The Pixel Recorder app has had some limitations in the past, but it looks to be improving on the Pixel 9 series.
The Pixel Recorder app is, in theory, a great Pixel exclusive feature thanks to it offering on-device transcription in real-time, with certain models offering bullet point summarization on top. For older models, this transcription is run by an earlier version of Gemini Nano, the mobile-specific version of Google Gemini's large language model. These older versions of Gemini Nano struggle to transcribe recordings longer than 15 minutes, which is a big limitation. But the Google Pixel 9 series massively improves on this with its improved version of Nano.
The Pixel 9 series comes with an improved version of Gemini Nano with multimodality to power its new AI features. This includes the updated Recorder app, which seems to have surpassed its previous limitation, at least to a degree. In a recent report for Android Authority, Mishaal Rahman was able to transcribe a 41-minute long recording on the Pixel 9. However, the Pixel 9 still can't transcribe any recording over an hour.
The fact that Pixel Recorder transcription is still limited to under an hour limits who can get the most use out of the feature for the time being. However, having the transcriptions happen in real-time, and having the option for bullet-pointed summaries, still help it to stand out against other options that can transcribe longer recordings, like iOS 18's transcription feature on phones without Apple Intelligence.
The Google Pixel 9 series hasn't just improved software - there are some great hardware improvements too. For instance, the new Tensor G4 chip is a clear upgrade from the prior Tensor G3 in power and power efficiency. The Pixel 9 also features better battery life and a brighter, and tougher, display. Google has also increased the RAM capacity of all the models to help handle AI tasks, plus there's an updated ultrawide camera on offer too.
While there are still some limitations, the Pixel 9 series still deserves spots on our Best Phones of 2024 list. For more information on the new devices, please check out our reviews for the Google Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, plus our hands-on review for the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
