Pixel 9 Pro Series: Here’s 9 Things You May Have Missed

We’re still processing all that Google showed off yesterday from the Pixel 9 up through the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 3, and more. This is easily the biggest Google hardware reveal we have been a part of, even if they started off the first 30 minutes of the show talking about software. There was a lot to take in, so there may be things you missed.

Let’s take a few minutes to share a bunch of random-yet-important notes about the Pixel 9 Pro series that you may have missed. Some of these things may alter your buying decision or at least confirm that your pre-order was the right move.

Pixel 9 Pro Series launches with Android 14, but who cares. Yes, the Pixel 9 will launch with Android 14 out of the box and that’s neither a surprise nor is it a big deal. Android 15 hasn’t been released yet and is still in beta (new beta yesterday), so it only makes sense that the Pixel 9 is running the current stable version of Android. You know what? When Android 15 releases, you can bet on the Pixel 9 being one of the first devices to have it.

Pixel 9 Pro in Pink (Rose Quartz) only comes in 256GB. 1TB only in Obsidian. Fans of the pink or “Rose Quartz” Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL can only buy the device with 256GB storage, which means a starting price of either $1,099 (9 Pro) or $1,199 (9 Pro XL). Why no 128GB option? Maybe Google doesn’t expect to sell that many.

On a related note, if you want 1TB storage in your Pixel 9 device, you can only choose the Obsidian color. Both Porcelain and Hazel go up to 512GB, though, so there’s that.

New 45W charger, but not 45W speeds. Google released a new wired charger for Pixel for the first time in years. It is a 45W bulb of a charging brick that costs $29.99. Unfortunately, none of the new Pixel 9 phones charge at 45W speeds. Instead, the Pixel 9 Pro tops out at 27W and the Pixel 9 Pro XL tops out at 37W. For the Pixel 9 Pro XL, 37W is the fastest Google has ever let a Pixel device charge, but it’s still not the full 45W.

No Qi2 wireless charging. All of the new Pixel 9 devices have wireless charging, but it is still the old Qi standard, not the new Qi2. When asked why during a briefing call, Google basically said that they haven’t heard folks demanding for it and that’s just silly. Qi2 will essentially bring Apple’s wonderful MagSafe magnets and charging to Android, something we’d all appreciate. Seriously, the Apple wireless charging ecosystem is so good that everyone would likely want it if they knew it could come to Android. Maybe next year…please go tell Google you want this in the Pixel 10.

Massive upgrade to the fingerprint sensor. Google briefly mentioned during yesterday’s presentation that they had upgraded the fingerprint sensor in the Pixel 9 series and then showed a slide suggesting it should be 50% faster. Qualcomm later followed up to confirm that it is the Qualcomm 3D Sonic Gen 2 ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. This is the sensor that Samsung has been using for a couple of releases now and it should indeed bring great improvements over the bad sensors Google had in all previous Pixel devices.

Still has temperature sensor. The temperature sensor is back in the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL after first debuting in the Pixel 8 Pro a year ago. Does it do anything new or is it any more useful? Ummm, I guess we’ll see but unlikely. Anyone using it on the 8 Pro still?

Gemini Live requires Gemini Advanced, which you get free. One of the biggest Gemini announcements for the Pixel 9 Pro series was Gemini Live, where Google showed demos of talking to Gemini in a more natural way, with it talking to you as if it were another person. We’ll certainly test the heck out of this, but it looks like a promising idea for those needing a new friend assistant to bounce ideas off. In order to get access, you do need a Gemini Advanced subscription, which would normally cost you $239 for a year. Google is giving a year-long subscription to Pixel 9 Pro owners, though.

And by the way, Gemini Advanced also comes with access to new Gemini features first, as well as 2TB of Google One storage through the Google One AI Premium plan.

3 New Pixel exclusive apps are here. You probably didn’t miss this, since Google spent a good amount of time on them, but there are 3 new Pixel apps you get to play with that no one else gets. There’s Pixel Weather, the dedicated weather app from Google we’ve been wanting for years. Then you have Pixel Studio, which is a little image creator tool to help you make your next fun invite or silly image to share to friends. And finally, you have Pixel Screenshots, a new way of using the screenshot capabilities of Android to organize your life and help you find information later. These are all exclusive-to-Pixel features and the Pixel 9 Pro has them all out of the box.

Pixel 9 Pro is every bit of “Pro” phone as the Pixel 9 Pro XL. I know that we are so accustomed to Google making two phones, one of which is missing all sorts of features from the “Pro” model that I need to say this again – the Pixel 9 Pro might be smaller, but it has all of the goods of the Pixel 9 Pro XL. In other words, Google did not cut anything from the smaller Pro model and is really just giving you a choice.

In our initial write-up, we covered this, but we’ll run through it one more time. The differences between the two include a slightly bigger battery (5060mAh vs. 4700mAh), faster charging (37W vs. 27W), and a bigger display. Two of this three differences are size-related, and I couldn’t tell you why Google created this difference in charging speeds, although it may also be size-related. That’s it. Otherwise, you have the same chip, 16GB RAM, storage options, same exact camera system, same design and materials and colors, UWB, and the list goes on.