AI as a buzzword has been overused a lot within the final 12 months that the time period has misplaced all that means. I used a number of telephones this 12 months that have been touted to have AI-assisted cameras, however these so-called options have been nothing greater than the standard filters and scene recognition algorithms that have been already accessible — simply dressed up in a brand new avatar.
However when Google says that it is utilizing AI extensively on its new telephones, it is time to take discover. In contrast to different Android producers, Google has the wherewithal to combine advanced ML fashions on its units, and it is going all-in with the Pixel 8 and 8 Professional. Each telephones get a slate of AI-backed options that embrace every part from guaranteeing you get the most effective group photographs, shifting objects round in present photographs, altering the audio of present movies to take away background distractions, and a lot extra.
The AI options are attractive to say the least, and within the month I used the Pixel 8, they made a significant distinction in each day use. The very best half is that Google made these instruments as easy as attainable to make use of, and though the Pixel 8 misses out on Evening Sight video recording and a guide mode — each of that are unique to the Professional mannequin — there’s sufficient new stuff right here to make it a viable improve to these on the Pixel 7 or earlier fashions.
The place the Pixel 8 really stands out is its measurement; it’s lighter and smaller than the Pixel 7 however nonetheless manages to accommodate a bigger battery, and the display now goes as much as 120Hz. Oh, and did I point out that it’s going to get seven years of software program updates? Though it is costlier than final 12 months, the sheer variety of upgrades on provide make the Pixel 8 a no brainer.
Google Pixel 8: Pricing and availability
Google unveiled the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Professional on the Made by Google Occasion on October 4, 2023, and each fashions at the moment are up on the market globally. There are attractive trade-in gives with both machine that allow you to save as much as $750, so though the Pixel 8 prices $100 greater than its predecessor, Google is incentivizing the launch with engaging gives.
Issues aren’t as rosy in different markets. In India, the Pixel 8 is obtainable for ₹75,999 ($912), or ₹16,000 ($192) greater than the Pixel 7. There are not any pre-order bonuses within the nation though prospects are having to pay much more for the machine, and that is the case with the Pixel 8 Professional as effectively. Google is beginning to make its units accessible in additional areas, with the Pixel 8 and eight Professional offered in 21 nations.
Google Pixel 8: Design
I’ve at all times been a fan of the Pixel’s design aesthetic, so it is good to see that Google hasn’t modified issues a lot on this space. The Pixel 8 is basically similar to its predecessor, and also you get the identical digital camera bar on the again that distinguishes the design. There are delicate variations within the design; the pill-sized cutout that homes the cameras is wider on the Pixel 8, and it appears to be like placing.
The Pixel 8 is obtainable in Hazel, Obsidian, and Rose coloration variants, and the Hazel model I am utilizing has a barely darker inexperienced hue to the identical mannequin of the Pixel 7 Professional. I am nonetheless unsure why Google limits colours based mostly on the mannequin; the Bay colorway of the Pixel 8 Professional appears to be like unimaginable, however you do not get it in the usual mannequin. Equally, the Rose model is unique to the Pixel 8. I really feel like that is a straightforward factor to treatment, however Google tends to be cussed about these items.
Picture 1 of 4
On that word, the Pixel 8 nonetheless has the ability button within the improper place; all different Android telephones have the ability button beneath the quantity rocker, however as a result of Google wants to do issues otherwise, the structure is reversed on the Pixel 8. So while you return to a different machine, you will inevitably hit quantity up as a substitute of the ability button.
Fortunately, that is about the one fault I may discover on the design entrance. Google did an excellent job with the shape issue, and the Pixel 8 is 5.1mm shorter, 2.4mm narrower, and 10g lighter than the Pixel 7 — all whereas carrying a bigger 4575mAh battery. It isn’t fairly as diminutive because the Zenfone 10, but it surely comes shut, and is a delight to make use of one-handed.
The selection of supplies hasn’t modified with the Pixel 8, and meaning you get an aluminum digital camera bar that merges seamlessly into the aluminum mid-frame, which is mated to a glass again lined by Gorilla Glass Victus. Whereas the Pixel 8 Professional has a matte coating on the again, the Pixel 8 retains the shiny coat, as a substitute providing matte sides.
I favor the Pixel 8 on this regard I affiliate a shiny mid-frame with finances units (thanks, Samsung), and the usual mannequin undoubtedly does not look or really feel like one. If something, it is the Professional mannequin that comes throughout as a bit fundamental because of these chrome-accented sides; the matte texture on the Pixel 8 makes it a lot better to carry.
One other level in favor of the Pixel 8 is the scale; the cellphone feels wonderful in-hand, and whereas I are inclined to favor bigger telephones, I had no points adjusting to the scale of the Pixel 8. The rounded corners make a distinction in each day use as effectively, and Google nailed the shape issue this 12 months. And like its predecessor, the Pixel 8 retains IP68 mud and water resistance, giving it added resistance in opposition to the weather.
Quite a bit has been mentioned concerning the dearth of compact Android telephones, and whereas the Pixel 8 is not the smallest machine round, it comes shut. The very best half is that Google hasn’t restricted the machine by way of the {hardware} or the display, and the 6.2-inch panel mixed with the diminutive profile make the Pixel 8 an incredible selection, and if you need a small cellphone, you will love what Google has to supply right here.
Google Pixel 8: Show
I by no means understood why Google selected display refresh fee as a differentiator on its units; most Android manufacturers provide 120Hz as customary nowadays, so it was puzzling to see the Pixel 7 restricted to 90Hz final 12 months. Fortunately, the model is rectifying that mistake with the Pixel 8 — you get a 120Hz refresh fee right here, and it’s higher in each means in opposition to the display on the Pixel 7.
Google someway managed to cram a 6.2-inch panel right into a chassis that is significantly smaller than the Pixel 7. That is right down to the ultra-thin bezels across the display, with Google doing an incredible job maximizing the display actual property. You do not have to fret about curved screens right here — each Pixel 8 fashions have flat panels — and there is a layer of Gorilla Glass Victus on the entrance.
Picture 1 of 2
What’s significantly fascinating is that the OLED panel is now capable of hit 2,000 nits in brief bursts, considerably brighter than the Pixel 7 collection. Colours look vibrant and saturated, and I did not discover any points with the vibrancy of the panel. The display misses out on LTPO tech — that is restricted to the Pixel 8 Professional — however that is not an enormous omission, and for what it is price, the swap to 120Hz provides the Pixel 8 a sizeable leg up over its predecessor.
The elevated brightness makes a distinction when streaming HDR10+ content material on the machine, and the machine is nice for streaming content material off the likes of Netflix and Prime Video. The cellphone additionally will get noticeably brighter in outside use than its predecessor, and there are zero points on this specific space.
General, the marginally smaller display mixed with 120Hz refresh and excessive brightness give the Pixel 8 a definite edge over its predecessors and fast rivals. It is good to see Google not limiting the {hardware} this time round, and that makes the Pixel 8 all of the extra alluring.
Google Pixel 8: Efficiency
Google is taking an fascinating route with the Tensor G3; it is not providing the quickest cores or a customized GPU designed to play console-quality video games, as a substitute specializing in AI-related use circumstances. Because of this, the chip is not as quick because the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or A17 Professional, however it’s leagues forward of every part else in the case of working on-device machine studying fashions.
Google sees this because the differentiator going ahead, so it is smart that the model determined to focus in that space. I am unsure how the Pixel 8 and eight Professional will stand the check of time — they’re slated to get extra updates than every other Android cellphone — however Google has proven previously that it is ready to optimize the software program to take full benefit of the {hardware}, so I am crossing my fingers that it is ready to ship.
| Class | Google Pixel 8 |
|---|---|
| OS | Android 14 |
| Show | 6.2-inch Actua show, 120Hz AMOLED (2400×1080), HDR10+, 2000 nits, Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Chipset | Google Tensor G3, Titan M2 safety module |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Rear digital camera 1 | 50MP f/1.68, 1.2um pixels, PDAF, OIS, 4K at 60fps |
| Rear digital camera 2 | 12MP f/2.2, 1.25um pixels, 125-degree wide-angle |
| Entrance digital camera | 10.5MP f/2.2, 1.22um pixels, wide-angle |
| Connectivity (US, CA, UK, AU) | Wi-Fi 7, Sub-6 5G (mmWave in US), Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, AptX HD, USB-C 3.2 |
| Connectivity (TW, SG, IN) | Wi-Fi 6, Sub-6 5G, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, AptX HD, USB-C 3.2 |
| Ingress Safety | IP68 mud and water resistance |
| Safety | In-screen fingerprint module |
| Audio | Stereo sound, USB-C |
| Battery | 4575mAh, 30W wired charging, 20W wi-fi charging, 5W reverse wi-fi charging |
| Dimensions | 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9mm, 187g |
| Colours | Obsidian, Hazel, Rose |
As for what it is like to make use of the Pixel 8, I did not see any points on the efficiency entrance. It is largely much like final 12 months’s units, and you may run into the identical points when taking part in visually-demanding titles — it tends to throttle early, resulting in noticeable jitter. In that sense, it is largely much like final 12 months’s telephones, and whereas the Tensor G3 has a more moderen Cortex X3 that goes as much as 3.0GHz, it does not really feel any sooner.
Google is utilizing a singular mixture of 9 CPU cores in complete, with that Cortex X3 joined by 4 Cortex A715 cores at 2.45GHz and 4 Cortex A510 effectivity cores at 2.15GHz. The Immortalis-G715s GPU can be new, and it has 10 cores this time. An fascinating level to notice with the Tensor G3 is that it has increased frequencies throughout the board, however as of now, I did not see a lot in the best way of distinction in each day use.
Speaking about lack of change, Google is utilizing the identical 128GB and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage modules as final 12 months, and this feels shortsighted contemplating how lengthy the machine is supposed to final. Most telephones on this class now provide 256GB of storage and UFS 4.0 modules as customary, and the Pixel 8 misses out on this space. Whereas there are not any points associated to storage or reminiscence now, the cellphone is theoretically meant to final at the very least seven years, and that is an eternity on this business.
I am additionally aggravated that Google does not provide 256GB of storage as customary right here; the Pixel 8 has just below 80GB of usable storage with the 128GB mannequin, and that is not even near being satisfactory on a 2023 flagship. I did not run into any points with connectivity, and whereas the worldwide mannequin of the Pixel 8 and eight Professional have a Wi-Fi 7 modem, the Indian model I am utilizing is proscribed to Wi-Fi 6. That mentioned, it managed to ship constant bandwidth, and had rock-solid connectivity.
It is a related scenario with mobile connectivity as effectively, and 5G labored reliably effectively sufficient in each day use. The cellphone has NFC, UWB, and AptX HD codecs, and whereas the USB-C port is predicated on the USB 3.2 customary, you do not get the flexibility to attach the Pixel 8 to a conveyable monitor — it is a software program limitation.
Fortunately, Google is not shortchanging customers on the battery entrance. The Pixel 8 has a 4575mAh battery, and also you get 27W charging together with 18W wi-fi and 5W reverse wi-fi charging. I did not see any points on the battery entrance even with heavy use, and the Pixel 8 managed to persistently ship a day’s price of use, averaging just below six hours of display time.
The 27W charging tech is nowhere near what you get on Chinese language telephones, however it’s sooner than final 12 months, and the Pixel 8 manages to stand up to a 50% cost in just below half-hour, with a full cost taking 75 minutes. There is not any charger within the field, however the cellphone works over the USB PD customary, so any USB PD GaN charger must be splendid with the machine.
Google Pixel 8: Cameras
Cameras are at all times a key speaking level with all Pixel releases, and that is no completely different this time round. Whereas the Pixel 8 makes use of the identical decision 50MP predominant digital camera and 12MP wide-angle lens, Google is utilizing new modules this time round, and providing autofocus with the wide-angle module. Up entrance is a ten.5MP digital camera with the flexibility to shoot 4K video at 60fps.
The Pixel 8 misses out on a devoted telephoto lens, however the 50MP digital camera doubles as a 2x lens, and Google says you get optical-quality photographs. Different lacking options embrace Evening Sight video, a Professional mode that allows you to tweak the taking pictures parameters, Video Increase, and autofocus on the lens on the entrance.
Clearly, Google is attempting to place the Pixel 8 Professional as the last word digital camera package deal, and with that machine costing $300 extra, it wanted to restrict options on the usual mannequin. The result’s that the Pixel 8 feels deliberately hobbled, and you are not getting the complete potential of what this cellphone is ready to ship. Whereas I used to be initially miffed by the characteristic omissions, there’s nonetheless lots on provide — significantly should you’re switching from an older machine.
Picture 1 of 5
Google went overboard with all of the AI stuff, and options like Finest Take make an actual distinction when taking pictures photographs. The characteristic depends on you taking three or 4 photographs of a gaggle photograph, and it routinely identifies the most effective pose of everybody within the photographs and applies that. It was a bit finicky after I initially began utilizing the Pixel 8, however Google ironed out the kinks, and it genuinely makes a distinction.
What I do not like fairly as a lot is the brand new digital camera interface; it now has a toggle on the backside that allows you to swap between photograph and video modes, and the addition of this toggle moved the shutter button additional up, making it awkward to entry whereas utilizing the cellphone one-handed.
That mentioned, the Pixel 8 manages to take really excellent photographs in any state of affairs, and it outshines its predecessor. Utilizing it alongside the Pixel 7, it is clear that the adjustments with the Tensor G3 and Google’s digital camera algorithms ship real-world good points throughout the board, and it is clear that the Pixel 8 is among the many greatest Android telephones on this regard.
Photographs taken in daylight have loads of element and correct coloration rendition, with Google persevering with to do an incredible job in the case of foliage and outside scenes. Whereas there is not any zoom lens, the principle digital camera does a good sufficient job in its personal proper at 2x, delivering photographs which can be simply pretty much as good as these taken at 1x. Equally, the Pixel 8 has the most effective wide-angle lens of any cellphone, and also you get the identical coloration steadiness and element as the principle 50MP lens.
Pixels have at all times been nice at low-light photographs, and the Pixel 8 delivers on this space as effectively. The Evening mode kicks in when ambient lighting is underneath a sure threshold, and it evens out highlights and shadows whereas nonetheless retaining the identical stage of element. Google’s portrait mode is among the many greatest within the business, and what I like about it’s that it does an excellent job with inanimate objects. So if I must take a couple of product photographs to share on social media, I simply flip to the Pixel 8.
Greater than the rest, utilizing the cameras on the Pixel 8 is simple — you get a terrific shot each time, and it is this consistency that makes the cellphone stand out.
Google Pixel 8: Software program
The Pixel 8 runs Android 14 and can get seven years of Android OS updates, safety patches, and Characteristic Drops. That is clearly greater than every other machine right this moment, and it is loopy to suppose that the cellphone will choose up the Android 21 replace sooner or later down the road. As to what options it is going to truly provide from Android 21, that is still to be seen.
As for proper now, there is definitely rather a lot to love. My favourite characteristic is Audio Magic Eraser. It is designed to take away background noises from a video, whether or not that is visitors or wind noises, vague chatter, or the hum of an aircon, and it really works extremely effectively. It identifies sounds within the video, and isolates particular person layers — music, noise, wind, and so forth — and you’ll then flip down these layers to scale back that exact sound. All of that is performed on-device, and it is rather cool.
Magic Editor can be a nifty device that allows you to alter the place of individuals and objects in a given photograph. You may choose parts in a picture to resize or edit, and the characteristic makes use of generative AI to make the requisite tweaks.
These are simply the options accessible in Google Photographs; the Pixel 8 additionally will get a nifty read-aloud mode that narrates complete pages. Google says it runs on the identical text-to-speech mannequin utilized in its information facilities, and all it’s a must to do is pull up Google Assistant while you’re on a web page that you really want learn aloud. It really works astonishingly effectively, and the narration is convincingly humanoid sufficient that it does not really feel like synthetic in any respect.
Except for all of the AI options, you get a clear interface that is a delight to make use of. I used One UI for many of 2023, and coming again to the Pixel UI is a breath of recent air; the intense colours and customized Google options go a great distance in differentiating the Pixel 8. You do not have to cope with any bloatware both, and within the month I used the cellphone, it felt higher optimized than its predecessor.
Google Pixel 8: The competitors
By guaranteeing seven Android OS updates, Google basically altered the dialog across the Pixel 8 and eight Professional. No different machine will get as many software program updates, so there aren’t many tangible alternate options right here. If you’d like an analogous design and do not thoughts lacking out on all of the AI options which can be debuting this 12 months, the Pixel 7 continues to be a wonderful selection, and it is a a lot better worth now that the Pixel 8 is hitting cabinets.
The principle rival to the Pixel 8 is the Pixel 8 Professional. The Professional variant has a brighter OLED display, extra cameras, and a collection of unique options you do not get on the usual Pixel 8. It’s significantly bigger and has a 5050mAh battery, and this time, Google went with a flat panel that is nice in each day use. The draw back is that it prices $300 greater than the Pixel 8, so you should work out if the telephoto lens and some extra software program options are definitely worth the premium.
Google Pixel 8: Do you have to purchase it?
You can purchase this if:
- You want a smallish cellphone that does not miss out on any options
- You are in search of significant AI options
- You need excellent cameras
- You need a cellphone with class-leading software program updates
You should not purchase this if:
- You want the most effective cameras that Google has to supply proper now
I like what Google is doing with the Pixel 8 collection. It’s providing significant options that prospects will truly find yourself utilizing relatively than chase meaningless specs, and that is a refreshing change of tempo. The result’s that you simply get a cellphone that has tangible good points over its predecessor: it’s lighter, simpler to make use of, lasts longer, has a smoother display, higher cameras, and can get greater than twice the variety of software program updates.
The largest cause for getting the Pixel 8 is the AI-backed options; Finest Take, Magic Editor, and Audio Magic Eraser rework the way you shoot and edit photographs and movies, and people are simply the camera-related choices. You get loads of nifty options on the cellphone — most of which you will not discover wherever else.
My predominant quibble with the Pixel 8 is that Google deliberately restricted the software program. I do not see why Evening Sight video recording or the Professional digital camera mode are lacking right here, and the one cause that involves thoughts is that Google wanted to create differentiation between the Pixel 8 and eight Professional in order that the latter can justify being $300 costlier.
That makes the Pixel 8 rather less attractive, however should you do not want all the newest digital camera options and are as a substitute in search of a smaller cellphone, there’s nonetheless sufficient right here to make a distinction. The largest factor in favor of the machine is the smaller measurement, and should you’re not a fan of tall telephones, you will love what Google has on provide.
The Pixel 8 has significant upgrades over its predecessor, and also you get a complete suite of AI-backed options that rework how you utilize a cellphone.