The difficulty in comparing the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 8 Pro is not due to a lack of information. What is difficult is how much change is possible between the generations.

The name alone makes the Pixel 9 Pro sound like a perfectly standard successor to the Pixel 8 Pro, but rumors suggest otherwise. The new Pro Pixel will be significantly smaller and may offer some new capabilities in addition to the more typical feature upgrades.

To learn more about what this could mean, read our Pixel 9 Pro vs. Pixel 8 Pro breakdown. To learn more, see Pixel 9 vs. Pixel 9 Pro.

We expect the Pixel 9 Pro to debut in October 2024, just as the Pixel 8 Pro did in October 2023. With any luck, Google may preview the Pixel 9 series as it has in the past, providing official design, color, and other nuggets of information ahead of the release date, as it did at this year's Google I/O.

The Pixel 8 Pro is priced at $999/£999/$1,699, and it would be a reasonable guess that the Pixel 9 Pro will be at least as expensive. However, with two different Pro Pixels scheduled to launch this year (more on that later), perhaps Google will change its pricing structure a bit.

Google is currently entering the third generation of the Pixel, which is known for its rounded corners and horizontal camera bar design, and from the leaked renderings of the Pixel 9 series so far, it appears that this basic look will continue for at least another year.

What could change, however, is the size: the Pixel 8 Pro's 6.8-inch frame could be replaced by a smaller one on the Pixel 9 Pro, possibly down to 6.1 inches. Instead, there may be a new model called the Pixel 9 Pro XL that offers the same features in a 6.8-inch body as the previous Pixel Pro.

The Pixel 8 Pro featured a high-brightness panel that Google named the Super Actua display, which also offered the flagship's gold standard QHD resolution and 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. There are no concrete rumors to be gleaned from this yet, but we can assume that the Pixel 9 Pro will feature some sort of Super Actua Second Gen screen that will take the brightness to a few thousand nits more.

Rumors of the Pixel 9 Pro's photography department have been strangely quiet, so all we can really assume at this point is that it will probably use the same camera as the Pixel 8 Pro. That means a 50MP main camera, a 48MP ultra-wide camera, a 48MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, and a 10.5MP selfie camera.

The exception to this is that the Pixel 9 Pro may upgrade the main camera with a variable aperture, which will allow for more control over the amount of light hitting the sensor and allow for higher quality images with more creative control options if needed This would allow for more creative control options as needed.

Google is said to continue its own Tensor series chipset in the Pixel 9 series, and the Pixel 9 Pro will feature the Tensor G4, the successor to the Tensor G3 found in the Pixel 8 Pro. Thanks to Google's chip partner Samsung, the G4 is claimed to be gaining more power, and we expect the Pixel 9 Pro to be more competitive with other Android phones in terms of CPU and graphics performance.

We hope Google will reintroduce at least 12GB RAM in the Pixel 9 Pro and offer the same storage capacity. However, we would be happy if they would raise the default storage to 256GB instead of sticking to 128GB for another year.

Our initial expectation was that the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro would offer the same battery (5,050 mAh), but if the body is to be more than half an inch smaller, the battery in the 9 Pro will have to be lower capacity; the Pixel 8 has a 6. Since the 2-inch phone has a 4,575 mAh battery, we expect the Pixel 9 Pro to have a battery of similar capacity.

Thus, we expect the Pixel 9 Pro to share the Pixel 8 Pro's 30W wired charging and up to 23W wireless charging charging capabilities. And absent rumors that it will not, we will continue to hold this belief.

The Pixel 8 Pro will feature a number of AI features, including the generative capabilities of the Magic Editor suite, the ability of Best Take mode to combine different faces into a single shot, Audio Magic Eraser to clean up video audio, and the ability to summarize large amounts of text. There was a lot of focus on the Not to mention the temperature sensor, which can tell how hot or cold an object (or more recently, a person) is.

So how could the Pixel 9 Pro expand on this? Rumor experts say the new "Pixie" assistant (via The Information) may be one way. This would be its own AI assistant that would take the Google Assistant we already know and make it more personalized by interpreting user data on the device, the report claims.

Then there are all the advantages Android 15 might bring. Perhaps the Pixel 9 series will be the first to adopt it, taking advantage of capabilities such as adaptive touch features that will help keep the screen responsive under a variety of environmental conditions. We expect to learn more about this when Google unveils Android 15 in its entirety to the public for the first time at Google I/O 2024.

Assuming Google keeps the same promises it made last year, the Pixel 9 Pro will receive the same seven-year software and security updates as the Pixel 8 Pro. But now that Samsung has also promised seven years of upgrades, Google may decide to upgrade again; nine years of updates for the Pixel 9 sounds good after all...

The Pixel 9 Pro is going to be better than the Pixel 8 Pro, but quite different in many ways if the rumors about the standard Pro and Pro XL prove true. In addition to straight upgrades in camera and software features, the Pixel 9 Pro could have a significant advantage just by being offered in two sizes. If Google can manage to power the Tensor chip, offer a little more storage by default, and extend battery life, we could have a perfectly rounded phone.

But are all these changes worth upgrading from your perfect Pixel 8 Pro, or is it worth spending extra for it once the current Pixel starts getting discounted? We can't say at this point, so roll on October and the final answer .