Pixel 9 Launch: Google’s Approach To AI Becomes Clearer

I recently attended a Made by Google event—the first one I’ve been to on Google’s campus—focused on new developments for Google Pixel products. It started with a warm and solemn commemoration of Susan Wojcicki, former YouTube CEO, who passed away earlier in August. After that thoughtful opening, Google’s senior vice president of platforms and devices, Rick Osterloh, kicked off the business portion of the event with some thoughts about how Google and its product offerings are evolving to make things easier for consumers.

At its core, Google is trying to use its AI capabilities with Gemini to simplify and speed up users’ daily tasks while adding new and unique capabilities that make Google the innovator people expect it to be. At the event, it was quite clear that Google is leading its approach to AI with Gemini and that Gemini is the common thread across most Google products—except home automation, which I don’t get.

Advances For Gemini On Android Devices

Google talked about its Gemini AI capabilities and how Gemini Advanced is now available across many different Android OEMs and devices. On stage, Google showed the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Moto Razr+ running Gemini Advanced, including new features such as Gemini Live. Gemini Live is Google’s new way to interact with Gemini Advanced in a constant, conversational manner using multi-modal AI, allowing you to interrupt it and interact with it better.

Gemini Live runs on all the new Pixel 9-series phones and flagship Android phones. I think Google is doing a much better job of showing off new capabilities and features on partner Android devices while still demonstrating that Pixel has the best Google AI experience. With the entire Pixel line, Google has to thread quite a needle between making Pixel the best phone for Android, while also ensuring that other Android OEMs still have access to the most important features.

The Pixel 9 Series Launch

To complement Gemini's new capabilities, Google also announced the much-awaited Pixel 9 series, which includes four devices: the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. These devices range in price from $799 up to $1,799, and all feature the same new Google Tensor G4 processor. The fundamental differences among these devices are that the Pro devices come with a telephoto camera and 16GB of RAM. The Pixel 9 Pro is the same size as the Pixel 9, while the XL has the same features as the Pro but with a larger display and battery. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the foldable version of the Pixel 9, but it uses an entirely different camera configuration (while still having 16GB of RAM). Overall, the new series mostly has the same Pixel Android 14 design language, as well as a visor-like design for the camera bump.

Speaking of Android 14, lots of people including me were surprised to see that the new Pixel line isn’t shipping with Android 15. That said, in the coming months Pixel will be the first phones to ship with Android 15.

Everyone in attendance walked away with a Pixel 9 or Pixel 9 Pro XL, and I have been enjoying my experience with the phone so far. (I will write a full review later on.) Among all these devices, I believe the Pixel 9 Pro Fold may be the first phone anywhere to combine my love of foldables and good cameras. The current Pixel Fold is quite good, but it is running a two-generation-old Tensor G2 and has the cameras from the Pixel 7 series. I believe the Pixel 9 Pro Fold would be the most significant upgrade for many users, as well as the most attractive line for users looking for a mix of productivity and media consumption.

Wearables Get A Welcome Refresh

At the event, Google also announced a couple of new wearables, namely the Pixel Watch 3 and the Pixel Buds Pro 2. The Pixel Watch 3 retains the same design ID as its predecessor, using a 100% recycled aluminum case—arguably one of the best in the industry—though now adding a 45mm case size alongside the existing 41mm size. This is welcome, given that I have thought the 41mm case was too small for me and many others. Besides the new size option, Google has also improved its use of the case’s footprint with a 16% smaller bezel, thereby increasing screen size without increasing the body size.

Google has also overhauled the sensors on the Pixel Watch 3 series with Loss of Pulse Detection. This feature has the potential to save lives, but unfortunately it won’t be available in the U.S. for a while. The U.K., France, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland will have it starting Sept 3. Unfortunately, in the U.S. we will have to wait until the FDA gives Google clearance for the feature—and who knows how long that might take.

For the Pixel Watch 3, Google has opted for a new dual-chip architecture running on the latest Wear OS 5, something we’ve already seen from OnePlus. Similarly, Google used a Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 chip paired with an Arm Cortex M33 coprocessor, which means even better battery life than the already much-improved Pixel Watch 2. Google has also implemented a new 2000-nit display for outdoor use, making the screen easier to see in direct sunlight. The display also goes as low as 1 nit in very low-light environments, and I know that I will appreciate that feature when putting my infant to bed.

The Pixel Watch 3 also comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC and Ultra-Wideband, which is excellent for finding the watch or using it to access things like cars. Google didn’t go into much detail about the software integrations at launch. Still, Google will have better Google Maps and Nest Doorbell integrations with the Pixel Watch 3, which I think will be a net positive for strengthening the Google ecosystem and telling an improved “better together” story. Speaking of a better-together story, Google is also including six months free of Fitbit Premium, which will enhance many of the Pixel Watch 3’s new hardware capabilities with better health insights and accurate workout measurements and feedback.

The new Pixel Buds 2 Pro features an entirely new bud design (while retaining the iconic egg-shaped case) that is 27% smaller, delivering 2x better noise canceling and improved AI capabilities. Google claims that the new A1 processor improves audio quality and powers enhanced noise-canceling and AI capabilities including Gemini Live. I have always thought that Google should have more AI capabilities built into its earbuds, and apparently Google did, too, because the Pixel Buds Pro 2 do a better job of integrating deeper with Gemini to deliver a better user experience. I believe that AI-enhanced wearables like the Pixel Buds Pro 2 and the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses will be how many people experience AI daily, so I’m glad to see that Google is on board.

At the event, Google demonstrated Gemini Live on the earbuds using a conversational style of interaction to ask questions and get answers, and I got a chance to try them out after the event. I was very impressed with how seamless the experience was and how good the earbuds sounded and how well they fit. For me, earbuds are always a big fit challenge, but the Pixel Buds Pro 2 fit better than ever and sounded great, even though I only had enough time to listen to one song.

Google Continues Down The Path Of Custom Silicon

With Tensor G4 and A1, Google continues investing in custom silicon and expanding its reach. While the Tensor G4 doesn’t appear to improve on the G3 significantly, Google is claiming some experiential improvements, including better support for multimodal AI like Gemini Nano. Google has been panned in the past for using Samsung’s Exynos processor as a base for Tensor while not really being competitive on performance. While I agree with these assessments, especially given that Google continues to use Samsung modems with negative impacts on 5G performance and battery life, Google seems steadfast in its ambitions.

There are rumors that the Tensor G5 will be a complete ground-up Google design, which isn’t necessarily a good thing for performance or benchmarks, but Google also seems to have different KPIs than other Android OEMs. Google claims that it doesn’t care about the benchmark performance of its chips, but rather the experiences they deliver. That said, I don’t think there are any experiential metrics where Tensor G4 beats Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 unless we’re talking about Google’s proprietary security or AI cores—which are hard to quantify. Many aficionados would be happier seeing Google use MediaTek Dimensity or Qualcomm Snapdragon chips in the Pixel series.

Still, it seems clear that Google wants to continue down the path of custom silicon, as shown by introducing the Tensor A1 for the Pixel Buds Pro 2. This leads to the question of how long it will be until Google releases a Tensor W1 for the Pixel Watch. More importantly, how long will Google continue to build its chips for Pixel without the volume to justify the costs? Now that the foundry crunch days have passed, Google does have some opportunity for custom silicon without necessarily being a lead customer. In that context, having more custom chips may allow it to negotiate better terms and have access to more advanced chip production nodes.

Availability Is A Confusing Mess

Product availability may be where Google seems the most disjointed. Google has done a great job of announcing so many of its products simultaneously, especially by bringing in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold to match the rest of the Pixel series. Yet the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro XL were available on-shelf on August 22, while the Pixel 9 Pro became available September 4. Then the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Pixel Watch 3 and Buds 2 Pro are scheduled to be available in the “following weeks”—whatever that means.

When I drafted this piece in late August, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold was completely sold out in the porcelain color for both storage capacities (256GB and 512GB), while the obsidian color was sold out in 512GB and on notify for 256 GB. Meanwhile, Pixel Buds Pro 2 preorders currently state September 30 as a delivery date for across all four colors, so that’s likely its availability date. Based on preorder dates, the Pixel Watch 3 became available September 10 across all colors and models.

While I can appreciate that all these products are different, it would have been nice to see all the phones launch on one date and all the wearables on another—if the entire batch of products couldn’t be launched on a single date. In either of those scenarios, we would not have this rolling availability where you might buy a Pixel 9, then have to wait a few weeks for the matching watch and almost a month for the earbuds to complete the experience.

Google Pixel Finally Has Cohesion

These announcements, both in hardware and software, have shown Google to be more cohesive than ever in its approach to Pixel. The Pixel 9 series is substantial and works well together, addressing the price tiers from $799 to $1,799. That said, seeing a Pixel Flip one day would be nice, especially because having a third player in the U.S. market after Samsung and Motorola would benefit consumers.

On the AI front, Gemini Advanced and Gemini Live represent the best that Google offers while also existing vertically across Pixel and horizontally across Android. I loved seeing how Google integrated Gemini Live in the Pixel Buds Pro 2 with the Pixel 9 and how the Pixel Watch 3 adds new Google-centric features while also embracing the more optimized design and larger screen size. This is undoubtedly the best Pixel lineup we’ve seen from Google, and I am glad to see that things are looking quite good under Rick Osterloh’s leadership.