Pixel 9 Professional XL hands-on: I zoomed in on strangers 5,280 toes away and I may see the colour of their garments


I had the chance to mess around with the Pixel 9 Professional XL and Manit appears like we have to fully rethink our understanding of the brand new Pixel household. First, Google is not pursuing a dual-phone technique. It is now a triple-phone deal – effectively, 4 if you happen to additionally embody the brand new Pixel 9 Professional Fold.

On the prime is the Pixel 9 Professional XL, the entry-level possibility is the Pixel 9, and proper within the center is the Pixel 9 Professional.

From left to proper: Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Professional, Pixel 9 Professional XL
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It’s as if Google had been saying: “Hey, we need to enter the large league with Samsung and Apple,” which by the way even have a minimum of three telephones of their flagship traces. The Pixel 9 sequence has additionally seen a value enhance. The beginning value is now $799, up from $699, one other sign that Google needs to compete with the large guys.

With the final technology Pixel 8 sequence, the everyday shopper will acknowledge from the appears that there’s solely a small and a big cellphone – and make their selection accordingly.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro

The final technology Pixel 8 sequence with the Pixel 8 Professional (left) and Pixel 8 Professional (proper)
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Now, with the brand new Pixel 9 sequence, the common particular person might be pondering, “Hmm, I see two smaller telephones and an enormous third possibility.”

Pixel 9 Pro


Picture credit score: Kimberly

Admittedly, it is a intelligent technique on Google’s half, as a result of this visible lineup will lead many shoppers to go for the flashiest and most eye-catching cellphone: the Pixel 9 Professional XL. (And present market developments, like Apple’s discontinuation of the mini variant of the iPhone line, recommend that patrons are gravitating towards bigger telephones.)

Now that the brand new state of Google Pixel telephones, let’s take a look at my first impressions of the Pixel 9 Professional XL and, by extension, the Pixel 9 Professional, as their characteristic set (apart from shows and battery capacities) could be very comparable.

SEE ALSO:

Google Pixel 8a vs. Pixel 8: What are the variations?

Pixel 9 Professional XL in sensible take a look at

Can we discuss concerning the unbelievable new Tremendous Res Zoom? It is accessible on the Pixel 9 Professional XL and might lock on to topics as much as 30x, in comparison with 20x on the Pixel 8 Professional. I examined it out in a constructing in Decrease Manhattan, a few mile or 5,280 toes from The Edge (the best statement deck in your entire Western Hemisphere).

Pixel 9 Pro

The sting is circled in purple in the appropriate nook.
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

From a window in a constructing close to Pier 57, I may see The Edge within the distance. I zoomed in on The Edge utilizing the Pixel 9 Professional XL and all of a sudden tiny figures appeared within the viewfinder.

Here is The Edge at 5x zoom (that is the utmost the Pixel 9 Professional XL can attain with the telephoto lens’ optical zoom earlier than digital zoom kicks in):

Pixel 9 Pro XL 5x zoom

Pixel 9 Professional XL with 5x zoom
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

The Edge at 10x zoom:

Pixel 9 Pro XL 10x zoom

Pixel 9 Professional XL with 5x zoom
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

And at last The Edge with 30x zoom:

Pixel 9 Pro XL 30x zoom

Pixel 9 Professional XL with 30x zoom
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

I zoomed in shut sufficient to see the colour of a few of the guests’ lighter shirts. Hell, I may even rely how many individuals had been standing on the deck if I had sufficient endurance.

That is the cellphone you should purchase if you happen to go to plenty of concert events and need to see your favourite artist from the most effective seats. I used to be blown away.

However wait till you hear this. Tremendous Res Zoom hasn’t simply been improved on the digital camera, it is coming to video too. Plus, you may enhance your movies as much as 8K with a brand new characteristic known as Video Enhance. Google additionally says the Night time Sight video characteristic is healthier than ever, so you may get higher pictures in low mild.

Mashable Velocity ​​of Mild

Each the Pixel 9 Professional XL and the Pixel 9 Professional have the identical digital camera system:

In comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional, the selfie digital camera on the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL has elevated from 10.5MP to 42MP. I took selfies with each the Pixel 9 Professional and Pixel 9 Professional XL, however we had been unable to safe them to point out our readers.

Selfie camera with Pixel 9 Pro XL

Selfies with the Pixel 9 Professional XL
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

However I will let’s simply say that in comparison with the iPhone 15 Professional Max, I do not seem like an ogre because of the post-processing optimizations (I am taking a look at you, Apple). Additionally, the selfie digital camera now has autofocus.

New design that optimizes the digital camera bar

The Google Pixel sequence is thought for its signature edge-to-edge digital camera bar. (I at all times joked that the Google Pixel sequence appears like Geordi La Forge from Star Trek – or Roger Federer with a sweatband.)

Google Pixel 8 Pro

That is the Google Pixel 8 Professional, which has the edge-to-edge digital camera bar
Picture credit score: Alex Perry / Mashable

Now Google has remodeled the characteristic from a bar into an island.

Woman holding Pixel 9 Pro XL

Pixel 9 Professional XL in Rose Quartz
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

Additionally, the digital camera bar on the brand new Google Pixel 9 sequence is color-coordinated with the physique, not like the Pixel 8 sequence. Though the Pixel 9 Professional XL is alleged to be the biggest of the trio, it did not really feel unwieldy in my hand. But it surely positively will not slot in your pockets in the event that they’re on the small and tight aspect. I used to be additionally impressed with the cellphone’s satin-gloss glass end, which did not gather grease or fingerprints.

The Pixel 9 Professional XL and the Pixel 9 Professional can be found in Obsidian, Porcelain, Hazel and Rose Quartz. I preferred all the colours the most effective However Porcelain, merely due to my very own fault I unintentionally smeared a few of my very own make-up on it after touching my face. So I simply know I desire a shade that hides smudges higher. Nevertheless, the Pixel 9 Professional XL is very simple to scrub, it doesn’t matter what shade you select.

Gorgeous show

That is the place the Pixel 9 Professional XL differs from the Pixel 9 Professional. It has a 6.8 inches1344 x 2992 show, whereas the Pixel 9 Professional has a 6.3 inches, 1280 x 2856 panel. Curiously, the Pixel 9 Professional is smaller than the Pixel 8 Professional, which 6.7 inches.

Woman holding Pixel 9 Pro XL


Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable

It nonetheless has that enticing punch-hole design, and despite the fact that we had been in a brightly lit room with daylight streaming in, the display was nonetheless punchy, clear, and well-lit. It is because the Pixel 9 Professional XL (and Pixel 9 Professional) have a peak brightness of as much as 3,000 nits, in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional’s 2,400 nits.

Battery life

As a rule of thumb, a bigger battery capability ought to end in longer battery life. If the Pixel 9 Professional XL follows this rule, it ought to outperform the Pixel 9 Professional with its 5,060mAh battery capability in comparison with the 4,700mAh battery of its smaller Professional sibling.

The battery lifetime of each telephones is over 24 hours, and with Excessive Battery Saver even as much as 100 hours.

Breathtaking AI

Due to the brand new Google Tensor G4 chip, the Pixel 9 Professional XL and the opposite Pixel 9 telephones have arguably the most effective AI options I’ve ever seen on a cellphone.

For instance, with the brand new Add Me characteristic, you may take a photograph of a gaggle of mates, ask somebody to take a photograph of themselves, and the AI ​​will sew the images collectively as if you happen to had been within the unique photograph:

“Add Me” feature in the Google Pixel 9 series

Add me characteristic
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable / Canva

There’s additionally a brand new AI characteristic known as Reimagine that lets you choose an object in a photograph and, with a immediate, rework it into something you need.

Reimagine feature in the Google Pixel 9 series

With Reimagine you may rework a avenue right into a raging river.
Picture credit score: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable / Canva

For extra AI options on the Google Pixel 9 sequence, try our record of cool new perks coming to the lineup.

Closing ideas

As I alluded to firstly, the brand new Pixel 9 Professional XL is designed to get folks to decide on the most costly possibility, as shoppers are likely to desire both the premium possibility or the entry-level mannequin. Now the Pixel 9 Professional is the center youngster, making it much less enticing to shoppers.

Final yr, the Pixel 8 Professional, the most effective Pixel cellphone you may get, value $1,000. Now, the most effective Pixel cellphone you may get, the Pixel 9 Professional XL, prices $1,100.

Once more, it is a good technique from Google. Personally, I’d lean in direction of the Pixel 9 Professional XL as I at all times need the most effective of the most effective. Additionally, lengthy battery life is necessary to me, so I’d go for the machine with the biggest capability.

Total, this yr’s Pixel 9 sequence proves that Google is severe about competing in opposition to the large gamers within the cell trade and this daring transfer will take a look at the dominance of Samsung and Apple like by no means earlier than.





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