I get to use a lot of phones, and while I routinely switch between devices, there are a few times in the year when I'm able to use a phone for an extended duration. That's exactly what I did with the Pixel 9 Pro XL; I started out with the device shortly after its release, and I racked up close to two months of use.
That's a big deal in itself, because I wasn't keen on the Pixel 9 Pro XL initially. Google changed the aesthetic this generation, going with flatter sides and eschewing some of its design ethos. The phone looks so much like an iPhone 16 Pro Max that it's easy to confuse the two. The design changes means the Pixel 9 Pro XL is no longer as comfortable to hold and use as its predecessors, and it necessitates a case — I went with Thinborne's ultra-thin case, and I wouldn't use the device without it.
