Google’s new Pixel 9 Pro features a triple rear camera system with a 50-megapixel wide, a 48-megapixel 5x telephoto, and a 48-megapixel ultrawide. And this year it comes in two sizes– the 6.3" Pixel Pro for $999 and 6.8" Pixel Pro XL for $1,099. But it wouldn’t be a new Pixel device without some new software tricks including text prompting AI features in Magic Editor and an Add Me feature that allows even the person taking the photo to be in it.
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00:00The first thing you need to know about Google's new Pixel 9 Pro is that, hey, it looks nice.
00:08And it feels nice too.
00:09I'm going to get into all of the photo features in a moment, but first I just want to talk
00:13about how different the Pixel 9 Pro feels in your hand.
00:16Instead of the more rounded out design of Pixel's past, Google squared off the metal
00:21rails for both the oblong camera bar and the phone's frame, which does make it look more
00:25like an iPhone, but also makes for a device that is slightly easier to hold.
00:29And in the case of my ability to film it, easier to stand up to.
00:32Well, some of the time.
00:34This slight hardware change actually makes for a better camera experience as well.
00:38Put simply, the phone is just easier to hold and therefore easier to take photos and videos
00:43with.
00:45But of course, this is Google, so we know that 90% of what's new in this phone is
00:49going to be software.
00:51So here's what's new on that front.
00:52I only had a few hours to test the Pixel 9 Pro's triple rear camera system that features
00:57a 50 megapixel wide, a 48 megapixel 5x telephoto, and a 48 megapixel ultrawide.
01:03And the very first thing I wanted to test was switching between these lenses while filming
01:07video.
01:08The Pixel 8 Pro was notoriously bad at keeping consistent colors across lenses while filming.
01:13There's of course far more testing I need to do, but in my short time with the Pixel
01:179 Pro, the color shifting issue has been greatly reduced.
01:21And another issue with the Pixel 8 Pro's camera was the visible framing shifts that
01:25happen during these lens changes as well.
01:28Without applying Video Boost, which sends video files to the cloud to be processed,
01:31the shift is still slightly there.
01:33But if you run the clip through Video Boost, those jumps are smoothed right over.
01:37Video Boost also now allows video to be up-res to 8K, and it can pull 30 megapixel stills
01:42from video.
01:43I didn't have time to test this, so you'll have to wait for the full review.
01:47Now to the flashiest feature coming to the Pixel 9 Pro's camera, a feature called Ad
01:51Me.
01:52The idea behind it is that a person taking a group photo doesn't get to be in it.
01:56So Google created software that can combine multiple photos to add them in.
01:59When Person A opens the Ad Me feature on the Pixel 9 Pro, the camera system begins scanning
02:04the scene for people and creates a depth math of where everyone is.
02:09Which is why you are instructed to move camera to scan area.
02:12Then after the first photo is taken, Person A swaps with Person B, who was just in the
02:17group photo.
02:18Person B is then instructed to align the frame with the shot that Person A took, and
02:22take another photo.
02:24The software then saves all of these photos, including the one with Person A stitched into
02:28the photo they took.
02:29Of the several times we tried it, it worked about 50% of the time.
02:33And while I think this is a great idea, especially as someone who is always taking the photos,
02:37it takes time to complete, which makes it feel awful lot like a bar trick.
02:41One that you'll use a few times, and absolutely impress your friends with, then ultimately
02:46just continue to flip the camera around and take a selfie instead.
02:49Especially considering the front-facing camera is now 42 megapixels, up from just 10.5 megapixels
02:54on the Pixel 8 Pro.
02:59The other software tricks coming to the Pixel 9 Pro are text prompting and auto-framing
03:03features in Magic Editor.
03:05Magic Editor is Google's name for its AI photo editing tools, and it previously allowed
03:09you to move subjects, erase objects, change the sky, or select different facial expressions
03:14on people in a photo.
03:15But now Google is adding the ability to prompt change via text.
03:19For example, you can select an area you'd like to change, like the background of a photo,
03:23and then type in the alteration you'd like to see.
03:26There's also a new feature called auto-frame that can reframe a photo in order to make
03:30it more visually appealing based on photography principles, such as the rule of thirds.
03:34Again, I didn't get a ton of time to play with this, but I do love text prompting and
03:38it allows you to have far more control over what sort of AI changes the system is making.
03:44So I'm really stoked to test more of that.
03:46But the biggest change in this camera system is that Google has actually entirely redesigned
03:51the HDR Plus image pipeline.
03:53An image pipeline is responsible for the signature look of a camera.
03:57It does everything from analyze skin tones to adding sharpness to small objects like
04:02tree leaves and deciding how much contrast everything in the scene should have.
04:08So I'm going to be really excited to put the Pixel 9 Pro next to the Pixel 8 Pro to see
04:11if there's a noticeable difference here.
04:17So that's the Pixel 9 Pro's camera, and this year, the Pro system actually comes in two
04:21sizes.
04:22There's a 6.2-inch Pixel 9 Pro that's going to be $1,000, and there's a 6.8-inch Pixel
04:279 Pro XL that's going to be $1,100.
04:31And when I finally get my hands on one, I'm going to be most interested in testing out
04:35the video capabilities.
04:36It's something that Google has always struggled with, but with Video Boost, they've been able
04:41to right a lot of their wrongs, like the jarring lens switches and color changes.
04:46I'm ready to put that to the test.
04:48Let me know what else you want me to be testing out when I dive deeper into this camera system.
04:53I appreciate you so much, bud.
04:55I hope you're well, and I'll see you in the next one.