This year Google added a new model to its flagship lineup – the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, which overtook last year’s Google Pixel 8 Pro as the top-tier Pixel in the family. Despite what the name suggests, the 9 Pro XL is more of an iterative update than a revolutionary reboot.
Also, the launch price of the Pixel 9 Pro XL is significantly higher than the current price of the 8 Pro. So, on paper, the 8 Pro seems like the more sensible option. However, the devil is often in the details, so let’s see if the 9 Pro XL is worth its price premium.
Table of Contents:
- design
- Display
- battery life
- Charge
- Speaker Test
- Display
- Camera
- Decision
For starters, you can compare the full specs sheets or jump straight in with our editor’s review in the text below.
Size Comparison
Google
Pixel 9 Pro XL
162.8 x 76.6 x 8.5 mm
(6.41 x 3.02 x 0.33 inches)
Google
Pixel 8 Pro
162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8 mm
(6.4 x 3.01 x 0.35 inches)
The dimensions of the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and 8 Pro are nearly identical, even though this year’s 9 Pro XL has a 0.1″ larger display. Google was able to slim down the bezels and gain more screen real estate.
The new Pixel is both a little thinner and heavier, but we doubt anyone will notice that in real life.
The build quality and appearance are almost identical. There is Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back and an aluminum frame in the middle. The Pixel 9 Pro XL adopts a slightly different camera island design, but this does not affect the handling or usage.
Performance Comparison
Google
Pixel 9 Pro XL
LTPO OLED
120Hz
1344×2992
Pixels
486
PPIs
Google
Pixel 8 Pro
LTPO OLED
120Hz
1344×2992
Pixels
489
PPIs
Both devices have the same underlying display technology – LTPO OLED with a 120Hz refresh rate. Adaptive refresh rate and HDR10+ support are present for both handsets, but the new 9 Pro XL is the winner in this department for two simple reasons.
First of all, the Pro XL has the brightest display ever, topping out at 2,300 nits, while the 8 Pro maxes out at 1,600 nits. This doesn’t mean the Pro XL is brighter by about 40% as brightness is measured on a logarithmic scale, not a linear one. Still, the new Pixel definitely offers a better viewing experience outdoors.
Secondly, you get 0.1″ extra screen diagonal and more screen real estate with the 9 Pro XL. Thinner bezels look more modern on the new Pixel.
battery life
Although the Pixel 9 Pro XL has the same battery as its predecessor (5,060 mAh vs 5,050 mAh), battery life has improved. This could be due to the new Tensor G4 chip or other under-the-hood optimizations.
Either way, the new Pixel has one Active usage score of 12:32hbetter than 11:14h Active Usage Score Better than the 8 Pro. While call and gaming runtimes are nearly identical, the 9 Pro XL surpasses its predecessor with better web browsing and video playback, and these are, arguably, the most important tests.
Charging Speed
Google
Pixel 9 Pro XL
5060 mAh
15 min
39%
30 minute
67%
full
78 minutes
Google
Pixel 8 Pro
5050 mAh
15 min
28%
30 minute
53%
full
83 minutes
Both devices use the Power Delivery 3.0 standard for wired charging, but the 9 Pro XL is rated at 37W, up from the 8 Pro’s 30W. And according to our tests, the benefits are noticeable.
The 9 Pro XL may still not be a record-breaker, but it’s significantly faster than the 8 Pro in both the 15-minute and 30-minute terms, offering a difference of more than 10 percentage points.
However, this curve flattens out as the 9 Pro XL approaches 100%. As a result, the entire charging on the new Pixel is just 5 minutes fast,
When it comes to wireless charging, both phones are capable of up to 23W and this is with the optional Pixel Stand, which offers the fastest wireless charging for these phones.
Speaker Testing
Technically, the 9 Pro XL offers louder speakers than the 8 Pro, but in real life, the difference is not that noticeable. What is noticeable is the sound tuning.
The 8 Pro’s speakers emphasize vocals and mids, while the XL has a warmer sound with deeper and more pronounced bass. We can’t say which is better, as it all depends on personal preference, but we suspect the new Pixel will attract more users.
Display
Pixel phones have never been high-performance and Google has always focused more on the software side. That’s why the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s new in-house Tensor G4 SoC isn’t much better than last year’s G3. That doesn’t mean the phone doesn’t run well. Quite the opposite – both devices are fast and responsive in their day-to-day tasks.
Google
Pixel 9 Pro XL
Google Tensor G4
4 nm
128GB 16GB RAM
Google
Pixel 8 Pro
Google Tensor G3
4 nm
128GB 12GB RAM
There’s no significant change in memory configurations either. The new Pixels get 16GB of RAM across all storage variants, which is a step up from last year’s 12GB configuration, but it’s hardly an improvement you can feel or measure. The base storage option remains at just 128GB, but can go up to 1TB. This is valid for both phones.
Benchmark Performance
Unfortunately, the benchmarks we ran on the new Pixel 9 Pro XL were unreliable in determining the performance of the Tensor G4; in some cases, it shows lower performance than the older G3. This could be a software issue or a problem with our review unit. Either way, we refrain from posting any results for the time being.
Camera Comparison
Moving from the Pro to the Pro XL sees very little change in terms of camera improvements, as might be expected from the price hike and naming scheme. The camera hardware is largely the same in both handsets.
We have a 50MP f/1.7, 1/1.31″ main shooter 48MP f/2.8, 1/2.55″ 5x periscope telephoto snapper, and a 48MP ultrawide camera that gets some changes this year. The new ultrawide unit gets a wider aperture (f/1.7 vs f/2.8), but the sensor size drops from 1/2.0″ to 1/2.55″. It’s hard to tell which approach delivers better results before looking at samples.
However, the selfie camera has received some tweaks this year. The front-facing shooter has now grown from 10.5MP to 42MP and still offers autofocus and an ultrawide lens.
image quality
As predicted earlier, the camera quality remains largely unchanged. The samples we have taken are from different days, which makes it difficult to compare, but overall the quality seems to be almost the same. We are unable to find any significant difference in rendering, colours, etc.
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Pixel 8 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
This is valid across all cameras and in both daylight and low-light scenarios. Even though the ultrawide shooter has changed, we didn’t find any noticeable change in image quality there either.
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Pixel 8 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
We noticed a slight tendency towards brighter exposures, hence brighter shadows, in some of the low-light scenes we shot on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Selfies are pretty good on both phones, but we expected a lot of improvement in the newer model.
Pixel 9 Pro XL selfie
Pixel 8 Pro selfie
video quality
For some reason, the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s videos are noticeably worse than the 8 Pro’s. They’re soft and lack fine detail, which is true for all three cameras on the back. We suspect this is a software issue that Google will address with a future update, but for now, the Pixel 8 Pro is the clear winner in this segment.
In all fairness, low-light videos taken by the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s main camera show slightly better definition thanks to less aggressive noise reduction.
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 5x • 1x low light
Pixel 8 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 5x • 1x low light
Decision
The upgrades offered in the 9 Pro XL are so minor as to not justify the roughly €500/$500 price difference at the time of writing.
Sure, the 9 Pro XL has a brighter and slightly larger screen with thinner bezels; it offers minor improvements in charging, battery life and speaker loudness, but that’s not enough to persuade a potential buyer to spend a few extra hundred bucks. Especially when you consider both devices’ long software support and nearly identical camera performance. In fact, the 8 Pro edges ahead of its successor in this regard, with better-looking video quality.
- Brighter and 0.1″ larger display.
- Battery life improved slightly.
- Slightly faster charging.
- Differently tuned speakers.
- Additional year of software support.
Buy the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL:
| 128GB 16GB RAM | €1,199.00 |
£1,099.00 |
| 256GB 16GB RAM | €1,288.90 |
£1,099.00 |
| Show all prices | ||
- Very low price.
- Improved video recording.
- Pretty much the same user experience.
Buy the Google Pixel 8 Pro at these prices:
| 128GB 12GB RAM | €711.13 |
£479.99 |
| 256GB 12GB RAM | € 825.00 |
£709.00 |
| Show all prices | ||
