Google recently gave its Pixel lineup one of the biggest refreshes in years. The new Pixel 9 line now consists of the base model Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
This is a significant update because the Pixels have been redesigned with flatter frame edges and a revised camera visor look. Google even brought back the XL size, which hasn’t been used since 2019 with the Pixel 4 XL.
But as tempting as it may be to get a Pixel 9 right now, especially the gorgeous Peony color, there are a few reasons why you might want to wait until the Google Pixel 10.
The Tensor G5 chip could be a big deal
The Google Pixel 9 series uses the new Tensor G4 chip. So far, the Tensor chips have been made by Samsung Foundry, so they’re not entirely custom-made by Google itself. This could change with the Pixel 10 and the Tensor G5.
While the Tensor chips have been quite powerful, they still don’t quite match up to what’s available from rivals such as Apple and Samsung. Though they’ve gotten better over the years, Tensor chips also tend to overheat and aren’t quite as power-efficient as they could be.
But with the Tensor G5 in the Pixel 10, it looks like Google could be ditching Samsung Foundry after all and moving to TSMC instead. Previously, the Tensor chips were modeled after Samsung’s high-end Exynos chips, but over the years, Google has added more customizations to the Tensor chip. With this move, the Tensor G5 could be Google’s first truly custom-made chip, which should offer performance and power efficiency that is similar to its rivals from Apple, MediaTek, and Qualcomm.
Though the Pixel 9 and its G4 certainly aren’t bad based on our initial hands-on time, you may want to hold off and see how much better the Tensor G5 could be.
Modest changes to battery capacity
If you were expecting better battery life with the Pixel 9 series, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it didn’t change much from the previous Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
For comparison, the Pixel 8 had a 4,575mAh battery and the Pixel 8 Pro had a 5,050mAh battery. The new Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro have a 4,700mAh battery, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL has a 5,060mAh battery. Just looking at the numbers, it’s really not much of a difference, especially for the XL model.
If you weren’t too thrilled about the battery life of last year’s Pixel 8 line, then the Pixel 9 series isn’t shaping up to be too far off from it. We may see more significant battery life improvements next year, especially if Google will be switching to TSMC instead of Samsung for the Tensor G5 chip.
Charging speeds are still lagging
Similar to how Google didn’t make much of a change with the battery life, the charging speeds also remain the same as before. If you were hoping that at least the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL would have faster charging speeds on par with Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Plus and S24 Ultra or even the OnePlus 12, you’re out of luck.
For reference, last year’s Pixel 8 had 27 watts, and the Pixel 8 Pro has 30W fast wired charging. The Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro both have a maximum of 27W charging, though the Pixel 9 Pro XL bumped it up to 37W. Still, the S24 Plus and S24 Ultra both have 45W wired charging, and the OnePlus 12 has at least 80W speeds in the U.S. and 100W elsewhere.
It’s a bit disappointing that Google did not bother making the charging speeds much faster to match the competition. Hopefully, this will change next year with the Pixel 10 line.
No big camera hardware upgrades
While Google did give the Pixel 9 a nice bump in specs for its dual camera system, it didn’t give the Pro models as much love.
Last year’s Pixel 8 had a 50MP main camera and 12MP ultrawide lens. The Pixel 9 has a 50MP main camera and 48MP ultrawide, so that’s a nice improvement. With the higher megapixel count for the ultrawide, those shots should have much more detail and better colors.
But the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL did not really get any improvement in the camera hardware. It’s pretty much the same as last year’s Pixel 8 Pro with the 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide lens, and 48M telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom. The least that Google could have done was bump up the main camera lens to something like 108MP or 200MP like Samsung has done with its Ultra phones in years past.
To be clear, we still expect the Pixel 9 devices to take great photos. The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro certainly did, and this year’s phones should be just as good — if not better. But it would have been nice to see a higher megapixel count for the main camera, at least. Maybe next year.
Where’s the Qi2 support?
In 2023, during CES, the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) announced a new wireless charging standard called Qi2.
This new standard was being built on Apple’s MagSafe technology, which was introduced with the iPhone 12 lineup. It uses a new magnetic power profile that ensures phones and other rechargeable mobile products align perfectly with Qi2 charging devices for better energy efficiency and charging speeds. In short, it’s like a version of MagSafe for Android devices.
There were rumors that Google would implement Qi2 in the Pixel 9 series, but that unfortunately did not happen. The Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold only support the original Qi-compatible wireless charging up to 12W, or from 15W to 23W with the second-generation Google Pixel Stand.
Though Qi2 was announced in early 2023, barely any Android phones, including ones from Google, support the standard. There’s no guarantee that we will see Qi2 in the Pixel 10 next year, but one can only hope.
