While the iPhone 16 has been on the market since September 20th and has generated mixed reactions, there is one smartphone that currently seems to be unanimous: the Google Pixel 9 Pro. A declared rival of the latest toy from the Apple company (with the Samsung Galaxy S24), the latest addition to the Pixel family seems to tick all the boxes. With the same size (6.3”), it is even 130 euros cheaper than the iPhone 16 Pro*! With the help of a test, 20 Minutes wanted to verify that its good reputation was not usurped.
A Barely Concealed iPhone Look
Black, gray or pink, with 128, 256 or 512 GB of on-board storage**, Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro looks like the iPhone 16. At least from the front. Rounded edges that have become flat again (those of the Pixel 8 Pro were curved), the confusion is almost perfect.
But while Apple has kept its three-sensor camera block on the left side of its new iPhones, the Pixel 9 Pro is displayed with a horizontal module* with an almost claimed thickness, which crosses the back of the smartphone from edge to edge, like a signature. Nothing more to see!
The Google Pixel 9 Pro offers the best current experience on a premium smartphone. – Christohe Séfrin/20 Minutes
In addition to its design, which, while it may be divisive, is far from displeasing to us, let’s say it straight away: this smartphone under Android 14 is very pleasant in the hand, with a fluid, intuitive, almost playful use. This experience is made possible in particular by the new “homemade” Tensor G4 chip, with 16 GB of RAM, which, in support, without stuttering or overheating, can withstand countless requests.
Protected by Gorilla Glass Victus 2, the smartphone’s 6.3” OLED screen that houses the 42-megapixel selfie sensor is undoubtedly among the best of the moment. While waiting for the test of the iPhone 16, we can now say that Google can compare well with Samsung on this point.
The image is precise (2,856 x 1,280 pixels), fluid (from 1 to 120 Hz), but also very bright for OLED: up to 3,000 nits (2,000 nits HDR). Suffice to say that in full sunlight, the quality of the display does not fail!
A processor designed for AI
The Tensor G4 processor is also what allows so much AI to be introduced into Google’s smartphone. “So much”, because Gemini artificial intelligence, by dint of sneaking more or less discreetly into the Pixel (as for photo editing), now seems to have reached an unmatched level. On this point, the Pixel 9 Pro goes further than the Samsung Galaxy S24 introduced at the beginning of the year.
Of course, we find the Circle to Search function with which you just have to circle with the tip of your index finger (like with a highlighter) an element on an image for the AI to identify it: a place, the clothes worn by a celebrity, a work of art… Of course, we also find this famous Magic Eraser (which is not new) to remove an unwanted element from a photo in one gesture. But Google and its Pixel 9 Pro goes even further.
New generative functions that are more or less impressive
First with the new Add Me feature. Anyone who always complains about never being in family photos because they’re always the one taking the picture will get their money’s worth. Simply take a group shot, then hand the smartphone over to someone who will take the same photo with the first photographer, while you pose… and the AI magic happens by combining the two shots. It even works devilishly well!
It is with the same philosophy that Google offers Best Shot. Again dedicated to group photos, you just need to take several successive shots with this function so that the AI can spot the faces and keep the best pose for each subject. No more mother-in-laws who systematically close their eyes when taking the photo, or the boisterous kid who inevitably looks elsewhere! Trained to detect smiles, artificial intelligence brings them all together in the same photo.
More gimmicky, but not without interest, the ability to change the tone of the sky in an outdoor photo on the fly. Is it gray? No matter, the Pixel 9 Pro can bring light and warmth not only to the sky, but to the entire image in two clicks.
Amusing, although improvable, the Reinvent function allows you to insert any external element into a photo. Circle the area or an element on the photo with your index finger, write a “Prompt” (an instruction) and the generative AI gets to work. Well, we tried to “reinvent” an electric pole on a photo by transforming it into a boat mast and it was a fiasco (quite dubious, by the way). We asked the AI again to replace the so-called mast with an electric pole and this time it was almost a success.
More convincing is this… “reinvention” above by the AI of the Opéra Garnier…
Productivity: like on the Galaxy S24
The contribution of AI on the Pixel 9 Pro also materializes in productivity: Automatic summary of a conference or a meeting recorded in audio; of emails; of texts that you just have to highlight; writing SMS with different tones (including a “Pro” mode to put the forms when you address your N + 1!).
Unfortunately, there is no telephone summary available in France (to summarize an audio conversation) as is already possible in the US, but these advances that must be learned to tame without abusing them, are already present on Samsung’s Galaxy S24. Here, combined with the more complete range of possibilities offered by Google’s AI on its new terminal, they make the Pixel 9 Pro the most accomplished of the “intelligent” smartphones of the moment.
Waiting for an “unlocked” iPhone 16…
Available in the 9 Pro XL version (with a 6.8” screen, instead of 6.3”), this smartphone with satisfactory battery life (more than a day, thanks to its 4,700 mAh battery) is a clear rival to Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro.
Although already on the shelves, the latest toy from the Apple company has not yet revealed all its secrets on the Old Continent, where agreements with Europe still need to be settled by Tim Cook and his teams so that some of its sometimes promising functions linked to artificial intelligence can be “unlocked”.
In the meantime, we update our old iPhone (from the XR to the 15 Pro Max) with iOS 18. The contributions of Apple’s new operating system are already numerous. And interesting.
*Sold from 1,099 euros in 128 GB; 1,199 euros in 256 GB and 1,329 euros in 512 GB
** Rear: 50 megapixels (wide, f/1.67); 48 megapixels (ultra wide, f/1.7); 48 megapixels (telephoto up to x10 optical, f/2.9). Front: 42 megapixels wide (f/2.2).
