Google Pixel 9 and its various flavours launched

[Lysrin]

So we haven't made a single post that I've seen about this launch so I guess that shows how excited we are I shall make this post for posterity...

I dunno, it's hard to get jazzed up about new phones these days I find. And honestly I find a lot of the AI, especially the photo creation stuff, to be gimmicky. I haven't dug too much into all the Gemini features though. The review linked below he has found Gemini useful on the new phones.

I do find it interesting that aside from the visor or island or whatever, the design of the phone is more squared off and shaped like the iPhone. I do prefer that shape myself so I'm not complaining.

Lots of reviews out there, I'll just toss one here for reference:

 

[Shadowmeph]

I Still have my 6 whic his a nice phone but never use it switched it out for an expensive very heavy phone which I like except for its weight the phone probably could break a toe if it landed on it hehe

 

[Marzipan]

gonna the wife and I the 8 Pro shortly.

 

[Izerous]

I don't chase the newest releases. Grabbing the flagships that are about 1 year old just as the new flagship comes out nets you a very highend phone that is usually accompanied by huge discounts as people are trying to clear out inventory.

 

[Caldezar]

I find the camera bar on the Pixels are ugly and clunky, not to mention how much pocket lint they accumulate in the ridges. Also, I've found recently that the 'Pixel Experience' isn't really the best version of Android anymore. Back when I had my Pixel 5 I was all for it, but these days I find Google moving directions I don't like.

I bought my Samsung S24+ because I had to move on from a phone that was giving me grief. I tried the Pixel 8 and hated it, which was compounded by the terrible reception issues I had. (Well documented across the 7 and 8 series by now.) So far though, the Samsung has been a breath of fresh air. It still has some quirks, but they are much more manageable than the major issues I had with Pixel.

 

[Lysrin]

And I don't know if you watched the linked video, or the Google event for that matter (I didn't watch the latter), but he shows in the video that at the Google event the presenter is actually demoing some of the Gemini functionality on a Samsung phone... at the Pixel 9 launch event?!

So that is weird. I mean good that Google is pushing their software-side of things to other Android phones, but also weird that what used to be considered the flagship or pure Android experience phone, the one provided by Google, doesn't really have that much unique to offer at this point.

 

[JD]

Google event the presenter is actually demoing some of the Gemini functionality on a Samsung phone... at the Pixel 9 launch event?!

Circle to search also went to Samsung phones first, before showing up on the Pixel. I guess Google and Samsung have some sort of partnership, which makes sense I suppose as Samsung is the largest Android phone manufacturer. People even say things like "Galaxy or iPhone" rather than "Android or iOS".

The Pixel 9 design has grown on me now, initially I didn't like it though. The price is far too high, and the trade-in value not the greatest ($460 for my Pixel 7 Pro). Also it seems it's not the "next gen" CPU as originally intended, and instead is just a refresh of the Tensor G3.

I couldn't care less about the Gemini stuff, and it seems mostly locked behind a subscription anyways like all the other AI services out there. I wonder how much you lose when the 1yr trial expires.

And I think everyone slaps a case on these phones anyways, so the camera bump/visor becomes invisible anyhow. It would be nice if they actually designed phones to be grippy rather than slippery, so you could use it without a case.

 

[chrisk]

I have a Pixel 8 pro and I wasn't gonna go with this generation but I saw lots of positive reports on improved modem performance (the P9 series uses a Samsung 5400 modem which is supposed to actually be OK). The P8P had ok data reception but calling was still an issue sometimes sadly. The P9PXL seems to be getting great reviews on modem performance and efficiency which hopefully will make this the most solid Pixels since the Tensors were used. That, and the fact that I can get almost $500 in Google store credit ($275 bonus plus 10% back as a Google One subscriber) made this something I could do now...I'll also save on my Google One subscription as this phone comes with 1 free year.

Mine arrives tomorrow. I do Amazon reviews and I have some cases and screen protectors already here that I am eager to try too.

 

[JD]

Welp, my P9PXL came today just before heading out for a day trip. As I was the passenger, I did my phone swap in the car and chewed up some of my 60GB data cap that I never use.

I don't quite understand though, even in "Full Resolution" mode, which is 1344x2992, everything is still smaller than my P7P (which I also ran on full res at 1440x3120). I have to bump "Display Size" up a notch for it to look similar. The screen quality is definitely much improved though.

Used it caseless today, as I bought the case after it shipped to use the store credit, and it's not terribly slippery at least like the P7P. It somehow feels more manageable too, I guess the flat screen and rounded corners help. We'll see if that changes with a case though.

Still a lot of apps don't really transfer seamlessly and lose all their data/login. I didn't see any way to move my Pixel Watch either, so had to reset that. It did offer to convert my Koodo SIM to eSIM though, but I skipped it.

Overall performance seems smoother, I was charging it in the car and using Google Maps, and it didn't get super hot. P7P would usually get hot enough to start throttling just using Google Maps and not even charging. Again, we'll see if a case changes that.

 

[FreeKnight]

I find the camera bar on the Pixels are ugly and clunky, not to mention how much pocket lint they accumulate in the ridges. Also, I've found recently that the 'Pixel Experience' isn't really the best version of Android anymore. Back when I had my Pixel 5 I was all for it, but these days I find Google moving directions I don't like.

I bought my Samsung S24+ because I had to move on from a phone that was giving me grief. I tried the Pixel 8 and hated it, which was compounded by the terrible reception issues I had. (Well documented across the 7 and 8 series by now.) So far though, the Samsung has been a breath of fresh air. It still has some quirks, but they are much more manageable than the major issues I had with Pixel.

I had a similar experience before getting my S23 Ultra. Tried whatever the newest pixel was that had just released (pixel 7 pro IIRC) and didn't care for it. Surprisingly I liked touchwiz's version of android better than the google stock version. The chunky bar at the back didn't grow on me either.

If my variant of the Note 9 wasn't basically locked from any CFW, I'd have swapped a new battery in and kept using it, but the deal with the american carriers at the time (and by extension Canadian ones using the same hardware) meant it was a basically 'un-unlockable' phone. No chance of any kind of CFW and security updates were long stopped.

I'm hoping my S23 Ultra lasts 5-6 years (or more, luck willing), but suspect that's very wishful thinking, if nothing else due to security issues. There's very little about the hardware end of phones that's all that exciting anymore. I never thought I'd want an Apple, the walled in approach of iOS is a big annoyance (and I dislike a lot of their corporate approaches), but I don't do much with my phones if I'm being honest, and apples focus on privacy has some appeal. The next time I need a phone I may be finally consider swapping teams for the first time since like '09 when I left Blackberry for Android.