Reviewers Liked
- Ultra-bright screen
- Powerful AI tools
- Terrific build quality
- Shockingly long battery life
- Rival-beating cameras
- Incredible Super Res Zoom
- Slick, premium design
- 16GB of RAM
Reviewers Didn't Like
- Expensive
- 128GB of base storage
- Slow charging speeds
- Can get hot when gaming
- Uncompetitive performance score
- More expensive than last year's Pixel 8 Pro
- AI features are inconsistent
Competitors and Related Products
Our editors hand-pick related products using a variety of criteria: direct competitors targeting the same market segment, or devices that are similar in size, performance, or feature sets.
-
82
Google Pixel 9
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90
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
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86
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
-
74
Asus Zenfone 11 Ultra
-
82
Google Pixel 9 Pro
-
84
OnePlus 12
-
79
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
Expert reviews and ratings
80
Google's Pixel 9 Pro XL pairs elegant hardware with powerful Android software and delightful but limited AI tools to give us a glimpse at the future of phones.
By PCMag on August 21, 2024
90
The Pixel 9 Pro XL has incredible 18-hour runtime that frees you of battery life anxiety, but it appears to get toasty during certain taxing tasks.
By Mashable on August 21, 2024
80
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is an excellent flagship phone, but it doesn’t quite make enough meaningful progress to justify its elevated price tag, nor the same level of praise we heaped upon its predecessor. Meanwhile, its new design is sharp but disappointingly unoriginal.
By TechAdvisor on August 21, 2024
92
With even more useful photography tricks and a much-improved telephoto camera, the Pixel 9 Pro XL cements its status as the best smartphone camera.
By Engadget on August 21, 2024
80
But the important thing is that behind all the flashy AI features, there’s a really good phone in the Pixel 9 Pro and the Pro XL. These are phones that I can finally hold up next to a Galaxy S24 Plus or an iPhone 15 Pro and think, yes, these are all top-of-the-line devices. These Pixels aren’t the budget-priced flagships that they used to be, and I think the higher prices are well justified by the hardware.
By The Verge on August 21, 2024
80
The Pixel 9 Pro XL sets new records for having the brightest screen around and has the longest battery life in a Pixel, but the minor camera and processing performance leaves more to be desired — especially when it's $100 more.
By Tom's Guide on August 21, 2024
90
Some of the biggest AI upgrades have yet to come—Google will soon let Gemini tap into your calendar and tasks, as well as keep notes. Much like the forthcoming Apple Intelligence, we'll be able to see how effective large language models are when they become better personal assistants. The Pixel 9 series feels primed and ready for this challenge.
By Wired on August 21, 2024
90
The Pixel 9 Pro XL is one of the most exciting Pixels in a long time; it not only sports a desperately-needed design refresh, but a boost to the auxiliary camera lenses, all-day battery life and a huge focus on GenAI allows it to stand out from the competition.
By TrustedReviews on August 21, 2024
80
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a confident and fully-featured flagship that doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its hefty price tag.
By ExpertReviews on August 21, 2024
70
For the first time ever, Google is offering a Pixel Pro model in two sizes without compromise. That includes an incredible rear triple-camera system with 5x optical zoom telephoto camera, a bag of impressive new AI camera tricks, handy new Pixel-exclusive apps that rely on the power of Gemini, and a bold new design that some will love to hate. Unfortunately, a slower-than-ever Tensor processor and $100 price increase make this harder to recommend than I'd like, and a flaky new fingerprint sensor means finding the right screen protector is harder than it should be.
By AndroidCentral on August 21, 2024