23:55
this is the pixel 9 what Google calls as a phone full of first and to which I'm going to partially agree see this particular phone represents a change in Google's Ever Changing approach to smartphones first we had the Nexus which uh started expensive but then became affordable only to become expensive again and then we have the pixel which started expensive only to become borderline mid-range rer with the pixel 5 in order to drop the price by the time the pixel 6 series launched Google made The Logical decision of giving users a choice the base pixel for those looking for an affordable Flagship killer and the pro pixel for anyone wanting a flagship at the time the marketing
strategy was to call out the same guts with less cameras for less money but us nerds knew that wasn't necessarily true the base model always missed out on RAM screen refresh rate and aside from less cameras the Sens were also not the same even if sure the performance was very similar still in my opinion this actually is the first pixel where the company walks that talk in many ways this is actually the least pretentious launch the company has ever done because it's a lot more Pro than I thought the minute I unboxed it almost feels like I'm using the pixel 8 Pro from last year in certain ways and in more good ways than bad I'm high with pocket now and let me tell you what I mean in our full
review I'm actually glad Google decided to make a staggered seating of devices this year yes I barely received the pro phones a few days ago so expect that review later on the reason I praise the approach is because in the past it was easy to ignore this phone over the pro that was also in the bag and I actually think that this is the bigger story to be told to start with the elephant in the room yes this phone is $100 more expensive than last year I seriously felt it was only a matter of time as the company's 8A got so close to the ad in features and the company continued to take steps further now if you want to know off the bat if I feel you're getting more of a phone than before the
quick answer is yes and it actually starts with the hardware if I were to stack this phone next to the pixel 8 Pro the differences are fairly minor when it comes to Hardware they're both aluminum and Gorilla Glass fixus 2 the Bas is simply matte on the rails versus shiny and glossy in the back versus Matte their similarities are such that the case on one fits the other and they're actually sold that way and that's even what the cameras and the display differences we'll discuss later point is the base model is far better built and more elegant than before though a slight bit heavier gone are the days where the visuals were a compromise same story with internals the tensor G4 is not
really something I'd call dramatically better than the G3 but it does push heavily on added specs for added AI capabilities then this phone brings 50% more RAM at 12 gigs and a larger battery even if storage remains at a scarce 128 gigs which I could complain about but which the pro brings as well so there goes my point again I know the pro has 16 gigs of RAM by contrast but seriously 12 is great and even their connect ity and ratings are the same after that it's not until we talk displays of the differences are slightly evident but not in a bad way at first I thought the pixel 9 had more Bezos than the 9 Pro but no they're exactly the same they both even share the exact 120 HZ refresh
rate the pro is only better by 300 nits at Peak brightness meaning even this base model gets up to 2700 nits and yes the pro has a bit more resolution at 495 PPI versus 422 though I seriously bet you won't tell the difference and everything else from colors to viewing angles to everything you'd want from a flagship display you'll be just fine with pixel 9 hey even the experience with the speakers is great side this could uh result in a thinner frame and reduce bezels on the sides giving the phone a sleeker look about the only negative First is that this is the first pixel that doesn't launch with the latest version of Android call it a timing problem but Google has always
launched its phone right after Android gets an update I seriously wonder if those seven years of support are really only six if you account for Android 15 but uh we'll see what's important is that listen you'll be the first to get the update on this or any pixel that's supported and I've also never really been a fan of the pixel launcher but whether it's the added refresh rate or who knows what I don't know why but I really like it this year I noticed the outer launcher is sparter about widgets fitting in a tighter grid the performance overall works like a charm obviously as a pixel device you also get perks like Circle to search and other AI features built in but uh then that leads
me to another positive first this is the first time in a bit that this phone launches with pretty much all the Google services that were mentioned at the event pixel studio is here though uh it still leads to support humans it tells you that you have to wait so I consider this more like a cartoony meme generator for now that I haven't really used the option to reimagine photos and Magic editor is here and it's pretty awesome the new screenshots app which I should seriously use more is also here and then even if you don't get a free year of Gemini advance in this phone like you do on the pro variant I already had the service and I can tell you things like Gemini live are just pretty surreal and
how intuitive and natural they feel now here's the thing I'm not necessarily going to recommend that you pay for Gemini Advanced if you get this phone because to be honest I do feel that Google still needs to work on the accuracy of it in order for me to tell you hey sh GPT should worry it's a step in the right direction but there are still more steps to go over the last uh I don't know week or so that I've been using this phone I will tell you that I kind of fallen in love all the granularity of Android with the sense of attention and detail that I've been used to from iPhones is pretty much what encapsulates the experience of using this phone most of the things just work and I really like that phone calls then
have just been great and I'd say the pixel is clinging on to data on Google 5 better than its predecessors even battery life has been surprisingly good for a small pixel I have grabbed the pro XL for my personal use just to try to see how much better that is but I have to say the small pixel 9 has been an all day champ which is another first for Google as none of their pixels have ever been famous for their endurance maybe the last set of first has to do with these cameras finally a primary and ultrawide set of cameras that match the pro variants I'm sure you're missing the telephoto and the selfie camera doesn't have the same Ultra wide capabilities and even megapixels still even the perks
that I love from the 8 Pro with action pan or here so yeah it's a prob based model in every way during the day you'll like the character the phone provides and that's regardless of the focal length I love having this 2x Optical crop for street photography which piggybacks from the primary and leads to that exact same quality I can tell the ultra wide is better particularly when taking macros as there is some depth to them which other phones can't really claim overall you'll love this phone when it comes to these scenarios even up to 8X thanks to Super R Zoom now during the night here's the thing I like the photos but I don't know if you will I love this contrasty feel that almost
makes these look like if they were filtered up on Snapseed the problem is that yes they do look overdone once you add the sky to the mix I can tell it's always darker in real life than what this camera captures thing is I just really love the pro features like long exposure and action pan particularly at night tricks you can't make work without Pro knowledge on other phones with manual controls which here are just simply a mode I'll also admit that I've spent a bit of time reimagining photos on Magic Editor to add some storm clouds or sun to my shots and yeah the results were pretty surreal I did find the adme feature to be a bit buggy even on the pro phone so I don't consider that to be
ready just yet even if uh some people have had a lot of success selfies and portraits are pleasing in most cases in my experience it's actually more from the selfie camera since you don't lose your focal length I really don't like that all pixels and that includes the pros will force a 1.5 to 2x crop from the primary so I didn't even bother testing that on this phone because even if the results are good I just don't like when it punches in but then when we get to video that's another area where the pro stands out over the base pixels you're lacking for example video boost it means there's no boosting to 8K nor is there enhanced color lighting or stabilization that being said you can
record in 10 bits so there is HDR and the results are actually very good for an Android phone in dark scenarios you'll totally tell that it'll introduce too much grain to darker areas but if you have good light the video and stabilization are pretty good dynamic range is not necessarily my favorite but at least the warping that we hate from Android phones is gone like every pixel since the 6 Pro a lot of that experience then extends the selfie video but I oddly find that the camera adapts better to light changes with this camera would I Vlog with this phone sure I'd call it a second best compared to an iPhone and that says a lot obviously in low light the warping punches in but it's not as
bad as on previous pixel so listen for me that's a win to conclude what can I say if this is what Google calls as the phone full of Firsts I have to agree in that this is the best Flagship killer the company has ever done the original purpose of the Nexus was to always breach the gap of specs and price but the results were just mediocre not here though in so many ways you're buying into a pixel 8 Pro in a more pocketable size and with added perks at least for now if anything I'd say this is more like the pixel 9 Pro than the 8 Pro for that matter bottom line if this were my money and the selection was the Galaxy s24 or the OnePlus 12 or any phone in this price range fine the OnePlus 12 would most likely win but man this is a close
second it's so close that I'd even say they're almost on par if it wasn't for just how much better the Snapdragon chip is this pixel 9 is then so good that I'd even wonder why you would pay more to go pro but that's a story for another video that's going to be coming very soon let me know if you agree with my assessment in the comments down below and while you're at it follow us on social media and subscribe to our channel for more videos like this one you can also follow me on my personal handles to see me really like this Bas pixel for the first time ever please give this video a thumbs up if you like what you saw I'm haa thanks so much for watching we'll see you on the next one
