Been comparing the Pixel 9/10/11 and the gap is smaller than the marketing makes it sound, so curious what others think.
The way I read it: same 6.3in body all three years. The 9 actually has the biggest main sensor but no zoom lens. The 10 added a 5x zoom and the magnetic Qi2 charging but shrank the main camera. The 11 keeps the zoom, brings a bigger main sensor back, and bumps wireless to 25W. None of the base three get a vapor chamber, so they all throttle in long games.
My take: on a 10 I wouldn’t bother; on a 9 the zoom + magnets + faster wireless are the things you’d feel daily.
For the Pixel 9 and 10 owners here — has the camera or charging actually pushed anyone to upgrade, or is it a “wait for the 12” year?
Wasn’t even aware that the 11 was released until this post. So no, enjoying my 10 pro w/ graphene.
Pixel 9 Pro XL here.
Nope, not worth it.
Did a side by side comparison with the P11 when it was released and they’re fundamentally the same phone.
Thought to myself, Why pay $1k+ for the same thing for no reason.
My Pixel 7 would have to catch fire to get me to upgrade. Google is clearly trying to run the pixels into the ground. I’ll give it another couple of years then probably switch to Motorola if they still support GrapheneOS.
The 10 added… magnetic Qi2 charging
A $3 metal sticker can allow any phone to use all the new magnetic doohickeys on the market. The wireless charger isn’t 25W, but if you want to charge quickly you should plug in anyways.
I use one of those stickers on my phone and the Anker qi2 battery packs work perfectly fine (albeit a little slow)
I’m on an 8 and have no plans to change except perhaps to a fair phone and /e/os
Yeah, my 9 series, I just use a case with the magnet ring on it, works great. I can’t see a situation where the faster wireless charging would matter unless I only charged in the car or something where an hour of charging in a single go is the only time I’d be charging it.
Camera zoom - Sure, it’s be nice, but, not worth tossing a phone that works great for 99.9999% of the pictures I take and just in general works great still. It’s already got a 5x zoom, not sure how much more I could realistically want from it
I’m pretty underwhelmed with their offerings lately and probably wouldn’t even have a 9 if I wasn’t offered a great upgrade deal from my old 6.
It’s the first Pixel incompatible with GrapheneOS, so not worth it for me.
Damn I assumed it was supports cuz pixel. Looks like it will be a 10 for me next.
I’m on Pixel 8 Pro and it’s not worth it to me. 😄
Same!
No. Absolutely not.
The year-to-year advancements of the Pixel series are minimal. I upgraded from a 7 to a 10 and it was really more of a sidegrade thanks to the P10’s shitty GPU.
I’ll consider upgrading when the base model gets 16GB of RAM or if they ever make a SOC that’s a significant upgrade.
I got a 7 second hand (only way I buy electronics now) and loaded GrapheneOS on it and I’m happy. Can’t think of anything I’d want to do that this one doesn’t
I’m on a Pixel 6a and nothing has appeared that I need yet.
I plan to use my current gen until it fails. There’s such a marginal difference in these upgrades
There’s such a marginal difference in these upgrades
Yeah that’s always how it goes.
Like you, I’ll use my 8 pro until it gets too old to do the things I want it to. Screw updating ever year or two, what a waste if money.
+1 The only reason I upgraded to my pixel 9 is it was basically free and I only had to pay taxes.
IMO no, even if you’re on the Pixel 8 the upgrade to 9/10 isn’t giving you much and isn’t worth the high cost. The Pixel 11 is a straight up downgrade with less RAM and less solid support by google.
If it’s more camera zoom you want the Pro editions all have that.
I’ve heard that the 11 didn’t change much from the 10, and degraded on some key points (security, which is why grapheneos is incompatible), so the 10 is often the recommendation
I’m on Pixel 8 “amateur” and even then it isn’t worth it for me.
Pixel 9 Pro XL here, bought it the day it released. Rooted on Day 0 and ran that way until last week when I decided to install Graphene OS. I have no reason to “upgrade”. I also never use wireless charging, so that isn’t a factor in my purchases, but if you’re curious - the 9 Pro can do 23W wireless charging.
FYI - The 9 Pro devices have a periscopic zoom lens.
The Pixel 11 has introduced: nothing useful! In fact, it has actually regressed with the reduced amount of RAM. The only marketed feature is the silly Gemini light on the back of the Pro models, that can only be used for five contacts (and only calls! Not notifications!) or as an indicator when Gemini is thinking. Skip the Pixel 11, plus GrapheneOS is not supported yet. 25W wireless charging isn’t supported by most chargers and most people charge wired anyways (faster, more efficient, and not really less convenient)
Personally, I would get the Pixel 9 over both the 10 and 11, the main upside is the magnets (which can bd solved with a case) and a zoom camera (in which case the 9 Pro is pretty good and also the same size). Realistically, I would probably get a 9a over any of them, because you really don’t lose anything going with it besides camera quality (plastic will not crack easily like glass and will get covered by a case anyways)
If you already have the 9 or 10, don’t upgrade! It’s very silly and you get basically nothing extra. The only thing is maybe the zoom camera, if you have a base 9, in which case the 9 Pro (or even 10 Pro) is cheaper + supports GrapheneOS
And of course, you have non-Pixel devices as well. Fairphone has been awesome in European markers, and their recent Fairphone 6+ has also released in the U.S., which is pretty cool! They make very nice devices that are pretty competitive for what you’re paying honestly, and they support right to repair and fair working conditions! You don’t get GrapheneOS, but LineageOS, e/OS, CalyxOS, iodeOS, and even many flavours of mobile Linux support Fairphones! It’s really cool stuff, and Nura (formerly postmarkerOS) is being worked on for the latest Fairphone 6!
You’ve also got the cheaper Jolla Phone that runs SailfishOS, and that might be fun to play around with
Pixel 7a with GOS. Perfect but for size – too small.
