Google Pixel 9 Pro has better AI than any other smartphone – here's why
Every phone is touting artificial intelligence in 2024. The Google Pixel 9 phones have AI for everyday consumers
🤖 Google Pixel 9’s AI features are more consumer-friendly than its rivals
💬 It’s more than an AI chatbot, image generator or convo summarizer
🪄 Add Me is a consumer-friendly AI camera trick that fixes group pics
🤪 Best Take is a returning example of AI that’s baked into key tools
📱 Pixel Screenshots uses Gemini Nano to catalog our endless screenshots
🆓 Free year of Gemini Advanced (a $240 value) on the Pros helps
Before my hands-on Google Pixel 9 Pro review becomes a full review this week, I’ve come to realize that I’ve gotten more positive feedback from my friends and X followers about this Android phone than any other smartphone in 2024. And it has only been a few days since Tuesday’s Made By Google event.
There are a few reasons for this sudden mainstream attention. The fact that there’s now a 6.3-inch Google Pixel Pro as well as a 6.8-inch Google Pixel 9 Pro XL helps, the 42MP front-facing camera upgrade will be a big deal selfie enthusiasts, and the new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor will fix a gripe of many Pixel 8 Pro phone owners.
But if I had to guess why normal, non-techie folks are beginning to notice the Pixel 9 Pro it comes down to two letters: AI. Or more specifically, Google’s flavor of AI.
Google Pixel 9 Pro’s AI is consumer-friendly
What I mean by “Google’s flavor of AI” is that it feels as if the Pixel 9 has AI baked into everyday tools we use. For example, for the second year in a row, the Pixel camera has gotten buzz-worthy AI features that instantly captured mainstream attention.
I’ll give you three specific examples (two new to the Pixel 9, one from last year) where Google stands out in terms of AI. But let’s review why it’s different from the rest.
Doesn’t every phone have AI?
This is different from the other AI phones I’ve tested for The Shortcut, including the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra running Galaxy AI and my iPhone 15 Pro Max running iOS 18.1 beta. I appreciate chatbot tools and AI conversation summaries just as much as the next person, but a lot of these ideas seem like ChatGPT or other LLM clones. Google’s Gemini Advanced offers similar features.
I don’t need to add a hand-drawn hat into a photo using generative AI. More like generative ayyy-eye-roll on that one.
For every useful idea like AI-powered Math Notes or a conversation translator, it feels like there are 50 other demos that are either meaningless or generic that make AI seem like a gimmick. I don’t need to add a hand-drawn hat into a photo using generative AI. More like generative ayyy-eye-roll on that one.
Trying out Add Me on a Google Pixel 9 Pro XL
This year, “Add Me” is the AI magic trick found exclusively in Google Pixel 9 phones – all four of them, from the $799 Google Pixel 9 to the $1,799 Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I was able to test this at the Made By Google event on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Add Me creates a composite photo, allowing the photographer to jump into a group shot when a second photo is taken (and everyone else leaves). Ghosts of everyone else remain on the screen to guide whoever takes over the camera and presses the shutter button for that second shot. It’s pretty cool, and everyone at the Made By Google event demo station walked away impressed.
It does work. It feels like Add Me on the Google Pixel 9 solves a real-world consumer problem of relying on (and trusting) strangers to snap group photos or resorting to selfies where your whole body isn’t in the frame.
Best Take was last year’s best AI idea
The addition of Add Me reminds me of last year’s defining Google Pixel 8 software feature: Best Take.
Best Take is the head-swapping AI photo effect that allows you to switch heads on people in a group shot. Suddenly, getting everyone to smile and open their eyes in a picture became easier if you could take a series of photos and mix and match heads. It’s an uncanny idea for some, but a serious photo fix for families – and the iPhone can’t do it, only the latest two generations of Google Pixel phones.
We’ve all been there. Sometimes you look your best in shot #1, and your entire family looks better in shot #2 (but you look awful). You don’t have to decide between silently uploading shot #1 (that’s selfish) or making yourself look bad by uploading shot #2 (begrudgingly). You can all present your best selves with Best Take. No one else has copied this groundbreaking feature in 10 months.
I should add: In my Google Pixel 8a review, I mentioned that it was nice to see that Google added Best Take to its cheaper $500 phone. Contrast that with the Apple intelligence compatibility list to see how Google and Apple further contrast on AI.
The Screenshots app is one I’ll test on Pixel 9
What I didn’t get to test out at the Google Pixel 9 launch event is another feature that has grabbed attention: Pixel Screenshots. That will have to wait for my full review.
Pixel Screenshots is a dedicated app that uses Gemini Nano with Multimodality to automatically process information inside a screenshot (think: a restaurant address or a receipt) and metadata, according to Google. The Pixel 9 app will generate AI-powered titles and summaries and can go a step further by setting reminders or adding details to your Google Calendar if it notices dates.
My friend at the Google Pixel event mentioned he has an astronomical amount of unorganized screenshots saved on his phone: more than 4,000. I looked at my photo library. I have 14,000 screenshots. Oops. Being able to organize and recall info using Gemini Nano may be a game changer for my “screenshot everything” addiction.
Beyond Gemini AI
When I flew back from the Google event, a friend said “I’m tired of these ChatGPT clones.” It’s true. We want these tools, sure, but we want a little more uniqueness. I’m going to love using Google’s Gemini Advanced (a $240 value) free for a year while I test the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL for review, but it’s good to see Google offering bolder AI ideas too.
In The Shortcut’s hands-on Google Pixel Watch 3 review, it’s the same. I want better fitness tracking and Google’s new smartwatch has that. But it also touts a unique AI-powered exclusive feature called Loss of Pulse Detection, another real-world benefit that goes beyond the standard smartwatch fare.
Even if Google’s LLM is the best out there, it’s also bringing exclusive features that are consumer friendly. And the mainstream buzz around Add Me and Pixel Screenshots proves it’s having an effect on interest in the Google Pixel series.