Here are the exciting Pixel 9-exclusive features and tricks, but how many will remain on the Pixel 9?

I’ll start this Pixel 9 article with the Galaxy S24 series. Some eight months ago, when Samsung’s latest and greatest was unveiled, many people – those who are not particularly tech-savvy – fell under the wrong impression that some particular features in the Galaxy AI suite were S24-exclusive.

For example, the Circle to Search feature. You know how it goes: you see something on your screen (be it a video, an image, or text) that grabs your attention. You tap and hold the home key and use your finger (or an S-pen) to circle or tap the object of interest. Once your finger or S-pen is removed from the phone’s screen, the web search will begin.

However, Circle to Search is not a Samsung-exclusive feature (despite what many believed to be the case). In contrast, it’s designed by Google for Android and at a later point (after the S24 premiere), numerous other phones got it via updates – among those foldables and Pixel phones.

Speaking of Pixel phones, let’s see what Pixel 9-exclusive features are out there… and see if they’re coming to other handsets in the foreseeable future.

Pixel 9 and Gemini Nano

Thanks to the Pixel 9‘s brand-new Tensor G4 (custom designed for Google with the Google DeepMind team), new AI magic stuff is going to be possible. Apart from delivering performance gains like 20% faster web browsing and 17% faster app launching (than the Tensor G3), the Tensor G4 is optimized for the Big G’s most advanced AI models.Enter the Pixel 9 and its Tensor G4: this is the first processor to run Gemini Nano with multi-modality. This is expected on all Pixel 9 phones, but probably not for the Pixel 8 lineup, which packs the Tensor G3.

Gemini Nano with multi-modality is claimed (by Google itself) to be “the most capable on-device AI model”. Multi-modality means that Gemini Nano can understand not just text inputs, but also image, audio, and speech. This level of capability adds considerable complexity for your silicon to handle, which is precisely why one needs the Tensor G4. Or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, found in the Galaxy S24 Ultra – the phone that Google used for a (slightly buggy) demonstration of Gemini Nano’s capabilities.

Gemini Live

To push things further, Gemini Nano offers Gemini Live – this one allows, like Google says, a “free-flowing conversation with Gemini”.

This is going to be available first to Gemini Advanced subscribers at launch, but it will come to Galaxy phones (and probably other models, too) at a later point in time.

Pixel 9 Pro owners will be able to use Gemini Live first, plus, there’s a year of the Google One AI Premium plan included for free by Google when you buy any of the three Pixel 9 Pro phones. Apart from getting access to all the features in Gemini Advanced (like Gemini Live) and Google’s most capable AI models, there’s also Gemini in Workspace and 2 TB of storage in Drive.

Pixel’s Screenshots app and Pixel Studio

Here’s a Pixel-exclusive feature, called the Screenshots app: this is how one can organize their screenshots and search through them. Again, this utilizes the Tensor G4 and Gemini Nano with multi-modality, which allows Pixel to understand the content of the screenshots.

Also, there’s the Pixel Studio – an on-device diffusion model that acts like an AI canvas for your creativity moments. Once an image is generated, you can tap the suggestion button to change the look of it, or add some details like stickers and text.

Call Assist is further improving

Call Notes is also introduced alongside the Pixel 9 lineup: this one follows up on your phone calls with a private summary of your conversation, as Google puts it. If you get a call and you need to write something down, there’s no need for a pen and paper anymore. Call Notes will do that for you.Later this year, the Pixel 9 family will be the first Android phones in the US to include Satellite SOS. Even if you’re out of cellular coverage, Satellite SOS asks you a few questions to share with First Responders and then helps you get the help you need when you need it. It’s available at no extra cost to Pixel users for the first two years (starting in the US and rolling out additional territories over time).

The camera goodies

• Panoramas: The mode is fully rebuilt and offers a new UI. It also supports Night Sight for night panoramas.
• Add Me: This feature is all about group photos. It combines Google’s augmented reality platform with 15 on-device AI models sprouting on Tensor G4.Here’s how it works: you choose “Add Me” (launching in preview this year), and it will guide you to snap the first photo. Then, you ask someone to take a photo of you in the shot. They take the second photo, and AR guides them to position the scene around you, and then you take the second shot. Then it merges it together to create a composite photo with everyone who is there in the scene at the moment included in one shot.
• Magic Editor: The Pixel 9 arrives with Auto Frame (to help you with recomposing the photo) and Reimagine (it sprinkles AI-generated stuff on top of your photos).
• Video Boost: the Pixel 9 Pro phones offer this one. It’s about higher video quality and HDR+ across the entire zoom range. Also, there’s AI upscaling up to 8K resolution for you to play with.

Which one(s) do you like to see on your Android phone in the near future?