We are pretty much a week away from the expected launch of the Google Pixel 10 and its Pro and Fold stablemates, and while the rumors don’t suggest big upgrades, there’s something else to tickle one’s fancy: potentially cheaper Google Pixel 9 phones.
The current-generation Pixel phones ushered in a neat suite of design changes and a decent bout of improvements, making it our smartphone of 2024. For the Pixel 10, it doesn’t look like that’ll be the case, with some small updates tipped and more likely to be done on the software and AI tools side than any big hardware upgrades.
As such, that could make the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and even the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (priced at $799 / £799 / AU$1,349, $999 / £999 / AU$1,699, $1,099 / £1,099 / AU$1,849, $1,799 / £1,799 / AU $2,699 respectively) still seem like rather compelling phones a year after their release. And with their successors coming, it’s likely that they could get a price cut.
We’ve seen this with the Samsung Galaxy S25 range, which, after it launched earlier this year, had the knock-on effect of making the rather good Galaxy S24 family drop in price. Right now, Google is selling the Pixel 8 models for some $100/£100 (no such luck for Australia, where only the Pixel 8a is still listed), and a rather healthy $400 off the price of the Pixel 8 Pro for US shoppers.
So I’d very much expect the Pixel 9 series to follow the example of its predecessors and drop in price once the Pixel 10 gets released.
Given what the Pixel 9 phones offer, especially the Pixel 9 Pro, they are compelling phones to buy right now, but they will have even more appeal with a price cut.
We have seen them drop in price during various sales this year so far. But a fixed discount and then likely some other price cuts from Google and retailers like Amazon, could see the Pixel 9 phones drop to bargain prices for devices that offer great cameras, solid performance, and a lot of smart software.
With that in mind, if I were looking for a new Android phone, I’d hold fire for August 20 to see what the Pixel 10 series officially brings to the table and if there’ll be a decent price cut for the Pixel 9 series.
Pick of the Pixels
However, there is a slight caveat in that Google could simply discontinue the Pixel 9 series, other than the Pixel 9a, given that it’s set to be very similar to the Pixel 10 series, and then keep select Pixel 8 models as the cheaper mid-range Pixel options.
Now that would still leave third-party retailers with Pixel 9 phones, which I’d be very confident in expecting them to discount in order to clear the way for the Pixel 10. But once these sold out, such a situation could mean it’s game over for the Pixel 9.
We’ll find out rather soon, but the crux of this article is that the Pixel 9 series is highly likely to get a price cut. So, my advice is to wait until August 20 before buying, as this will give you a chance to score a good price or avoid buyer’s remorse if the Pixel 10 proves to be a bigger upgrade than expected.
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