Will the Pixel 9 Pro XL finally be the phone that fans have long demanded from Google?

Earlier on Tuesday, we heard that earlier renders supposedly showing the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 9 Pro were actually showing off the Pixel 9 Pro and the new super premium Pixel 9 Pro XL. This exciting news revealed why back in January, we thought the Pixel 9 was going to sport three rear cameras. One of the models that we thought was the Pixel 9 was really the Pixel 9 Pro XL and it has very thin bezels.

You have to be a Pixel user to understand why this is big news. The first Pixel I owned was the Pixel 2 XL, a brilliantly understated flagship phone. I then switched to the iPhone 11 Pro Max but fell so hemmed in by iOS that I bought the Pixel 6 Pro which was a mistake on my part. After a year of dealing with an underpowered phone with poor battery life, I returned to the iPhone 11 Pro Max until the launch of the iPhone 15 line and I purchased the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

My experience with the Pixel 6 Pro really aggravated me and made me wonder why Google is so cheap. When it comes to modem chips, the Pixel 8 series phones should be using a Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G modem chip instead of an in-house Exynos 5300. The only reason not to use Qualcomm is to save money. The Pixel 9 Pro XL needs to have a Snapdragon X75 modem chip.

Buying the Pixel 9 Pro XL would mean having to put up with the Tensor 4 SoC, something that I wouldn't be thrilled about. Frankly, I'm more excited about the Pixel 10's rumored use of a Google customized Tensor 5 chip which sounds much more appealing.

After putting up with the Pixel 6 Pro's crappy optical under-display fingerprint sensor, there is no reason not to equip the Pixel 9 Pro XL with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. And Google, if you want the Pixel 9 Pro XL to be the device I think you want it to be, we need to see a very high-capacity battery inside the device. Don't settle because your customers do not want to settle.

I'll admit it. I was smitten by some of the AI features that Google introduced with the Pixel 6 Pro. Hold for me, the feature that had Google Assistant monitor your phone call when placed on hold, was something I knew I'd miss when switching to the iPhone. And Magic Eraser was also pretty good. But there were times when I couldn't make a phone call on my Pixel 6 Pro and it was all because of Google's propensity to save a dime whenever a dime can be saved.