Pixel 9 Pro XL Review: Google Goes All In on AI, for Better or Worse

8.0/ 10
SCORE

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

Pros

• Genuinely fun new AI skills
• Sleek new design
• Seven years of software updates
• Cameras can take great daytime shots

Cons

• Camera hardware hasn’t changed much over Pixel 8 Pro
• Gemini AI will eventually require a paid monthly subscription
• Launches with Android 14, not Android 15

The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL are Google’s latest flagship phones, packed with the best tech the company has to offer, including a shiny new design, a Tensor G4 processor that should offer more performance power and a wealth of clever AI tricks. From its conversational Gemini Live to its Pixel Studio generative AI image creator, the Pixel 9 Pro has impressed me with its AI skills — they’re certainly the most exciting parts of the phone.

But strip away the AI sizzle and the Pixel 9 Pro XL, the model I’ve been testing, loses some of its shine. The cameras aren’t that much of a step up from last year’s model and the phone launches with Android 14, rather than Android 15 as we expected. It’s a shame as the Pixel 9 series could have been a showcase for Android 15 which would have made them standout more, especially as Gemini Advanced and Live will also come to other Android phones — so it’s not like the Pixel 9 Pro XL has them as exclusive features. 

Otherwise, the refreshed design looks superb and I like that the Pro phone comes in two sizes: the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL and a new smaller 6.3-inch Pixel 9 Pro. While the phones have different display and battery sizes, the processors, cameras and other features are identical. It’s a smart move as it means those who want a smaller handset don’t have to compromise on performance. 

But the addition of multiple sizes has allowed Google to sneakily increase the price of its phones. The base Pixel 9 Pro with its smaller screen starts at $999 (£999, AU$1,699) and sure, the Pixel 8 Pro started at $999 too. But the larger 9 Pro XL, which is the equivalent to last year’s model, has been increased to $1,099 (1,099, AU$1,849). So during my time with the Pixel 9 Pro XL, I wanted to see if the new phone lives up to its higher price.

I should also note that this review will be relevant for both the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. If you’re curious about Google’s regular model you can read CNET’s Pixel 9 review here.

Watch this: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Review: AI Dominates This Phone

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Pixel 9 Pro: All about AI

While the 8 Pro did have some AI skills, like object removal and Best Take, it was just the beginning. If its predecessor was just Google dipping its toe in the AI water, the 9 Pro XL is Google doing a full triple somersault with a pike off the top diving board into the AI pool with its new skills. 

Google’s Gemini Advanced is easily accessed by pressing and holding the power button while you ask it something. It’s pretty good too, giving me genuinely sensible responses to my questions about putting glue in a cake (don’t do it), what to do if you find a giraffe in your hallway (stay calm) or why you shouldn’t make a car out of cheese. Apparently cheese lacks structural integrity. Now we know.

Using Gemini Advanced isn’t the end, though. You can also use Gemini Live, which allows you to talk with the AI in a much more natural way, as though you were having a conversation. The answers are essentially the same whichever mode you use, but with Live you can interrupt the flow to ask side questions or give intentionally stupid opinions on things just to see how it’ll respond. 

I’ve spent a lot of time playing around with it and while it’s certainly great fun, I’ve often found its information to be inaccurate. One time it recommended I listen to a song that simply doesn’t exist. Another time I asked for top local drinking recommendations for me, and Gemini suggested a bar that closed years ago. 

There are various other bugs and quirks I’ve found while testing, but it’s a new feature. I’m keen to see how it matures over the coming months and, crucially, whether I find a genuine use for it in my day-to-day life.

A Google spokesperson acknowledged to CNET that hallucinations are a known challenge with large language models. They said that Google has tools for double checking answers. There’s the “Google it” button, for example, which evaluates Gemini’s answers using Google search when possible. 

Keep in mind, too, that Gemini Advanced and Live require a subscription to Google One’s AI package, and while you do get a year free when you buy the Pixel 9 Pro, it’ll eventually cost you $20 a month — although you get 2TB of cloud storage thrown in too. Gemini services will also be available on other Android devices and possibly come to older Pixel phones via a feature drop, so the Pixel 9 series aren’t the only phones you can use to access conversational AI.

Pixel 9 Pro: Generative AI and image editing

The new Add Me tool digitally adds you, the photographer, into group pictures so nobody gets left out. Here’s how it works: You take a group shot of your friends and then hand the phone to one of them. Next, you move and stand in a space where nobody was while your friend takes another photo after which the phone blends the images together to put you in the picture alongside everyone else. 

It actually works quite well and while it’s definitely easier to ask a passerby to take the group shot for you, it’s great for those times when nobody is around to help. Or, if you’re a narcissist like me, you can simply use it to put yourself in the same image twice. It doesn’t use generative AI, but instead relies on augmented reality to line the shots up and computational skills to blend the images together.

A lot of the AI features are based around imagery. Use the Reimagine function to select parts of an image, type in a prompt and have Google’s generative AI bring your idea to life. You can use it to replace backgrounds around a subject, add objects, change the sky to a sunset, add in a wolf lurking behind you (if that’s what you’re into) or create weird apocalyptic pirate scenes like the one below. You’re only limited by your imagination — a cliche, but one that’s actually true in this case.

The Reframe tool uses generative AI to expand the canvas of an image or help you crop it in a more artistic way — it’ll even generate parts of the image that were cut off in the original. Samsung’s Galaxy S24 line and other phones with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip can also do this.

If you don’t want to take actual photos then you can play with Pixel Studio, which will simply generate an image in a variety of styles from your text prompts. 

Here, I asked for a fox peering into a wardrobe with ivy coming out. So far so good, but I iterated and asked for the wardrobe to be in a misty forest. 

Then I changed the style to anime, which looked adorable, and finally I added an owl sitting on top. What scene isn’t improved by adding an owl to it?

It took seconds to create these variations and I love the results. Again though, it can be hit and miss, with some results looking downright bizarre. 

When I asked it to write “wish you were here,” like a postcard, this is what it produced. It struggles to generate words and it can’t yet produce images of people, but apparently that feature will come later. 

What it can do is generate images of copyrighted and trademarked material like Pikachu and Mickey Mouse, so I’ll be interested to see how Google handles the interest I suspect it will get from the likes of Disney, Nintendo and others. 

All of these tools worked well in my review time so far. While the results aren’t always perfect, I typically found I can get better results by simply asking the AI to have another go. 

The bigger question I suppose is, do you actually need this? With the results often being somewhat weird-looking and the actual image quality and details being quite poor, the usefulness of this type of image generation right now seems limited. Perhaps for designers or other creatives wanting to simply play with ideas, it might have some long term application but I suspect most people may find it little more than an intriguing novelty or simply an alternative to using clip art, like a poster for a church bake sale.  

Pixel 9 Pro: New features and design

The 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL have a refreshed design with a new camera bar that’s more of a pill-shaped island than a full strip, and the edges of the phone are now flat and polished rather than smoothly rounded. Personally, I think it looks great. I thought the Pixel 8 Pro looked a bit cartoony and childlike, while the Pixel 9 Pro looks classy all the way. 

While the base 9 Pro has a 6.3-inch display, the Pixel 9 Pro XL that I’ve been testing measures 6.8 inches. Want something that slides more easily into your jeans? Go for the smaller 9 Pro. Need a bit of extra screen real estate to enjoy games or movies on? Check out the 9 Pro XL.
The XL’s display looks great, with vibrant colors and enough resolution to make tiny text and high-res videos look beautiful. It’s bright enough for me to use comfortably under what passes for a sunny day in Edinburgh, although those of you in a brighter place like California might struggle a little more. 

Powering the phone and all its AI features is the latest Google-made Tensor G4 processor. I can’t benchmark it yet so I don’t know exactly how it stacks up against the competition, but in everyday use it feels quick and responsive, with games like Genshin Impact playing with extremely smooth frame rates and AI image generation taking only a few seconds to process each time.

It launches with last year’s Android 14 on board, with an update to version 15 promised for later this year. It’s a shame Google hasn’t taken the opportunity to launch the new software with its new phones, although we do at least get a generous seven years of software and security updates. That means that the Pixel 9 series will still be safe to use until at least 2031.

Pixel 9 Pro: Cameras

The cameras are one area I hoped to see some bigger improvements. While there’s all kinds of new software trickery, from the new generative AI tools to the Add Me function and an updated panorama mode, the camera hardware itself remains nearly unchanged from last year’s model. The main camera’s resolution, sensor size and aperture are the same, as is the resolution of both the ultrawide and telephoto cameras. 

The selfie camera is the one area that’s seen a significant bump, going from 10.5 megapixels on the Pixel 8 Pro to a much more generous 42 megapixels. Unsurprisingly, selfies look great — even if your hair doesn’t. 

The Pixel 9 Pro can take great-looking images, with gorgeous exposures, perfect colors and tons of detail seen from all of its cameras.

I’ve been impressed with many of the shots I’ve taken so far. But the Pixel 8 Pro took great photos too and beyond some new AI tricks, the cameras haven’t really moved on. Night time images struggle, with various test shots showing overly blotchy dark areas and a general lack of detail, especially when using the ultrawide camera. 

And while you can shoot files in DNG raw format, the raw images look awful compared to the JPEG files and need a lot of work in Lightroom to make them passable. I found this to be the case on the Pixel 8 Pro, too, and I’m disappointed Google hasn’t worked on this more since the last model.

It means that while the Pixel 9 Pro is great for the majority of casual photographers out there, the serious photographers among you might be better suited with some of its rivals. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra with its huge 1-inch type image sensor has absolutely astounded me with its image quality, while Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro maintains its position as one of the best overall camera phones around. It’s also worth waiting to see what new photography and video production skills Apple might put into the upcoming iPhone 16.

Pixel 9 Pro: Should you buy it? 

There’s certainly a lot to like about the Pixel 9 Pro XL. I love the new design, the new AI skills are at least great fun to play around with. And while the cameras aren’t much of a step up over the last model, the phone can take great photos in daytime outdoor conditions. The Pixel’s image generation and conversational Gemini Live are the main things setting the phones apart from the competition right now, and if those features leave you cold then you can probably look elsewhere. 

That said, AI will only become more a part of all phones with Samsung expanding its Galaxy AI across its phone line and Apple launching Apple Intelligence for its newer iPhones. So whether you want AI on your phone or not will soon be a moot point — you’ll simply have to have it. And the Pixel 9 Pro’s combination of great design, slick software and solid cameras definitely make it a great handset to get your first true taste of AI on your phone. 

How we test phones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team was actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP-rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark, along with our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using it daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

We take into account additional features like support for 5G, satellite connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus support, fast charging speeds and foldable displays, among others that can be useful. We balance all of this against the price to give you the verdict on whether that phone, whatever price it is, actually represents good value. While these tests may not always be reflected in CNET’s initial review, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.