Find it irresistible or hate it, AI options on a smartphone will solely develop in quantity with time. And if it is any indicator of how instances are altering, even Apple, which has averted taking any massive strides for years (be it foldables, tremendous high-resolution cameras, quicker charging), has jumped aboard the AI (Apple Intelligence) prepare this 12 months with iOS 18. I’ve been utilizing Google’s latest member of the Pixel household, the Pixel 9 Professional XL, for a number of weeks, and I need to admit that its tackle AI is spectacular and beginning to make some sense. Google’s push for operating AI fashions additionally leads to some much-needed {hardware} upgrades that we’ve been asking for years. Due to this, it seems to be a really succesful smartphone, even with out its AI bits.
Google 9 Professional XL Assessment Design: Lastly feels, excellent
Dimensions – 162.8mm x 76.6mm x 8.5mm Weight – 221g Sturdiness – IP68 (mud and water)
“This looks like an iPhone,” mentioned a non-techy good friend of mine. Whereas such a remark from an iPhone consumer doesn’t validate the Pixel 9 Professional XL’s design, I do perceive that some bits of this 12 months’s Professional fashions do resemble an Apple iPhone.
From the flat sides of its aluminium body to its bevelled edges to its flat again, the design may be very iPhone-like and acquainted. That is solely as a result of Apple has used these design parts because the iPhone 12 (2020). In the event you have a look at it from the entrance, the one giveaway that it isn’t an iPhone is that tiny selfie digital camera module embedded in its show (as a substitute of a giant, omnipresent capsule).
The rear digital camera module, which now seems like a flattened capsule, nonetheless protrudes fairly a bit. And in contrast to the Pixel 9 Professional, which is rather a lot shorter, you can’t use it to assist the cellphone (while you maintain it up) because it’s too far up on the again.
Whereas the combo of glass and steel lends it a really premium look, the general end of the sides of the body, digital camera module and ports is the most effective I’ve seen on a Pixel smartphone thus far and is means higher than the iPhone 15 Professional Max, which had misaligned panels, sharp buttons and edges.
Regardless of including a vapour chamber (VC) cooling system and sustaining the cellphone’s wi-fi charging capabilities, the Pixel manages to be as mild because the titanium-clad iPhone 15 Professional Max and slimmer than the Pixel 8 Professional it replaces. It additionally comes with the standard IP68 score, making it good for submersion in contemporary water and sand. However it’s smart to remember that harm as a result of submersion in water is not going to be lined below guarantee.
Google 9 Professional XL Assessment Show: All about these rounded corners
Show – 6.8-inch, 1,344 x 2,992 pixel, 1Hz – 120Hz Show Sort – Flat, LTPO, OLED Show safety – Gorilla Glass Victus 2 (entrance and rear panels)
The brand new ‘Professional XL’ tag is mainly a ‘Professional’ from earlier years, so we’ve a barely larger show (on paper) in comparison with the older ‘Professional’ fashions to justify the ‘XL’ tag. It’s totally brilliant (3,000 nits peak) below direct daylight and might showcase natural-looking colors (with the Pure color preset enabled in Settings).
Whereas not as sharp because the Galaxy S24 Extremely’s show, it nonetheless does the job properly. The under-display fingerprint reader lastly will get upgraded to an ultrasonic one, which may be very dependable in comparison with earlier fashions. The selfie digital camera can be used to securely unlock the system utilizing (banking-grade) AI-based facial recognition, offered there may be sufficient mild.
The extreme curvature of the rounded corners, together with its skinny bezel, does result in some wasted display screen area, similar to on iPhones. Google has pushed the standing bar larger up in direction of the highest fringe of the selfie digital camera, and even then, there’s loads of wasted area above it. This reduces the usable space of the 6.8-inch show to the 6.7-inch show which we’ve on the Pixel 8 Professional. In reality, even the Pixel 7 Professional’s show feels bigger as a result of it is wider than the 8 Professional and the 9 Professional XL when it comes to facet ratio due to its sharper corners. Regardless, the well-spaced-out content material does look good when it comes to aesthetics.
Google 9 Professional XL Assessment Software program: AI or nothing
Software program – Pixel UI Model – Android 14 Software program dedication – 7 years of OS, safety and Pixel Drop updates
Google’s generally identified Pixel UI stays the identical as earlier than visually however will get a really heavy dose of synthetic intelligence (AI) options. The ‘Professional’-branded fashions, specifically, get extra options over the usual Pixel 9 smartphone.
Add Me is a enjoyable new characteristic that will appear gimmicky at first however is definitely very helpful. It is one of many many options that will get you interested by what’s faux and what’s actual and whether or not you wish to cross that line. It permits you to add your humble self to that wedding ceremony photograph despite the fact that you weren’t bodily there with your mates within the mentioned body (or second). Technically, it isn’t dishonest (despite the fact that it’s faux) since you have been current on the mentioned second (simply behind the digital camera), however it should set off that hidden guilt everytime you test the photograph.
Pixel Screenshots are a pleasant solution to organise and maintain monitor of all of your screenshots. You probably have a behavior of taking tons of screenshots, whether or not that is to recollect one thing, to make use of as proof, or simply to set the details straight, that is going to be a superb solution to allow you to discover particulars inside your screenshots and even pull out data from them at a later date.
One other new characteristic circling this faux versus actual debate is that this enjoyable instrument known as Pixel Studio. It is nonetheless in beta, but it surely permits you to be an artist and sort or convey your inventive visions to life with zero effort. Want an edible canine that appears like cake? Performed! A pizza made out of Oreo cookies? Performed! A bridge on fireplace? Effectively… that is the place you start to cross this instrument’s limits. Whereas initially accessible (after I acquired this overview unit), Google has been actively inserting and lifting limits on what you possibly can or can not generate.
Even one thing that is borderline dangerous to a human/animal will simply not fly… for now. However at instances, I do get a message saying that “the power to edit human photos is coming sooner or later”. On the similar time, you possibly can set the Gateway of India (Mumbai) on fireplace utilizing the precise phrases that do not sound damaging. Google can also be including good workarounds to cut back the gore, and at instances, it should ignore a few of the key phrases in your request to make for a palatable picture (just like the puppies within the KFC carton above). Apple’s model of the identical instrument presents the identical performance however will solely produce cartoon-like photos and never life like ones, and that someway looks like a superb safeguard to have in place.
Nevertheless, there are two outcomes for this instrument. Google handing out this free instrument to the lots goes to lead to a number of web junk, and it’ll, in some methods, make folks rethink the necessity for a inventive skilled (at primary ranges) usually.
Reimagine is a brand new instrument Google pushed out within the Photographs app. It is a highly effective picture enhancing instrument that allows you to reframe or fully change the background in a given photograph whereas retaining the topics. Whereas the outcomes could also be a success or a miss (due to output high quality), you possibly can find yourself with some convincing outcomes. In reality, it is onerous to inform whether or not a picture has been edited, as you possibly can see from the above examples.
Zoom Improve is yet one more photograph instrument which makes use of the facility of AI to “magically” improve images captured at 15-30X digital zoom by including pixels after which sharpening a picture. Nevertheless, in my testing, I discovered that these outcomes have been barely higher than the unique.
Gemini Dwell is certainly one of many greatest highlights of the brand new Pixel Professional fashions. Sadly, whilst I write this overview, Gemini Dwell is already obtainable on different Samsung gadgets like our Galaxy Z Fold 6 overview unit and might be coming to extra with time. Briefly, it isn’t unique to Pixel gadgets.
Whereas it is nonetheless not as good as Open AI’s GPT-4o and can’t view (or take inputs from the digital camera app but), it’s supremely responsive whereas giving out solutions. Not all of those outcomes are essentially correct. In a single dialog, it contradicted its personal earlier reply within the second go and laughed about being incorrect as effectively within the first go.
However the fascinating bit right here is the truth that you’re conversing with an AI assistant in a really human-like method. One of many greatest limitations of Gemini Dwell is that not like Google Assistant or Gemini, it’s certainly all about dialog and never actions. So, if you might want to set an alarm, you might want to use Gemini and never Gemini Dwell. I liked interacting with Gemini Dwell. Nevertheless, I didn’t discover it helpful sufficient to warrant the Rs. 1,920 per thirty days price ticket for accessing it together with different Gemini Superior add-ons as soon as the 1-year free trial ends. Once more, a few of Gemini Dwell’s replies are primarily based on US/EU information for some purpose, particularly after I requested for ideas on shopping for merchandise “in Mumbai” (and even “in India”).
AI additionally makes its means into different sudden locations. Just like the climate app (AI climate report), Hold (producing all kinds of lists), and even for the brand new Automotive Crash Detection characteristic, which is on the market for Pixel 9 and 9 Professional collection customers in India. Satellite tv for pc SOS, which was introduced at launch, is barely obtainable to customers situated within the US for now.
Google 9 Professional XL Assessment Efficiency: Meh
Processor – Google Tensor G4 RAM – 16GB Storage – 256/512GB
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL could also be massive on AI, however it’s nowhere near the competitors in the case of uncooked efficiency. Premium flagships and even foldables just like the Vivo X Fold 3 Professional are far forward with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. Fortunately, the Pixel 9 Professional XL exhibits no indicators of stuttering when shopping by the software program interface or multitasking. The 16GB of RAM ensures that apps stay in reminiscence and in addition helps drastically with the velocity of undertaking AI duties or workloads.
Whereas the VC cooling system ensures peak efficiency is just not affected by components like warmth, gaming efficiency continues to be not up there with different premium flagships. That is due to the show’s gradual contact sampling price, which lags regardless of the brand new Adaptive Contact characteristic that robotically calibrates contact sensitivity relying on the setting exercise. Regular contact interactions when shopping by the UI appear to work simply positive.
With a brand new chip, extra RAM and a VC system in place, I anticipated no hiccups when utilizing the digital camera. Sadly, this isn’t the case, because the cellphone nonetheless chokes up after capturing 5 portrait images again to again, which was additionally the case with the Pixel 8 Professional.
The system presents two audio system, which give wealthy sound high quality, however a number of the heavy lifting is dealt with by the underside speaker, which will get lined and muffled simply when enjoying video games or when watching a video due to its placement.
Google 9 Professional XL Assessment Cameras: “Pixel” good?
Predominant digital camera – 50-megapixel (OIS), f/1.6 aperture, AF Extremely-wide digital camera – 48-megapixel, 0.5X, f/1.7 aperture, AF Telephoto digital camera – 48-megapixel (OIS), 5X optical, f/2.8 aperture, AF Selfie digital camera – 42-megapixel, f/2.2 aperture, AF
The first digital camera on the Pixel 9 Professional XL does a positive job of capturing detailed photos with wonderful dynamic vary and sharpness. The colors seem balanced and really near the true scene. Like previously, the 2X magnification degree is a digital crop of the first sensor. However not like the previous, these pictures are very spectacular.
The Portrait mode even works effectively in low mild or with sturdy backlighting, capturing photos at 1.5X, 2X or 3X. What’s a success or a miss is the sting detection. As you possibly can see within the photos above and beneath, the sting detection could seem completely positive in case you are fortunate or an absolute mess should you aren’t.
When capturing selfies, edge detection suffers fairly a bit, even when in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional (which does a greater job). Regardless of having a high-resolution sensor, the standard of photos is sort of comparable, with minor positive factors in daylight and low mild.
Google’s 5X telephoto digital camera captures sharp images with good element in all lighting circumstances. However its zoom capabilities are first rate until the subsequent magnification degree (10X), past which picture high quality is not spectacular. You need to use the brand new Zoom Improve AI sharpening instrument within the Photographs app to boost these blurry photos captured at 15X or 30X, however regardless of enhancing the general high quality, these aren’t game-changing.
The ultra-wide digital camera manages barely tender photos in daylight with some blown-out highlights and purple-fringing. This isn’t the case with the Pixel 8 Professional. In low mild, there’s extra element (particularly within the darker areas) seen within the Pixel 9 Professional XL’s images.
Video high quality advantages rather a lot from the brand new VC cooling system, so this doesn’t lead to automated downscaling or high quality drops as a result of it simply doesn’t get as sizzling because the older Pixels did.
When recording the video, I did discover the resolved element on the Pixel 8 Professional to be higher than the softer and brighter visuals of the 9 Professional XL. The noise was current in low mild or street-lit circumstances, however the general high quality was simply positive. It is nonetheless nowhere close to the rock-steady body charges of the iPhone 15 Professional Max, particularly when panning or strolling. However all of that is tolerable as a result of Video Enhance is right here to avoid wasting the day.
Video Enhance truly went dwell with the Pixel 8 Professional post-launch. Having the overview unit with me for some time, I didn’t discover all the outcomes helpful, and so they someway didn’t appear very spectacular. However all of this adjustments with the Pixel 9 Professional XL.
With the Pixel 9 Professional collection, Google claims to have improved video rendering, making it twice as quick as final 12 months. Furthermore, there’s even 8K upscaling assist together with HDR+. Video increase improves readability (removes noise), boosts distinction and hues and stabilises the video general, making for smoother panning actions. It even does this for footage captured in low mild (Evening Sight Video), leading to noise-free footage.
The entire downside with Video Enhance is that one has to attend for the processing to occur, and there’s no approximate time length offered for when the boosted video might be prepared both.
Google 9 Professional XL Assessment Battery: Meets expectations… For a Pixel
Battery capability – 5,060mAh Charging price – 45W Wi-fi charging – 23W
I didn’t count on many adjustments to the cellphone’s battery life, given the meagre 10mAh bump over the earlier mannequin. Our video loop battery life check additionally managed simply 12 hours and 19 minutes, which is decrease than final 12 months’s Pixel 8 Professional. With heavy utilization, which concerned capturing images, video, and a few calls, the cellphone simply managed to ship a day of utilization that touched 18 % by the top of the work day. All in all, that is positive for Pixel, however it’s nonetheless a one-day smartphone and much behind the competitors.
The cellphone took 1 hour and half-hour after I plugged it into my 65W GaN charger. Google claims that the 45W charging price can solely be achieved by plugging it into its proprietary charger, which sadly is just not on sale in India.
Google 9 Professional XL Verdict
Priced at Rs. 1,24,999 for the bottom 256GB variant and Rs. 1,39,999 for the 512GB variant, Google’s Pixel 9 Professional XL, when it comes to {hardware}, is mainly the top-end Professional mannequin we wished to see final 12 months. As an alternative, all we received was a Pixel 8 Professional, which was onerous to suggest because it was not an enormous enchancment over the Pixel 7 Professional it tried to interchange.
Whereas this 12 months’s Pixel 9 Professional XL is just not as superior as Samsung or Vivo’s flagships when it comes to uncooked efficiency and {hardware}, it is filled with AI options that may actually change the best way you’re employed and even exist socially. Google pitches these AI options as “useful” or “time-saving” when getting quite a lot of issues carried out, but it surely does cross a number of strains in its quest to impress customers. The Pixel 9 Professional XL absolutely builds a robust case for why AI options ought to exist on a smartphone, however homeowners can select to make use of them and dwell with them or ignore them.
It is because this 12 months’s Pixel Professional additionally feels way more premium than any of the earlier fashions and takes care of some main {hardware} ache factors which have plagued Google’s gadgets for years, like warmth administration, a brighter show, and the record goes on. Battery life is just not the most effective within the enterprise, and Gemini Superior options come at a premium value. However I can see many Pixel 6 Professional, Pixel 7 Professional customers and even some curious iPhone homeowners immediately upgrading to at least one as a result of there’s lastly a Pixel that will get a number of issues proper.