A day after the Pixel 9 Pro leaked, we’re now seeing renders that supposedly show the vanilla Google Pixel 9 – and the included details are a mix of good and, arguably, divisive.
Shared once again by leaker @OnLeaks, but this time in collaboration with 91Mobiles, these renders show much the same design as we saw in the recent Pixel 9 Pro leak, which is to say a vastly different design to the Google Pixel 8.
The sides are flat rather than rounded, bringing it more in line with many of the best phones from rival brands, like the iPhone 15 line and the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, and the Pixel 8’s camera visor has been replaced with a lozenge-shared horizontal island that runs almost from edge to edge on the phone's rear.
As with the Pixel 8’s design this is likely to meet with mixed reactions, but unlike the Pixel 8’s design it doesn’t massively stand out (and we're quite fond of the blue shade shown here).
In any case, while the design is the possibly divisive part of this leak, the good news is that three camera lenses are shown, with the source claiming that one of them will be a telephoto camera.
From the square shape of the lens it’s likely a periscope design, which could allow for longer-distance zoom than conventional telephoto snappers. The Pixel 8 Pro has a 5x zoom periscope lens, so perhaps we’ll see that here, but that’s speculation for now.
The source claims not to know what the other lenses are, but one will of course be a standard wide-angle lens, while the third will probably be an ultra-wide, since the Pixel 8 has an ultra-wide camera, although there’s an outside chance Google will replace this with a macro camera or something else.
In any case, the Pixel 8 only has two rear cameras – a wide and an ultra-wide, so the addition of a third for telephoto shots could mean the Pixel 9 is a substantially better phone for photography.
As photography is one of the Pixel line’s standout features already, this would be great news for anyone who wants one of the best camera phones but doesn’t want to shell out for the Pixel 9 Pro, or have that phone's likely massive screen.
A larger phone with a smaller screen
Speaking of which, this leak also mentions that the vanilla Pixel 9 will apparently have a 6.1-inch display, which would make it marginally smaller than the Pixel 8’s 6.2-inch screen.
The overall dimensions of the phone are said to be 152.8 x 71.9 x 8.5mm (or 12mm including the camera bump). That oddly would make it slightly larger (albeit marginally slimmer) than the Pixel 8, despite the supposedly smaller screen. For reference, the Pixel 8 is 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9mm.
Given those slightly questionable dimensions, coupled with how early it is for Google Pixel 9 leaks, we’d take all of this with a pinch of salt; but this particular source does have just about the best track record in the business.
The Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro probably won’t be out until October, and there will likely be lots more leaks before then, which should start to give us a clearer picture of what to expect, and whether this early leak is accurate.
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