Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL launched: Google’s ‘most advanced camera AI smartphones yet’

These phones come equipped with an improved Gemini app, which can be accessed by long pressing the power button. Gemini on the Pixel 9 Pro can now interact with other Google apps like Maps and Gmail. Besides, the Pixel 9 Pro series also gets a series of new AI features such as Pixel Screenshots along with a new and improved Magic Eraser.

Pixel 9 Pro XL is a premium-looking smartphone. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)

Google calls the cameras on the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro XL its “best camera system yet,” which includes a 42 MP selfie camera at the front and a triple camera array at the back consisting of a 50 MP wide-angle, 48 MP ultra-wide-angle, and a 48 MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom.

With these phones, Google is introducing exclusive camera capabilities such as Super Res Zoom up to 30x, Pro controls, and high-resolution photo mode, which can capture 50 MP images. These phones also get a new Zoom Enhance feature, which enables users to zoom into a picture without losing the details.

Other new camera features on the Pixel 9 Pro series include Add Me, where a new person can be added to a picture after the photo is captured, Macro Focus, Night vision, astronomy, and more. In terms of videography, the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL can shoot up to 8K resolution videos at 30fps on the rear cameras using the new Video Boost mode, and 4K videos with up to 60fps on the front camera. Besides, these smartphones also support Night Sight Video and Super Res Zoom Video for enhanced low-light videography.

Despite the size difference, the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro XL have an identical Super Actua display with 2K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate with LTPO support and are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. These screens can get as bright as 3,000 nits, and the screen refresh rate can go as low as 1 Hz to save battery.

Powered by the new Tensor G4 chip, both variants of the Pixel 9 Pro offer 16 GB of RAM with 128/256/512 GB or up to 1 TB of internal storage. With these phones, the company is also including a complimentary Google One AI Premium plan that costs Rs 1,950 a month for a year, which offers access to Gemini 1.5 Pro, 2 TB of cloud storage, and exclusive image editing features on Google Photos.

Both phones ship with Android 14 and are eligible for seven years of software support. The Pixel 9 Pro packs a 4,700 mAh battery, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a large 5,060 mAh battery with support for 45W fast charging along with fast wireless charging support.