Summary
- The upcoming Google Pixel 9 Pro has been tipped to feature a redesigned camera bar and flat sides, deviating from the previous design language.
- The controversial temperature sensor is expected to make a comeback, although its usefulness remains questionable.
- The screen size of the Pixel 9 Pro is rumored to be 6.5 inches, slightly smaller than its predecessor, but there are doubts about the accuracy of this claim.
Since the Pixel 6 introduced Google’s current design language, the company has leaned heavily on that camera bar look, only making minor changes like incorporating more metal around the camera sensors or sculpting the cutouts to make them look more like a search bar. Most of us have been happy with it, citing the old “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” adage when discussing the Pixel’s seemingly stagnating design. From the looks of things, though, Google itself is ready for some change, as the first Pixel 9 Pro renders have now emerged, and they show a decent departure from these past few generations.
Trusted leaker @OnLeaks, in collaboration with MySmartPrice, has revealed a few key details about the upcoming flagship — most notably, the camera bar has been redesigned and the sides of the phone’s frame are now flat. The latter appears to be an early design trend for Android brands in 2024, as they look to replicate Apple’s success with recent iPhones that sport the same flat look. As for the camera bar, it’s no longer integrated into the frame, featuring a rounded look that mirrors the camera cutout’s search bar-like shape.
A closer look at the camera bar on the back of the phone shows a familiar sensor: Google’s controversial temperature sensor appears set to make a return with the Pixel 9 Pro. So far, we’ve found it isn’t particularly useful, mainly because you have to do a bunch of math to use it as a thermometer for humans — you know, the main reason someone might want to use such a feature. Hopefully, Google can get the requisite approvals to use it on humans before the Pixel 9 Pro makes its debut.
Another interesting tidbit is the screen size — according to the leak, the Pixel 9 Pro will clock in at 6.5 inches on the diagonal, down from 6.7 inches on the Pixel 8 Pro. We’re a bit skeptical about this claim, however — the reported height is actually a tenth of a millimeter taller than last year, and the bezels don’t appear drastically larger, so we’d expect a similar screen size when official specs are revealed.
As for those dimensions, MySmartPrice reports the Pixel 9 Pro will have a body size of 162.7 x 76.6 x 8.5mm when measured at the narrowest point, which balloons up to 12mm when measured at the camera bar. Compared to the Pixel 8 Pro, this would be almost identical in height, slightly wider, and just a skosh thinner than last year’s 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm measurements.
Judging by the renders, the rear camera setup appears to be largely unchanged, with the main shooter backed up by a likely ultrawide lens and a periscope telephoto camera. Considering Google’s penchant for sticking with camera hardware for multiple generations to ensure optimized software and post-processing, this seems plausible — especially since the Pixel 8 Pro introduced new camera sensors just last year.
The leak doesn’t cover internal specs, price, or release date, but we expect this phone to be running Google’s Tensor G4 SoC. The Pixel 8 Pro starts out at a $1,000 MSRP, and we don’t expect that number to go down. As for the release date, Google is pretty reliable with its fall launches, having announced a flagship Pixel phone in October several years in a row now, so we don’t expect that to change either.
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