Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

There will undoubtedly be a lot of recurring information between this year's Pixel reviews. This is only natural, as Google has chosen a much more planned launch strategy where all of the new phones are equipped with the new Tensor G4 SoC and where two of the three camera lenses are identical from the cheaper Pixel 9 to the large Pixel 9 Pro XL.

So we're going to skip over a lot of this fairly standard information and refer you to our review of the Pixel 9 for thoughts on design, weight, materials and AI features.

Okay, so a Pixel 9 Pro XL. This year you're not forced to buy a gigantic phone to get a Pro model, and instead they've copied Apple's more open model. We can only applaud this, as you can now pretty much choose the features and sizes you want. In terms of the exterior, there is of course a difference in the range of colours and these are more traditionally balanced with Obsidian and Porcelain alongside Hazel and Rose Quartz. There's also a polished steel frame all around and a metal finish on the camera module.

And then the real differences here; this XL model obviously has a better Super Actua display. It's 6.8 inches in what amounts to 1344p. It's also an LTPO display in 120Hz and can easily hit 3000 NITS under the right conditions. This year's Super Actua displays are impressive all round, and Google has really caught up with the competition over the last couple of generations, even if it's not a leader in the field as such.

Again, it's the same Tensor G4, but this time we get a whopping 16GB of RAM, which is combined with a slightly larger UFS 4.1 memory of 256GB, 512GB or 1TB. There's no significant difference in actual usage, and now that the most expensive and the cheapest have the same SoC and cooling solution, it's basically the same profile. This is actually a praise, as there is no real differentiation in terms of usage. Google gives you essentially the same phone and then charges extra for a number of classic Pro features that the majority of people will never use anyway.

This leads us naturally to the camera system. It's the same 50 megapixel 25-millimetre wide with dual-pixel PDAF and optical stabilisation, and the same 48 megapixel 123-degree ultra-wide. What's obviously slightly extra is a 48 megapixel 113-millimetre periscope telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom. Even Samsung has downgraded their 10x optical zoom to 5x this year based on data showing that very few actually use that much zoom, so this module seems relatively versatile in its form. Of course, it's still mostly for portraits, as the lens is designed to create the depth, the bokeh that characterises a good portrait shot. Is that enough to justify the purchase of a Pro? Well, that's the question.

All the AI features that Google is pushing so hard are impressive in principle, but for ethical reasons I don't think almost all of them belong in the majority of cases Google finds them useful, such as removing people completely, repositioning aspects of the image or asking an AI to completely change the composition, time and place.

But make no mistake; this year's Pixel phones are immensely impressive, every single one of them is. And if you want that 6.8" 3000 NITS 1344x2992 Super Actua display and the larger 5060mAh battery with the accompanying charging rate of 37W wired and 23W wireless, it's not a ridiculous price. But I'd also argue that this year's regular Pixel 9 is so impressive on its own that you can easily be satisfied.