I recently bought the Google Pixel 9 Pro during a Black Friday sale. Previously, I was using the Pixel 6a. The 6a was released in May of 2022 and I bought it in May of 2023. After using the Pixel 9 Pro for a few days, I thought I would write something about it. This is my first high-end smartphone, ever. Until now, I always used second-gen or earlier products, or purchased used phones. I didn’t felt any appeal from flagship phone features such as their cameras and screens (and AI features as of lately).
TLDR: Was it worth it?
Maybe, or probably not. I feel neutral about the upgrade. I do appreciate the better hardware, but I think I also could have been fine with the 6a. The 9 Pro showed what I was missing out on, but it wasn’t anything revolutionary.
My old 6a was $400 CAD pre-tax, with a durable case and screen protector included. The 9 Pro was $1100 before tax, and I had to buy a case and screen protector separately. Both phones have 128 GB of storage.
In terms of value, the 6a obviously wins. The 9 Pro is a “nice to have” type of device. I do plan on selling my 6a to recoup some of the costs. That’s the short version.
Hardware upgrades
Here are the things about the 9 Pro that I can notice:
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Display
There’s a few display-related upgrades I noticed coming from the 6a.
First and foremost is the 120 Hz refresh rate. It’s like upgrading to a high refresh rate monitor; you can never go back. My Pixel 6a feels very sluggish in comparison. A high refresh rate screen makes the phone feel more responsive, even though nothing else about the hardware might have changed. Purely because of the refresh rate alone, using my phone feels snappier. I think 60 Hz being the “standard” for most displays is criminal. I think 90 Hz should be the bare minimum, and 120 Hz the accepted standard.
Next is brightness. The 9 Pro gets a little brighter and seems more vibrant. I’m not saying that the widest colour gamut display is the best, but the 9 Pro seems more vibrant in a controlled way. And it can get brighter under the Sun, which is always welcomed.
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Speed and memory
Besides the high refresh rate screen making the phone feel quicker, the 9 Pro is genuinely faster than the 6a. Opening apps, cold booting, and updating the OS (happens often with GrapheneOS) all feel faster.
The 9 Pro has 16 GB of memory, while the 6a has 6 GB. On the 6a, I would get close to maxing out the memory, but I doubt that will happen with the 9 Pro.
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Better camera
The 6a has a decent camera. Well, decent enough for me. I’m not a photographer, and I don’t need a high spec camera. It’s only when I compare my pictures to a friend or family member’s picture (taken on a much better phone) when I can see the relative weakness of the 6a.
The 9 Pro has a much better camera. It can do 5x optical zoom vs. the 6a’s 2x. The sensor is bigger and modes like night sight work better. Overall, it’s just a far better camera, which certainly is nice to have.
I’m hoping to take advantage of the better camera in the near future, such as trips 👀 or casual space photography.
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Heft/Build
This is a minor point, but the 9 Pro is significantly heavier than the 6a. Being heavier does not necessarily mean better (technically lighter is better), but it was quite surprising when I first held the phone in my hand. The 6a felt significantly lighter, despite the two phones having near identical dimensions. The reason might be because the 9 Pro uses a metal back instead of glass.
Here are some things I heard were upgraded, but personally have not noticed as of yet:
- Modem
- Fingerprint sensor
- Speakers
Software upgrades
Unfortunately I can’t really speak of any noticeable software upgrades coming to the 9 Pro. I use GrapheneOS and try to minimize my usage of Google software, so I don’t use a lot of the new features like Gemini. In that sense, upgrading to the 9 Pro didn’t yield any software benefits. At the moment, the only significant benefit is that the phone will receive security updates until 2031.
I guess if I ever become more mainstream and embrace the AI hype train, then maybe the 9 Pro will show more useful benefits. I doubt I’ll become like this though.