The cheapest countries to buy the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

The new Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a big beast with a big price tag. The supersized version of the Pixel 9 Pro will cost you a whopping $1,099 plus tax if you’re in the US, but that isn’t the price of the latest Android phone in every country. There’s actually a surprising range of retail prices around the world. If you’re interested in finding out the cheapest place to buy the Pixel 9 Pro XL, you’ve come to the right site.

We checked out the official retail price of the 128GB Pixel 9 Pro XL in 24 countries. The results are listed in the table below. We only collected the prices for this model from the Pixel 9 series, partly because it keeps things simple and partly because the story is the same for every phone in the range. If the Pixel 9 XL is particularly cheap in one country, the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro will also be at the cheap end of the scale. We only used the price of the 128GB model for the same reason.

The comparison is from the point of view of an American resident, so we’ve added an approximate 10% sales tax to the US price. That’s why it’s shown as $1,210 rather than $1,099. The good news that you may be aware of is that you often only have to pay this tax if you live in a particular country, so US tourists won’t get this sales tax added to the prices in the table when shopping abroad. In fact, some countries build taxes into the retail price of phones, so you may even be able to claim some of what you paid for the phone back when you leave that nation.

The cheapest country to buy the Pixel 9 Pro XL is Canada. If you can avoid sales tax as a foreign visitor, the phone costs the equivalent of $1,094 there. That’s slightly less than the pre-tax price in the US and more than $100 cheaper than anywhere else.

The US is still second on the list based on the very approximate tax percentage increase, and both Japan and Singapore are around the same price. It reflects that Americans generally get a decent ride from Google as a US company.

India is the most expensive country to buy the Pixel 9 Pro XL, with the phone costing the equivalent of almost $1,500. The UK isn’t doing a whole lot better at $1,414. We touch on possible reasons for this below.

What if I find a cheaper Pixel 9 Pro XL than this?

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

Someone trying to sell you a cheaper Pixel 9 Pro XL on your travels should arouse your suspicions. The phone isn’t even available to buy yet, so genuine cash discounts are very unlikely to be available. There are a few possible exceptions to this, such as trade-in deals and the aforementioned tax savings. Carriers will also advertise it as cheaper — perhaps even free — but those offers come with a bunch of conditions, like committing to a data plan.

Otherwise, we’d advise caution if you’re considering buying from an unauthorized vendor at a cut price. The phone could be stolen or a fake model with a convincing look but incorrect and inferior software. Use your common sense and stick to authorized sellers if possible.

There are seven other countries that aren’t on our list but where Google is selling the Pixel for the first time. The pricing in these nations isn’t available from Google, but there’s a chance that you might find the Pixel being sold marginally cheaper in one of them.

There certainly isn’t any point in traveling just to save on the Pixel 9 Pro XL. Your travel and accommodation costs will quickly dwarf any apparent savings on the phone.

You’re better off looking at deals closer to home. You might not be able to save big yet, but there are some interesting Pixel 9 pre-order deals to consider, some of which are tantamount to savings. Black Friday is also only a few months away if you can be a little patient. We’d be very surprised if the new Google phones weren’t discounted at that stage.

Why is the Pixel 9 Pro XL cheaper in some countries than in others?

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

Setting the retail price of any product involves working out the cost of bringing it to market and then the profit that can be made. Both of these factors are specific to the country where the Pixel 9 Pro XL is sold, so it stands to reason that each nation would have a different retail price.

The costs vary based on many things, such as shipping prices and local labor. One of the biggest determinants is import tax, which can be extortionate. It’s not unknown for certain countries to charge a 100% import tax on tech products produced outside the country. It’s easy to see how this could impact the retail price of the phone.

Google is also in the business of making money, so the profit margin will be carefully calculated. It will have teams of economists looking into the demand for the device and the spending power of the local population, then finding the sweet spot in retail pricing to maximize revenue.

Google is in the business of making money.

The other thing about the prices in our table above is that we converted them all into US dollars to make the comparison easier. This is good enough to get an idea of the variation around the world, but fluctuations in exchange rates will change the standings over time. The fact that the UK is near the bottom of the list right now probably reflects the weakness of the dollar against the pound at the moment.

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