Google reveals Pixel 9 Pro ahead of August event

Google’s next Pixel event isn’t until August 13th, but the company has just confirmed the new design of its flagship smartphone, the Pixel 9 Pro and the next version of the Pixel Fold. In two separate YouTube videos, called “Introducing the Google Pixel 9 Pro” and “Introducing the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold,” Google confirmed what leaks have been saying for the last year: the Pixel 9 line will feature a new design with a flat front and back, rounded corners, and a giant pill-shaped camera bump.

This isn’t the first time Google has revealed a phone (or phones) before a more formal release. For the last few generations, it’s teased new Pixel devices well ahead of their introduction, frequently during a storm of leaks and early hands-ons. While this new video doesn’t give us all the details of the Pixel 9 Pro, the new Fold, or the other Pixel 9 phones for that matter, we can use it to start to piece together what might be new about Google’s next phone line.

What the Pixel 9 Pro and Fold videos confirm

A new design and a focus on Gemini

Google’s videos both start with a prompt to Gemini, the company’s AI model, asking it to write a breakup letter to an old phone because they’ve “found something new” that “actually feels magical.” As the screen brightens, the videos show a glimpse of the flat front display of the Pixel 9 Pro and Fold, before quickly rotating around to show the back of the device in the case of the 9 Pro, or an unfolding inner screen, in the case of the Fold.

The Pixel 9 Pro shown in the video and on the Google Store, appears to be both an evolution of the direction the company’s been taking its Pixels for the last year or so, carrying over the rounded corners and flat front screen of the Pixel 8 line, and a capitulation to the flat, polished iPhone edges Apple’s been iterating on since the iPhone 12. The big difference is the thing that always makes a Pixel stand out — a giant camera bump. One that, in this case, is rumored to house 50-megapixel wide, telephoto, and ultrawide cameras.

Google / Pocket-lint

The Pixel 9 Pro Fold seems to offer similar design changes, along with what looks like a flatter, more crease-free inner screen. Unlike the rectangular camera bump of the 9 Pro, the 9 Pro Fold has a large square with two rows of lenses. It doesn’t look like the 9 Pro Fold will have an additional lens option on top of the wide, ultrawide, and telephoto of the 9 Pro, but there’s certainly room for it. The new “Pixel 9 Pro Fold” name is interesting. The original Fold was announced and released separately from the company’s mainline smartphones, but it seems like now Google might be positioning its foldable as another high-end option, as opposed to an alternative.

The big thing that makes these Pixels different from other Android phones is deep Gemini integration, though it’s hard to say what new AI-powered features Google will introduce on the Pixel 9. More instances of on-device AI processing seem likely, since getting the smaller Gemini Nano model running on the Pixel 8 was a major selling point. But as of right now, the only new concept that’s been reported is something called “Pixel Screenshots,” which Android Authority reports uses your screenshot library to let Gemini answer questions about things you’ve seen on your phone, like a simpler form of Microsoft’s Recall, the new Windows feature that’s set to show up on Copilot+ PCs.

The Pixel 9 line is coming into focus

Google is bound to share more details about the Pixel 9 soon, either via another video or its official event in August. Until then, we have a pretty clear idea of what the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro Fold will look like and if you’re curious to learn about more details that have leaked out about the Pixel 9, we’ve got you covered.

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