After a few leaks and early announcements, Google has revealed the full Pixel 9 lineup, which this year is more extensive than ever. Google has four new phones, all available for pre-order today. There are a number of key hardware differences, but they all have one thing in common: Deep integration with Google Gemini.
Very similar to the Google I/O keynote speechThe presenters at the Pixel presentation could barely open their mouths without saying “Gemini” or “AI.” Virtually everything new this year is linked to Google. generative AI model. Large language models (LLMs) have yet to prove their worth, but Google's new AI-powered phones have the best chance of doing so.
A quartet of pixels
He Multi-level telephone line This is a first for Google, which has previously released just one or two phones at a time. This time around, we have three flat phones and a new foldable. The Pixel 9 family starts with the $799 Pixel 9, which has a 6.3-inch 1080p display. There’s a similarly sized Pixel 9 Pro ($999) with a sharper display and three cameras instead of two. Then there’s the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which has a 6.8-inch OLED display and the same upgraded camera setup as the 9 Pro. That device hits a new high price of $1,099.
Google's second-generation foldable is the Pixel 9 Pro foldableThe external display is nearly identical to the Pixel 9's, but inside there's an 8-inch foldable OLED panel with dimensions of 2,076 x 2,152. Google says it's the world's thinnest foldable phone, but it's also among the most expensive, priced at $1,799.
All of the new Pixel phones are powered by Google’s Tensor G4 chip, which has substantially improved AI processing capabilities. The chip can generate up to 45 tokens per second — double the rate of the Tensor G3 in the Pixel 8. This relatively minor improvement turns out to be critical to the Pixel 9 experience. Gemini on the Pixel 9 family will have more access to your Google app data and what’s on your screen, but it won’t sacrifice your privacy to do so.
Gemini at heart
Google has increased the RAM on the new Pixel phones to 12GB for the base model and 16GB on all Pro variants. You won’t have access to all of that memory, though. Google has decided to dedicate some RAM (it doesn’t say how much) to running the Gemini Nano model locally on the phone. This helps the traditional model run more efficiently. Features of Gemini chatbot stylebut also improves features in the camera, keyboard, and several new experiences based on generative AI.
By running the Gemini Nano model on the device, you can analyze personal data more securely. This has allowed Google to borrow a page from Microsoft’s playbook with the new Pixel Screenshots app. Every screenshot you take is now accessible from this app and scanned with Gemini to extract important details, making the content easily searchable. You can even ask questions about the content of your screenshots. Similarly, Gemini Nano uses data from the new Pixel Weather app to generate (again, without going to the cloud) an instant summary of conditions at the top of the app.
Google’s calling assistance features have long been a key selling point of the Pixel line, and they’re getting an AI-powered upgrade with the Pixel 9. With the model built into the device, you can have Gemini record and summarize phone calls, go back to a previous conversation, and look up specific details.
Google hasn’t spent as much time talking about its imaging technology, a popular model called Image 3, but it’s front and center in the Pixel 9 series. A new Pixel Studio app lets you create (almost) anything you can imagine. Generating people isn’t allowed yet, though, due to Google’s well-documented issues in that area. You can also upload photos you’ve taken and perform extensive generative edits on them. This feature requires an internet connection, though.
Where is the killer app?
It should come as no surprise that Google is investing heavily in AI for its new phones: building more powerful LLMs is the company's main activity lately. It's not the only one investing money in AI. Generative AIwith companies like Microsoft, OpenAI and Facebook also developing their AI platforms. These companies are spending Billions of dollars about the AI accelerators needed to train and run these models with very little to show for it.
Credit: Google
But even after more than a year of AI hysteria, there is no “killer app” for AI. There are some pretty impressive chatbots out there, and many phones can rewrite your text messages to sound like Shakespeare. But is it actually useful? That’s going too far when every chatbot comes with a warning that it can make up details as it speaks. Annoyingly confident in his mistake.
Google’s control over the Pixel experience — from the core hardware to the operating system and apps that run on it — allows it to feed your data into the model. This seems like a better use of generative AI than making general web queries or asking for advice on throwing a party. Instead, the model focuses on the data that’s important to you. It’s hard to say whether all those billions of dollars will ultimately be spent, but at least Google has a chance.
