Google Pixel 9 Pro: Goodbye Pixel, Hello Gemini AI

Have you ever stayed up late, engrossed in a deep conversation with a good friend? Well, that happened to me with Google’s new Pixel 9 Prothat I tested last week. One night when I couldn’t sleep, I decided to “talk” to the phone’s most important function: Gemini Live – basically the conversation mode of the new assistant.

I told Gemini I was having trouble sleeping and asked what I could do. Gemini, in an eerily human-sounding voice, offered ways to sleep better and suggested I reduce work stress—and yes, I realize the conversation itself was actually work.

During the “conversation” Gemini understood my rambling half-awake questions, interruptions, mumblings and sidetracks in a similar way that a person would. The whole interaction felt natural and I didn’t have to say “Hey Google” once. At one point Gemini suggested I read the book Pride and Prejudice to help me fall asleep. I started to feel like Gemini really had me.

But the whole time I was talking to Gemini, I kept thinking, Am I like Joaquin Phoenix in the movie? Her? Then I had a horrible revelation: Am I falling in love with a Pixel phone?

Then everything went quiet. My new friendly sidekick went quiet. Gemini stopped and wouldn’t talk to me. Was it something I said? Had Gemini abandoned me?

In the span of five minutes, I really started to understand the hype and potential Google had around Gemini, only to see it fail. We are still a long way from a time when generative AI and large language models become a seamless, reliable part of our daily reality.

I’m not the only one who’s experienced Gemini. My CNET colleagues Lisa Eadicicco and Andy Lanxon both raved about the AI-powered assistant in their reviews of the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL, respectively. And like me, they ran into problems. Eadicicco also had Gemini become unresponsive, which she found confusing. Lanxon got inaccurate responses, like when he asked for recommendations on where to get a drink and Gemini only suggested a bar that had closed years ago.

During testing of the Pixel 9 Pro that the phone itself isn’t Google’s shiny new product, Gemini is. With its latest line of phones, which Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL And 9 Pro-foldGoogle just wrapped it up in four different packages. Want Gemini in a phone that won’t hurt your wallet too much? Get the Pixel 9. Want to use Gemini with a killer telephoto camera? Well, there’s the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL. Need a bigger screen for Gemini that folds to fit in your pocket? Consider the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Of course, Gemini isn’t exclusive to Pixel phones, which does tarnish the Pixel 9 Pro somewhat. Google typically positions its Pixel phones as a premium Android experience, and clearly wants Gemini to be a big part of that appeal this year.

There are other new AI-powered tools and features, like Call Notes, which can transcribe and summarize phone calls. There’s a new Screenshots app, which is an on-device hub for storing and quickly searching through information in your screenshots. The Pixel Studio app can generate clip art-like images from text prompts. There’s also the Reimagine tool in the Photos app’s Magic Editor to alter and generate aspects of a photo from your prompts.

All of these, and also the Add Me camera tool (which uses AR to add the photographer of an image to group shots), seem to address a specific problem or use case. But often, these aren’t problems or use cases that apply to me. Yes, it was fun to take an image of a tuxedoed iguana tap dancing, but how often am I going to use that?

For better or worse, the Pixel 9 Pro’s AI overshadows its hardware, which is a shame because the phone’s design is actually quite nice. I’m glad Google made a smaller version of the Pixel 9 Pro XL . But this is still far from a small phone in the “small” sense 5.9-inch Asus Zenfone 10 or 5.4-inch iPhone 13 Mini were. It’s basically the same size as the regular 6.3-inch Pixel 9, but with more advanced features like a better display, a higher-resolution selfie camera, more RAM, a telephoto camera, and a thermometer (yes, Google kept that one).

The Pixel 9 Pro feels better built than previous Pixel phones, thanks in large part to its new flat design, which is reminiscent of the Galaxy S20 and iPhone 15. The camera bar that’s defined recent Pixel phones has shrunk into a thick, flat, pill-shaped camera bump. It almost looks as if the phone is wearing a small VR headset.

The new ultrasonic under-display fingerprint reader is blazing fast. At CNET’s San Francisco offices, my colleagues and I took a few minutes to see just how quickly the Pixel 9 Pro unlocked its phone.

The cameras are largely the same as last year’s Pixel 8 Pro, and take equally excellent photos. But they also suffer from the same issues with pixelation in low-light images and in Night mode. The 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL you get a new 42MP camera for selfies and video calling. I found this to be a marked improvement over the Pixel 8 Pro’s 10.5MP front-facing camera.

In the time I’ve been using the Pixel 9 Pro, battery life has been good, lasting through a day. But I have concerns about how battery life will hold up as more features and AI tools are added in the coming years.

The Pixel 9 Pro costs $999The same as the Pixel 8 Pro. But that’s not quite the whole story. The $1,099 Pixel 9 Pro XL is, aside from the name change, essentially the 8 Pro’s true successor. I do think the Pixel 9 Pro is worth the price, but I can’t believe I’m only getting 128GB of storage for a grand. The $300 Moto G Power 5G has 128GB of storage and costs $700 less!

Google’s Pixel phones used to be a showcase for the latest version of Android. Now, they’re clearly a showcase for Gemini. If you needed further proof, it’s because the Pixel 9 family runs the current version of Android, rather than the new and upcoming version of the operating system like previous Pixels. It’s just another sign that the Pixel 9 series marks a turning point for Google, as it moves away from the Pixel phone we’ve known for years and toward a future where AI features are the biggest draw. We’re just not there yet.