Google Announces Major Updates For Pixel 9 At Annual Event

Google announced new Pixel devices at its annual event, Made by Google, on Tuesday. The tech giant did its ninth event ahead of the traditional date in October and launched the new Pixel 9 series, new AI-powered features, and new smartwatch and earbud models.

“It’s the biggest update we’ve ever made for the Pixel family,” said Brian Rakowski, vice President of Product Management for Pixel phones and accessories, at the Made by Google event. “We have four new phones, including the gorgeous new Pixel 9, and the reimagined Pixel 9 Pro Fold.”

The new Pixel 9 series includes—for the first time– multiple sizes and pro-level models. Customers will be able to choose from the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the new folded version, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

According to Wired, the biggest difference between the standard and the Pro models is the camera technology. The pro versions will have up to a 10X “optical-like” zoom and advanced autofocus sensors. The selfie camera will have better light sensitivity than previous models and wider field views. “You’ll be able to squeeze more people into the frame when you hold out your arm to take an ussie,” wrote Wired.

All the new models include speed charging capacities and Google promised that the devices will be able to reach 70% of charge within 30 minutes, and will have better battery and life expectancy than Pixel 8.

Just as hinted in a teaser shared a few weeks ago, many of Google’s new devices include features promoted at the Google I/O event in May. This new generation will be the first to run Gemini Nano With Multimodality, meaning that users will be able to interact with the AI models not only through text but also speech, images, and audio as the devices can “listen” and “see.”

The new Pixel devices will officially go on sale on August 22, but preorders are already available. Pixel 9 costs $799, the Pro version $999—its XL size $1,099—, and the folded version $1,799. All purchases will include the Google One AI Premium Plan for free for one year.

Foldable devices have been gaining a lot of popularity, and there are rumors that Apple could also release a new foldable iPhone model in 2026.