Long-press the power button on a Pixel 9 and Gemini starts a conversation. Google built the phone around that gesture. Gemini is the primary assistant across the whole Pixel 9 series, which the company launched at its Made by Google event in Mountain View, California, on August 13, 2024.
The series has four phones: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and the foldable Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google also showed the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel Buds Pro 2. All the phones run on the Tensor G4 chip.
What Gemini does
Google demonstrated the assistant reading a screenshot and pulling out text, dates and event details without leaving the app. In one demo it checked a concert flyer against a user’s calendar. In others it built a recipe from a photo of fridge ingredients and looked up a shop’s hours. The Pixel Screenshots app stores and retrieves information from saved screenshots, and Google says the image analysis stays on the phone.
Other AI tools include Pixel Studio, an image generator built on the Imagen 3 model, and Call Notes, which gives users a private summary and transcript of a phone call. Both Pro models add “Add Me,” which uses augmented reality to put the photographer into a group shot, and an upgraded Magic Editor.
There was criticism too. Fast Company reported that Gemini often fails at basic tasks and that some Google Assistant actions don’t work properly on it, even though Google says Gemini can handle the same instructions as the old assistant.
Prices and dates
The 6.3-inch Pixel 9 starts at $799, $100 more than its predecessor, and has 12GB of RAM. The Pixel 9 Pro costs from $999, and the 6.8-inch Pixel 9 Pro XL from $1,099. Both carry 16GB of RAM. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold begins at $1,799. The Pixel Watch 3 starts at $349 and the Pixel Buds Pro 2 sells for $229.
The Pixel 9 and Pro XL began shipping on August 22, 2024. The Pixel 9 Pro and Pro Fold followed on September 4.
The Pixel Watch 3 introduced Loss of Pulse Detection. If its sensor picks up a sudden loss of pulse and the wearer doesn’t respond, the watch alerts emergency services and shares the wearer’s location. It launched first in the UK and Europe, with the US and Canada to follow after regulatory clearance.
Sources
- Google Pixel 9 Series: Gemini AI and Ecosystem Upgrades Revisited
- Google unveils Pixel 9 Series, touting AI capabilities, advanced camera features
- Google unveils Pixel 9 series with advanced AI features
