Google Pixel 9 Pro vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL
Looking for new Pixels this year? Well, for better or worse, this year's lineup is as big as it gets. You have a choice between four Pixel 9 phones. But if you've narrowed down your choice to just the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, we've got you covered as we'll be putting them head-to-head in this comparison based on our extensive review findings.
We can definitely see how this one makes a really hard choice. The two devices are seemingly almost identical, except for size. Even the price tags of both are very close - there is a 100 bucks gap, according to Google's official store or sometimes less than 50 if you are shopping at a third-party reseller. And maybe that's the point. The only sizeable difference is the size, pun intended. But we investigate deeper in case there's something the specs sheets can't tell.
Table of Contents:
For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following video or in the text below.
Size comparison
The most significant difference between the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL is the size. Google tried to match the two phone's features and distinguish them only by size. So it's pretty apparent here - get the Pixel 9 Pro if you are looking for a compact flagship, or take the 9 Pro XL if you are fond of the big-screen experience
There's no difference in the build or design either, but expectedly, the 9 Pro is slightly lighter too.
Display comparison
Both devices feature excellent displays, one of the best we've seen. According to our tests, they offer more than 2,300 nits of brightness and support all the needed features. Dolby Vision video support is practically the only omission here and it's hardly a biggie.
This leaves the screen diagonal as the only measurable difference. The jump from 6.3" to 6.8" is quite noticeable.
Battery life
Smaller phones often tend to have shorter battery life due to the limited capacity they can fit. However, the 9 Pro edges the Pro XL with a higher 13:11h Active Use Score. That's because it offers considerably longer gaming runtime and slightly better 4G call runtime despite the lower web browsing score.
It's important to emphasize that differences are generally minute. The two handsets offer, for the most part, similar endurance.
Charging speed
According to the specs, the bigger Pixel comes with faster 37W wired charging, compared to 27W on the 9 Pro. This barely helps it get faster to the finish line (it's just 6 minutes quicker), but it reaches a considerably higher charging level at the 15 and 30-minute marks.
Wireless charging capabilities are comparable, though, being rated at 21W and 12W for the 9 Pro - with the Pixel Stand or another wireless charger, respectively, while the Pro XL supports up to 23W and 12W wireless charging with the above.
Speaker test
The two devices have equally loud stereo speakers. However, the 9 Pro XL's sound noticeably better. Tracks sound fuller with more pronounced bass while offering roughly the same clean vocals as the 9 Pro. The latter, on the other hand, sounds outright flat in comparison.
Smaller devices tend to have unimpressive bass due to the limited cavity size they can provide for the speakers so it's something to keep in mind if you are shopping for a more compact phone.
Performance
Performance is provided by Google's latest Tensor G4 chipset on both phones. It's supposed to be faster and more efficient than its predecessor, but by a tiny margin, often missed in the benchmarks. Even the NPU for AI hasn't been upgraded. But Pixels have never been about hardware performance, they are all about software. Google is mostly a software company, after all.
Both handsets feature the same Tensor G4 SoC and offer identical memory configurations starting from 16GB/128GB all the way up to 16GB/1TB. We wished Google was just as generous with the storage chips as the memory chips. 128GB of base storage is inadequate these days, whereas having 16GB RAM has questionable benefits in daily use. Then again, with Google's promised 7 major OS upgrades, the 16GB of RAM might come in handy.
Benchmark performance
Expectedly, performance is identical between the 9 Pro and the Pro XL, and the difference you see is mostly within the margin of error with these benchmarks.
Camera comparison
The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL share the same camera hardware and the same chipset, so it's no surprise that there's no difference in how they record videos and take photos.
The primary camera is 50MP, joined by a 48MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and a 48MP ultrawide unit with autofocus. This one takes macro shots too. The selfie unit on both is the 42MP camera with the ultrawide lens, so you can fit more people in your selfies.
Image quality
We couldn't find any difference between the two phone's camera capabilities and we would have been surprised if we did. Still, we're providing some samples for reference.
Pixel 9 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Pixel 9 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x
Video quality
We can say the same about the videos as there's no difference in quality or rendering.
Below, we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length so it's easier to compare to one another.
Pixel 9 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 1x
Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 1x
Verdict
Aside from the size and weight, the two Pixels are pretty much identical, with very subtle differences. And maybe that's the point. If you want a bigger phone, you get the XL, hence the name, or if you prefer a more compact flagship solution, go for the 9 Pro. As simple as that.
The difference in pricing is also negligible, but the speaker quality is not. So if you like better-sounding music from your loudspeakers, go for the XL.
- The smaller footprint.
- The slightly lower price tag.
Get the Google Pixel 9 Pro for:
- The bigger display.
- The better speakers.
- The slightly faster charging in the first 30 min.
Get the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL for:
Related
Reader comments
- Anonymous
- 29 Nov 2024
- vxx
The performance is fine for most people. But then where's the justification for the price tag? You can get that level of performance or better at 400-500. Even the camera... Midrangers are really good these days they tend to start to fall apart ...
- Haplo
- 29 Nov 2024
- MIn
Performance is good on Pixels, chipset bencharks hardly matter for most people, I'd imagine. However I agree that Google really needs to up their camera game if they want to win more customers. Currently brands like Vivo, Huawei, Oppo own t...
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