy feature that can recognize different speakers and noises, and gives you the option of lowering/increasing their volume, or eliminating them altogether. Updates come straight from Google, so you're first in line for the latest Android updates. The camera is excellent, especially in low lighting. With "Night Sight" you can take pictures in dimly light or dark environments, while not clear as with lighting, still produce a decent visible photo. In complete darkness, taking a picture pointed at the direction of my sofa, which I couldn't see with my eyes or the viewfinder from the Camera app, revealed the sofa in the photo shot. Shutter speed is lightning quick on the default 12MP setting. If you set it to 50MP, the shutter speed becomes incredibly slow, with about a half second delay between each shot. The quality between them is negligible in most cases, but the 50MP is a huge difference maker if you want to zoom in to view detail. With 50MP it will produce a 8160 x 6144 resolution image. With 12MP it will produce a 4080 x 3072 image resolution image. For most people, I would stick with the 12MP and use 50MP on a special case basis, like portraits or anything where detail is a no-compromise must. Optical zoom maxes out at 5x but there's image stabilization, unlike the 10x with my previous phone. So it's easier to get a good shot without a tripod when using the 5x zoom. Performance was fine for everyday tasks. I didn't notice any difference from the Pixel 9 Pro XL and another phone that supposedly has the better processor when doing things like browsing the web, taking pictures, watching videos, composing email, making calls. It's speedy and the whole user experience is pleasant. It's when the CPU is pushed with apps like gaming where the Pixel 9 Pro's performance flaws start revealing themselves. You'll still be able to game, but on lower settings for the more graphically intense games. But for a lot of mobile phone games, this won't be a big deal. It's titles like Genshin Impact where it suffers. If AAA title gaming is a must for you, then this will be a deal breaker. I can't recommend the Pixel 9 series in general. It was clearly not built for high performance gaming. Battery life is excellent. It will definitely get you through a whole day unless you spend most of that day recording video. I consistently get 8 hours of screen on time while the phone is in Full resolution mode, and with Always On Display enabled. Overnight there's barely any battery drain. Some nights, I'll wake up and the battery life is still the same as just before I went to sleep. Charging, both wired and wireless, could be better, but the Pro XL offers the best of the entire Pixel lineup. Google sells a 45W charger, which I bought, but don't let them fool you. The Pro XL will only charge up to 37W. Besides that, I was able to achieve the same charging speed results with my Samsung EP-TA845 45W charger. From 0% to 100% with both chargers, they took around 1 hour and 24 minutes. Wireless charging is a different story. Google claims that to get the maximum 23W charging, you need the Pixel Stand 2. However, Google is no longer selling this stand in the store and offers no explanation. They're still being sold in stores like Best Buy, but who knows for how long? And if you've seen the Pixel Stand 2, it has a curved back, which doesn't play nice with phones with magnetic cases. So I was never able to get 23W charging. I've only been able to get the standard 15W wireless charging. So the 23W comes with a catch, an expensive one since the Pixel Stand 2 costs $79. The Pixel 9 Pro XL opted to skip Qi2 charging, so it doesn't have the convenience of magnets for proper alignment. You could end up putting it on a wireless charger overnight and waking up to see it's not fully charged because it disconnected at some point since the charging coil was never properly aligned with your charger. The AI features all feel gimmicky aside from the convenient Gemini, which is the upgraded version of Google Assistant. But Gemini isn't a Pixel exclusive. Features like Add me, allow you to take 2 photos of the same location and combine them together as if they were taken together. It's fun, but the novelty wears off if you don't have any practical use for it. Pros: -Definitive Android experience, as Google intended -Bright display -Very pleasing UI animations -Excellent cameras, esp for low light -Very fast user experience for tasks besides gaming -Fastest charging speeds of the Pixel 9 lineup -Longest battery life of the Pixel 9 lineup Neutral: -AI feels gimmicky for now. Some may appreciate it. Some may find no practical use for it. Cons: -23W wireless charging only attainable with Pixel Stand 2, which isn't travel friendly, expensive, and no longer sold in the Google store -No Qi2 -mediocre gaming performance

Please order before release in store with store pickup. Its more than a week and there is no update when will I get my new phone. Worst presale order experience with Bestbuy/Google ever.

Google has created a great phone that feels very premium. I'm coming from a midrange phone that I enjoyed but this seems like a significant upgrade. The phone is very snappy when switching tasks and the screen looks great. The screen can get very bright and watching videos is enjoyable as the speakers also sound good. Build Quality: The pixel 9 pro xl has a good weight to it but not overly heavy. The back is a little smooth so a case may be needed if you are prone to dropping your phones. The camera bar on the back protrudes a slightly bit more than other phones but the way I hold my phone, my finger rests under it giving me a little extra balance. My hands are average size and the XL does not seem too large to hold. The new fingerprint sensor is a big improvement over my previous pixel phone. Battery Life: The battery life has been good so far. I listen to music occasionally during the day and do some light browsing and still have plenty off battery life towards the end of the day. Pictures: The best feature of this phone is the camera and the new AI features. The photos that I've taken are amazing. I've used a few of the AI touch up tools and really enjoy them. I've been taking a lot of pictures since I got this phone because of how good they come out. Overall I am extremely happy with this phone. It runs smooth and plain Android just works for me. Knowing that it will get future updates for several years is awesome. For a large phone it still fits comfortably in my pocket and isn't too heavy.

Used it for about a month and iPhone is way better compared to it I even did a trade in that wasn’t worth it

The product package was damaged but the phone seems to have servived

They cancelled my trade-in without my knowledge ,.

Not a fan at all. But my brother loves it. AND HOPE WE GET A HIGHER MEMORY

The first thing I have had to do with every phone has been to buy a robust phone case to protect it. Even then I usually end up with smashed corners and scratched screens. This time I forgot to order one before the phone, so it has been abused for about two weeks with no case. I have accidentally drop kicked it across the room at least twice with nary a blemish! It is SO fast. Some things it loads faster than my gaming laptop. I love the photo features and especially the SPEED it charges! Set up was also very fast, I had the Galaxy s2, it downloaded all my data from it and was running on the pixel in less than 20m The speaker on the other hand...not so great. But I don't know many people trying to jam to the speaker on their phone. It does multiple chrome casts at once better than any phone I have had before though. Typically, I can only stream to one or two devices but with the Pixel 9 it handled six at once just fine. Network connectivity (staying connected to my router and AT&T) seems to be higher than I have had before, and the satellite emergency contact feature is awesome!

Great phone on all functions, fast processor and large screen

I was very excited to get the brand new Google Pixel 9 Pro XL but after a little while using it the excitement has definitely worn off. ACTIVATION: The beginning was very rocky! With my cellular carrier Verizon's assistance activation was smooth, quick and simple, and that is where "smooth & simple" ended. REMOTE DATA TRANSFER: The wireless porting over the eSim in order to transfer my pictures, documents, contacts, apps, and texts did not work more than 20%, basically just my contacts were able to be ported over from my old phone (Samsung) along with just a few texts and a couple of pictures. Verizon said it was the Pixel's fault and I would have to bring the two cell phones into one of their stores in order for them to do the transfer in person on their machine designed for this purpose. IN-STORE DATA TRANSFER: So I went into a Verizon store the next day and still the transfer was only approximately 80%. The nice people at the store tried multiple times and consulted with other techs at other stores. So I did end up getting all of my contacts and apps. LOST DATA: But I lost a few pictures, and over 50% of my texts, some of those texts were extremely important for my job. Again Verizon blamed the Pixel. Obviously I would of never made the decision to switch cell phones had I known I would lose important information in the process. The people at the Verizon store felt so bad for me that they gave me a free screen protector (installed) and fee protective case for the Pixel 9 Pro XL phone even though I did not purchase the phone from them. PHONE SERVICES: As an actual cellular telephone the Pixel 9 Pro XL works great. The sound quality in what I hear on both the phone and on speaker is very good and everyone I've spoken to hears me just fine with good quality. Reception is as good as it has ever been, with being able to make and receive calls at home, at work, in steel & concrete buildings, in elevators, in remote outdoor settings, and in the car. AUTOMOBILE SYNCING: Syncing the Pixel 9 Pro XL to the car was super simply and quick. Once set up, there is no lag in the car whatsoever, and that i8ncludes texts as well. EMAIL SET UP: Email set up worked perfectly. MUSIC SOUND QUALITY: Music and video sound quality is excellent, although the volume is not loud enough sometimes. VIDEO VIEWING QUALITY: The picture quality while watching videos and movies is beyond excellent, it is literally perfect. Super realistic. Makes you think you're there. This included watching car racing, which my old phone always had a slight problem with but that this new Google Pixel 9 Pro XK phone handles great. VIDEO & AUDIO RECORDING QUALITY: Likewise the quality of recording video and sound is near perfect with the one exception of unexpected light crossing paths across the plane of view caused a brief white out for a half a second. BATTERY LIFE: When I first got it battery life the first couple of days was terrible, especially for such a physically big phone. Disappointing that approximately halfway through my day it required charging. Charing is quick on this phone. But then I set it on super battery saver mode and as well turned off the sound for a lot of the notifications and as well set a sleep mode between certain hours that turns off almost everything and then the battery life proved to being about half full at the end of the day when putting it on the charger at night before going to sleep. HORRIBLE PICTURE RETRIEVAL: Picture retrieval if difficult, frustrating and time consuming. Unlike other Android cell phones, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL has NO PICTURE GALLERY. The photos and videos taken by you and received by you are not stored in the phone, but rather on Google's cloud some where that for the time being is free but of course as in all things, eventually they will try and charge you for. And the structure of that cloud storage is horrendous, separating pictures in unfamiliar ways rather than just in the order that you have taken them, hence trying t find one is a frustrating and time consuming chore. Imagine your Boss waiting while you scroll though a menagerie of pictures trying to find the correct and important time sensitive one he is waiting to see. How embarrassing! NEVER AGAIN. INFURIATINGLY NO BACK BUTTON: Unlike all of my other Android cell phones over the years, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL has no back button, so to go back to something you have to close out that particular window, reopen it and then work your way back up to the point wherever you left off. This is a time wasting and just frustrating lack of proper feature of this phone and this problem in and of itself if the situation persists, would cause me to never get a Google Pixel cell phone ever again. In fact it is so infuriating that it perhaps will drive me to go get a different phone within a short period of time. TERRIBLE TEXTING: Again, Google has gone there own way in diverting from other Android cell phones and their texting format is so different than what users of other Android cell phone are used to that it creates a frustrating and time consuming atmosphere. Their format is 'animation like', child like; with the as aforementioned no back button, very different cult to utilize quickly. IN SUMMARY: Although a great phone as a phone and for taking pictures and videos and watching videos, for the no back button, agitating texting format, stressful and time consuming picture retrieval, and my experience at losing a large portion of important date in the old phone to new phone transfer, I would not recommend the Google 9 Pro XL to family of friends.

After using this phone for some time, it is a great phone, but it just feels like people who created it don't use it. If you use builtin android player, those buttons are so small. It's practically impossible to click on them and those that are the most important one there will be pause and full screen are hidden in the corner. You can barely see them and it's almost impossible to click. Besides those issues, if you rotate your phone, the video that you're watching just going to turn black and you're just going to hear the music. On top of that, considering that it's Google phone, YouTube itself is glitching, sometimes crashing. Beside those couple of things, I think it's the best phone I've ever had. Separately I want to mention the AI and comparing to iPhone 16 it just great.

"The Pixel 9 Pro XL has its highs and lows. On the positive side, the display is absolutely stunning with vibrant colors and deep blacks, making it perfect for watching videos and playing games. The camera performance is top-notch, capturing sharp and detailed photos even in low light. Plus, the pure Android experience ensures you get timely updates and a smooth, bloatware-free interface. However, there are some drawbacks. The battery life is a bit of a letdown; it doesn't last as long as I hoped, especially with heavy use. The price is also quite steep, which might be a deal-breaker for some. Additionally, the design feels a bit uninspired compared to other flagship models. While it has some great features, there are definitely areas where it could improve."

Lol who ever said the 9 Pro XL has a bigger screen then the 8 Pro is wrong there the same screen even though it's a super nice screen it's not any different I just thought everyone should know this.

Great upgrade from a iPhone 14 plus. I've had a iPhone for the past 6 years and this actually feels like an upgrade.