Google Pixel 9 Pro vs 9 Pro XL

Looking for a new Pixel this year? Well, for better or for worse, this year’s lineup is just as big. 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 Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, we’ve got you covered as we’ll put them head-to-head in this comparison based on our comprehensive review. conclusion

We can certainly see how this makes a very difficult choice. Except for the size, both the devices appear to be almost identical. Even the price tags of the two are very close – there is a difference of Rs 100 according to Google’s official store or sometimes less than Rs 50 if you are purchasing on a third-party reseller. And maybe this is the point. The only major difference is the size, as intended. But we dig deeper to see if there’s anything the spec sheet can’t reveal.

Table of Contents:

For starters, you can compare the full specifications or continue straight to our editor’s assessment In the following text.

size comparison

The most significant difference between the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL is the size. Google tried to match the features of both phones and differentiate them based only on size. So it’s pretty clear here – get the Pixel 9 Pro if you’re looking for a compact flagship, or the 9 Pro XL if you’re fond of the bigger screen experience

There’s no difference in build or design, but expect the 9 Pro to be a little lighter as well.

display comparison

Both devices have excellent displays, one of the best we’ve seen. According to our tests, they provide over 2,300 nits of brightness and support all the essential features. Dolby Vision video support is practically the only omission here and it’s hardly a big deal.

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 have shorter battery life due to limited capacity. However, the 9 Pro makes the Pro XL superior 13:11 hours active usage scoreThis is because it offers significantly longer gaming runtime and slightly better 4G call runtime despite lower web browsing scores.

It is important to emphasize that the differences are generally very small. Both the handsets offer mostly similar endurance.

charging speed

As for the specifications, the larger Pixel comes with faster 37W wired charging, whereas it was 27W on the 9 Pro. This barely helps it get to the finish line faster (it’s just 6 minutes faster), but it reaches significantly higher charging levels at the 15 and 30 minute marks.

Wireless charging capabilities are comparable, however, rated at 21W and 12W respectively for the 9 Pro – with the Pixel Stand or another wireless charger, while the Pro XL supports 23W and 12W wireless charging with the aforementioned.

speaker test

Both devices have equally loud stereo speakers. However, the sound of the 9 Pro XL is much better. Tracks provide a fuller sound with more pronounced bass while still providing almost the same clean vocals as the 9 Pro. The latter, on the other hand, seems completely flat in comparison.

Smaller devices tend to have ineffective bass due to the limited cavity size they can provide for the speaker, so this is something to keep in mind if you’re shopping for a more compact phone.

Display

Performance on both phones is provided by Google’s latest Tensor G4 chipset. It is considered faster and more efficient than its predecessor, but often misses in benchmarks, by a small margin. Even the NPU hasn’t been upgraded for AI. But Pixels have never been about hardware performance, they’re all about software. After all, Google is mostly a software company.

Both handsets feature the same Tensor G4 SoC and offer similar memory configurations starting at 16GB/128GB and going up to 16GB/1TB. We wanted Google to be as generous with storage chips as it is with memory chips. The base storage of 128GB is inadequate these days, while having 16GB of RAM has dubious benefits in daily use. Then again, with Google’s promise of 7 major OS upgrades, 16GB of RAM may come in handy.

benchmark performance

As expected, performance is similar between the 9 Pro and Pro XL, and the difference you see is within the margin of error with these benchmarks.

camera comparison

The Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL have the same camera hardware and the same chipset, so it’s no surprise there are no differences in how they record video and take photos.

The primary camera is a 50MP, accompanied by a 48MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and a 48MP ultrawide unit with autofocus. It also takes macro shots. The selfie units on both feature a 42MP camera with an ultrawide lens, so you can fit more people in your selfies.

image quality

We couldn’t find any difference between the camera capabilities of the two phones, and we would have been surprised if we did. Nevertheless, we are 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 videos as there is no difference in quality or rendering.

Below, we have some framegrabs of videos taken by both phones at each focal length, so it’s easy to compare each other.

Pixel 9 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 1x

Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x • 1x

decision

Apart from size and weight, both Pixels are largely identical with very subtle differences. And maybe this is the point. If you want a larger phone, you’ll get the XL, hence the name, or if you prefer a more compact flagship solution, get the 9 Pro. as simple as that.

The difference in price is also negligible, but not in the quality of the speaker. So if you like music that sounds better than your loudspeakers, choose the XL.