The Google Pixel 9 Pro was the only phone this year that really felt new and deserves our Phone of the Year award

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Our Phone of the Year does not score highly in benchmark tests. It doesn’t have the best camera (although it’s pretty close). It won’t last the longest on a single charge. No pen is included. And yet the Google Pixel 9 Pro is still my favorite phone for many reasons, and for that it gets our big phone award in the TechRadar Choice Awards 2024.

The first reason is pure instinct. I have a stack of the best phones on my desk. All. I have the iPhone 16 Prothe Galaxy S24Ultraand even the coolest, lesser-known phones like the OnePlus Open Apex Edition. When I review a phone, it’s the only phone I use, but then I can put it away. Since I reviewed the Pixel 9 Pro, I haven’t stopped using it for a single day.

The Pixel 9 Pro works very well. It lays down the basics so beautifully that it never lets me down. Phones can be packed with features that I might try once or use semi-annually (sorry, S Pen), but the most important features are the things we take for granted: calling; handling reports; send messages.

The Pixel 9 Pro excels at these things in ways that other phones can’t match. It does a great job of screening calls for me using AI. It allows me to manage notifications easily, with fine controls so I’m not overwhelmed by alerts and can respond quickly. It has a great keyboard and excellent voice recognition, so I can type or talk when I want to send a text.

I even like the AI, at least the features I use. I use Google’s Gemini AI every day, one way or another, and I feel like I’m just getting started.

I don’t generate text or images, that’s not my thing. I talk to Gemini regularly. Gemini created the best chocolate chip banana muffin recipe I’ve ever made, then adapted the recipe when I was out of brown sugar and wanted to use leftover date syrup instead. A recipe book couldn’t have done that.

I sometimes ask Gemini for advice, personally and professionally. I could paste a whole story into Gemini and ask what I’m missing. Gemini is bad at writing prose, but excellent at suggesting new possibilities and missed opportunities. I also got into an argument with my sister over email once, and I pasted the entire email thread into Gemini asking what I said wrong. It was surprisingly insightful.

The only new phone this year that feels new

Another big reason the Google Pixel 9 Pro is my favorite phone of the year: it’s the only phone that feels new. The iPhone 16 Pro is identical to last year’s phone. The 5G antenna spot has been replaced by a camera button, although it looks the same. From Samsung, the last major Galaxy refresh seems a long time ago, and far, far away. The Galaxy S24 Ultra still looks like the Galaxy Note, a phone that Samsung has said goodbye to.

The Pixel 9 Pro is Google’s first major design change since the Pixel 6. I liked that old design, but it was starting to get stale. The new Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro devices look very sharp. Fans and haters alike compare them to the iPhone 16 in build quality and materials. Best of all, Google says the new Pixel phones are more durable than ever, which should help them survive the seven years of Android updates Google promises.

My first inclination was to declare the iPhone 16 Pro my favorite phone this year, and I think it might end up being a better phone. However, Apple’s launch was unusually disappointing. Apple never disappoints fans, but this year it released a phone that literally isn’t ready yet.

The iPhone 16 does not do everything Apple promises. In addition to the lack of Apple Intelligence, even the Camera Control button came without all its functions. Autofocus is coming to the Control in a future update, a huge miss from Apple on a feature that should have been available on day one.

I’m endlessly impressed with the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but for most people it’s just too much, in terms of cost and features. Samsung boldly launched its best phone seven months before the iPhone and Pixel launched, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra held up better than any previous Samsung phone I’ve reviewed.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra is still one of the fastest phones you can buy, and the cameras are vibrant and versatile. It also offers a lot more than most people need, and those extra features make it the most expensive phone that doesn’t fold in half. That waterproof S Pen isn’t cheap.

The best of the best of the best Pixel phones and more

I think the Pixel 9 Pro is a great value for what you get, and Google will inevitably drop the price on this phone. The Pixel 9 ProXL is honestly just as good, but I appreciate that Google hasn’t hobbled its smaller flagship phone with smaller cameras or less RAM.

I prefer a device that fits better in your pocket, but buy the Pixel 9 Pro XL if you want a bigger screen and more battery; it’s essentially the exact same phone. I liked the too Pixel 9 Pro Fold a lot; it’s my favorite foldable phone. Still, it costs more than a Pixel 9 Pro plus a brand new one iPad miniand it’s hard to swallow the sky-high price.

It’s been a great year for phones, and the Pixel 9 Pro represents the best of this year’s mobile technology. It has the coolest new design, with durability to match. It has great software that gets the basics down, doesn’t over-promise, and even lets you have fun playing with future technology like AI. It takes fantastic photos that you can easily edit and share. It performed well in my real-world review tests, benchmarks be damned.

The Pixel 9 Pro is the best phone of 2024, and I’ve seen them all. It’s the phone I keep using, even though I can use any phone. And if you have one Pixel deal for a few hundred less after reading this, that just makes the best phone even better.