After I completed my Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge evaluation, I put it again in its field and slid my SIM card proper again into the Google Pixel 9 Professional. The Pixel isn’t the quickest cellphone, and it doesn’t have the very best battery life, however it’s the Android cellphone I most love to make use of, particularly as my day by day work and productiveness gadget.
The Pixel’s efficiency downside is actual
Once I say the Pixel 9 Professional isn’t the quickest, I’ve the info to show it. On paper, it will get crushed by the titans of the cellphone world: the Apple iPhone 16 Professional Max and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely. In Future Labs exams, the Google Pixel 9 Professional’s Tensor G5 chip got here in far behind.
For processing, the Google Tensor G5 chipset can’t evaluate to the Apple A18 Professional or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite platform, upclocked only for Samsung Galaxy S telephones.
It’s possible you’ll like
Swipe to scroll horizontallyFuture Labs Benchmark EfficiencyRow 0 – Cell 0
Geekbench 6.3 Single-Core / Multi-Core
Adobe Premiere Rush customized check (min:sec)
3D Mark Wild Life Excessive Limitless Total / Body Charge
Future Labs battery rundown check (hrs:min:sec)
Google Pixel 9 Professional XL
1,929 / 4,747
Couldn’t full
2,557 / 15.31 fps
14:06:37
Apple iPhone 16 Professional Max
3,386 / 8,306
21:00
3,822 / 22.9 fps
17:35:30
Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely
3,031 / 9,829
52:40
5,912 / 35.4 fps
18:35:39
The Pixel 9 Professional’s Geekbench multi-core rating of 4,794 is lower than half of the Galaxy S25 Extremely’s 9,829. You must return to the iPhone 13 Professional from 2021 to search out an iPhone that scores as little as as we speak’s quickest Google Pixel.
In sensible exams, the Pixel 9 Professional had issues. The Adobe Premiere Rush video check repeatedly crashed our Pixel 9 Professional units. The less-powerful Pixel 9, utilizing the identical processor, ultimately completed the duty in a single hour and 18 minutes. The iPhone 16 Professional Max did it in 21 minutes.
Galaxy S25 Extremely (left) subsequent to an iPhone 16 Professional Max (proper) (Picture credit score: Philip Berne / Future)
On gaming benchmarks, the Pixel 9 Professional was unimpressive. On the 3DMark Wild Life Excessive check, the Pixel may solely produce 15 frames per second, whereas the Galaxy S25 Extremely managed a fluid 35 fps.
The story is similar for battery life. The Pixel 9 Professional XL lasted solely 14 hours in our rundown exams, whereas the iPhone 16 Professional Max pushed previous 17.5 hours, and the Galaxy S25 Extremely lasted greater than 18.5 hours. Oh, and each of these telephones cost quicker, too.
The Pixel’s efficiency downside actually doesn’t matter
iPhone 16 Professional (left), Pixel 9 Professional XL (heart), Galaxy S25 Extremely (proper) (Picture credit score: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
And but, with all of these shortcomings, I’m utilizing a Pixel 9 Professional Fold proper now and can fortunately return to my commonplace Pixel 9 Professional till the following mannequin arrives. Why? As a result of as we speak’s flagship smartphones are too {powerful} for their very own good, and cellphone makers haven’t even found out what to do with all that energy.
Neglect the benchmarks. The newest Pixel 9 Professional design feels implausible, with or with no case. It takes images with extremely correct colour and nails low-light pictures each time. Google’s “Circle to Search” and AI imaginative and prescient options make it straightforward to reply the query “What’s that!?” – one of the vital frequent questions in my life. The expertise of utilizing the cellphone is solely extra nice.
The Pixel 9 Professional is a better smartphone
(Picture credit score: Philip Berne / Future)
You possibly can’t even say quicker telephones are higher at AI. The Pixel 9 Professional is the best and suitable smartphone for cellular AI options, although it’s the slowest of the bunch. Whereas Apple’s AI is a perpetual query mark and Samsung has largely ceded its finest work to Google, the Pixel has some AI options which can be truly helpful and don’t make me really feel like a traitor to my artistic career.
The Pixel does an excellent job screening calls and even making them on my behalf. I’ve had the cellphone ebook haircuts and make restaurant reservations, and if it didn’t do this stuff for me, I’d in all probability overlook.
Extra importantly, I take advantage of the Pixel continually to transcribe conferences, interviews, or perhaps a discuss with my child’s orthodontist. It does the very best job of creating a helpful transcript that’s straightforward to navigate alongside the precise voice recording.
A chic expertise for much less cash
(Picture credit score: Philip Berne / Future)
The Pixel interface is polished, nice, and does not get in my means. It doesn’t attempt to copy Apple’s iOS, however it might really feel acquainted to iPhone customers as a result of it’s such an intuitive interface. Whereas the battery life isn’t a record-setter, it at all times lasts me a full day, and some minutes of charging whereas I’m driving or within the bathe provides me greater than sufficient energy.
Better of all is the worth. The Pixel 9 Professional XL begins at $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,349, which is already cheaper than the Galaxy S25 Extremely and the iPhone 16 Professional Max. It additionally goes on sale extra usually; I noticed it drop to $849 final vacation season, a reduction you’ll by no means see on a flagship iPhone.
What race are you attempting to win?
The Google Pixel 9 Professional proves that the spec sheet is not the entire story. It loses each benchmark battle however wins the conflict for my day by day consideration. It’s a tool constructed round sensible intelligence, not brute drive. In a world of overpowered telephones, the Pixel 9 Professional is a cellphone that feels prefer it’s truly working for me, not the opposite means round.
Immediately’s finest Google Pixel 9 Professional and Google Pixel 9 Professional XL offers
