Google Pixel 9 Pro XL vs. Pixel 8 Pro

This year, Google added a new model to its flagship lineup – Google Pixel 9 Pro XLdethroning last year’s Google Pixel 8 Pro as a top-tier Pixel in the family. Despite what the name suggests, the 9 Pro XL is more of an iterative update than a revolutionary reboot.

Additionally, the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s launch price is considerably higher than the 8 Pro’s going-to-market price. So on paper, the 8 Pro seems like the more sensible choice. The devil is often in the details, so let’s see if the 9 Pro XL deserves its price premium.

Index:

To start with, you can compare full spec sheets or continue directly to our editor’s review in the text below.

Size comparison

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and 8 Pro are nearly identical in size, though this year’s 9 Pro XL has a 0.1″ larger display. Google has managed to slim down the bezels and get more screen real estate.

The new Pixel is a bit thinner and heavier at the same time, but we doubt anyone would notice in real life.

The build quality and appearance are largely the same. Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is on the front and back with an aluminum frame in between. The Pixel 9 Pro XL has adopted a slightly different camera island design, but that doesn’t affect handling or usability.

Display comparison

Both devices have the same underlying display technology – LTPO OLED with up to 120Hz refresh rate. Adaptive refresh rate and HDR10+ support are available for both handsets, but the newer 9 Pro XL is the winner in this department for two simple reasons.

First, the Pro XL has the brightest display we’ve ever seen, going above 2,300 nits, while the 8 Pro maxes out at 1,600 nits. That doesn’t mean the Pro XL is nearly 40 percent brighter because luminance is measured on a logarithmic scale, not a linear one. Still, the newer Pixel certainly offers a better outdoor viewing experience.

Second, you get 0.1″ of extra screen diagonal with the 9 Pro XL, and more screen real estate. The thinner bezels look more modern on the newer Pixel, too.

Battery life

While the Pixel 9 Pro XL shares the same battery as its predecessor (5,060mAh vs. 5,050mAh), battery life has improved. This could be due to the new Tensor G4 chip or other under-the-hood optimizations.

Either way, the new Pixel has a Active usage score of 12:32hbetter than the 11:14h Active Usage Score of the 8 Pro. While call and gaming runtimes are roughly the same, the 9 Pro XL outperforms its predecessor with better web browsing and video playback, and those are arguably the most important tests.

Loading speed

Both devices use the Power Delivery 3.0 standard for wired charging, but the 9 Pro XL is rated at 37W, up from the 8 Pro’s 30W. And according to our tests, the gains are noticeable.

The 9 Pro XL may not be the record holder, but it is noticeably faster than the 8 Pro at both the 15 and 30 minute marks, providing a difference of more than 10 percentage points.

However, the curve flattens out as the 9 Pro XL approaches 100%. As a result, fully charging the newer Pixel is only 5 minutes faster.

When it comes to wireless charging, both phones are capped at 23W, and that’s with the optional Pixel Stand, which offers the fastest wireless charging for these phones.

Speaker Test

Technically, the 9 Pro XL offers louder speakers than the 8 Pro, but in real life, the difference isn’t that noticeable. What is noticeable is the sound tuning.

The 8 Pro’s speakers emphasize vocals and midrange, while the XL’s sound warmer, with deeper, more pronounced bass. We can’t say which is better, as it all comes down to personal preference, but we suspect the newer Pixel will appeal to more users.

Performance

Pixel phones have never been the high-performance type, and Google has always focused more on the software side of things. That’s why the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s new in-house Tensor G4 SoC isn’t a huge improvement over last year’s G3. That’s not to say the phone doesn’t perform well. Quite the opposite — both devices feel snappy and responsive in their day-to-day tasks.

There’s also no significant change to the memory configurations. The newer Pixel has 16GB of RAM across all storage variants, which is a step up from last year’s 12GB configurations, but it’s hardly an improvement that you can feel or measure. The base storage option remains just 128GB, but it can go up to 1TB. That’s true for both phones.

Benchmark performance

Unfortunately, the benchmarks we ran on the new Pixel 9 Pro XL weren’t reliable in determining how the Tensor G4 would perform; in some cases, it showed lower performance compared to the old G3. This could be a software issue or an issue with our review unit. Either way, we’re refraining from posting any results for now.

Camera comparison

Jumping from the Pro to the Pro XL alone brings little to the table in terms of camera improvements, as you’d expect from the price increase and naming scheme. The two handsets largely share the same camera hardware.

We have the 50MP f/1.7, 1/1.31″ main shooter, 48MP f/2.8, 1/2.55″ 5x periscope telephoto snapper, and a 48MP ultrawide camera with a few changes this year. The newer ultrawide unit has a larger aperture (f/1.7 vs. f/2.8), but the sensor size decreases from 1/2.0″ to 1/2.55″. It’s hard to say which approach gives better results before looking at the samples.

The selfie camera gets some love this year, though. The front-facing sensor is now 42MP, up from 10.5MP, and still offers autofocus and an ultrawide lens.

Image quality

As anticipated earlier, camera quality remains largely unchanged. The samples we took are from different days, which makes it harder to compare, but the overall quality seems nearly identical. We’re hard-pressed to find any significant differences in rendering, colors, etc.

Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

Pixel 8 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

This is true for all cameras and in both daylight and low-light scenarios. While the ultrawide shooter has changed, we couldn’t find any noticeable change in image quality there either.

Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

Pixel 8 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 5x

We noticed a slight bias towards brighter exposure, and therefore brighter shadows, in some low-light scenes captured on the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Selfies are excellent on both phones, but we were hoping for a significant improvement on the new model.

Pixel 9 Pro XL selfies

Pixel 8 Pro selfies

Video quality

For some reason, the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s videos are considerably worse than the 8 Pro’s. They’re soft and lack fine detail, which is true for all three cameras on the back. We suspect this is a software issue, which Google will fix with a future update, but for now, the Pixel 8 Pro is the clear winner in this segment.

To be fair, low-light video from the Pixel 9 Pro XL’s main camera does appear to have slightly better definition due to less aggressive noise reduction.

Pixel 9 Pro XL: 0.6x • 1x • 5x • 1x in low light

Pixel 8 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 5x • 1x in low light

Verdict

The 9 Pro XL offers upgrades that are too modest to justify the price difference of around €500/$500 at the time of writing.

Sure, the 9 Pro XL has a brighter, slightly larger display with thinner bezels; it offers modest improvements in charging, battery life, and speaker volume, but that’s not nearly enough to persuade a potential buyer to spend a few hundred dollars more. Especially when you consider the lengthy software support that both devices get and the nearly identical camera performance. In fact, the 8 Pro outperforms its successor in this regard with better video quality.