Google's Pixel 9 Pro Wins 'Smartphone of the Year' at MWC 2025, Gemini AI Recognized for Innovation

Pixel 9 Pro wins Phone of the Year at MWC's Glomo Awards

Summary Google Pixel 9 Pro wins Best Smartphone at Mobile World Congress' Glomo Awards, the second year in a row the Pixel has won. Gemini, Google's AI-powered mobile experience, wins Breakthrough Device Innovation award. The Pixel 9 Pro was also recognized for its AI features, camera innovations, design, and price point. Google's Pixel 9 Pro just joined an elite list of devices as this year's Best Smartphone at the 2025 Global Mobile (Glomo) Awards. This is the second consecutive win for Google. The Pixel 8 took the same award last year. Related I tried the Google Pixel 9 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S25 to see which small phone feels better When small flagships compete, we all win Posts 13 The Glomos are judged by a panel of industry experts, analysts, and tech journalists to 'recognize excellence in the mobile industry.' They look at design, innovation, performance, and overall user experience when choosing the best smartphone of the year. The Pixel 9 Pro beat out all the others for 2025. Google is on a roll lately Source: X/Google Google took home a second award this year, on top of the prestigious Best Smartphone award. The Breakthrough Device Innovation award went to Google for Gemini, its AI-powered mobile experience. Google has been heavily integrating Gemini into everything, especially the Pixel. AI-driven features are everywhere, such as smart replies, advanced search, and on-device voice assistance. The Pixel 9 Pro earned recognition for its AI-powered features, camera innovations, strong software support, sleek hardware design, and an attractive price point, things the judges look at carefully. Mobile World Congress (MWC) is an annual trade show in Barcelona, Spain. Android Police journalists are on the ground right now, and have compiled their own list of some of the standout devices they've discovered while there. It's not all Pixel 9 Pro. Phones from Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi have also been making waves at MWC. Related 8 best gadgets of MWC 2025: Our pick of the top phones, tablets, and more Our pick of the very best from MWC 2025 Posts Pixel joins an elite list of past winner Google's back-to-back wins with the Pixel put it in the same category as the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy, two devices that normally dominate the MWC awards. For example, here are the past few years of winners: 2025: Google Pixel 9 Pro 2024: Google Pixel 8 series 2023: Apple iPhone 14 Pro 2022: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 2021: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 2020: OnePlus 7T Pro Google had an ambitious vision when it launched the first Pixel back in 2016. It was a rocky road for the device, with several stumbles. But the Pixel really seemed to find its footing with the Pixel 6 redesign in 2021. That may not have won any Glomos, but it was a popular device with a unique design language and set Google on the path to where it is today, cemented at the top of the flagship smartphone pile. Related Review: The Pixel 9 Pro is Google's Goldilocks flagship Not too big, not too small; just right Posts 10

Pixel 9 Pro wins 'Smartphone of the Year' award, Google's second in a row

Google's presence at MWC 2025 in Barcelona has not gone unnoticed. The company made a few announcements on future projects and while there, Google has collected two MWC awards from GLOMO, including one for the Pixel 9 Pro. There isn't anything new to show in terms of hardware from Google's attendance at MWC unless you count the many Android figurines sprawled across the company's event space. Still, there is no new phone, new tablet, or smart home devices to report on, because all of that would come during Made by Google. Instead, Google got some recognition for a couple of mile markers this year. Google was presented with two GLOMO (Global Mobile) awards at MWC 2025. The awards program has been going on for 30 years, and it comes with some pedigree. First, Google won the "Smartphone of the Year" award for the Pixel 9 Pro. This comes as the Pixel 8 series won the "Best Smartphone" category from GLOMO. The year before that, Apple took the podium but has since not been awarded. The Pixel 9 Pro has been one of the best Android devices to come out of last year. It packs a ton of needed features with new AI tools baked throughout a good software experience. On the hardware side, it lacks little and just feels good to use. Comparing it to devices from Samsung and OnePlus, the Pixel 9 Pro is a really good choice, especially with the presence of Gemini. Google Gemini also gets a GLOMO award at MWC with the "Breakthrough Device Innovation" award. This category is awarded all over the place between software and hardware, though AI requires a powerful blend of the two. In 2024, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 won the innovation award, with Apple's Satellite SOS winning the year before. The achievement is awarded based on a few criteria, like "contribution to overall device performance and appeal," as well as "product usefulness in terms of functionality and features." Gemini has proven to be those things, and Google has done a good job of expanding it way past the mobile space. Ideally, this will push Google to develop a strong contender for the next set of awards with the Pixel 10 series and further develop Gemini to be even more useful through the ecosystem.