The Google Pixel 9 Pro has several key improvements over the old Pixel 8 that earn it its “pro” moniker and also justify the higher price tag over the Pixel 9. Among them is an improved LTPO display — or at least it should have been. Turns out, you have to read the fine print.
The Pixel 9 Pro and even the Pixel 9 Pro XL may not have LTPO displays in India, Malaysia, and Singapore. In those regions, they feature Actua displays instead of the Super Actua displays used on devices sold elsewhere in the world. Note that the Actua and Super Actua tech relate to screen brightness rather than refresh rate, but it still shows that different panels are being used. This is odd since the Pixel 8 Pro (the larger phone that is the 9 Pro XL's predecessor) already had an LTPO panel.
This may not be 100% accurate, as the specs mention “1280 x 2856 LTPO OLED at 495 PPI” and “1344 x 2992 LTPO OLED at 486 PPI” for the Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, respectively. Online stores even mention “Super Actua Displays.” Still, Google needs to clarify things and give a definite yes or no.
Anyway, there's more: Pixel 9 phones sold in India don't support Wi-Fi 7, but phones sold everywhere else (including Malaysia and Singapore) do. That includes both the Pro models and the standard Pixel 9.
What about the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold? It has an internal LTPO display and a regular Actua cover display all over. But the Wi-Fi situation is murky. The Indian model is listed as supporting “Wi-Fi 7 (802.11ax)”. Wi-Fi 7 is 802.11be, ax is Wi-Fi 6, so it’s a typo. This error is present both in the specifications listed by the online store and on Google’s support page. But is the “7” the typo or the “ax”? Given that its siblings don’t have Wi-Fi 7, we suspect the Fold doesn’t have it either.
It’s worth noting that the Wireless Agency of India has yet to approve the use of the 6GHz band. That said, Wi-Fi 7 has improvements that also work in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. So there’s no reason to drop support, whether phones can use the 6GHz band or not.
Another thing we noticed is that Google VPN, which is free for Pixel 9 users, is not available in the following countries: Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, India, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
There are a few other differences, but these are the usual regional differences. For example, different regions use different 5G bands (sub-6GHz and mmWave), Pixels in Japan support FeliCa, etc. The other differences, however, are harder to explain.
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