This article first appeared in Digital Edge, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 25, 2024 - December 1, 2024

The latest models in Google’s flagship series, the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro, hit the market this August with much fanfare. After some hands-on time with the Pixel 9, it’s clear it has standout features, but as with any device, it’s not without a few quirks.

The phone comes in four colours — Peony, Wintergreen, Porcelain and Obsidian. Peony looks a little bolder than the rest, Wintergreen is calming hue, while Porcelain and Obsidian are in classic white and black.

Each colour has its own paired phone case, which is slim and smooth. The phone has a sleek shape even with the case on, and the smoothness of the leather does not compromise on a good grip.

The camera is laid out horizontally, a hallmark of the Google Pixel phones. What makes the Pixel 9’s camera different is how it protrudes slightly, giving the design a futuristic edge.

The phone is 152.8mm x 72mm x 8.5mm in dimension, fitting snugly in the hand, and weighs just under 200g.

Overall, the Pixel 9 performs well. It has a smooth Android interface, a 120Hz OLED screen and a brightness of up to 2,700 nits.

One of the more impressive features is its battery life. Google’s claim of a 24-hour battery life does not disappoint, as the Pixel 9 lasted us a full day.

Even when the battery is low, there is no need to fret. At 6%, we could still watch about 35 minutes of high-quality videos on YouTube.

Recharging is also incredibly fast, with a full charge from a dead phone to 100% battery life taking less than two hours.

Games developed by Hoyoverse have become a benchmark for testing the performance of new phones, and the Pixel 9 passes this test. The issue of the phone heating up does not really crop up; it occurred only after 20 to 30 minutes of running a game like Genshin Impact at the highest graphic settings.

However, games that are not optimised with the Android system may not run as smoothly. Games on Roblox like Dress To Impress, for example, may experience this but they are still playable.

Dress To Impress also requires delicate tap sensitivities with a smaller surface area, and it can be a struggle when using the phone. While the same can be said for many mobile phones due to the smaller screen size, this inconvenience is a bit more pronounced with the Pixel 9. The lag was quite prominent and the touch area is sometimes not as accurate as it should be, for example, when moving a dot along the colour spectrum or pressing on a relatively smaller button. 

There may be some limitations when downloading games with big file sizes, or that need more space in general, as the highest storage capacity with the Pixel 9 is 256GB.

The camera is available in both wide and ultrawide angles, and the two options are excellent in their own right.

The main lens has 50 megapixels while the ultrawide angle has 48 megapixels, and both are great at capturing lighting. The photos are sharp and clean with precise outlines.

Night mode is available, although this feels standard. While it brightens up dark surroundings considerably, not much else can be said about the feature.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is used to enhance the vibrancy of photos, injecting more life into what could have been a duller photo with just the raw lens.

This does come at a cost sometimes, as certain photos can appear overprocessed and lose the intended expression.

The new Pixel 9 is bold in its use of AI functions.

One of its major AI features is the Add Me function, which allows a group photo to be taken without enlisting someone else’s help.

After the first photograph is taken, one person in the group switches place with the photographer. An AR screen will appear with a translucent cutout of the photo subject, for the next person taking the photo to align the figures. After the second image is taken, the AI will merge both pictures to create a whole picture with everyone included.

While the use of a tripod is recommended to ensure the quality of the final photo, after playing around with it, we found that as long as the phone isn’t shaken too much, the picture will come out decently.

“Add me” doesn’t work well with plain backgrounds, however, and if shooting in a less detailed environment, it can sometimes take a bit of time to scan the surroundings.

This feature, while helpful at first glance, feels a bit gimmicky. Additionally, those who aren’t fond of AI-tampered images despite the seamlessness might give this a pass.

The more impressive AI functions include those integrated with Google’s AI model, Gemini Nano. These functions are more practical, such as the current exclusive pixel screenshot app that uses AI to help users search for an image in a sea of screenshots. The only action needed is to add the taken screenshots to a folder within the app,

The search AI is detailed and accurate, and can detect keywords even when the screenshot is a pure wall of text. As long as the entered search is direct and not too complicated, there is not much of a problem finding a specific screenshot.

Other helpful uses of AI include a phone call transcriber, an audio cleaner and human-like written responses that work quite well and have more practical uses. The model is also evolving, which suggests that the AI functions could develop to provide greater efficiency.

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