Unboxing Google Pixel 9 & Pixel 9 Pro XL

Put the penguin in the crowd rather than on the field

Well done, Will. Look at this. Come on. What's with the clip art hot dog

Come on. Will! Will! Come on, Will! So I finally got the new Pixel devices

Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL. Obviously, there is a Pro in the middle here

which is the XL size, but then it's still a Pro. It's a little bit confusing the way that they've named things

but I'm glad that there is a Pro model at the smaller size if that's what you're looking for

And then, of course, there's also going to be the folding model, which is not called the Fold 2, but instead it's the Pixel 9 Pro Fold

So just keep all that naming stuff together. This is Quartz Rose, which is exclusive to the Pro models

Obsidian, on the other hand, you can get in any of the models. There's another color called Hazel, which is kind of a nice subtle hue

And that's a Pro-only color. And then if you want like a bright pink, there's something called Peony

Either of these devices are going to be packing Google's latest Tensor chip

So performance should be comparable on both. So even if you don't opt for the Pro model

I'd expect a snappy experience on the regular Pixel 9 as well

Now, regardless of which color you choose, you can still go ahead and slap a later case

which we are now producing for the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro

You can see a couple of color options here. This is probably my favorite. We call it coffee

Anytime you're dealing with a big phone, you want a slim case to go with your big phone

So I'll probably use the XL model And the Latercase will add almost no bulk to it

It's as thin as we can make it. And we do that by using Kevlar fibers

If you haven't checked out Latercase, go check it out. I'll slap these on in a moment after I unbox these devices

Do I pull here? Oh, cool. That's a different unboxing experience. And the material of the box has this like recycled look to it

So you pull those tabs and I guess this is going to slide out now. Am I right about that

Oh, there we go. There we go. There we go. now they did obviously change the visor section so the previous camera section had this

daft punk visor situation going on they've changed it now into something like more pill shaped i do

like the fact that the actual structure is symmetrical obviously the camera section is not

but it means on the table it doesn't have a weird wobble to it

Now apparently these are legit flagships, legit competitors from a materials perspective

screen brightness perspective, performance perspective. They're really going after those other flagship devices on the market

Sim tool, paperwork. Obsidian. So we have a glossy black finish on the back and then a matte finish around the frame

Very nicely polished. That same matte finish goes into the camera section as well

And I'll just show you a better comparison of how they've changed that area from the previous generation

I don't know. You tell me which design you prefer. We have a large target for our volume rocker, an oversized power switch, Type-C on the bottom

That's also where the SIM tray is. Our large camera module. This feels extremely high quality, like definitely a step up, maybe even on the previous model

There's something about these square edges, obviously the fact that Apple does that

some kind of perception of quality associated with that. But at the same time, it's just a grip thing

like when you hold it, it does feel fatter with the flat edges, but it's also

a confidence-inspiring grip. If I grab the black, black on black, later case situation

that's pretty cool. I'll take that. That's a good setup. Or I could also do the Midnight

which is like a double black. And that has an almost fabric-like look to it

and the texture here is quite addictive. Okay, I mean, that's it

What else is in the package? You just got your USB cable, that's it. That's all that's in the package

Wow, I just nailed that on the way down. Is that easy or hard to do

It's apparently harder to do than I thought. You can roll the tape, I did it on the first

Maybe I was just lower. Oh, there we go, okay, we'll take it. Okay, so that is your form factor for your Pixel 9

This is comfortable. I think a lot of people are gonna be satisfied with this scale

Obviously, there's always gonna be people that want the bigger phone, but this is a very satisfying, confidence-inspiring

type of grip and scale, one-handed functionality and so forth, symmetrical front-facing camera

I think a lot of people are gonna go for that All right let check out the XL I should probably mention price at this time It starting at USD So yeah basically flagship pricing Maybe a little less

This one is better. It's better, Will. That one came off the way that it was supposed to

I'm telling you. Quartz rose. It's a subtle kind of pink thing

Woo. And check out the shiny steel tinted frame. So in the non-pro we have glossy here on the back and then matte around the frame and on the Pro model

We have the matte finish on the body section and the frame is shiny. Which one do you prefer

Oh, and if we go with the Pro obviously we're getting the extra camera some added reach

For the zoom this one still feels comfortable as well Maybe if I had the pink, I don't know I might do some blue on there if I had the pink

Maybe something like that a little pink and blue I suppose you could always just use black here as well

Black goes with everything. However, I mean, if I was picking up the Pro XL model

I would likely go for that hazel color or just obsidian once again

Okay, so let's talk a little bit about specs. You've got the Tensor G4 chip in both of them

16 gigs of RAM, and you've got plenty of added AI features now

all kinds of stuff in the photo app. You're able to generate new photos based on old photos

change certain sections of your photos, and obviously do all your fancy Pixel stuff

like removing objects from pictures, things that you don't like, and it all happens on the device on the latest chip

The Pixel 9 Pro, it's got a triple rear camera setup and a 42 megapixel front camera

It'll be able to shoot up to 8K video, and you'll be able to watch that back

on the brightest display that's ever been in a Pixel device. They're calling it their Actua display

Now, I said that the standard Pixel 9 starts at $799, the 9 Pro starts at $999, and the 9 Pro XL starts at $1099

Now, the Pixel 9 honestly has most of what you're getting on the 9 Pro

It's got a 50-megapixel main lens and a 48-megapixel ultra-wide. Same Tensor G4 processor

In this case, you get 12 gigs of RAM compared to the 16 on the 9 Pro

and you get a 6.3 inch display compared to that bigger 6.8

But it's also brighter, 35% brighter than the previous version with a peak brightness up to 2,700 nits

And you can charge it up quickly. You can get to 55% in about 30 minutes

Now on these latest devices, we've also got Gemini built in. This is your new AI assistant from Google

So Gemini can pull info from Google apps. It can pull from invites inside your Gmail

It can search through Google Maps or you can just chat to it directly

However, you are going to need to pay eventually for Gemini Advance

There's no cost for the first year, but eventually there's going to be some sort of a plan to access the most advanced features

So there's also a cool new software feature called Pixel Screenshots, which will separate your screenshots from your regular photos

So if there's information buried somewhere in there, you can find it a lot more efficiently using this screenshots feature

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for all your stuff, that's what Anker does, you already know it check the description pick some stuff up All right so I got the device set up now and honestly one of the most satisfying things was the migration because I was going pixel to pixel this thing I mean it

basically set itself up you know sometimes you do a migration it's like oh the photos are there but

certain applications are not aligned properly or some are missing or sometimes certain history in

certain apps is gone this has been one of the most seamless migrations that I've done moving from the

previous generation Pixel to this one. And the reason I rushed the migration

is because I actually do want to use this phone. I've used Pixel devices as my main device for a long time

I was just talking to Will, I was like, has this been, did I use a different phone in between

and then go back to the Pixel? I may have, but I think I probably used

the previous generation Pixel more over the past year than any other smartphone, and I'm getting a call

on that previous generation right now. Anyways, I don't have my SIM card in here yet, but I have used it a little bit

And obviously I'm intrigued by the camera system, some of the new AI features

which are mostly software based, so that's not such a differentiator with this particular device

I think probably the biggest one for me, other than the form factor change with the flat edges

is just the brightness of the display is noticeable to me. And I'm just gonna give you a quick

I don't know if it will show up in camera. I mean, it's noticeable to my eyes. There's a comparison of the blacks on either device

I mean, they both have nice displays, but there's an improvement on this version

Okay, let's go ahead and pop open the camera. We have a couple of props over here

This one, I haven't seen this lock before. This is like a relic

So that's a nice new prop for us to use, thanks to Will

So I'm gonna start it off with a, actually you know what, I'm gonna start with 0.5

so we can progress inwards. 0.5 ultra wide, one at two X

Now, the other thing that's in here is macro. I can go extremely close on the .5

And what's interesting, I mean, even though I have very little light, once I get that close, there's enough there

to actually produce my image and my tremendous detail. You can see dust particles on the A

Now, how useful is this macro mode? I don't know, it's gonna depend on the person

and their creativity level, but it's kind of cool for bugs, flowers, stuff like that

I know often I'll be using like Google Lens with my daughter

identify like a plant species or something and you can get really up close to it she thinks it's cool

so i think it's cool got it outside of the macro which is a really unique and kind of niche

functionality the zoom is tremendous like look at this listen i don't know there's something about

the pixel image processing that i've grown accustomed to it's a contrasty image that is

to my taste but it is um each person is going to have their own feeling about that here is the one

x no actually this is the 2x which is still wonderful this this next one is going to be the

one x which i can still crop in so much detail in there even on the crop hopefully will's picking

all this up and lastly the ultra wide i mean it's a very wide image so i have to crop way in in the

center part of the frame to get detail out of the lock. This is gonna be for architecture and group shots

And anytime you're trying to emphasize scale. Let me just take a picture of Will

I just wanna see what a human, how a human, a real human does in his natural habitat

Stop smirking, Will. I say stop smirking so that he actually smirks. Yeah, see how he did that

Cool, okay, so here's our portrait mode sample. And man, they've really softened up that edge

You have a tough sweatshirt today too. Fibers extending on the edge

that I can actually see with my own eyes. Overall, flagship pixel phone

flagship pixel processing, and plenty of megapixels to start with, I think you're gonna be pretty satisfied

We've got an upgrade on the selfie camera. Like you can see, well obviously lots of detail

but this really nice dark to light contrast. And just for me and my skin tones

I find it to be accurate. I mean, you can do the comparison here

It's a little bit less uniform on the skin tones, like sometimes you get that effect with iPhones

but it varies depending on the person's complexion and obviously depending on the lighting conditions

Now, another thing I was curious about is the speaker performance. Obviously I use these devices for media consumption

I would say sound is comparable, old one to new one, but I just, I was handling this one for a

while and I picked up the previous gen. This feels like lighter and slimmer, which is weird that

people are wanting these chunkier designs and that we're kind of associating these chunkier

designs with quality. And obviously Apple has a big part to do with that. Like let's just

let's just be clear here. When Apple went to the boxy form factor, a lot of other manufacturers

kind of did the same Now they jump around back and forth Like there been boxy form factors then curvy ones then back to boxy like you never know what you going to get or what going to be in style at any given point in time and i do think that when you have a box your design you have a little bit more

confidence in hand but just picking up the old gen i'm like wait a sec that feels kind of kind

of nice too in its own way a little bit lighter weight but then maybe people's perception of

quality is different because it is lighter weight i don't know what your guys take is i'm curious

Like, do you prefer a boxy design to a phone or do you want it to feel as slim as possible

Generate an image of a penguin in a baseball stadium. Sure. Here is an image of a penguin in a baseball stadium

See this, Will? They didn't just put a penguin in a baseball stadium. It was a penguin in a baseball stadium with a baseball hat

Let me see if I can modify it, but in line. Let's see this

Put the penguin in the crowd rather than on the field. Okay, well this one is not very well done

Come on. What's with the clip art hot dog? Come on. Will, come on, Will

This one is good, though. That is kind of believable. I don't know who let the penguin in the stadium, but..

All right, now let's ask a few questions here. What should I have for lunch? Here are some lunch ideas based on your preferences

For a quick and easy lunch, leftovers from dinner, a sandwich or wrap with your favorite fillings

a bowl of soup and a piece of bread a salad with grilled chicken or shrimp a yogurt parfait with

granola and fruit for something more adventurous a sushi roll or bento box a wrap with falafel or

hummus a bowl of ramen or foe a quesadilla with your favorite toppings a salad with grilled salmon

or tofu for a special occasion lunch a gourmet sandwich or wrap from a local deli a plate of

pasta with your favorite sauce a pizza from your favorite pizzeria a burger and fries from a local

burger joint a salad with grilled steak or shrimp ultimately the best lunch for you is the one that

you enjoy and will leave you feeling satisfied consider your hunger level your time constraints

and your budget when making your decision the thing about ai is this extreme comprehensiveness

like just extreme comprehensiveness those sound like some good ideas but i'm looking for something

even more adventurous let's get adventurous here are some truly daring lunch ideas

international flavors ethiopian injera and stew a spongy flatbread topped with a flavorful stew

listen ai man it's the future whether it's image based it's cutting out unwanted sections of your

photos filling it in with something similar to the background or if it's telling you what to eat for

lunch if you're feeling adventurous or putting penguins in baseball stadiums ai is here to stay

and it's increasingly going to become a part of how we interact with our smartphones one of the

things with Gemini right now because I have been using it on my existing pixel is that it kind of

doesn't fully encompass everything that Assistant was capable of but then you may notice as you use

it that some of the things you used to do on Assistant aren't supported yet in Gemini so it's

a slight growing pain situation but Gemini is obviously powerful and I want to experiment with

it more to find out what it can and can't do or what it's really good at the conversational aspect

is the thing you miss when you move over to assistant from other AIs that I've interacted with

where assistant sometimes feels like it's lacking comprehensiveness. And then what's funny is

sometimes AI, the AI, any AI product is too much comprehensiveness. It's over comprehensiveness. So

like it's a fine balance. So the biggest thing for me here, new pixel is just the design language

shifting so significantly from the previous generation. Obviously there's hardware improvements, new chip, new display looks really nice

Cameras look amazing. But now it's feeling a lot more like an iPhone

I mean, obviously it has a distinctive camera module, but other than that, you hold onto this

and you compare it, this flat edge, the antenna bands, it just reminds you of holding an iPhone

For some people, I could see that being comforting. For others, you may wish that there was more variety

in the smartphone design department, but obviously Apple has sold a boatload of iPhones

So maybe for people transitioning over to Android, this might help them feel comfortable

but it definitely is a departure from where they were at design-wise

I would say the previous generation was more distinct and unique than the new generation

but I think many would suggest that the new generation has a more premium or luxury feel to it

I don't know how much of that is influenced by whatever it is that Apple does

Anyway, you let me know what you think. And then also let me know which Pixel you would pick up

if you had a choice between the XL model or the standard size and why you would pick one

over the other. And also don't forget to check out Latercase if you're looking for an incredibly thin and light Kevlar case

which is still strong to put on your brand new Pixel or other smartphone

We have a lot of them covered on the website. So anyway, go check that out