Google Pixel 8 Pro review

Worth When Reviewed

1 099 €

Finest Costs Right this moment: Google Pixel 8 Professional

€1099

Google has launched a number of the most spectacular options but for its new 2023 Pixel smarphones, although these enhancements do include a worth improve in comparison with the earlier technology.  

The flagship Pixel 8 Professional comes with a bunch of AI digicam options due to the all-new Tensor G3 processor, and tweaks to the design in comparison with the earlier technology. However are these modifications well worth the worth hike?

I’ve spent a while with this high-end smartphone that will help you determine whether or not it’s the following Android machine for you.

Design & Construct  

• Giant cellphone
• Three colors
• IP68 score

Until you’re a fellow tech journalist or a brilliant Google fan, you’d be forgiven for not with the ability to inform the Pixel 7 Professional and Pixel 8 Professional aside.  

As soon as once more, there’s a metallic digicam bar on the rear which homes the lenses, although this iteration now has a temperature sensor situated beneath the flash. The cameras are additionally all housed collectively in a single lengthy capsule form, which has a extra cohesive ‘visor’ look in comparison with the earlier technology.  

The remainder of the cellphone is constituted of matt glass, which has a ceramic-like feel and appear (the common 8 is shiny). It’s very premium, although it does make me nervous to make use of with no case in comparison with these with extra sturdy supplies (observe {that a} Google-branded case will price you an additional $29/£29). That stated, it does include Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and an IP68 score for mud and water resistance.  

The design is sort of polarising amongst the Tech Advisor staff. I’m personally a fan – the cellphone seems its worth and has a particular design language that units it other than rivals. It is available in three shades: Obsidian, Bay and Porcelain – black, blue and cream for anybody confused by fluffy advertising lingo.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

While many will likely be evaluating {hardware} specs between the 8 and eight Professional, you need to contemplate the dimensions. It is a bigger machine, measuring 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm and weighing 213g. It’s nice for watching movies on, but it surely’s not very best in case you have smaller palms and pockets (I’m taking a look at you, ladies’s denims). 

The chassis is constituted of polished aluminium, which is 100% recycled – mine had a satisfying champagne gold end that added to that luxurious really feel. 

To sum up, it feels high-end and is a pleasure to have a look at, however it could be larger and heavier than what you’re used to.  

Display screen & Audio system  

• 6.7in OLED show
• Stereo audio system
• Variable 120Hz show

Google has produced a knockout on the show of its flagship cellphone. The primary massive distinction is that it comes with a flat show, somewhat than a curved one like on the 7 Professional. It’s a 6.7in LPTO OLED Tremendous Actua show, with a decision of 2992 x 1344 at 489ppi. There’s the choice to show the decision right down to 1080p, do you have to need to preserve the battery life. 

In actual phrases, this can be a nice show for watching movies on and really shows the cellphone’s digicam wares in its full glory. It’s additionally brilliant sufficient to make use of below direct daylight – I by no means struggled with glare or seeing particulars on the display. It’s additionally bought Gorilla Glass Victus 2 in your peace of thoughts and an anti-fingerprint coating.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

In line with Google, the cellphone has a VRR refresh price that, when toggled on, can change from wherever from 1- to 120Hz relying on the duty. Nonetheless, my cellphone solely confirmed Clean Show as toggling between 60Hz and 120Hz. You can also’t choose a selected set refresh price past 60Hz as you may on rivals. 

The stereo audio system on the Pixel 8 Professional are loud and very best for podcasts and YouTube movies. There’s even a little bit of thump on the bass when you wish to hearken to music in your cellphone (although for the sake of everybody, please use headphones in public). No headphone jack, after all – RIP.  

Haptics are clipped and responsive, and there’s a sliding scale to regulate the extent of contact suggestions out of your keyboard – this comes turned off by default.  

Specs & Efficiency  

• 12GB RAM
• 4 storage choices
• Tensor G3 processor centered on AI capabilities

The cellphone comes with a beneficiant 12GB RAM, and both 128-, 256-, 512GB or 1TB storage (the final determine is unique to the US). That’s maybe a bit low for a Professional smartphone at simply 128GB.

The Pixel 8 Professional comes with an all-new processor, the Tensor G3. In line with Google, it’s the corporate’s greatest machine studying mannequin thus far, and is ten instances extra advanced the Tensor G2.  

Google has primarily centered on the AI capabilities of this chip, which the smartphone definitely delivers on. It doesn’t focus an excessive amount of on highly effective efficiency, and that’s as a result of it doesn’t match as much as different flagship rivals just like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, as confirmed by our benchmarking assessments:

Google Pixel 8 Professional benchmarks 

That stated, except you’re a large cell gamer, you shouldn’t discover these variations in day-to-day use. It’s easy for searching and multitasking, and swiping on social media is quick and responsive. I had one incident the place Instagram took a short time to open, however this was solved by closing the app.  

I even managed to play Genshin Influence on medium settings on this cellphone – although it took an age to put in, and the handset bought fairly heat throughout this time. Graphics had some popping and somewhat lag, however the truth that I didn’t must drop right down to low settings on this demanding title was a welcome shock.  

Cameras & Video 

• Wonderful major 50Mp digicam
• Superior picture processing
• AI enhancing instruments are a combined bag

This cellphone vary is understood for its implausible digicam set-up, and but once more, the Pixel 8 Professional lands a slam dunk. 

The primary digicam is 50Mp, with a f/1.68 aperture and a really beneficiant 1/1.31in picture sensor measurement. Which means the digicam can let in additional gentle, permitting for extra particulars to be captured and pure tones to be mirrored.  

The expertise is massively spectacular. Textures similar to fur, hair, grass and brickwork are captured with extraordinary readability. In dimmer environments, the Pixel precisely boosts shadows and colors extraordinarily carefully to how they seem to the attention. Even shifting topics similar to birds and water are captured dynamically, with minimal blur within the air. 

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Portrait pictures look inventive and have simply the correct amount of background blur – although you may alter this extra within the enhancing course of. Macro focus can be out there on photographs as shut as 2cm, permitting you to seize minute particulars in issues similar to flowers with unimaginable readability. Night time sight can be spectacular, preserving the sky a pure inky black while lifting tones simply sufficient to look genuine.  

The ultrawide digicam has been upgraded from 12- to 48Mp with autofocus and a f/1.95 aperture. Whereas the sunshine captured isn’t fairly as spellbinding as it’s on the principle digicam, a number of particulars are nonetheless current, and there aren’t any washed-out colors as you’ll discover on cheaper smartphones.  

The telephoto lens from the Pixel 7 Professional stays the identical 48Mp lens with a f/2.8 aperture and a 5x optical zoom. There’s additionally as much as 30x digital with Tremendous Res Zoom that counters hand shake throughout capturing.  

Photographs taken as much as 5x zoom are glorious on the Pixel 8 Professional. You may see beneath the extent of element is captured on the clock and the stained glass window. The digital zoom isn’t fairly as spectacular, however when you get good lighting situations they aren’t as blurry as I’ve seen on rivals. The digicam struggles extra in darker environments with this.

On the entrance there’s a 10.5Mp selfie digicam, with a f/2.2 aperture and a 95-degree extensive discipline of view that means you’ve got the choice to get extra in vary for selfies. I used to be impressed by the picture processing prowess on this, with selfies showing pure, although a number of errant strays of hair did blur into the background. The triple mic array additionally means it’s good for video calls.  

On the enhancing aspect, there are the same old Pixel staples similar to Astrophotography, Professional controls for guide capturing and Face Unblur. Nonetheless, many customers could also be drawn to the brand new AI digicam instruments.  

The Magic Editor lets you change the composition of pictures in a myriad of the way. You may mix issues similar to Magic Eraser and highlighting an individual to alter their measurement and place to fit your preferences. This will all be performed manually, however the auto-generated software labored effectively in my shot of my companion.  

The opposite headline function is Finest Take, which lets you swap out totally different expressions of individuals once you take a number of pictures. I’ve already expressed my ethical quandaries with this function (worries that had been shared by my family and friends who agreed it was somewhat hellish). Placing that apart, I can say that Finest Take is just not 100% foolproof.  

It definitely works higher on the principle rear digicam. It’s laborious to inform on some photographs that my face has modified, with the AI wizardry shifting my hair and neck extraordinarily convincingly. If somebody is going through utterly away from the digicam, then the software doesn’t at all times recognise them as a topic for enhancing.  

On the entrance digicam, a number of the traditional AI weirdness started to creep in, with facial options distorted in some photographs. Any rogue arms in the way in which additionally sends the software right into a minor meltdown.  

Video smart, the Pixel 8 Professional is able to capturing each 4K and 1080p at 60-, 30- and 24fps. One of the crucial spectacular options on that is the Audio Magic Eraser, which managed to cleanly muffle street noise beneath my speech, even when a large smelly bus pulled up subsequent to me. It couldn’t fairly do away with the site visitors gentle beeps, however I used to be nonetheless pleased with the outcomes. 

Night time Sight on video additionally implies that the smartphone can apply its low-light processing skills to movie recordings – I discovered that I used to be capable of choose up extra correct shades on my nighttime stroll than different smartphones I’ve used.  

Battery Life & Charging 

• Day-long battery life if used on decrease settings
• Helps 30W charging with Google’s brick

On paper, the Pixel 8 Professional has a barely increased battery than the Pixel 7 Professional at 5050- in comparison with 5000mAh. Nonetheless, that elevated battery life didn’t make a marked enchancment in testing.  

I managed to make it final all through the day by turning the decision and refresh price down. If I didn’t, then the Pixel 8 Professional would lose cost extra quickly. In our inside assessments, the 8 Professional managed 9 hours and 33 minutes. For a cellphone of this measurement, it’s a disgrace.  

Should you don’t have Google’s personal 30W charging brick (not provided as Google solely offers you a USB-C to USB-C cable), then charging can be sluggish. A 30-minute juice took it to simply 24 %, and it takes round two hours to get all of it the way in which to full utilizing a 44W Vivo charger I needed to hand.

Google’s one ought to allegedly give higher outcomes, with the model claiming a 50% cost in half-hour. Regardless, even that quantity is lagging behind some rivals similar to Xiaomi and Oppo. The cellphone additionally helps 23W wi-fi charging, and reverse wi-fi charging.

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Software program & Apps 

• Android 14
• Helpful AI options for accessibility
• Thermometer for object temperature
• Seven years of updates

I nonetheless mourn my smashed Pixel 3 (at all times pack your cellphone in a backpack when biking, children), so I used to be excited to return to Google’s easy and satisfying UI with the Pixel 8 Professional.  

Should you’ve been eager to get your palms on Android 14, then the Pixel 8 telephones are the primary telephones to ship with the complete model. The structure of apps is clear and concise, and there’s a extensive alternative of widgets out there. The At A Look function reveals the climate, date and might show different data similar to timers, recommended commute instances and extra. While helpful, it could actually’t be eliminated, nor can the design be altered – which can be annoying for some.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Generative AI wallpapers imply you can create one thing utterly distinctive by combining a spread of phrases. For instance, I requested for an impressionist fashion background involving volcanoes and ice cream cones and bought some bonkers outcomes. Some prompts solely produce one suggestion, that means that this can be a function that can probably develop over time. 

AI extends into different areas, too. Google claims that dictation on messages now helps extra pure language. The cellphone was capable of translate my pauses into commas, and even choose up on some slang. It’s not utterly correct, but it surely’s definitely higher than what I’ve seen prior to now. Google Assistant can now learn aloud webpages utilizing instructions similar to ‘learn this text’, which is nice for accessibility – it could actually even translate them into different languages.  

The thermometer (not out there on the common 8) on the cellphone can at present solely be used for objects. You may select from totally different supplies, similar to meals, drinks and forged iron, for allegedly extra correct readings. You then ought to maintain the cellphone 2cm away from the floor and faucet the button for a studying.  

Regardless of the IP68 studying, I did have minor palpitations clutching this £1,000 cellphone tantalising near my piping sizzling mocha, plus I’m not the kind of one who cares concerning the precise temperature of my foods and drinks. There could also be individuals who get use out of this function, but it surely does really feel somewhat area of interest and gimmicky.  

If the sensor may take a consumer’s temperature, then that may be rather more game-changing. The excellent news is that that is on the way in which, however Google is simply ready for FDA approval earlier than releasing it to the broader public. I’m glad to see the corporate goes by means of the right due course of, it’s only a disgrace that it’s not out there at launch.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Undoubtedly one of many greatest causes to purchase the Pixel 8 Professional is Google’s monster promise of seven years of OS updates, function drops and safety updates – that means that the cellphone is roofed all the way in which to 2030. It is a slap within the face to rivals like Samsung, which affords 4 years of OS updates and 5 years of safety updates, although that was beforehand the main promise.

Telephones needs to be constructed to final, and it’s good to see Google offering an business main determine on this space.  

Worth & Availability  

The Pixel 8 Professional is the smartphone for you when you’re on a premium funds, with costs ranging from $999/£999 for the bottom 128GB mannequin. It goes on sale 12 October, and US readers can get it from Google, Amazon, Goal, Finest Purchase, while these within the UK can get it from Google, Amazon, Currys, and Argos. Yow will discover extra contract offers in our purchasing information for the Pixel 8 sequence.

Let’s not beat across the bush – the Pixel 8 Professional has had a $100/£150 worth improve in comparison with earlier generations. Google has cited all the brand new options as a cause for the rise, but it surely’s extra probably as a consequence of market inflation. In any case, the previous couple of fashions have stayed on the identical worth. 

Nonetheless, this does imply that this 12 months’s fashions are nowhere close to as aggressive because the Pixel 7 line… upfront, that’s. That seven-year promise of updates imply that this can be a future-proofed smartphone. You would cling onto it for years to come back, and never fear about it shedding assist from Google (assuming it retains the promise).  

If digicam is king on the subject of your smartphone, then this is without doubt one of the greatest you will get available on the market proper now. Nonetheless, the efficiency isn’t fairly as much as the identical degree as different premium rivals such because the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. Try our chart of the perfect telephones for extra choices.  

There’s additionally the vanilla Pixel 8, which nonetheless consists of all of the AI digicam instruments, however comes with a much less spectacular digicam spec and a smaller construct. For an extra breakdown of the variations, try our Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Professional comparability.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Do you have to purchase the Google Pixel 8 Professional? 

The Google Pixel 8 Professional has lots of what you’d count on from a premium flagship cellphone. It seems and feels luxurious, has a number of the most intuitive options on a Pixel but, and the cameras are chic.  

For such a giant cellphone although, the battery life isn’t nice. It’ll get you thru the day, however not when you’re a brilliant consumer. Charging can be painfully sluggish in comparison with many telephones (typically cheaper ones) available on the market. Plus, some AI options similar to Finest Take are simply plain creepy. 

All that stated, the seven-year OS assist implies that this smartphone ought to last more any rival, which may make the steep price ticket worthwhile if similarly-priced rivals don’t catch your eye extra. 

Specs

• 6.7in QHD+ 120Hz LTPO OLED
• Google Tensor G3 chipset
• 12GB RAM
• 128/256/512GB and 1TB non-expandable UFS 3.1 storage
• 5,050mAh battery
• 30W wired charging
• Wi-fi charging
• 50Mp f/1.68 major digicam
• 48Mp f/1.95 ultrawide digicam.
• 48Mp f/2.8 telephoto digicam
• 5x optical zoom
• Tremendous Res Zoom as much as 30x
• 10.5Mp f/2.2 entrance digicam
• 5G
• Wi-Fi 7
• Bluetooth 5.3
• IP68
• Gorilla Glass Victus 2
• 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm
• 213g