8 pro vs 9 pro

Romothil

Hello everyone. I'm thinking about buying the Pixel 9 Pro, but its price is still quite high. As an alternative, I was considering the Pixel 8 Pro, which is a bit cheaper. Is it really worth paying the extra cost for the 9 Pro? Thank you all very much.

tac

I should know a lot about all this since I was making the same decision and in the end opted for the 8 Pro but it was a while ago, and writing from memory, I might have misremembered something, in which case I apologize in advance.

The major thing to note is the much smaller form factor of the 9 Pro. The successor to the 8 Pro is the 9 Pro XL (with pretty much the same hardware as the 9 Pro except of course the screen).

The cameras (a major selling point) are pretty much identical with the 8 Pro. The 9 Pro has a wider selfie lens, which might be good if you like taking group selfies (more people fit in the picture) but not necessarily otherwise (increased distortions around the edges).

The 9th generation has a better radio. Beyond iterative improvements (with claimed security benefits), it's no longer just DSDS but you can be on a call and receive another at the same time using the other active SIM card. Or use data in the background while on a call.

The battery is claimed to last for 1,000 recharge cycles with 80% remaining capacity as opposed to 800 cycles in the previous generation. But it does not last longer per charge or charge faster (I think it does on the 9 Pro XL by a small margin).

It also has a different, faster fingerprint reader technology (considered a significant improvement, although I personally don't have any issues with the old one, and it's fast enough). There's also more memory, although that does not really change much in practice.

The newer generation will have one additional year of active support (if the hardware lasts).

What it boils down to:

If you strongly prefer a smaller phone, go with the 9 Pro. The 8 Pro is big, and the 9 Pro XL is a bit bulkier yet.
If you want a larger screen, and don't mind the dimensions of the phone, I'd say the benefits of 9 Pro XL are negligible over the 8 Pro.

Personally, I decided while I wouldn't mind a smaller form factor if it came at a lower price, I wasn't going to pay extra just to get a smaller phone with mostly the same features. And in the end I must say the large screen also has its advantages.

Psyonico

Another thing to consider if you are thinking about the P9... In about a month the P10 will be released which will likely result in the P9 going on sale.

Romothil

Hi @tac @Psyonico
I want to wait until the P10 launches more or less, as I think the prices will drop a bit more.
I consider the 9 Pro XL to be too high; right now, the 256GB model is around €1000, so I'll rule out the XL.

I've noticed that the battery and autonomy seem to have improved a bit with the new 9 generation.
Tak, I think you finally bought the 8 Pro. How are the battery and autonomy performance?

The most notable difference I see between the 9 Pro and the 8 Pro (aside from the screen) is that the 9 Pro has more RAM and a slightly higher CPU.

I think we'll have to analyze the prices they might reach after the P10 releases.

Thanks.

Quantum

Romothil https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=13218&idPhone2=12545

tac

Romothil I think you finally bought the 8 Pro. How are the battery and autonomy performance? The most notable difference I see between the 9 Pro and the 8 Pro (aside from the screen) is that the 9 Pro has more RAM and a slightly higher CPU.

Yeah, I went with the 8 Pro, and I've been satisfied with it. I can't really compare with the 9 Pro/Pro XL directly as I have never used them. I switched from the OnePlus 9 Pro, where battery life wasn't great, so I didn't have high expectations for it here either but in practice it hasn't been a problem for me on the 8 Pro.

What could have been better is the charging speed as the OP9 Pro charges over twice as fast. It'd have been more worth it to go with the 9th series if they actually did something to improve it but that's not the case at all: from what I recall, the 9 Pro charges actually a bit slower than the 8 Pro, only the 9 Pro XL does it faster but then it's only by a minuscule amount.

I also went for the 256GB variant, which I think is a must if you want to record video (like I do), or have more leeway with what you do in general. The 128GB variant gets discounted much more often since fewer people are willing to accept being limited to this amount of storage (and rightly so).

I don't think the increased amount of RAM (from 12 to 16 GB) matters in practice: on stock Android, it's reserved for the on-device generative AI model; on GrapheneOS you at least get to use it for other purposes. Neither does the iterative improvement to the CPU. In practice, the performance is good, and the UI runs smoothly on the 8 Pro anyway (although if you go by the benchmarks, all Exynos/Tensor SoCs are far behind flagship-level Qualcomm SoCs). The only part of the SoC where the upgrade matters is the radio.

This website is good for specs comparison: https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12545&idPhone2=13218&idPhone3=13217#diff

Edit: I see @Quantum posted his link in the meantime but I'll leave mine as well since it compares all the 3 devices discussed.

In my (admittedly biased) view, as long as you can accept your phone being on the larger side, the 8 Pro is a solid choice – if you can still find it in stock. The next generation didn't really deliver groundbreaking improvements, most of the weak points are consistently shared across the whole range of the Pixel devices, carried over from generation to generation (slow charging, SoC and radio behind the competition). Maybe the 10th generation will bring some breakthrough but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Finally, one more thing yet to take into account is that on the 9th series there are reports the camera island cover is falling off. On the 8th series it was still part of the unibody and thus much sturdier: https://old.reddit.com/r/pixel_phones/comments/1m5n5ns/camera_cover_loose_pixel_9_pro_xl/