Pixel 9 promo material leaks ahead of August event

Summary

• Google teases the upcoming Pixel 9 Pro design, leaving nothing to the imagination. Excitement continues building for August launch event.
• Hardware and software must work together for a well-rounded smartphone experience. Including exclusive AI features and advanced camera capabilities.
• Leaked materials confirm the specs, colors, and features of the Pixel 9 series. Focus remains on AI, camera performance, Tensor G4 SoC, and battery life.

Google’s next major smartphone launch is just around a month away, and the company has already teased its upcoming Pixel 9 Pro in a short video, leaving nothing to the imagination in the design department. The new model will be one of four at the August event, and we are excited to see if any of them dethrone our favorite Google Pixel phones. However, hardware must work in tandem with software to create a well-rounded smartphone. Thanks to the latest leak, we might not need to wait until launch to discover important Pixel 9 features Google is proud of, and we aren’t talking about the aggressively rounded corners.

In the last few months, excitement has been building up to a fever pitch for the Pixel 9, 9 Pro, 9 Pro XL, and the 9 Pro Fold. The hardware specs have been detailed and corroborated in previous leaks from various sources, and we already know the phone will come finished in shades of black, light gray, porcelain, and a recently-leaked pink. This year’s model should also sport a matte back with polished side panels, quite like the iPhones it tries to mimic with the sharply rounded corners.

However, software-exclusive features remain an elusive mystery, although there’s some hope real-time image search with Gemini will be possible. Popular leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer, also known as @OnLeaks on X tipped 91Mobiles off on Google’s marketing material for the Pixel 9 series ahead of the grand reveal, showing us the features we’ll probably see highlighted on stage in August.

AI takes center stage

These leaked images suggest the Pixel 9 series’ catchphrase will be “Done and done. And then some” — a repeating theme in the slides advertising its features like Circle to Search we saw first with the Samsung Galaxy S23 series, and support for Gemini assistance on anything your camera is pointed at, quite like the Project Astra demo at I/O earlier this year. The images also detail a Pixel Screenshots feature, presumably exclusive to Google devices, which will help you remember important information from screenshots, such as events and places. There’s a brief mention of nice-to-haves like crisis alerts and the phone’s security features.

AI is a big part of Google’s upcoming lineup, and the company’s materials seem to confirm previous leaks that buyers will get Gemini Advanced access for a limited period of one year, at no additional cost. To put that into perspective, the materials say it would cost you £227.88 otherwise (~$293).

The promotional materials also confirm all four models will pack a Tensor G4 SoC, with up to 12GB of RAM on the basic 9 and up to 16GB on the other three models. Additionally, we see confirmation for the 9 Pro and its larger sibling’s beastly 42MP selfie camera while the base 9 and foldable retain 10MP units. The Pro and XL models will have 6.3 and 6.8-inch Super Actua displays while the Pixel 9 will get a 6.3-inch Actua screen. We already knew most of this information from prior leaks, but additional confirmation is always welcome.

With this hardware, Google is claiming a 24-hour battery life on the Pro, which should fare well in the seven years of Security updates and Pixel Drops planned for the device. Deservedly, Google knows the Pixels do a fantastic job with image processing, and a section of the materials is dedicated to the camera performance, promising terrific low-light results.

With the sheer volume of leaks surrounding the Pixel 9 series, all that’s left for Google to do is confirm that all we’ve heard so far is true, and reveal the trade-in benefits and launch-day offers in the US. Perhaps we must patiently wait until August for that information.