Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: Can a smartphone become your AI companion?

By the time you're reading this, and if you're interested in technology, chances are you've already heard about Google's new phones that rely heavily on this decade's keyword—artificial intelligence (AI). Launched earlier this month, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a great showcase for everything related to AI that Google is working on, at least through its own apps and services.

While AI is no longer new, there's no denying that mankind's progress with AI is still in the very early stages. The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL betrays this notion and fits in almost everything you can do with a phone – it has AI for phone calls, camera, overall performance and gaming, voice recording, screenshots, wallpapers, and even the 'Weather' app. But like most first-generation technologies, the smorgasbord of AI that comes to you on Google's latest smartphone isn't always necessary.

question mark

The first question that comes up on the Google Pixel 9 series phones is whether AI is necessary in everything. For example, the weather app on Pixel phones now has an AI overview that summarizes and tells you what the weather will be like today. This, of course, is a clear example of AI encroachment, as this feature seems to be a forced addition without adding much value.

This feeling persists with many of the AI ​​features on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL. For example, Google's 'Pixel Studio' app, which arrived this year, feels like a playground that's fun, but one you'll soon forget about. Sure, I can create a variety of photos with this app, but do I really need it? Absolutely not.

Then, there are the more philosophical questions. In forums and social media threads, discussions have been rife about the 'Reimagine' feature in the Google Pixel 9 series' photo editor. The latter feature appears to be a reworking of the Pixel 9 Pro XL's 'Magic Editor' present in the Google Photos app. This time around, Google's AI capabilities have gotten so good that it can give you a way to completely transform the view around you.

To put this to use, I attempted to edit a photo with subjects sitting on a couch in a room with a lot of clutter, and with some clever use of the 'erase' and 'reimagine' features, transform it into the subjects sitting amongst an eye-catching art exhibition, with a naturally lit garden behind it. The result was eccentric and excellent, and made me question whether such features would be socially 'healthy'.

As we are already on the brink of technology-fueled social pressures – in such a world, do we really need a photo editor that takes us to places we have never been? Won’t such features eventually be used by creators to put themselves in different places so that they can overcome the fear of missing out? Or could it be a valuable tool for brand collaborations? Can such features be misused?

The joys of innovation

While such binary questions remain with the advancement of technology, there's no denying that using the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL feels like real progress. This is a smartphone you eventually start to rely on heavily, especially for professions like journalism.

There are several reasons for this. For example, 'Call Notes' on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a great way to summarize phone calls (as long as they're in English). The Pixel 9 series gets keywords and conversation gist right about seven times out of 10 – good for a work-in-progress technology. This is true for Indian accents of English as well. The feature also lets you quickly look back at a phone call from the past and understand the topic.

The importance of such a feature cannot be stressed enough. For professionals, it can be a lifesaver. Google's live transcription feature in the 'Recorder' app has also been significantly improved. It now accurately recognises complex words spoken in a thick Indian accent about eight out of 10 times, and in a side-by-side comparison, the Gemini Nano model on the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL outperforms the Google-powered transcription on Samsung's latest Galaxy S and Z smartphones.

The 'Add me' feature in the Pixel camera app is also great. Here, if you're just two people and you want a well-taken photo instead of a selfie, one of you can take a photo and pass it to the other, switching places as the photographer. The result is that the Pixel 9 Pro XL combines two photos into one – as if someone else shot it for you. While many may talk about the social incongruity of such a feature, I personally found it to be pretty great – for introverts, it's a great way to take a photo together without having to request it from a stranger.

The camera benefits the most from all of Google's AI – thanks to features like Video Boost which improves overall video fidelity. 'Auto Frame' in the Magic Editor feature helps correct photos already taken by auto-centring them – another handy feature if your framing is crooked.

Google's chatbot Gemini now has memory and recall features. This allows you to have more natural conversations on any topic. If you subscribe to Google's top-tier Google One plan, you get access to Gemini Advanced, which offers a seamless experience with longer memory. However, limitations quickly emerge – showing that Google's Gemini experience is still an early stage.

Of course, there are concerns about how much data will be shared with Google and what that means for your digital footprint. But it's important to note that if you want all the benefits of modern-day generative AI, privacy will be at least partially compromised. Of course, almost none of the Pixel 9 Pro XL's AI features work natively.

A reliable change?

The Pixel 9 Pro XL is one of the first phones where the AI ​​itself, and not the overall specs, defines the phone and sets it apart from others. Coming to traditional factors, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL looks and feels sturdier and more premium thanks to a new, flat-edge design, more metal on the sides, and a new camera module, which I found to be better-looking than the Pixels apart.

The new Tensor G4 processor, combined with 33% more memory (now 16GB), makes the Pixel 9 Pro XL super-fast, at least for the first two weeks – enough for occasional gaming on the highest graphics settings. The cameras are as good as ever, and the easy-to-use 'Pro' mode is great for photography enthusiasts. However, it's inconsistent in low-light scenes, and shows flickering in low-contrast scenes. The Pixel also produces less-than-still objects when shooting action, which is disappointing.

But once you get used to the Pixel 9's core AI features, it's hard to understand why you'd want a phone that doesn't at least give you this gift. Google, with its direct investment in AI, has a lead over most other smartphone brands. Right now, it easily outperforms Samsung's AI features, and Apple's 'intelligence' isn't here yet.

However, the question is, are you willing to spend? 1,24,999 (roughly $1,500) on a smartphone lineup that has been plagued with reliability issues in the past. While this is hard to answer with just two weeks of usage, the simple verdict is that the onslaught of AI is hard to ignore — and once you get used to living with it, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is hard to live without, too.