Last week was the big Pixel 9 series launch. Pre-orders have now ended for the vanilla Pixel 9 and the 9 Pro XL and they are now available for sale. You can still grab store credit from Google and Amazon ($150 for the vanilla, $275 for the XL). The small Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold are still on pre-order, their launch is early next month.
Here are the two models that are available as of this week, the Google Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL.
This week we wanted to focus on what you can get instead of a Pixel 9. How about a Pixel 8a? With a Tensor G3 and only 8GB of RAM, it’s going to miss out on a lot of the on-device features that the 9-series are bringing. Still, it’s a small Pixel phone and it is much cheaper than the Pixel 9. It will get 7 years of support too, just like its pricier siblings.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 trio offers more direct competition and all three models are currently $220 off. These three will get 7 years of software support, just like the Pixels, and they have a host of AI features that are often powered by Google itself. Still, One UI offers some advantages (e.g. DeX, Good Lock) and you can have more storage for less money. That said, the Galaxy S24 phones are short on RAM compared to their Pixel counterparts, but that shouldn’t be an issue for AI.
Right now is a terrible time to buy a new iPhone – the iPhone 16 series is a few weeks away and once they arrive, prices of current models will drop. We will revisit the Pixel vs. iPhone issue in about a month.
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