CNET's key takeaways
The Google Pixel 9 Pro is currently on sale with $400 off
After months of using Google's Pixel 9 Pro, I like its solid overall performance and quirky new AI skills.
The element that stands out most is how easy it is to use.
While Android users do swear by them, a lot of other people consider Android phones to feel overly complex. The user interface isn't quite as easy to adjust as the Apple offering, and while it may sound unreasonable, Samsung's Galaxy S25 range, for example, has deep menu systems for messing about with nearly every aspect of the phone. It can feel overwhelming, which can be off-putting.
For many Android users, the deep customizability of the OS has always been a selling point over the more simplistic iOS found on Apple's iPhones. But just because you want an Android phone, doesn't necessarily mean you're a fanatical tech nerd who wants to tinker with menus all day.
The Pixel 9 Pro is the easiest Android phone I've ever used, and there's a number of key reasons why.
My experience with the Pixel 9 Pro
First, it's Google's own phone, meaning there's no secondary manufacturer software skin over the top of the operating system. It's pure, uncut Android. Google's interface is clean, easy to read and uncluttered. Naturally, it uses Google's own apps by default. Samsung, meanwhile, loads its phones up with its own browser, email client and photo gallery, all of which sit beside Google's Chrome, Gmail and Photos apps, meaning you already have duplicates of each tool.
Samsung is not the only phone-maker to do this. Almost all Android phone companies load their phones up with at least their own browser and gallery app, while some companies, like Samsung and Honor, go as far as making their own email clients and calendars.
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