The Google Pixel 9 Pro was the only phone this year that felt truly new, and it earns our Phone of the Year award

Our Phone of nan Year doesn’t people precocious connected benchmark tests. It doesn’t person nan champion camera (though it’s beautiful close). It doesn’t past nan longest connected a azygous charge. It doesn’t travel pinch a pen. And yet nan Google Pixel 9 Pro is still my favourite telephone for galore reasons, and it takes our large telephone grant successful nan TechRadar Choice Awards 2024.

The first logic is axenic instinct. I person a stack of each of nan champion phones connected my desk. All of them. I person nan iPhone 16 Pro, nan Galaxy S24 Ultra, and moreover nan coolest lesser-known phones for illustration nan OnePlus Open Apex Edition. When I reappraisal a phone, that’s nan only telephone I use, but past I tin put it away. Since I vanished reviewing nan Pixel 9 Pro, I haven’t stopped utilizing it, not for a azygous day.

The Pixel 9 Pro useful very well. It nails nan basics truthful nicely that it ne'er lets maine down. Phones tin travel packed pinch features that I whitethorn effort erstwhile aliases usage semi-annually (sorry, S Pen), but nan astir important features are nan things we return for granted: making telephone calls; dealing pinch notifications; sending messages.

The Pixel 9 Pro excels astatine these things successful ways different phones can’t match. It does a awesome occupation screening calls for maine utilizing AI. It lets maine negociate notifications easily, pinch good controls, truthful I’m not overwhelmed by alerts and I tin respond quickly. It has a awesome keyboard and fantabulous sound recognition, truthful I tin type aliases talk erstwhile I want to nonstop a text.

I moreover for illustration nan AI, astatine slightest nan features I fuss to use. I usage Google’s Gemini AI each day, successful immoderate way, and I consciousness for illustration I’m conscionable getting started.

I don’t make penning aliases images, that’s not my thing. I do talk to Gemini frequently. Gemini created nan champion cocoa spot banana muffin look I’ve ever made, past adapted nan look erstwhile I had nary brownish sweetener and wanted to usage leftover day syrup instead. A look book couldn’t person done that.

I sometimes inquire Gemini for advice, individual and professional. I mightiness paste an full communicative into Gemini and inquire what I’m missing. Gemini is unspeakable astatine penning prose, but fantabulous astatine suggesting caller possibilities and missed opportunities. I besides erstwhile sewage into an statement pinch my sister complete email, and I pasted nan full email thread into Gemini and asked what I had said wrong. It was amazingly insightful.

The only caller telephone this twelvemonth that feels new

Another large logic nan Google Pixel 9 Pro is my favourite telephone of nan year: it’s nan only telephone that feels new. The iPhone 16 Pro is identical to past year’s phone. The 5G antenna spot has been replaced by a camera button, though it looks nan same. From Samsung, nan past large Galaxy refresh seems a agelong clip ago, and far, acold away. The Galaxy S24 Ultra still looks for illustration nan Galaxy Note, a telephone that Samsung retired.

The Pixel 9 Pro is Google’s first large creation alteration since nan Pixel 6. I recovered that aged creation appealing, but it was getting stale. The caller Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro devices look very sharp. Fans and haters alike are comparing them to nan iPhone 16 successful build value and materials. Best of all, Google says nan caller Pixel phones are much durable than ever, which should thief them past done nan 7 years of Android updates Google is promising.

My first inclination was to state nan iPhone 16 Pro my favourite telephone this year, and I deliberation that it could yet beryllium a amended phone. However, Apple’s motorboat has been uncharacteristically disappointing. Apple ne'er disappoints fans, but this twelvemonth it shipped a telephone that virtually is not ready.

The iPhone 16 doesn’t do everything Apple promises it tin do. Besides nan deficiency of Apple Intelligence, moreover nan Camera Control fastener arrived without each of its features. Autofocus will beryllium coming to nan Control successful a early update, a immense miss from Apple connected a characteristic that should person been disposable connected time one.

I’ve been endlessly impressed by nan Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it’s conscionable excessively overmuch for astir people, successful position of costs and features. Samsung boldly launched its champion telephone 7 months earlier nan iPhone and Pixel launched, and nan Galaxy S24 Ultra held up amended than immoderate erstwhile Samsung telephone I’ve reviewed.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is still 1 of nan fastest phones you tin buy, and its cameras are vivid and versatile. It besides offers overmuch much than astir group need, and those other features make it nan astir costly telephone that doesn’t fold successful half. That waterproof S Pen isn’t cheap.

The champion of nan champion of nan champion Pixel phones and more

I deliberation nan Pixel 9 Pro is simply a awesome worth for what you get, and Google will inevitably driblet nan value connected this phone. The Pixel 9 Pro XL is frankly conscionable arsenic good, but I admit that Google hasn’t hobbled its smaller flagship telephone pinch lesser cameras aliases little RAM.

I for illustration having a much pocketable device, but get nan Pixel 9 Pro XL if you want a bigger surface and much battery; it’s fundamentally nan nonstop aforesaid phone. I besides liked nan Pixel 9 Pro Fold very much; it's my favourite foldable phone. Still, it costs much than a Pixel 9 Pro positive a marque caller iPad mini, and it’s difficult to swallow nan entity precocious price.

It’s been a awesome twelvemonth for phones, and nan Pixel 9 Pro represents nan champion of this year’s mobile technology. It has nan coolest caller design, pinch durability to match. It has awesome package that nails nan basics, doesn’t overpromise, and moreover lets you person immoderate nosy playing pinch early exertion for illustration AI. It takes astonishing photos and lets you edit and stock them pinch ease. It performed good successful my real-world reappraisal tests, benchmarks beryllium damned.

The Pixel 9 Pro is nan champion telephone of 2024, and I’ve seen them all. It’s nan telephone I support using, moreover though I tin usage immoderate phone. And if you tin find a Pixel deal for a fewer 100 little aft you publication this, that only makes nan champion telephone moreover better.