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Foldables have indeed come a long way, especially in India. While earlier limited to Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold range, 2024 has provided enough variety from a number of manufacturers across foldable segments. You can now get one for as low as Rs. 64,999 in a flippable clamshell form factor or pony up Rs. 1,59,999 for a top-of-the-line book-style foldable that literally competes with premium slab-style smartphones. With the emergence of tri-fold devices, foldables even make those bloated iPhone price tags in India appear palatable for Android users.

Google's latest Pixel 9 lineup now consists of four phones instead of two, and there's a size and shape for everyone. Do you want a compact phone? You have the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro. Do you like big screens and can't lie? There's the Pixel 9 Pro XL. And finally, there's the Pixel 9 Pro Fold for all the productivity freaks. You also get updated designs with the new Pixel phones. While you can still tell they're Pixel phones from the back, the smaller Pixel 9 looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S24 from the front.

Love it or hate it, AI features on a smartphone will only grow in number with time. And if it's any indicator of how times are changing, even Apple, which has avoided taking any big strides for years (be it foldables, super high-resolution cameras, faster charging), has jumped aboard the AI (Apple Intelligence) train this year with iOS 18. I have been using Google's newest member of the Pixel family, the Pixel 9 Pro XL, for a few weeks, and I must admit that its take on AI is impressive and starting to make some sense. Google's push for running AI models also results in some much-needed hardware upgrades that we have been asking for years. Thanks to this, it turns out to be a very capable smartphone, even without its AI bits.