What will be magical about the Pixel 9?

Besides the early event this year, Google’s use of “magic” to tease the Pixel 9 Pro is what stands out to me.

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There’s “Don’t miss the magic” on the Google Store homepage and “Get ready for magic at #MadeByGoogle” serving as the social post that was widely shared. Compared to last year, the teaser (and event invite) is already making an explicit reference/connection to AI, with the implication being that Gemini will be responsible for these magical experiences.

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“Magical” product experiences range from it “just works” to something so futuristic that you’re surprised it’s possible with today’s technology. To date, Google has branded three features with “Magic.” The first two are in Google Photos — Editor and Eraser — while the third is in Google Messages — Compose. 

Looking at what Google has in the pipeline, I think Gemini Live is the most likely thing to lead that “magic” quota for the Pixel 9 series. Live is pitched as the way to have more “natural conversations” with Gemini. “State-of-the-art speech technology” is credited as allowing you to “speak at your own pace or interrupt mid-response with clarifying questions.”

Feeling like you’re talking to an actual human — with 10 voices to choose from — could be enough to amaze people and encourage underlying Gemini use, especially for those that aren’t familiar with text chatbots. To me, the most interesting aspect of Gemini Live on mobile is if it serves as the precursor to availability on next-generation smart displays and speakers.  

Then there’s the upcoming Project Astra camera capabilities that let you point at the world and ask questions. As we wrote last week, Google’s goal is to make an AI assistant for the real world. Being able to point your phone at something and appending a voice query to get help is a key part of this. However, the “later this year” timeline for Astra makes me think it won’t be ready in time for the Pixel 9 launch, with a December Feature Drop seeming more likely.

Meanwhile, the feature that I’m most excited for is Ask Photos powered by Gemini. Having this Google Photos feature launch on the Pixel 9 makes a great deal of sense. It basically turns your image and video library into a repository of knowledge about you. This feels like it could be much more helpful in my personal life than Gemini. 

Since it is the Pixel, we do need new camera capabilities, and I think Zoom Enhance should be the marquee capability. Announced at the end of last year’s keynote, it’s still not on the Pixel 8 Pro. At this point, Google could very well be saving it as the Pixel 9 Pro’s headlining feature, especially in advertising.

Last year, the Call Assist suite – Call Screen, Direct My Call, and Hold for Me — benefited from new AI that’s said to reduce spam calls by 50% on average, a more natural-sounding voice, and ability to ask if a call is urgent. More features here seem inevitable as the technology improves.

The next big update to Gemini Nano is multimodality wherein the model can process audio, images, and videos. The examples the Android team shared at I/O are Dynamic Suggestions wherein Gemini understands what’s on your screen, TalkBack for rich image descriptions, and real-time scam alerts. 

Android — which is now part of the same division as hardware — being referenced in the keynote was very new. Since that merger is still fairly recent, I doubt this is the year where we’ll see true integration, so the new Gemini Nano could be the extent of that work.

What would you consider to be magical for the Pixel 9? Chime in below!