I love Google's Pixel 9 phones and generally recommend them to people. But right now, you absolutely shouldn't buy one.

Despite being nearly a year old, the Pixel 9 series remains one of the best Android phones on the market, offering excellent cameras, Google’s polished software experience, cutting-edge AI features, and an impressive six years of OS and security updates remaining.

Essential improvements and feature parity make the standard Pixel 10 phone a potential winner in 2025. The Google Pixel 10 is expected to receive significant upgrades this year, including a dedicated telephoto lens. Greater feature parity with the Pro models, combined with no expected price increases, makes the standard Pixel an enticing option.