Pixel 9 review: The standard Pixel gets the flat design and a brighter screen.
The value Pixel — flagship cameras, mid-tier silicon.
The Pixel 9 brings the flat design, a brighter screen and Google’s photo smarts at $799. As ever with Pixels, you trade raw chip speed for software and a long update runway.
01Display
88/10088/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2024.
02Camera
90/100At 90/100 this is one of the strongest camera showings among flagship phones of 2024 — 7 points above the cohort average.
03Performance
83/10083/100 is one of the weaker performance results among flagship phones of 2024 — 7 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
04Battery
84/10084/100 — right at the average for flagship phones of 2024.
05Build
89/10089/100 puts it above the 85-point average for flagship phones of 2024.
06Value
85/10085/100 puts it above the 80-point average for flagship phones of 2024.
- Flagship Pixel camera processing at the standard price.
- Seven years of updates.
- Bright 2,700-nit display.
- 12 GB RAM for Gemini features.
- Tensor G4 trails rivals on raw performance.
- 27 W charging is slow.
- No telephoto lens.
- Tensor runs warm under load.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 248-phone cohort of flagship devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .