Google is set to unveil four Pixel 9 devices at its Made by Google event on August 13 and looks poised to revolutionize the smartphone market in the coming weeks.
Alongside the standard model, the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are expected to appear, and according to two leaked promotional videos shared by Android Headlines and OnLeaks ( here and here ), all four devices appear to be unified by leveraging AI as a major selling point.
The video has, perhaps unsurprisingly, been removed from Google-owned YouTube, but a screenshot capturing the gist remains for posterity.
Both teasers begin with Ask Gemini and Pixel Screenshots, with Gemini shown creating a recipe based on photos of what's in the user's fridge, and Pixel Screenshots being demonstrated searching through previously taken screenshots to recall information.
But the main AI enhancements relate to the camera, i.e. editing the content you capture with it, and it looks like the Magic Editor will be getting two major new party tricks.
The first feature allows users to use generative AI prompts to make changes to photos via the “Reimagine with” prompt. In the clip, the phrase “Dramatic Sunset” is added, magically transforming a photo of two friends posing on a slightly overcast beach with three different options, making the scene look much more appealing than it actually is.
Next up is a feature called “Add Me,” which appears to be an evolution of the previous generation's “Best Take.” While the previous generation's feature allowed you to extract faces from a series of photos and stitch together the perfect image, “Add Me” goes a step further, allowing you to include a scene in which the photographer isn't actually a part of it.
While the results look impressive (though until you try it, it's doubtful that you'll get results this good in the real world), it raises serious questions about authenticity: when radical changes are so easy to make, can we ever again trust that the photos we see on social media are real?
When the Magic Editor was first introduced last year, our editor-in-chief Philip Michaels wrote: “If you can move subjects in a photo without anyone noticing, you're altering reality, and that should ring alarm bells.”
Sure, there's plenty of stuff an experienced Photoshop user can do, but by lowering the skill level required and allowing anyone to freely edit photos, it has the potential to turn a niche hobby into the mainstream. “And that's the worry with Magic Editor,” Michaels concludes in the article. “Magic Editor simplifies photo editing for everyone, not just those looking to use it for benign purposes.”
Apart from the AI, there are two other notable things in the now-deleted teaser video. First, the Pixel 9 is labelled with a “Durable Design,” suggesting that it may be less susceptible to shocks and drops than previous models. Second, the ad mentions “7 Years of Pixel Drops,” suggesting that Google's long-term commitment to software updates, first introduced with the Pixel 8, will continue into the next generation.
The Pixel 9 family should be fully revealed very soon: Google has a surprise event planned for August 13th, and has been releasing teasers of the phones this week. It would be very surprising if they weren't revealed alongside the Pixel Watch 3 just 17 days later.
