Can Gemma 4 12B run on Pixel 9?
YES — Runs, barely
Grade C · 54/100 · formula estimate
What this means
Our estimate says Gemma 4 12B should fit, but there is very little memory left for the operating system and other apps.
Download the Q4_0 version, which is about 7 GB. We expect it to use about 8.8 GB of the roughly 9 GB available to a model on this phone.
At the estimated speed, a roughly 300-word answer may take about 2 minutes to finish.
This result is calculated from the phone and model specifications. It has not been measured on this exact phone and setup.
4.4tokens/s
estimated · reading pace
8.8GB
needed at Q4_0
Q4_0
quant checked
C
grade · 54/100
needs 8.8 GBusable 9 GB
Google Tensor G412 GB RAMCPU / GPU
Make it bearable
1
Drop context to 2K — saves ~0.4 GB of KV cache and a little speed.
2
Close every other app before loading — the 0.2 GB headroom is real; Android may kill the app otherwise.
3
Expect throttling after ~10 min of sustained generation on a phone chassis.
See how fast it feels
Estimated at 4.4 tokens/s — reading pace. A ~300-word reply takes about 91 seconds on this phone.
Where the memory goes
| Component | Detail | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Model weights | Q4_0 GGUF (7 GB) + mmap overhead | 7.4 |
| KV cache | 4K context window | 0.8 |
| Runtime | llama.cpp + app overhead | 0.6 |
| Total needed | at Q4_0, 4K context | 8.8 |
| Usable on Pixel 9 | 12 GB RAM − Android system reserve | 9 |
| Headroom | left for the OS and your other apps | 0.2 |
Pick your quant
| Quant | Download | Verdict | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4_0 BEST HERE | 7 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~4.4 tokens/s |
Get it running in 3 steps
1
Install PocketPal from the Play Store — free, no account needed.
2
Download "Gemma 4 12B Q4_0" in the in-app model hub — 7 GB, use Wi-Fi. Search Hugging Face for
google/gemma-4-12B-it-qat-q4_0-gguf and pick the Q4_0 file.3
Set context to 4K — expect ~4.4 tokens/s on this phone.
Related checks
MORE ON PIXEL 9
GEMMA 4 12B ON OTHER PHONES