A Night Sight panorama taken during a San Diego Padres game on a Pixel 9 phone Anshel Sag
In general, the Pixel 9’s camera has left me very happy with the results and made me feel like it was the perfect camera for trying to capture intimate moments with my 8-month-old while she moves around faster than most cameras can keep up with. I have taken and edited numerous photos with the Pixel 9 that will forever be cherished, thanks to the fast and detailed camera. That said, the Portrait mode, while it is very popular and liked by many, still struggles with fine hair details at the edge.
I also enjoyed playing with some of the generative AI features such as Pixel Studio and Magic Editor, but I didn’t feel like they were crucial in my day-to-day usage. Many of the best AI features are already available on most Google and Android phones, such as Magic Eraser and Circle to Search. I did make a very cute photo of my daughter flying in the clouds like a cherub, which may have been the most useful I’ve found Magic Editor to be. The Screenshots app didn’t come off as very useful for me because I feel like you need to be using the phone for a while to really gain the benefits of having lots of screenshots over a lot of time with lots of context.
The only thing missing from the Pixel 9 is a proper telephoto, which you can get in the Pixel 9 Pro or Pro XL. It makes sense that Google would save the higher-end camera features for the Pro line, but as someone who’s used to having a telephoto, I still miss having it. That said, the camera remains genuinely one of the best I’ve ever used on a smartphone, and I think most people will be very happy with its daylight and low-light photography. Even the video looks really good, although Google doesn’t seem to have a powerful enough ISP in the G4 to enable 4K60 HDR, which is my preferred video format on the S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max. I believe this may be because Google phones have struggled with overheating from video recording in the past, but again, that’s a silicon/ISP issue more than anything else.
The Best Pixel Ever
I believe that the Pixel 9 is, in almost every way, the best Pixel Google has ever made. I’ve been a Google Pixel user since the first generation and have enjoyed seeing the brand grow and the quality improve. I think Google has done an exceptional job on the hardware and software, even though I also believe there’s a lot more room for improvement in AI utility.
This phone would probably be even better if it had a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and I believe that most aficionados outside of Google would agree. For the next generation, I hope that Google will implement 4K60 HDR video as a standard feature and continue to up the ante on the camera with better low-light performance and even sharper and more high-resolution images. I’m currently using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as my next review device, so that will be an interesting comparison to draw.
LinkedInTwitterFacebookSambung
A Night Sight panorama taken during a San Diego Padres game on a Pixel 9 phone Anshel Sag
In general, the Pixel 9’s camera has left me very happy with the results and made me feel like it was the perfect camera for trying to capture intimate moments with my 8-month-old while she moves around faster than most cameras can keep up with. I have taken and edited numerous photos with the Pixel 9 that will forever be cherished, thanks to the fast and detailed camera. That said, the Portrait mode, while it is very popular and liked by many, still struggles with fine hair details at the edge.
I also enjoyed playing with some of the generative AI features such as Pixel Studio and Magic Editor, but I didn’t feel like they were crucial in my day-to-day usage. Many of the best AI features are already available on most Google and Android phones, such as Magic Eraser and Circle to Search. I did make a very cute photo of my daughter flying in the clouds like a cherub, which may have been the most useful I’ve found Magic Editor to be. The Screenshots app didn’t come off as very useful for me because I feel like you need to be using the phone for a while to really gain the benefits of having lots of screenshots over a lot of time with lots of context.
The only thing missing from the Pixel 9 is a proper telephoto, which you can get in the Pixel 9 Pro or Pro XL. It makes sense that Google would save the higher-end camera features for the Pro line, but as someone who’s used to having a telephoto, I still miss having it. That said, the camera remains genuinely one of the best I’ve ever used on a smartphone, and I think most people will be very happy with its daylight and low-light photography. Even the video looks really good, although Google doesn’t seem to have a powerful enough ISP in the G4 to enable 4K60 HDR, which is my preferred video format on the S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max. I believe this may be because Google phones have struggled with overheating from video recording in the past, but again, that’s a silicon/ISP issue more than anything else.
The Best Pixel Ever
I believe that the Pixel 9 is, in almost every way, the best Pixel Google has ever made. I’ve been a Google Pixel user since the first generation and have enjoyed seeing the brand grow and the quality improve. I think Google has done an exceptional job on the hardware and software, even though I also believe there’s a lot more room for improvement in AI utility.
This phone would probably be even better if it had a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, and I believe that most aficionados outside of Google would agree. For the next generation, I hope that Google will implement 4K60 HDR video as a standard feature and continue to up the ante on the camera with better low-light performance and even sharper and more high-resolution images. I’m currently using the Pixel 9 Pro Fold as my next review device, so that will be an interesting comparison to draw.$