Update
Speaking of selfies, here’s the big man himself, Lance Ulanoff (Editor at Large at TechRadar), at last year’s Made by Google event in New York, which saw the launch of the Pixel 8 series.
This event (and most Made by Google events before it) took place in October, so Google’s decision to hold the Pixel 9 launch in August of this year is a bit unusual. Why the change? We may hear an answer from Google itself later today, but it seems like the company is trying to get ahead of Apple and its iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to launch in September.
Today’s event is taking place at Google’s futuristic headquarters in Mountain View, California. The campus is home to 4,000 employees, has a total area of 100,000 square meters and features a hotel complex with four buildings and 220 rooms.
The kite-like roof of the main building is made of solar panels, which, in conjunction with underground geothermal columns, cool the building in hot weather and heat it in cold weather.
It’s an impressive place, rivaled only by Apple Park for silliness in Silicon Valley, so let’s hope Lance and Jake send some silly selfies from the ground later today.
As a reminder, it starts at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET / 6:00pm BST (or 4:00am AEDT on August 14 if you’re in Australia).
And what about Google’s next-generation earbuds? Well, they’ll almost certainly be called Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, and like the Google Pixel Watch 3, their appearance at today’s Made by Google event is all but certain.
However, unlike the Pixel Watch 3 and Pixel 9 series, we haven’t heard much about alleged upgrades to the Pixel Buds Pro 2.
The latest leak about the Pixel Buds Pro 2 suggests a casing that looks a bit chunkier than before and a new cutout next to the USB-C port. Other than that, though, we’re relatively in the dark about what to expect from the upcoming buds.
What we want Improved call quality and noise cancellation are seen on the Pixel Buds Pro 2, as we criticized the original Pixel Buds Pro for their “cloudy and compressed” sound in our Google Pixel Buds Pro review. We hope Google introduces these improvements.
Now let’s move on to wearables. The Google Pixel Watch 3 has not been confirmed by Google yet, but I’m 99.9% sure it will be revealed later today.
This alleged successor to the Google Pixel Watch 2 has been the subject of countless leaks in recent weeks and therefore seems to be a sure candidate for today’s “Made by Google” event.
As for upgrades, we expect the Pixel Watch 3 to come in two sizes (likely 41mm and 45mm) and have a brighter screen and smaller bezels than its predecessor. Leaks suggest it will use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 5100 chipset as the Pixel Watch 2, so you might not notice much of a difference in raw performance, but battery life will presumably be improved too.
Let’s stay with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold: We’ve heard that it will be one of the thinnest and heaviest foldable smartphones on the market at the same time.
According to leakers, the upcoming device measures “155.2 x 77.1 x 10.5mm (closed) and 155.2 x 150.2 x 5.1mm (open).” When folded, it is reportedly 1.6mm thinner than the first Pixel Fold and 0.7mm narrower when unfolded.
As for the weight of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, it is said to weigh 257g, which is almost 30g less than the previous generation, but still about 18g heavier than the recently released Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Will these design upgrades, along with the aesthetic improvements mentioned below, be enough to convince potential foldable phone buyers to choose Google this year? I’m not entirely sure, but Google’s phones at least offer the cleanest and most accessible version of Android, so we’re hoping that some foldable-optimized features of Android 15 will be announced later today as well.
As a reminder, Google has already released a teaser image for the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which we now know is the official name of the Google Pixel Fold 2.
The image in question shows a new square camera block and narrower bezels for the upcoming phone, so we expect a significant design improvement over the original Google Pixel Fold.
So what can we expect this afternoon (or this morning, depending on your location)? I think Google will announce the following:
The Google Pixels 9: Google hasn’t mentioned this phone by name yet, but given the confirmed appearance of the Pixel 9 Pro at today’s event, it seems like a formality
The Google Pixel 9 Pro: official product images have already confirmed a redesigned camera module and polished sides
The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: Rumor has it that this will be Google’s first extra-large phone (it will probably be larger than 6.7 inches)
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: The name is fixed, as is the rear design
The Google Pixel Watch 3: Expect a brighter screen and minor design tweaks
The Google Pixel Buds 2 Pro: We hope for noise cancellation and improvements in call quality
Android15 And Google Gemini: Expect demos for new features and a rollout schedule
Today’s Made by Google event is taking place (what a surprise!) at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. We’ll be dialing in remotely and from the event itself, where our on-site correspondents—TechRadar Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff and US Editor-in-Chief of News Jacob Kroll—will be reporting live.
Good morning, folks! This is Phones Editor Axel Metz (insert waving emoji). I’ll be setting the stage for today’s Made by Google event, where we’re expected to get our first look at the Google Pixel 9, Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, Google Pixel Watch 3, and other Pixel-related goodies.
The event is scheduled to begin at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST (or 4am AEDT on August 14 if you’re in Australia). We’ll walk you through the key talking points before, during and after the event.
If you want to be there for the unveiling in California, check out our guide to attending the Google Pixel 9 launch.
