Google Pixel 9 rumours, from a fresh redesign to new AI-powered features

Three phones comprise this year’s Google flagships: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL

Google’s latest phones are due to be announced in October. (Pictured: the Pixel 8 Pro) (The Independent)

We’re still months away from the Pixel 9 being officially announced, but details about Google’s upcoming flagship phone have already leaked online.

Predicted to launch in October, the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro are rumoured to be getting a new and flatter edge design, similar to the appearance of the sharp lines of the iPhone 15. This would be a departure from the rounded aesthetic of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, where gentle curves helped to disguise the phone’s overall thickness.

One of the biggest surprises this year is the rumoured Pixel 9 Pro XL, a brand new third flagship device with a larger display, a bigger battery and, presumably, a higher price to match.

Other changes are said to include a redesigned camera bar. Rather than spanning the full width of the back of the phone, the triple-lens array might now appear on a wide, pill-shaped island. This update would make sense, bringing the Pixel 9 in line with the design of the Pixel Fold, which is also rumoured to be getting a newer version in the coming weeks.

However, it looks like Google’s newest Pixel phone will be facing tough competition at launch. The brilliant Samsung Galaxy S24 launched earlier this year and the iPhone 16 is due to follow in September. We’re rounding up all of the latest iPhone 16 rumours in a separate article.

The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are only six months old and are still great phones, boasting a raft of AI-powered camera features enabled by the latest Tensor G3 chip. Those AI editing tools, which let you do things like magically erase people from your photos, are now set to become available on older Pixel devices like the Pixel 7, thanks to Google’s cloud-based editing software.

The Pixel 8 Pro in blue (Google)

Google Pixel 9 launch date

Google routinely announces and launches new Pixel flagship phones in October every year, so we can be relatively certain that the Pixel 9 will launch around the same time in 2024.

The Pixel 8 phones were announced on 12 October 2023, while the Pixel 7 phones first debuted on 6 October 2022. Both generations of Pixel phones were announced on a Thursday, which puts our best guess for a Pixel 9 announcement on 10 October 2024 or 17 October 2024.

For the last two years, Google has also launched the newest Pixel Watch alongside its latest phones. While we’ve no confirmation that a Pixel Watch 3 is in the works, it’s a reasonable guess that a new wearable will show up alongside the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro.

Google also has a mid-generation budget Pixel phone, called the A-series. The Pixel 7a was announced at the annual Google I/O conference in May last year, and the Pixel 6a the year before that, so it’s speculated that Google will announce the Pixel 8a during this year’s Google I/O keynote address.

The Pixel 8 Pro launched at the Made By Google event in October 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Google Pixel 9 price

We can only make an educated guess at how much the Pixel 9 might cost, but last year’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro saw a jump in price to £999 and £699. With inflationary pressures easing in the tech market, we’d love to see the newest Pixel phones stick to that three-digit price point.

Still, there’s reason to believe that Google might jack up the price of the Pro model Pixel past that psychological £1,000 barrier. The tech giant matched the price of the Pixel 8 Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro last October, and Apple is rumoured to be increasing the price of its phones soon. If that turns out to be the case when the iPhone 16 is announced in September, Google has cover to respond by raising the price of the newest Pixel phones in turn.

That said, we can also see Google sticking to its existing prices. Samsung, not Apple, is Google’s biggest competitor in Android phones, and the Korean tech firm’s Galaxy S24+ starts at £999. If the Pixel 9 is to have the best chance of luring more users away from Samsung’s massively popular phones, sticking to £999 would have to be part of that plan.

The Google Pixel 8 focused on AI features (Google)

Google Pixel 9 design and display

The most plausible Pixel 9 leaks are coming from trusted source Onleaks via Indian tech site MySmartPrice, which has shown off supposed renders of the newest flagship Pixel phones in great detail.

The leaked images show a freshly redesigned Pixel 9 with a new flat frame. The Pixel 8 Pro already ditched the lightly curved display in favour of a flat one, though this year’s phone takes things one step further with a uniformly flat and neat, iPhone-style edge.

Per the leaks, the power button and volume rocker remain unchanged on the right side of the device, as does the empty left side of the frame. The SIM tray has migrated to the bottom of the phone, sharing space with the speaker grille and USB-C charging port.

MySmartPrice reports that the Pixel 9 Pro will measure 162.7mm x 76.6mm x 8.5mm. Including the camera bump, the thickest part of the phone will measure 12mm. That camera bump will get a redesign too. Instead of spanning the full width of the back of the phone and blending into the frame, the three camera lenses will live on a pill-shaped camera island housing a wide angle, periscope telephoto and main lens. The holepunch selfie camera appears mostly unchanged from that of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.

The display of the Pixel 9 Pro is said to be slightly smaller than last year’s phone, now measuring 6.5in, down from 6.7in.

Google Pixel 9 specs

A new Tensor G4 chip is almost certain to make its debut with the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL. The newest Tensor chipset will predictably offer a performance boost over the G3, though it’s hard to quantify how big an improvement that might be at this early stage. What’s certain is that Google will be using the new technology to improve its on-device AI performance, which is expected to be a key pillar for the Pixel 9 phones.

According to Android Authority, the Pixel 9 series will also be getting an upgraded modem for the first time since the Pixel 7. A new Samsung-built modem should offer an efficiency boost, better connectivity and the ability to connect to satellite networks in emergencies.

The Pixel 9 is rumoured to ditch the wide camera bar (pictured: the Pixel 8) (Google)

Google Pixel 9 features

Software is where the Google Pixel series really shines. Although, not much is known about how the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro will perform in terms of features and functionality. We expect the Pixel 9 series to be the first to launch with Android 15, the latest version of the Google-backed operating system, just as the Pixel 8 launched with Android 14.

Google is pushing AI features hard and has recently relaunched Bard, its large language model, as Google Gemini. The tech giant has slowly started replacing some Google Assistant and Google search functionality with Google Gemini-powered results, though the rollout has been faltering. To date, the Gemini app is officially unavailable in the UK and Europe.

Google is also reportedly working on a Gemini-powered replacement to the Google Assistant on phones, called Pixie. This AI helper will be designed to work on-device rather than waiting around for cloud-based results, meaning faster response times to queries, commands and questions. Pixie will reportedly be able to nose around your Gmail inbox, as well as your reminders, calendar events and Google Maps information to bring you relevant and customised answers.

Android Authority reports that the Pixel 9 could be getting an emergency SOS feature similar to Apple’s, which would let users connect to emergency services using satellites, though this feature is likely to be region-specific. Mobile network coverage is more comprehensive in the UK and Europe than in the wildernesses of North America, so we’d guess that any SOS features would remain exclusive to the United States and Canada for now.

Best Google phone deals

Google Pixel 8: £28 per month, Metrofone.co.uk

(Google)

The newest Pixel phone is down to just £28 per month at Metrofone, with nothing to pay up front. Our Pixel 8 review declared it the “best Google phone yet”, powered by the new Tensor G3 processor which enables powerful AI photo and video editing features.

Buy now

Google Pixel 8 Pro: £29.99 per month with £89 up front, Carphonewarehouse.com

(Google)

Here’s a great deal on the Google Pixel 8 Pro at Carphone Warehouse. You can get the latest and best Google phone with 100GB of monthly data through id Mobile, which works out at £809 in total over the length of the two-year contract, mid-plan price increase not included.

Buy now

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