Google Pixel 8 Pro Review – The New King?

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As noted recently, I think the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best smartphone Apple has ever made. I also think it’s the best looking on the market, and, possibly, the best flagship out there.

However, during that review, I also noted that the Google Pixel 8 Pro was on the way. This was significant because the Pixel 7 Pro was my phone of the year in 2022.

Could the new top-of-the-line Pixel knock the iPhone off the throne after a comically short reign?

Without giving anything away, let’s just say that this isn’t a ‘meh’ yeah for Google’s flagship.

By an absolute country mile.

Pixel 8 Pro: the important specs

I won’t list every spec here, because you can grab the tiny details from the Pixel 8 Pro product page, but there are some seriously interesting highlights.

The chip at the heart of the Pixel 8 Pro is the brand-new Tensor G3. We weren’t treated to a huge amount of detail during the Made By Google event, but we were informed that every subsystem has been upgraded. The G3 can also run twice as many machine learning models on device as the Pixel 6.

The net effect of the latter will become abundantly clear later in this review.

There’s a brand-new display, too, affectionally named the ‘Super Actua’. This 6.7-inch unit has a marginally lower resolution than the Pixel 7 Pro (2,992 x 1,344 vs 1440 x 3120) but not enough to make a noticeable difference and, regardless, it is so much brighter.

The Pixel 7 Pro maxed out at 1,600 nits. The Pixel 8 Pro has a max peak brightness of 2,400 nits, which joins the OPPO Find X6 Pro as the brightest on the market. For context, the iPhone 15 Pro Max tops out at 2,000 nits, and the S23 Ultra can’t go beyond 1,750.

Every camera system on the Pixel 8 Pro has been upgraded, with the focus being on greater light sensitivity across the board. The biggest winner is the ultra-wide lens, which has improved by 105% in low-light conditions and has better macro focus, as a result. The front camera has also been upgraded to include autofocus for “the best selfies on a Pixel phone”.

For anyone wishing to really dig into the camera capabilities of the Pixel 8 Pro, there are also new ‘Pro Controls’, which I’ll come onto later.

The Pixel 8 Pro comes preinstalled with Android 14 and a colossal seven years of guaranteed updates from the big ‘G’.

There has been a price hike of £100/$100, with the cheapest 128GB Pixel 8 Pro weighing in at £999/$999 and the range-topping 1TB version (which is currently absent from the UK store) costing $1,399. So, it’s more expensive than last year’s model, but still one of the most keenly priced flagships on the market.

 

Pixel 8 Pro: the design and display

Let’s talk colours.

Google sent me (and, it seems, practically every other reviewer) the new Bay blue Pixel 8 Pro. And I will not beat around the bush – this is now the best-looking smartphone on the market.

Fight me in the comments.

The shade of blue chosen by Google is muted but, somehow, equally vibrant in certain lighting. Unearthing it from the box was a real ‘wow’ moment – just like the Natural Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max. The only downside with the Pixel 8 Pro is that the camera housing is still far too easy to scratch – I would love to see a different material used next time.

The polished aluminium frame remains, ensuring the Pixel 8 Pro is as flagship-looking as it should be, and the matte glass back feels and looks very lovely indeed.

As for that Super Actua display, it’s as sharp and inviting as Pixel screens have always been, but the added boost from that ridiculous 2,400 peak nittage is very welcome in ultra-bright sunlight. It makes a real difference in those settings, and it’s clear that 2,000 nits and above is now the standard for which all flagships should be aiming.

Pixel 8 Pro: new AI tools

It’s at this stage of a Google Pixel review I’d normally speak about the camera system, but as impressive as that element of the Pixel 8 Pro is, there’s something far more pressing – and even more impressive – to talk about.

I’m sure someone out there counted how many times Google uttered the phrase ‘AI’ during the Pixel launch event earlier this month. I didn’t – but I know it was many, many times.

It’s easy to poke fun at Google’s obsession with AI. But I think that’s missing the point. It’s clear that, when it comes to the Pixel series, AI is fast becoming the differentiating feature for Google. And it seems that the Pixel 8 Pro has been granted exclusive access to some incredibly exciting AI-driven features.

The G3 chip’s upgraded components enable it to undertake AI tasks concurrently and with a far greater degree of competency than ever before. So, if you want your Pixel 8 Pro to read out loud the website you’re currently viewing, it can (after a long press of the power button), and it’ll do so in a variety of languages and with spookily human-like intonation. During my testing, it worked flawlessly and proved very useful during dog walks or car journeys.

The AI calling features also benefit from that new G3. Call Assist (which navigates phone trees for you) and Clear Calling (which removes unwanted background noise) have both been improved. Call Screen has, too; the tool that fends off nuisance calls will soon gain a feature that’ll suggest contextual replies that can be tapped for quick responses.

You can also talk to Google Assistant more naturally. If you “umm” and “err”, it’ll wait for you to finish and it’s also compatible with far more languages.

Some of the most impressive AI features are saved for the camera system. Magic Eraser has gained more superpowers, enabling users to remove larger objects from photos and avoid the ‘smudging’ that was often prevalent on the Pixel 7 Pro. This is thanks to the G3’s ability to generate brand-new pixels to fill in the gaps.

Magic Editor remains in its ‘experimental’ phase, but you can have some fun moving and resizing subjects on your photos, and the results can be jaw-droppingly impressive.

There’s a new photo editing feature called ‘Best Take’. It’s impressive enough in Google’s eyes to headline the Pixel 8 Pro marketing campaign, and it’s not hard to see why. Best Take is designed to fix the perennial problem of obtaining that perfect group photo where no one blinks or looks the wrong way. It relies on several photos being taken, but the results are impressively simple to obtain – you just select the expressions you want to include in the finished photo and the Pixel does the stitching for you.

However, my favourite new AI feature by far is Audio Magic Eraser. This analyses the audio track of any video (it doesn’t have to be shot on the Pixel 8 Pro) and gives you precise control over the levels of each sound within the video. Think of it like a virtual mixing desk; you suddenly get access to a fader for wind noise, background chatter, and environmental sounds (although it can detect more than that). The results are unbelievable. It doesn’t result in perfectly clean audio, obviously (you can’t polish a turd) but it does save what might have otherwise been dreadful audio and provides creative control in post-production that I can’t even undertake in Final Cut Pro.

There’s more to come, too. Later this year, Google will be introducing several AI-based features via a software update. These include Video Boost (which combines G3 processing and that of Google’s data centres to send your Pixel videos through a serious HDR+ pipeline), Night Sight Video (for improved detail and dynamic range in low light), a custom generative AI image model (for stuff like zoom enhance), improvements to Gboard, and more.

Talking about the regular camera performance after that lot feels almost pointless.

But it really isn’t.

 

 

Pixel 8 Pro: the camera system

Beyond the design of the Pixel 8 Pro, this is the most subjective element of my review. You may or may not agree with me, but I still believe that the Pixel series produces the best-looking smartphone photos. Hands-down. In any condition.

I’ve thought a lot about why this is the case, and I think it comes down to two things – the Pixel ‘look’, and the reliability of the camera system in any situation.

The look is, as I’ve described previously, a unique mixture of moodiness and vibrancy. While the former has reduced a bit since the Pixel 6, the lack of over-saturation and just the right amount of sharpness still renders Pixel photos among the most recognisable on the market.

As for reliability, the Pixel 8 Pro – just like its predecessor – never puts a foot wrong. This shot of my dog, Eddie, was taken in a very dimly lit room and, just like every pooch, the subject wasn’t sitting resolutely still for the portrait. Just look at it (and him)!

Once again, you may not agree with me, but these shots of Warwick Castle are among my favourite smartphone photos from 2023. And, to confirm, they are straight out of the camera without any editing.

Selfies are taken with aplomb, and I’m sure the new autofocus is playing a major role in the results. I couldn’t wrongfoot it, to be honest.

The Pixel 8 Pro remains a beast in low-light situations. We’ve reached a point where every flagship performs well at night and in poorly lit rooms, but the Pixel 8 Pro has retained the Pixel look when light is at a premium.

The new Pro controls are great, too, and once again reveal why Apple needs to get its act into gear with this kind of thing. The controls available are relatively limited, but welcome – manual focus (with focus peaking), white balance, shutter speed, and ISO can all be adjusted. You can also shoot 50MP images across the entire focal range.

What about video? Well, it’s impressive. There’s still the occasionally strange stabilisation moment, but the image quality is up there with the iPhone 15 Pro Max (and I can’t wait to see what Video Boost does later this year).

Pixel 8 Pro: the temperature sensor

The Pixel 8 Pro has a temperature sensor placed within the camera housing, just beneath the flash.

No, really.

I’m not sure about you, but I wasn’t expecting this and I don’t remember seeing it within the rumour mill leading up to the launch event. It’s a cool addition, though.

Accessed via the Thermometer app, the temperature sensor is designed to help you “measure the surface temperature of everyday objects”. To do so, you’re instructed to point the sensor within 5cm of the object in question. You’re also encouraged to select the material you’re measuring from a predefined list which includes food, cast iron, liquids, and different types of metal.

Google says it has submitted an application to the FDA to enable the thermometer to be used to take human temperatures (which could in turn be saved to the Fitbit app). One does wonder if this was the intended main feature which simply wasn’t ready for launch.

Is it accurate? I have no way of testing that personally, but it is a nice feature and one which would have been rather useful when we were new-parent-obsessed with the temperature of our son’s milk a few months ago.

Conclusion: is the Pixel 8 Pro worth it?

Despite all of the super-clever and inspiring AI stuff, the Pixel 8 Pro is still an awesome flagship smartphone – we shouldn’t forget that.

It looks great. It’s fast. It has superb battery life (particularly when it comes to standby time). Quite simply, it’s one of the best smartphones out there.

But what sets the Pixel 8 Pro apart from the rest – notably, the iPhone – is the camera system (subjectively the best on the market) and, increasingly, the AI capabilities.

The latter is not a gimmick. All of the AI-driven tools packed into the Pixel 8 Pro at launch (and those coming later this year) offer real-world benefits and user satisfaction that make this smartphone a joy to use.

Google knows exactly what it’s doing here. By honing in on the ability to extract the best images and audio from a device even after those moments were captured and bundling in the best digital assistant, it’s becoming harder to overlook the Pixel.

The Pixel 8 Pro is already a contender for my smartphone of the year and it’s once again because you get everything I’ve just mentioned for less than most other flagships – not to mention the best camera on the market.

I’ll confirm whether or not it really does win the award before the year is out, but for now, if you’re considering the Pixel 8 Pro, I can do nothing but highly recommend it.

BUY THE PIXEL 8 PRO HERE

BUY THE PIXEL 8 HERE

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