Poll result: Pixel 9 hardware has charmed you, but Google AI's a harder sell

With Samsung’s big summer launch already in the rear-view mirror, Android fans who thrive on novelty are turning their attention to what’s next — and in just one short month, that’s set to be Google’s Pixel 9. As we get ready for the Pixel 9 launch, we’ve been thinking a bit about what changes promise to make this coming generation particularly special. Is there going to be enough new and enticing here to convince existing Pixel fans to upgrade? We recently asked our readers some questions along those lines, and the results are now in.

This year might be a little trickier than normal for Google to sell its new Pixel, and its own worst enemy could be itself. After all, it looks like Google could switch manufacturing partners for the Tensor G5 chip that should power next year’s Pixel 10, and that has the potential to be a reasonably big deal for performance. On its own, that might convince more patient shoppers to wait.

But even with that looming over the horizon, we’ve also heard a lot about enticing upgrades due to land with the Pixel 9. Earlier this month, we asked how important a couple of them were to your purchasing decisions — the possibility of getting some new ultrasonic tech for the phone’s in-screen fingerprint reader, and the presence of a new suite of AI-powered software features. Let’s see just how much of an impact those have:

Will the Pixel 9’s fingerprint scanner upgrade convince you to ditch your current phone?

First off, let’s look at the split between the two major camps: getting the Pixel 9 or not. Just under 60% of you who participated in the poll are planning to pick up Google’s next phone. But within that group, you’re split nearly down the middle on whether or not the move from an optical to an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner will factor into a possible purchase.

Interestingly, of those respondents who don’t plan to buy a Pixel 9, there’s a larger share of you who are enamored with the idea of that sensor upgrade. It’s clearly not enough to push you over the edge, but the data still shows you making an informed purchasing decision.

Comments on the poll were mixed, and while some of you expressed clear enthusiasm for this move, others were more skeptical of the underlying notion, citing disappointing experiences on other phones already equipped with ultrasonic-based fingerprint scanners.

What about the impact of Google’s latest AI efforts on your decision to get a new Pixel:

Will new AI features tempt you to buy a Pixel 9?

This time around, we similarly saw “planning to get a Pixel 9” take the lead — and again, with a close to 60% share — but had a whole lot fewer response overall. It’s almost like you’re burnt out on AI already, with less than half as many votes cast here, compared to the fingerprint poll.

We also have some greater deviation within the buy/don’t buy camps, and it wouldn’t be hard to read that as general disinterest in AI — or at least, with the handful of tools we’re expecting for Google AI on the Pixel 9. We’ve already seen a few of those, like Circle to Search — perhaps the rumored additions just don’t add up to a compelling enough package?

Your comments tend to support that idea, and you specifically cite dissatisfaction with existing AI efforts like Gemini as leaving you less than enthusiastic for what’s coming with the Pixel 9. On the plus side, no one sounds very concerned about the privacy implications of the Recall-like Pixel Screenshots feature we’re expecting — or is it more that you can’t be bothered to care about something you don’t intend to use?

If fancy new AI tools and a better fingerprint scanner aren’t the upgrades driving your motivation to buy a Pixel 9, what are? Both polls clearly show a fair amount of Pixel 9 enthusiasm, but is that just brand loyalty at this point? That’s not a bad thing on its own, but Google needs to be actively growing its share of the market, and by the sound of the votes we tallied, it’s going to need some bigger hooks to catch the interests of the broader phone-buying public.