Google Pixel 9 Series (9/9 Pro/9 Pro XL/9 Pro Fold)

[aggie99]

P9PXL feels amazing in hand without a case. I really hate putting this Mous case on it. My one gripe with the build is the glossy, shiny frame. Very slippery and a fingerprint magnet. For that reason I'll carry it in a case, but I sure don't want to. Beautiful device.

 

[Tig Bitties]

GSMArena's screen brightness test shows that Pixel 9 Pro XL has the brightest display ever on a smartphone.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Went to Best Buy on my lunch break just to see if they would give any deals on this?

Walked in with my S24 Ultra as a trade-in, which was just collecting dust on my desk not used anymore.

Cost me a whopping $48 bucks, and walked out with an Obsidian color Pixel 9 Pro XL, AND they gave me $200 BB Gift card. They honored the $1099 trade-in deal with my old Galaxy. And for some reason also gave me a BB Gift card.

Did they make a mistake? With my trade-in it cost less than fifty bucks out of pocket, plus got a $200 gift card and the 9 Pro XL.

Was on the fence on even doing this or getting the phone. But hey for that deal, I'll take it.

 

[Bkdodger]

Went to Best Buy on my lunch break just to see if they would give any deals on this?

Walked in with my S24 Ultra as a trade-in, which was just collecting dust on my desk not used anymore.

Cost me a whopping $48 bucks, and walked out with an Obsidian color Pixel 9 Pro XL, AND they gave me $200 BB Gift card.

Did they make a mistake? With my trade-in it cost less than fifty bucks, plus got a $200 gift card and the 9 Pro XL.

Was on the fence on even doing this or getting the phone. But hey for that deal, I'll take it.

Awesome bro

 

[Tig Bitties]

Awesome bro

Thank you and like I said I was really on the fence and even getting this phone or just waiting a bit but I got the itch just to stop by my local Best Buy and was like let me just kick the tires and see what kind of deals would be available if I do the trade-in and stuff like that.

Well for only having to pay less than $50 bucks and getting a $200 gift card and the new phone, I was sold.

 

[Tig Bitties]

Now I need a case. Best Buy had nothing.

What's your opinion on those carbon fiber Ultra thin cases? I think that would look great on the obsidian color. Amazon has that thinborne brand for $69 are those good?

 

[aggie99]

Now I need a case. Best Buy had nothing.

What's your opinion on those carbon fiber Ultra thin cases? I think that would look great on the obsidian color. Amazon has that thinborne brand for $69 are those good?

Love the Mous Thin Magnetic case on the Google Store. Feels great in hand and adds very little thickness. Just don't drop it onto the face on concrete like I did my 8 Pro. There's not much of a lip around it and the case pushed back a little bit from the impact and the corner of the phone was scratched up a bit. The one for the 9 Pro XL does appear to have a bit more of a lip though than the 8 Pro.

 

[aggie99]

Thank you and like I said I was really on the fence and even getting this phone or just waiting a bit but I got the itch just to stop by my local Best Buy and was like let me just kick the tires and see what kind of deals would be available if I do the trade-in and stuff like that.

Well for only having to pay less than $50 bucks and getting a $200 gift card and the new phone, I was sold.

I can already see your posts. "Such an incremental upgrade from the P8P they had to pay me to take one". 😆

Hell of a deal. I'd have done the same but I didn't want to part with my S24U.

 

[fjd726]

I can already see your posts. "Such an incremental upgrade from the P8P they had to pay me to take one". 😆

Hell of a deal. I'd have done the same but I didn't want to part with my S24U.

No way that Pixel was worth getting rid of the S24 Ultra for.

 

[Tig Bitties]

I can already see your posts. "Such an incremental upgrade from the P8P they had to pay me to take one". 😆

Hell of a deal. I'd have done the same but I didn't want to part with my S24U.

My SIM card hasn't been in the S24 Ultra since May. I just kind of stopped using it. Great phone though, just not my cup of tea.

But I did like it as sort of a mini tablet for home use only.

Yeah not expecting much from this 9 Pro XL, but hey it has a brighter display, probably bit better battery life, and better modem. Plus my youngest son is still using a Pixel 5, might gift him this 8 Pro. He just started high school, and would probably like a bigger newer phone

 

[PenguinOfSqualor]

I preordered the P9ProXL through Best Buy. They are still waiting on inventory that is "in transit." Very disappointing

 

[noobinator]

My one observation on day 1 of use is the battery seems about the same as my 8 pro. Still leagues behind my 15 pro max. Pixels just drain much faster than my 15pm when connected to 5g (no wifi available). At home (on wifi) pixels get much better battery life.

 

[aggie99]

My one observation on day 1 of use is the battery seems about the same as my 8 pro. Still leagues behind my 15 pro max. Pixels just drain much faster than my 15pm when connected to 5g (no wifi available). At home (on wifi) pixels get much better battery life.

I never pay attention to battery life on an android device in week 1. Especially the first day. Lots of processes going on in the background right after setup. It will settle in after a few days.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I never pay attention to battery life on an android device in week 1. Especially the first day. Lots of processes going on in the background right after setup. It will settle in after a few days.

Very true! Also, I read that the 9 series now has battery health and cycle count for the battery. Settings -> About Phone -> Battery Info

 

[Bkdodger]

My one observation on day 1 of use is the battery seems about the same as my 8 pro. Still leagues behind my 15 pro max. Pixels just drain much faster than my 15pm when connected to 5g (no wifi available). At home (on wifi) pixels get much better battery life.

Do you use AOD on both phones ?

 

[Carrotstick]

Went to Best Buy on my lunch break just to see if they would give any deals on this?

Walked in with my S24 Ultra as a trade-in, which was just collecting dust on my desk not used anymore.

Cost me a whopping $48 bucks, and walked out with an Obsidian color Pixel 9 Pro XL, AND they gave me $200 BB Gift card. They honored the $1099 trade-in deal with my old Galaxy. And for some reason also gave me a BB Gift card.

Did they make a mistake? With my trade-in it cost less than fifty bucks out of pocket, plus got a $200 gift card and the 9 Pro XL.

Was on the fence on even doing this or getting the phone. But hey for that deal, I'll take it.

Great stuff, I’m still on the fence. Waiting to see what Apple launches and I’ll see then.

Enjoy the phone. I probably won’t make my decision till the 11th lol. I’ll be visiting this thread to see the great photos.

 

[explosive0]

UPS still hasn't delivered my package. Was supposed to be delivered before 11:30am. Sigh

 

[Aneres11]

I haven't managed to get too many thoughts as I have been back to back with work calls and then had to race to get to tennis for 6pm so only just got home and eaten.
I have set the phone up and I did inbox both of them so I could make a decision on colour.

They are verrryy different. However in sticking with pink. The Hazel is nice but a bit flat. I also don't really like the darker metallic sides. It's nice they have tried to match the colours but it looks a bit off.
Rose Quartz on the other hand... My god. Amazing.

Will post full thoughts tomorrow. And jpegs of course 😍.

 

[explosive0]

I preordered the P9ProXL through Best Buy. They are still waiting on inventory that is "in transit." Very disappointing

Have you checked if your local store has inventory for walk-in buyers? Some stores didn't fulfil preorders but are selling them if you walk in. You still get the $200 gift card.

 

[okkibs]

My one observation on day 1 of use is the battery seems about the same as my 8 pro. Still leagues behind my 15 pro max.

The root of the problem seems to be using these Samsung manufactured chips, the Tensor SoCs are merely average. They can have all the Gemini AI power in the world but if my phone dies halfway through my day it's of no use to me. And Google has the guts to say they aren't made for speed.

If both speed and battery life are average then what is left? What is it made for? How can I use Gemini when the phone dies halfway through my day as my P4 did and my 6 Pro as well?

At these price points they are clearly competing with iPhones now. The last times I bought Pixel flagships it was a 4 XL and then later a 6 Pro and both times the deciding factor was getting them on sale for 500 bucks (after tax even). With the 4 XL I was let down by atrociously short software support and the 6 Pro I don't think I have to talk about (ended up with over 500 charge cycles within a single year due to how bad battery life was compared to 150 per year on the iPhone).

Why would I buy this over an iPhone?

I am sure these are the best Pixels ever made, the news that the fingerprint reader finally works, that on its own makes me want to try these Pixels.

But I absolutely need the hardware to be at least on par with the iPhone. And unless I can get through a whole day with various accessories connected (car, watch, bluetooth headphones etc) spending hours in calls and able to record video without watching the battery go flat in real time...

Sadly I have no confidence left in the Pixel's battery life. And I'd want the smaller Pro which will likely have even worse battery life than the 9 Pro XL. My 15 Pro will last another 3-4 years, maybe by that point they have finally fixed the batteries. The same way they put the same bad fingerprint reader on the 6, and 7, and 8, and only fixed that now after 3 years.

 

[Carrotstick]

Why would I buy this over an iPhone?

I am sure these are the best Pixels ever made, the news that the fingerprint reader finally works, that on its own makes me want to try these Pixels.

But I absolutely need the hardware to be at least on par with the iPhone. And unless I can get through a whole day with various accessories connected (car, watch, bluetooth headphones etc) spending hours in calls and able to record video without watching the battery go flat in real time...

True, if Google wants to charge big bucks then they need to a chip that can handle video and move to TSMC for even better battery life.

Stop using Samsung nodes.

 

[Aneres11]

Why would I buy this over an iPhone?

Because it doesn't run iOS. Duh.
😛

 

[noobinator]

Do you use AOD on both phones ?

I do.

I also realize day 1 isn't the best day to do a comparison test, but my 8P performed similarly to how my 9 pro xl is performing today. It's 2pm here and I'm at 50%. Using my 15PM I'm usually around 75% at this point in the day with similar usage. Hopefully it improves in the coming days.

 

[Bkdodger]

I do.

I also realize day 1 isn't the best day to do a comparison test, but my 8P performed similarly to how my 9 pro xl is performing today. It's 2pm here and I'm at 50%. Using my 15PM I'm usually around 75% at this point in the day with similar usage. Hopefully it improves in the coming days.

I've never once used my iPhone as much as I use my Android phone that I'm carrying.. that just never happens lol. If I'm picking up a phone iPhone gets second choice. That said I don't like having AOD on the iPhone and I'm most certainly don't run the pixel with AOD or that listening music. I just feel like it's a waste from my usage and a battery drain.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Noobinator was right about the USFPS. What good is it if you can't use a glass screen protector? At least the P6/P7/P8 for as much as we complained, at least worked 75-85% of the time. No, it wasn't perfect but this USFPS basically is worthless. Setting the touch sensitivity to adaptive along with enabling screen protector mode, doesn't do anything. I unlocked the phone once out of at least 10 tries. So it's basically down to Face Unlock and Pin as backup.

P9 series USFPS is trash/worthless/not fit for purpose (UK members). I don't know but I maybe sending this back but first I want to get $540 for my 7 Pro and i've read you get to keep the store credit even if you return the phone.