The Google Pixel 8 Review – The Best Android Phone?

Everytime a new product comes out with some awesome new features that haven’t been seen before, people will be in awe and curious to see what it’s all about. The new Pixel 8 does just this and sparks interest and curiosity in those around it, with its new features. 

Some of these awesome new features include the ability to create the ‘perfect’ group photo by choosing the best looking faces from multiple shots, removing background noise from your videos, or changing a mid-day photo into sunset without the need for any Photoshop. This is all thanks to Google Pixel 8’s on board AI. 

You may be sick of hearing the word “AI” all the time, but Google really does a great job at backing up all of this hype with lots of Google Pixel 8 features that not only make your life a little easier but also a lot more fun. Not only does this new phone have some cool features, it also has a brighter display as well as a longer battery life, all together making it one of, if not the, best android phone in the world at the moment. 

Specs
Price	From $699
OS	Android 14
Processor	Tensor G3
RAM	8GB
Storage	128GB, 256GB
Display	6.2 OLED, 120Hz
Rear Cameras	50MP main (f/1.68) with a 8x Super Res Zoom, 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2)
Front Camera	10.5MP (f/2.2)
Video	4K up to 60 fps
Battery	4,575 mAh
Charging	30W

The New Design & Colours

Some people will actually say that they tend to enjoy the feeling of the Pixel 8 in their pocket whilst walking around over some flagship models, such as the new iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S23. For those who like phones that have more rounded corners and a contoured design, the Pixel 8 might be the choice for you. With this new design, as well as its smaller size compared to the 6.3 inch Pixel 7, the phone is really comfortable to hold when you’re using it. 

The new Pixel 8 from Google is a really comfortable size and measures in at 5.9 x 2.8 x 0.4 inches and weighs in at 6.6 ounces, which is both smaller and lighter than the Pixel 7. The biggest disadvantage with this phone’s new design is the thickness of the phone, which is because of its huge camera bar on the rear of the phone. Some people may actually like this though as it gives the Pixel 8 a distinctive look and you’ll immediately be able to tell that it is a Pixel phone just by glancing at it. 

You’ll be able to opt for this phone in either Rose, Hazel or Obsidian. The rear of the phone is glass and is polished, which is the opposite of the matte finish found on the Pixel 8 Pro. Although a lot of people may prefer the matte finish, the Pixel 8 actually does a pretty good job when it comes to resisting fingerprints. 

Display

When it comes to the display of the new Pixel 8, it truly is one of the biggest upgrades that Google have done to their smartphone. The phone now gets an Actua display, which has given a big increase in brightness, which was quite a concern in the Pixel 7’s OLED display as it was too dim to use outside in the direct sunlight. 

The new Google Pixel 8 is equipped with a 6.2 inch screen that has been rated to have a total of 1,400 nits with HDR content and then furthermore a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, which is definitely quite a distinctive jump from the Pixel 7 from last year, which had a maximum brightness of 1,400 nits and 1,000 nits when it came to its HDR content. 

Cameras

When looking to the rear of the Google Pixel 8 you’ll be greeted with the same dual lenses on the rear, however you will also get a new feature with the camera, which is its new macro close-up mode, using the ultrawide camera. Furthermore there are even quite a few AI camera features that are also really impressive. 

With the Pixel 8, you’ll get a 50MP main wide camera that has a much more advanced image processing that is able to give users more vivid colours as well as details in their images. This main camera is paired up with a 12MP ultrawide camera, which is also improved and now has a 125.8 degree view compared to the 114 degree view that the Pixel 7 had. 

Sadly when you move to the front of the Pixel 8, its camera has a faintly lower resolution of 10.5MP, compared to the Pixel 7, which instead had 10.8MP. However instead you’ll get an increased field of view from 92.8 degrees to 95 degrees. 

Best Take

Just hearing these numbers don’t really make the Pixel 8 sound very interesting, it is what you can do after you’ve taken a shot that makes these cameras so special. An example of this is their Best Take feature, which is essentially able to look at a group of photos and then use a generative AI in order to produce what it would deem as the best-looking shot. This is definitely a feature that can come in extremely handy when you are taking group pictures and want to make sure that now one is blinking or has an awkward look on their face.

Furthermore, with this feature you are even able to tap on the faces in your shot and then choose the pose that you prefer the most. Although this process may take some time and sometimes the faces may look a little weird on people’s bodies, Best Take is overall quite smart. 

Magic Editor

Now another example of some of the awesome camera features that the Google Pixel 8 has is called Magic Editor, and what this feature allows you to do is actually manipulate the subjects of your picture in new ways. So for example you can select yourself in a photo and then choose to move yourself around. Although you can easily see that the photo has been photoshopped it is still quite an entertaining process to play around with. 

This isn’t where Magic Editors skills stop though because it can even change the way the sky and the lighting look in your shots, which means you could use it to change the time of the day in your photo if you may so please. 

Audio Magic Eraser

There is a really cool feature that this phone has when it comes to taking videos and that is its Audio Magic Eraser. What this tool can do is remove background noise from any of your clips so that you can put more emphasis on what you may actually want to hear, whether this is music or just someone talking. 

This is definitely a great feature for those who may live in extremely windy areas or near the ocean where there may be waves creasing and wind noise in the background of your videos, resulting in it being quite difficult for people to actually hear what you’re saying clearly. Audio Magic Eraser helps you decide exactly how much of this background noise you want to remove, easily with a simple slider control and some separate buttons for speech, wind and noise. 

Performance & AI Features

Inside of the Google Pixel 8, you’ll find the new Tensor G3 chip that comes with better CPU performances and even better graphics, however the real advantages with this chip comes with the Pixel 8’s AI capabilities. Compared to the original Tensor silicon that came in the Pixel 6 smartphone, the new Google Pixel 8 is able to run double the amount of machine learning models on-device. 

An example of where the Pixel 8 has improved a lot is in its improved Call Screen screen feature. You’ll be really impressed with Google here as the virtual Google Assistant is not only able to answer your call but it now does so with a much more natural-sounding voice. So when someone calls you and your Google Assistant answers, you’ll be able to read the caller’s words in real time. 

Furthermore, the Pixel 8 is even smart enough to summarise any web page that you’re reading in just a matter of a few seconds. All you’ll have to do to use this is long press the power button and then either tap or say summarise and you’ll get a few key bullet points for you to glance over quickly. 

This isn’t where the AI features stop though, even the Pixel 8 keyboard gets an AI boost with its all new ‘proofread’ button. All you need to do to read this is just press on the button after you’ve typed something out and then you’ll get some highlighted suggestions on changes to make that you will be able to either accept or decline. 

Battery Life & Charging

Some great news with the new Google Pixel 8 is that the battery life has been greatly improved from last year’s model, however it is sadly still behind the top flagship smartphones still, such as the Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone. The Google Pixel 7 lasted for around 7.5 hours whilst the new Pixel 8 is able to push 9 hours in its 60Hz mode and over 9.5 hours in its smooth mode (120Hz), both surfing the web with a screen brightness of 150 nits. 

When it comes to the charging of this device, it performs pretty well as it supports 30W charging. Thanks to this, the Pixel 8 is able to reach 60% in just 30 minutes, which actually beats the likes of the iPhone 15, which reached 53% in the same time, as well as the Galaxy S23, which reached 55%. 

Final Words

The Pixel 8 smartphone from Google is definitely an extremely entertaining smartphone as it shows you what is really possible when you have some really intelligent hardware and software working together and trying to leverage what AI is capable of. Furthermore, the Pixel 8 has also received some much needed improvement in its display brightness, battery life as well as an added macro mode for the camera. 

All in all, even though the Pixel 8 costs $100 more than the Pixel 7, it is still priced very well and undercuts both the iPhone 15 and GAlaxy S23 by $100, whilst still almost offering just as much as what they have to offer. Although there are many that will rather want to opt for the iPhone 15 for its much longer battery life and better performance, or the Galaxy S23 as you get a great telephoto zoom lens, the Pixel 8 is still quite a great camera phone and is an all-around deal for the money.