The recently launched Google Pixel 9 series packs a lot of impressive features under the hood. However, there is another important feature that you will get to use straight out of the box.
Google introduced display output support over USB-C with the Pixel 8 series, which was pushed widely with the June Feature Drop. The display output feature lets you mirror your phone"s screen onto an external display using a USB-C cable. All four Pixel 9 series models come built-in with display support capability, negating the need to install an OTA update or tinker with any of the settings to enable it.
The four Pixel 9 series phones come with support for a feature called DisplayPort Alternate Mode (or Alt Mode) that lets the devices transmit DisplayPort signal through their USB-C pins. To get things going, all you need to have is a USB-C cable with an HDMI port on the other end. In case, you have a monitor that has a USB-C port, you can directly connect your phone to the monitor using a USB-C to USB-C cable.
As soon as you plug in the USB-C cable on your Pixel 9 phone and the other end on your monitor, you will see a pop-up asking, "Mirror to external display?" To start mirroring, you need to tap on the "Mirror display" button and it will instantly mirror your phone"s screen onto the external display.
Apprarently, the feature works flawlessly on all the Pixel 9 series phones, including the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. You can only mirror your phone"s screen using USB-C, but you can expect some changes as Google is working on an enhanced desktop mode for Android 15. For now, the feature is still far behind the experience that you get from Samsung DeX.
Source: Android Authority