The Pixel 9 series might launch with a free storage upgrade on certain carriers

Summary

• The Pixel 9 Pro will likely start at $1,000, despite its smaller size compared to the 8 Pro.
• T-Mobile and Vodafone may offer a “double-your-storage” promotion for the Pixel 9 series.
• The UK-based Vodafone’s leaked promo includes all four Pixel 9 models, running from August 13 to September 3.

Google’s Pixel 9 launch event is now less than a week away, and while we’re excited to see what the tech giant has in store for us, we’re not too happy about the upcoming series’ pricing.

For reference, Google is revamping the Pixel series as we know it. Instead of two models, the series will now offer four, including the likes of the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Here’s a very brief breakdown of leaked sizing without going into inch-perfect details:

• The Pixel 9 will have a footprint similar to the Pixel 8.
• The Pixel 9 Pro will be slightly bigger than the Pixel 9 and Pixel 8, but smaller than the Pixel 8 Pro.
• The Pixel 9 Pro XL will be the same size as the Pixel 8 Pro.

From what we know so far, the Pixel 9 Pro will start at the same price as the Pixel 8 Pro ($1,000), despite the fact that it sports a smaller footprint than the latter, while the Pixel 9 Pro XL will start at $1,200, marking a $200 price hike on the XL model that happens to be the same size as last year’s Pro. Elsewhere, the base Pixel 9 is expected to debut at a higher price than the base Pixel 8.

To make the Pixel 9 Pro’s case of shrinkflation, and the base and XL models’ price hikes a little more digestible, it appears that Google might actually be pulling a Samsung move on us.

512GB storage for the price of 256GB?

We saw a T-Mobile leak earlier this week that gave us our first look at what the carrier will charge for the Pixel 9 series. Upon giving the leaked pricing sheet a deeper look, it was clear that the carrier intends to offer a Samsung-like ‘double-your-storage’ promotion, where a higher storage variant is available for the price of the base storage variant for a specified period of time after launch. In T-Mobile’s case, it likely intends to offer 256GB and 512GB models of the Pixel 9 Pro XL for the same $1,199.99 price tag.

Now, as spotted by Roland Quandt on X (Twitter), via Android Authority, it appears that UK-based Vodafone will run a similar offer on the upcoming series, prompting us to believe if the promotion might actually be wider than just a few carriers.

The Vodafone UK support page, which is still up as of writing, indicates an August 13 version date, suggesting that it was likely published before intended. It gives us more information about the double storage promo, along with pricing in the UK.

It appears that Vodafone will offer the promo on all four Pixel 9 series models, and the promo will run for three weeks — from Tuesday, August 13 to Tuesday, September 3. While we’re not certain, it might be that Google will begin offering a similar promo on its own store too, at least during the pre-order window.

The tech giant’s grand reveal is less than a week away, and you can check out its live stream on Tuesday to have all your questions answered.