I love the Pixel 9 Pro, but I have 5 reasons why I'll be waiting for next year's model

Summary

The Pixel 9 Pro is Google’s latest flagship handset, and it’s pretty great overall.
There are a few missing hardware features that are keeping me from taking the Pixel 9 Pro plunge.
If next year’s Pixel 10 Pro implements some of these features, I’ll be first in line to pick one up.

So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Google’s Pixel 9 series of smartphones. The Pixel 9 Pro models are particularly compelling this year, with a wonderfully premium build quality, a generous helping of RAM, and tons of AI-enhanced camera features.

I’m also a big fan of Google’s decision to offer the full Pro experience in a more compact package this time around, and I hope to see this remain the case in the years to come.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, however. There are a few missing elements that have me wanting to hold off until next year’s Pixel 10 Pro, in hopes that they’ll make it into Google’s next-generation hardware. Here are 5 things in specific that are stopping me from taking the Pixel 9 Pro plunge.

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Pixel 9 Pro

The Pixel 9 Pro brings a new squared-off design, the Tensor G4 chip, and new AI features like Pixel Screenshots to Google’s flagship smartphone line. It’s available starting September 4th.

Holding a Pixel 9 in front of an iPhone 15.

Google’s Pixel 9 is the iPhone of the Android world

Years of accumulated changes to the iPhone make the Pixel 9 looked simple and considered in comparison.

1 There’s no Qi2 wireless charging on deck

Why hasn’t this shown up on Android smartphones yet?

nomad-charging-magsafe-stand-vs-qi2-stand-packaging

Qi2 is the latest inductive wireless charging standard, and it was finalized in late 2023 by the Wireless Power Consortium. Yes, that same consortium that Google happens to be an active member of.

Inexplicably, the Pixel 9 series is absent the helpful ring of magnets that work to align compliant phones onto charging pads, stands, and accessories. I can only hope that by next year, Google will finally get around to implementing Qi2 into its Pixel 10 lineup. Personally, I find it difficult to revert back to non-magnetic wireless chargers after getting a taste of Qi2 on the iPhone.

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2 Gorilla Glass Armor is absent

The glass on the Pixel 9 Pro is Gorilla Glass Armorless

When Samsung released the Galaxy S24 Ultra back in January, it brought with it an unexpected new hardware addition — Corning’s new Gorilla Glass Armor. This new generation of tempered glass improves resistance to scratches, but its headlining feature is the reduction of on-screen reflections.

There’s a good chance that Samsung scored an exclusivity deal with Corning for use of its Gorilla Glass Armor.

The Google Pixel 9 Pro is outfitted with the more-than-capable Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover glass on both the front and the back, but after experiencing the anti-reflective properties of Corning’s next-gen product, I never want to go back.

There’s a good chance that Samsung scored an exclusivity deal with Corning for use of its Gorilla Glass Armor. I just hope the agreement isn’t multi-year, and that the Pixel 10 Pro is outfitted with the same display glass that the S24 Ultra benefits from today.

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3 UFS 4.0 flash storage is missing from the equation

Considering the price of the phone, I’d expect the very best in storage technology

Samsung

When it comes to flash storage, the faster the performance, the better. Unfortunately, the latest high-end standard — UFS 4.0 — is absent from the Pixel 9 Pro. UFS 4.0 “delivers double the speed of the previous generation and 45% better efficiency — removing bottlenecks for faster smartphones,” according to Samsung.

The Pixel 9 Pro ships with UFS 3.1 storage, which is still quite snappy, all things considered. That being said, I feel that the high-end price tag of Google’s Pro handset warrants the best storage solution currently available on the market.

Someone taking a phone call on a Hazel Pixel 9 Pro.

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4 Fast charging isn’t all that fast

The phone charges rapidly — just not rapidly enough

The Pixel 9 Pro is capable of 27W charging, and Google quotes that this will net you “up to 55% in about 30 minutes.” In a vacuum, this is a decent enough charging rate, but the truth is that competitors are far ahead with regard to fast charging.

I’m hoping that for next year’s Pixel 10 Pro, we get a bump up in capability to somewhere between 45W and 65W. For the sake of battery health, I’m not advocating for something like Redmi’s 300W feat of engineering. I’d argue that 65W strikes a good balance between charging rapidly and preserving the integrity of the power pack.

6 Google Pixel 9 Pro cases I’m obsessed with

There are several excellent case options for the new Google Pixel 9 Pro — here are some of our favorites.

5 The selfie camera punch hole is kind of unsightly

The cutout is larger than what you’ll find on top-end Samsung phones

The Pixel 9 Pro follows the trend set by Samsung in that it opts for a front-facing hole punch for housing the selfie camera. Unlike top Samsung models, however, the Pixel’s cutout is physically larger and lower on the screen.

I hope that with another year of research and development, Google engineers will be able to squeeze a more compact and symmetrical selfie shooter into the Pixel 10 Pro.

In fact, the Pixel 9 Pro’s selfie cutout is lower on the screen than even last year’s Pixel 8 Pro. In terms of user experience, this creates unbalanced visuals within the interface, as there’s a noticeable lack of symmetry between the camera hole and the status bar icons.

Admittedly, I love the fact that the Pixel 9 Pro has an improved selfie shooter compared to last year’s model — the wider field of view and much higher resolution are welcome improvements. I hope that with another year of research and development, Google engineers will be able to squeeze a more compact and symmetrical selfie shooter into the Pixel 10 Pro.