Google Pixel 9 Pro review : Hello, small phone

Google Pixel 9 Pro price in India (as reviewed): Rs 1,09,999

Small is beautiful

The Pixel 9 Pro’s user interface is simple and easy to use. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

The moment I got the Pixel 9 Pro out of the box, I was surprised by its size. The Pixel 9 Pro XL (which I recently reviewed, and you can check out the review here) was huge in comparison. The Pixel 9 Pro is compact and fits perfectly into any pocket—literally any pocket—and the good thing is that the screen doesn’t feel small at all. I wouldn’t call it a tiny phone like the iPhone 13 Mini, which featured a 5.4-inch screen with tiny bezels and a reduced notch. The Pixel 9 Pro, on the other hand, has a 6.3-inch, 120 Hz, LTPO OLED display with up to 3,000 nits of brightness. The display is super bright and fast, with only small bezels and a single camera cut-out.

After two weeks of using the phone, the screen feels normal. Honestly, while using the iPhone 13 Mini, it was always imprinted in my mind that it was a small phone and thus came with its shortcomings. That isn’t the case with the Pixel 9 Pro. As I mentioned, the 6.3-inch display is respectable in size—not as small as the 5.4-inch screen on the iPhone 13 Mini but still relatively compact. This is particularly small compared to today’s average smartphones, where a 6.8-inch display has become the standard.

Google Pixel 9 Pro (left) is next to the Apple iPhone 13 mini (right). (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

What impressed me about the Pixel 9 Pro, as with the iPhone 13 Mini, is how comfortable it is for one-handed use. I can easily take the phone out of my pocket and operate it with one hand. I know the struggle of holding a big phone while trying to shoot a video or take a photograph. I can also type a message with one hand while standing in a crowded place. The advantages of a small phone are there, and you need to embrace the size.

The Pixel 9 Pro was made with the intention of being a premium flagship smartphone, and it shows in its design. I think it’s one of the best-looking high-end smartphones on the market and possibly the best small phone out there. Period. My review unit came in a lighter shade of pink (called Rose Quartz, by the way), and it’s pleasing to the eye, though I would have loved to see Google experiment with bold and fun colours similar to what Apple did with the new iMac. The screen is flat, while the body of the Pixel 9 Pro is square-ish with rounded corners, reminiscent of recent iPhones.

The camera array on the back now features a raised oval island. It’s a controversial design—some might like it, while others may hate it. It protrudes quite far from the back of the phone, making a case necessary to protect the device. Additionally, I must note that it’s a very slippery phone due to the choice of materials and finish. That being said, the device feels expensive in the hand and has a Pixel-esque aesthetic, which matters a lot when Google is charging a premium for a phone like this.

The camera triumphs

I really liked the camera bar design on the Pixel 9 Pro. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

The Pixel’s camera holds its ground to this day, even when smartphone cameras, in general, are fairly good across all models—no matter which device you pick up at any price point—and computational photography has become an integral part of modern phone camera design. However, I still feel that Google has an edge, and its Pixel phones still produce my favourite photographs.

The Pixel 9 Pro has a triple-camera setup: a 50MP 1/1.31-inch sensor with an f/1.68 aperture, a 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor with a slightly improved f/1.7 aperture (up from f/2.0 on the Pixel 8 Pro), and a 12mm equivalent focal length. The telephoto camera also features a 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor with an f/2.8 aperture and a 5x optical zoom, with an equivalent focal length of 110mm.

Many people don’t even know the camera specs, and it’s fair not to place too much emphasis on camera hardware. However, you need the best possible combination of camera hardware and software to achieve photographs that are less dramatic, true to the subject and have the sharpness and clarity that make each photo stand out as if you were part of the scene.

The more I tried the Pixel 9 Pro’s camera, the better I was able to distinguish where the Pixel camera excels and where its shortcomings lie when compared to the iPhone 16 Pro’s camera, which also has its share of highs and lows. Not many may admit it, but it’s important to highlight this as a reviewer. The Pixel 9 Pro is better at highlighting shadows, and skin tones generally appear more colour-accurate than on the iPhone. However, there are times when the Pixel reduces warm tones in a picture, and the colour auto-corrects too much.

On the iPhone 16 Pro, I found that Apple has improved the phone’s 5X telephoto lens, and images appear sharper in low light. The Pixel also excels in video quality (the Pixel 9 Pro now offers 8K video recording using the Video Boost feature) and is particularly good at taking panoramas. However, the iPhone remains superior in overall video performance. That being said, the Pixel 9 Pro’s camera system is excellent and second to none (for example, the night mode is very impressive, as is the portrait mode), but it has its own flair and quirks that you won’t find on any other smartphone. It’s good to see the new selfie camera on the Pixel 9 series, which offers slightly more detailed images. You can use the Portrait option to create a shallow depth-of-field effect, although this has resulted in less realistic edges in my testing.

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro selfie camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Google Pixel 9 Pro camera sample. (Image resized for web)

Likeable performance, but the Pixel 9 Pro’s battery life surprised me

Like other devices in the Pixel 9 series, the Pixel 9 Pro (my unit came with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM) uses the latest in-house produced Google chip: the G4. I am not into benchmarking and have no interest in comparing raw specs; all I care about is how the device feels on a day-to-day basis. The G4 feels powerful in regular everyday tasks such as browsing, social media, taking photos, navigating, and accessing apps. I found the phone to be much more capable of gaming, which surprised me. I did not notice the phone getting warm, as was the case with previous generations of Pixel devices. This is surely an improvement, as is the battery life. I was expecting the Pixel 9 Pro’s 4,700mAh battery to last as long as the iPhone 13 Mini in battery life, and to my surprise, the phone was able to last throughout the day, especially on days when I was out and had heavy app usage. When I got back home on those days, I found my phone with at least 15 to 20 per cent battery life left. However, don’t expect the battery life to last for two full days of use and even compare the Pixel 9 Pro to the Pixel 9 Pro XL and iPhone 16 Pro Max in terms of battery life.

Android 15 and Pixel AI: A mixed bag

The Pixel Studio app in action. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

The Pixel 9 series recently received an update to Android 15, and honestly, the latest software update brought very few new features. It’s neither exciting nor does it alter the interface, which I feel has already started to stagnate. However, if you ask me, only two new features in Android 15 stand out: a) Private Space, which allows users to create a password-protected area within the phone for any apps or documents they might want to keep hidden. However, it’s not as user-friendly as I’d hoped. You need to sign in separately and re-download any apps you’ve installed in the “public” part of your phone, and it’s not always clear how to hide certain files. b) The new Theft Detection feature is cool; it recognizes if your phone is snatched from your hand and instantly locks your screen to stop the thief from accessing your personal information.

AI is a big part of the Pixel 9 Pro, and I have written in the past about how generative artificial intelligence features are more of a novelty at the moment and not as truly useful as Google wants users to believe. However, there are a few Google AI features that I found genuinely useful, such as the live transcription feature, which I feel is better than Apple’s AI. I also like Pixel Studio for creating generative AI pictures, and I use it frequently. However, I don’t use Gemini Live much; instead, I simply search the web.

Should you buy the Google Pixel 9 Pro?

The Pixel 9 Pro is comfortable to use with one hand. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

I think it all depends on whether you need a smartphone with a small form factor. The Pixel 9 Pro is as capable as the Pixel 9 Pro XL because the hardware is exactly the same, with the only differences being the smaller screen and battery on the Pixel 9 Pro. I’m genuinely happy to be using the Pixel 9 Pro; it feels like a true flagship smartphone that is designed for small phone lovers like myself, and that is also its main selling point—of course, the camera is excellent. For me, though, the Pixel 9 Pro remains a superb smartphone—one of the best compact smartphones you can buy today.