The Google Pixel lineup has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the years. Since launching in 2016, the device has been admired for its impressive camera and intuitive interface and criticized for its substantial battery drain and poor network connectivity. Even still, Google’s continued to push the lineup forward with new features — one Pixel even had on-device radar for gesture control and facial recognition, which was both criticized and admired, depending on who you ask.
The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are no different, enjoying praise and suffering criticism over the last year. Now, Google is expected to make some changes with the upcoming Pixel 9 lineup that will hopefully land the device in the public’s good graces. So what do we think needs to happen to keep users from switching to other options?
1 Advanced features limited to Pro
Small phone users deserve features, too
There is no way around it; hiding advanced features behind the cost of the Pro model is a bummer. As if having better specs, a brighter display, and a bigger battery weren’t enough, the Pixel 8 Pro also offered a bunch of fun, exciting features that the Pixel 8 missed out on.
Google’s new Gemini-powered tools on Pixel 8 Pro failed to impress me
Summarize in Recorder and Smart Replies in Gboard are barely worth the effort of activating AiCore
Video Boost and Night Sight Video alone were enough to make you want to pay more, and the Pro controls in the camera made it a requirement for anyone that wanted to thoroughly edit photos. If the Pixel 9 lineup is going to woo anyone away from Samsung, they’re going to need to keep some of these features available for everyone, not just the Pro users.
2 Slow charging speeds
The middle of the road just isn’t good enough anymore
At 27W for the Pixel 8 and 30W for the Pixel 8 Pro, the wired charging for the most recent iteration of the popular smartphone is certainly respectable. Our review found that you could get the phone from 1% to 100% in about an hour and a half, which certainly won’t turn any heads.
Wireless charging is also nothing to write home about, at only 18W and 23W, respectively. That’s better than the Galaxy S24, but is still very much in the middle of the pack when it comes to rival smartphones. With other manufacturers like Oppo and Xiaomi hitting 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging, Google needs to make charging more of a priority with the Pixel 9 lineup.
3 No telephoto lens on Pixel 8
Non-Pro users like to zoom too, you know
To add to the additional features, The Pixel 8 Pro was also blessed with a telephoto lens, which allows users to get crisp, clean photos that were zoomed in as much as 30x digital zoom and 5x optical zoom. Compared to the 2x optical zoom on the Pixel 8, it’s night and day. Oh yeah, and the Pixel 8 Pro had better Night Mode functionality for videos, but we already mentioned that above.
Again, worse specs like RAM and megapixels are easy to swallow when it comes to the standard Pixel over its Pro counterpart. But when you take away an entire lens from the device, you’re just bumming everyone out. After all, a good zoom shot can make a big difference for some users, especially those that want to take advantage of everything the Pixel camera has to offer.
4 Rapid battery drain
With a battery like this, who needs enemies?
Google has firmly established itself as a moderate competitor with Samsung and other Android providers, with comparable features, excellent camera quality, and an intuitive interface. Even better, Pixel phones have done pretty well to stay ahead of some competitors in terms of battery size, with the Pixel 8 Pro sporting a 5050 mAh, well ahead of other premium devices.
Still, size doesn’t always matter, with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both suffering frustratingly fast battery drain, despite the bigger size. As the most important feature for smartphone users, Google needs to make this a priority to stay competitive. Simply put, the Pixel 9 lineup needs better battery life, end of discussion.
All I want from the Google Pixel 9 is reliable battery life
Good battery life is among the most important properties of a mobile device, yet Google hasn’t been able to keep up
5 The return of Soli
Facial recognition in the dark needs it
OK, I know I was making fun of it earlier, but let’s be honest, the return of Soli to the Pixel 9 lineup would be pretty great. Sure, no one ever used gesture control to skip songs or pause movies, and it probably caused a lot more frustration than convenience when it came to accidentally waving your hand near your smartphone. But there is one perk it could provide that would make it all worth it: better facial recognition in the dark.
Now, the facial recognition technology to unlock the Pixel 8 is fine, as long as you’re well-lit. But as soon as you want to do a bit of late night scrolling, you’re stuck inputting a PIN code that you forgot two months ago. With Soli, the Pixel 9 lineup wouldn’t need light to recognize your face, and you’d be on your way to some late-night doom-scrolling post-haste.
A chance to impress with the Pixel 9
As we noted in our Pixel 8 review, the device was an excellent choice that catered to the masses very effectively, but there were still some features and functionalities that could use some improvement. Fortunately, the Pixel 9 has us holding our breath with the hope that we will get some of the magic that the lineup used to bring to the smartphone world.
Google Pixel 9: News, leaks, rumored price, and release window
Let’s look ahead at what Google has in store for its 2024 flagships
