Google Pixel 8 Pro review

Introduction

The Pixel 8 Pro brings an updated camera system, an impressive display, a new and improved chipset, the promise of 7 years of software support, and an unexpected design change - what is Google's flagship phone for 2023 all about and should you get one?

The bread and butter of Pixel phones has been their camera, and the 8 Pro has no shortage of improvements in that field. Key among those is the ultrawide on the back, which gets a new, larger sensor, while the main camera and the telephoto get revamped optics. It may not sound like a lot, but evolutionary steps can mean a lot when they add up.

Super Actua display is Google's branding for the new panel on the Pixel 8 Pro that should go as bright as 2400nits - while we didn't quite get that, we measured some remarkable numbers elsewhere. The Tensor G3 chipset's performance in the things Google deems important is more difficult to measure, but it's undoubtedly an upgrade over the previous generation in the things we can quantify. Putting a number on software support is also somewhat difficult, but 7 does sound remarkable - years of updates, that is.

And while the Pixel design language has been mostly dialed in these last couple of years, it turned out that 2023 did still have something new to bring - or, rather, the well-forgotten old flat display. Time is a flat circle and all that.

Here's a quick refresher on the key specs of the Pixel 8 Pro before we move forward with the unboxing.

Google Pixel 8 Pro specs at a glance:

• Body: 162.6x76.5x8.8mm, 213g; Glass front and back (Gorilla Glass Victus 2), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 min).
• Display: 6.7" LTPO OLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1600 nits (HBM), 2400 nits (peak), 1344x2992px resolution, 20.04:9 aspect ratio, 489ppi; Always-on display.
• Chipset: Google Tensor G3 (4 nm): Nona-core (1x3.0 GHz Cortex-X3 & 4x2.45 GHz Cortex-A715 & 4x2.15 GHz Cortex-A510); Immortalis-G715s MC10.
• Memory: 128GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 12GB RAM, 1TB 12GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
• OS/Software: Android 14.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.7, 25mm, 1/1.31", 1.2µm, multi-directional PDAF, multi-zone Laser AF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 48 MP, f/2.0, 126˚, 0.8µm, dual pixel PDAF; Telephoto: 48 MP, f/2.8, 113mm, 1/2.55", 0.7µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom.
• Front camera: 10.5 MP, f/2.2, 20mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1", 1.22µm, PDAF.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@24/30/60/120/240fps; gyro-EIS, OIS, 10-bit HDR; Front camera: 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps.
• Battery: 5050mAh; 30W wired, PD3.0, PPS, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 23W wireless, Reverse wireless.
• Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Wi-Fi 7; BT 5.3, aptX HD; NFC.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers; Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.

Google Pixel 8 Pro unboxing

Not that there's a whole lot of unboxing to be done, really. The Pixel 8 Pro shows up in a rather standard half-height white cardboard box with a likeness of the phone printed on the lid.

Inside, the list of accessories is pretty short - you get a USB-C cable and a USB-A-to-C adapter to facilitate data transfer from as many types of older phones as possible. Sure, there's also a SIM eject pin and some paperwork, but nothing all that useful, like a charger.

Design, build quality, handling

The new Pixel 8 duo features a design that is similar to the previous generation, with mostly trivial changes to the chassis. Apart from the upgraded Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front and back and the flat screen, the Pixel 8 Pro uses the same materials - glass on both panels, and aluminum for the frame.

Even dimensions are almost the same, although the 8 Pro is ever so slightly shorter and narrower, probably due to the trimmed bezels. The IP68 certification is still on the list of features as well.

There are two other relatively minor changes to the design. Firstly, the corners of both handsets, the 8 and the 8 Pro, are rounder than last year, and the 8 Pro's camera bulge protrudes a little more than last year's 7 Pro.

 

Speaking of the camera bulge, now all three sensors sit behind one whole glass piece, and the LED flash is joined by a temperature sensor, but more on that later. The Pixel 8 Pro also retains the default Obsidian paint job and adds two new ones - Porcelain and Bay.

We have the Bay color option, which is a light but still intense blue hue that we haven't seen from other makers. Regardless of colorway, the 8 Pro's back has a frosted matte finish, which is pretty nice to the touch but it's also quite slippery. Fingerprints and smudges aren't easily visible, which is nice.

Moving to the front once again, we're greeted by slightly slimmer bezels, rounded corners and, as before - centered cutout for the selfie camera. A most unexpected change here is among the biggest design shifts this generation - from the curved front glass design of yesteryear, to an almost entirely flat one. The edges of the display are still gently rounded, making for a smooth, almost seamless transition into the frame. The glass is nowhere near being 'curved, though.

The side rails aren't quite the departure from the norm - glossy finish, rounded edges - for the third generation of Pixel Pros in a row. The usual bits are in the usual places too - starting on the bottom, we can see the USB-C port and the speaker grille for the 'main' speaker.

Bottom bits • SIM card slot on the left

Both the volume rocker and the power button are on the right side - nothing all that extraordinary, only there's the typical Pixel twist. The power button sits atop the volume rocker, which requires time to get used to if you're coming from any other brand of phone, but at least both keys are easy to reach with your right thumb (left index/middle finger works too). 

The glossy sides feel extra nice and are surprisingly grippy. Part of that has to come from the fact that the flat display means the rails get to be meatier than what the Pixel 7 Pro's screen curves allowed for. In any case, the frame is adequately grippy, and the whole device feels nice and secure in hand. 

All in all, even if you are coming from a two-year-old Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 8 Pro will feel right at home. Google didn't introduce any major design changes, and for the most part, the Pixel 8 Pro feels like the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro. That said, a lot of people may consider the move to a flat display a big deal and find in it a reason to get an 8 Pro.

6.7-inch Super Actua display is super-bright, actually

Among the key developments on this year's Pixel phones are the new displays, and the one on the Pro is particularly great. Dubbed Super Actua, the Pixel 8 Pro's panel boasts crazy high peak brightness - up to 2,400nits. The 6.7-inch LTPO OLED screen has a somewhat unusual resolution of 1,344x2,992px (for a pixel density of 489ppi), a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz (adaptive all the way down to 1Hz), and support for HDR10+ (but no Dolby Vision).

In our testing, the Pixel 8 Pro was good for 1,600nits flat in adaptive brightness mode - some 200nits short of the iPhone 15 Pro (Max) result but brighter than anything else currently on the market we've tested - quite the feat. More impressive still was just how much brightness the phone allows you to get in manual mode - the 954nits we measured was 100 more than what the Pro iPhones or the Galaxy S23 Ultra would give you. The small Pixel was good for a whole grand, but we're pretty happy with 954 on the Pro.

Color accuracy

Color reproduction is handled in the usual straightforward manner on the Pixel 8 Pro - you get just 2 modes with no extra sliders or color wheels. The default Adaptive mode delivers a more vivid output and respectable, though not class-leading, accuracy for our DCI-P3 color swatches.

The Natural mode, on the other hand, is properly excellently tuned for sRGB content, though conversely, it's less appealing in terms of pop. In either mode, there was no major color shift, so the absence of temperature adjustment capability isn't really an issue.

Refresh rate

Similarly simple from a user settings perspective is the Pixel 8 Pro's refresh rate handling - there's just a 'Smooth display' toggle in the display menu that enables the 120Hz maximum. Whether you turn it on or not, the phone will still actively vary its refresh rate all the way down to 1Hz; it's just that the ceiling will be 60Hz when Smooth display is disabled.

Indeed, the Pixel will be happy to dial down to 1Hz almost immediately after it stops registering touch input, when brightness is set to 20% or higher. For dimmer brightness settings, it will go down to 10Hz when idling.

The phone doesn't appear to be using 24Hz or 48Hz modes when playing back videos shot at those frame rates - or at least it doesn't report them, instead maintaining 60Hz, as per the built-in Android utility. If you have active moving content in a browser, the phone will maintain 120Hz (or 60Hz, if you've disabled Smooth display), but will still dial down to 1Hz for static content and no touch input. Smooth display is also there for you in games that support high frame rates.

Streaming and HDR

The Pixel 8 Pro supports HDR10 and HDR10+ but no Dolby Vision. We got HDR streams from YouTube and Netflix, with the latter serving FullHD resolution. It's nice that when your HDR video is playing in a window, only that window gets the brightness boost and not the entire screen.

Somewhat related, the Pixel 8 phones will now boost highlights when displaying images in the Photos app if those images contain metadata to enable it - OLED iPhones have been doing it for a while, and it's now made it to the Pixels, with other Androids to follow in the next year.

Google Pixel 8 Pro battery life

The Pixel 8 Pro is powered by a 5,050mAh battery - precisely a 1% increase in the nominal capacity over the previous generation's power pack. The inconsequential non-upgrade aside, the Pixel 8 Pro is about as equipped as the rest of the high-end devices in the Android space.

In our testing, the Pixel 8 Pro recorded higher numbers than the previous generation across the board, but not quite as high as to challenge major competitors. We clocked 16:25h on our Wi-Fi web browsing test and 19:33h when looping videos offline - not bad results, actually. The voice call and standby figures were less exciting, and those were what ultimately brought down the Pixel's overall Endurance rating to 90h.

Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.

Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage - check out our all-time battery test results chart.

Charging speed

One area where Pixels haven't been getting praise is charging speed - or, rather, we've been complaining every single time how slow they charge. While hardly gamechanging, the Pixel 8 Pro's results we got are a welcome step in the right direction.

Using Google's official 30W charger (but any good modern USB Power Delivery brick rated for that or higher should do just fine), we clocked a full charge from flat to require 1:23h on the Pixel 8 Pro - nearly a half-hour improvement over the admittedly glacial Pixel 7 Pro. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is also pretty slow in this exercise, but even the Galaxy S23 Ultra's not particularly quick one-hour figure is notably better. Similarly, at the 30-minute mark, we're seeing an improvement over the previous generation, but not really a truly competitive result from the Pixel.

The Pixel 8 Pro supports wireless charging at up to 23W when using the proprietary Pixel Stand or up to 12W for generic Qi-compliant charging pads (that adhere to the Extended Power Profile spec). Oddly enough, there's still no certification entry for the Pixel 8 phones in the Wireless Power Consortium's database.

Speaker test

The Pixel 8 Pro has the usual hybrid stereo speaker setup with a 'main' unit firing out of the bottom of the phone and the earpiece acting as the second channel. The top speaker is assigned the left channel in portrait, while in landscape, the channels will be adjusted to match the actual orientation. Regardless of orientation, each speaker will also output the other channel's track as well, albeit at an attenuated level.

Bottom speaker • Top speaker/earpiece

In our test, the Pixel 8 Pro posted a 'Good' score for loudness, a notch below the Pixel 8, as well as the Pixel 7 Pro, and pretty much every competitor out there. While that might sound like grounds for concern, the way the phone actually sounds quickly puts those to rest. It puts out a more balanced sound than the old model, has some good thump in the low end, clear vocals, and well defined treble - perhaps the iPhone 15 Pro Max is still a touch better overall, but the Pixel is easily a great choice if you value speakers a lot.

Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.

Pure Android 14 with Pixel-exclusive features

If you are looking into the Pixel family, you are probably into that pure Android experience, as Google intended it. However, over time, the OS pre-loaded on Pixel phones comes with some exclusive features only for Pixel users. This is still true in 2023 as the company announced the duo with new functionalities.

Pixel 8 (left) next to Pixel 8 Pro

Perhaps one of the most important bits during the announcement was Google's commitment to long-term support for this year's Pixel 8 family. The two handsets will receive major OS updates and security updates for the next 7 years. That's more than any other smartphone maker on the market. Even Apple's cap is 5 years. Google also assured that it will provide spare parts for its phones for that long as well, because software updates don't mean much if you can't change a broken screen.

As before, Google strongly emphasizes the software experience as a whole. While the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro won't surprise you with some ground-breaking and flashy features, they will potentially make your life easier, as long as you live in the right country. Just like its predecessors, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are the true definition of a smartphone as they offer clever features like call screening, real-time translation and a powerful image editing toolset. All of these features are possible thanks to Google's improved NPU accelerating AI-related tasks. Keep in mind, that some features require persistent internet connection as some of the AI-related features are offloaded to Google's cloud computing. But before we dive into the "smart features", let's see if there are any major changes to Android 14 as a whole.

There's no significant change over Android 13 in terms of overall look and UI design. If you are used to stock Android, you will feel right at home. The lock screen, home screen, notification shade, quick toggles, recent apps and the app drawer all remain unchanged. Except for this tiny little detail - the notification shade now has a list of apps running in the background, which could be useful for tracking apps ruining your battery life.

Lock screen • Home screen • Notification shade • Quick settings • Active apps • App drawer

However, Google is changing the way you can customize the UI. For instance, the lock screen is now much more customizable. You can set different clock styles and change the shortcuts that appear at the bottom corners on the left and right.

Customizable lock screen

With the new generative AI features, creating images is easier than ever, and a new feature allows you to create your own unique, high-quality wallpapers. The system menu offers 12 main styles to work with and endless prompt combinations of words and colors.

AI-generated wallpapers and system theme

Some language and region-related improvements are also at hand, with Android 14 allowing you to choose a certain regional language but still use a different measurement system, date and week formats, for example. Let's say you are a European living in the US. You can still select the US as your main region but use the (vastly superior) metric system. Language selection on per-app basis is also possible now.

Although Google doesn't emphasize those as much, the software team is also bringing some under-the-hood changes. Background management of apps, foreground services, user-initiated downloads and the internal broadcast system are all being managed differently in pursuit of better efficiency and longer battery life. Still, we wouldn't expect any truly tangible changes as these are minor improvements to the OS.

Google has been focusing on improving privacy and security for the last couple of Android iterations, and Android 14 is no different. Perhaps the biggest impact is on older apps. Going forward, Android won't support apps developed for Android 5.1 Lollipop and older. So, old apps and games that haven't been updated in a while will stop working on your new Android 14 phone.

Until Android 13, sending images to someone has meant allowing access to your entire gallery to the messaging app, but with Android 14, you can select only a couple of images or just one. This is another layer of protection against prying eyes. And if an app changes its privacy policy, Android 14 will bring out a new dialog asking you to give the app permission one more time, taking into account the new privacy policy changes.

Other notable changes to Android 14 include lossless audio support when using wired headphones and 10-bit HDR handling of images, so JPGs will retain more information out of the sensor and will be displayed accordingly in supported apps on Android 14 devices.

The updated NPU enables real-time, system-level translation. The Live Translate works in most apps and languages when it's written text. However, language support is significantly limited in interpreter mode. This is understandable because the AI algorithm requires more resources and better language recognition when natural human speech is involved.

The interpreter mode is perhaps the most interesting feature of Live Translate as it can translate a live conversation between two people, as long as they speak the supported languages. The transcription can later be used to be translated into more languages.

Live translation and interpreter mode

In messaging, on the other hand, the process is pretty straightforward. Once you receive a text message from someone in a different language, the system automatically detects it and offers a translation. The AI can also help you write messages in a certain style too.

Messaging translation and live caption translation

The Call screening feature was introduced last year and now Google says the new chip makes the experience better and faster. For instance, the Google Assistant can take a call for you, understand the context of the conversation and offer quick responses. It's a pretty neat functionality if you are on the go and don't have time to engage in a full conversation. Call screening also works when calling businesses requiring you to select options from a menu using the dial pad. The assistant will transcribe all options, which the robot lists on the screen, and let you choose. No more guessing and remembering options from the voice menu. The dialer will even suggest calling at another time if you are calling the business at a busy time.

Other AI-based features include the ability to transcribe a whole real-life conversation with speaker labels, even if the phone is in your pocket. It's a built-in function of the audio recorder app. It works really well for English speakers, and it might come in handy to journalists or people often making voice memos. There's also a search function inside the app that would help you find certain parts of a conversation. The new transcriber is more powerful than before - it's faster and removes all the "umms" and "uuhs" from your speech and records only real words.

The AI can also extract text and images on the go. In the recent apps menu, you will find two buttons - one for screenshot and one called "Select". Once you tap it, you can select, copy, share or select text from the screen. You can even extract images using this feature. Interestingly, the selection also works in the default recent apps menu with a tap-and-hold action.

Text and image extraction

Additionally, the Google Assistant can summarize a whole article into a few bullet points when opening an article in Chrome. This is seemingly Google's Bard-powered feature, but we couldn't make it work in our region.

Lastly, the more powerful AI algorithm is now ported to Google Photos. And no, we are not talking about the object eraser or the background blur features that come with the Google One subscription. Under the Edit menu in Photos, there's now an additional button for the so-called Magic Editor. It offers more advanced functionalities than the standard Edit. You can remove objects that are not human, move them around, change the sky, etc. The editor will offer three variants to choose from, but you can generate more if you don't like those. You can also remove background noise from videos, which works surprisingly well in some scenarios.

Magic Editor

One feature unique to the Pro Pixel 8 is the thermometer, mounted in camera visor on the back. You can use it to read the temperature of an object by pointing the thermometer window at the object and keeping it within a 5cm distance.

Thermometer app

You do need to pre-select the type of object you'll be scanning from the app, and no - it doesn't work for reading a person's temperature, at least not yet. That said, the welcome screen of the Thermometer app does look somewhat unfinished with just a single card for 'Object temperature' measurement, so perhaps there's a regulatory hurdle of sorts to be overcome before another card with 'Person's temperature' shows up in there.

All in all, the software feels buttery-smooth with no hiccups and has tons of smarts for you to play with. Unfortunately, most of the features weren't available in our region, so we had trouble trying them out, so keep that in mind when buying a Pixel as some functionalities won't be available in your region or language. And to finish on a high note, we really liked the haptics on the device, and there's a noticeable improvement in the fingerprint reader's performance - it's now faster and more accurate.

Benchmarks and performance

This year, the Google Tensor G3 chipset sits behind the wheel of both handsets, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. It's now based on Samsung's 4nm manufacturing process as opposed to last year's 5nm, which, in theory, means slightly better efficiency and lower operating temperatures. Arguably the most exciting bit about this SoC is that it incorporates a nona-core (9-core) CPU.

The CPU package has an unusual 1+4+4 core configuration. The main core is Cortex-X3 clocked at 3.0 GHz, followed by 4x Cortex-A715 cores ticking at 2.45 GHz, and 4x Cortex-A510 cores running at 2.45 GHz that are used for not-so-demanding tasks to save on some power. A new Immortalis-G715s MC10 GPU replaces the older Mali-G710 MP7, promising improved graphics performance as well.

The SoC also boasts Google's Titan M2 security chip and a new NPU for AI-related tasks. The latter handles the real-time translation features and the call screening features we mentioned earlier.

All versions of the Pixel 8 Pro come with 12GB of RAM. When it comes to storage, the very existence of a 128GB base version appears wrong, certainly for a top-end product like this one. While 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB versions do exists, we consider 256GB to be the only acceptable starting point at this level - and yes, the iPhone 15 Pro does start at 128GB, but at least the Pro Max's base version is 256GB.

The above charts do well to illustrate Google's approach to performance. On the one hand, the new Tensor G3 is indeed measurably more powerful than its predecessor, making the Pixel 8 Pro faster than the Pixel 7 Pro in all kinds of tasks - CPU and GPU-intensive workloads, with a particularly notable improvement in the GPU department. On the other hand, the competition is way ahead of the Google phone.

Pixel phones have never been benchmark warriors, and Google has often stressed that it tries to optimize its devices instead of ramping up performance. However, it doesn't sit well with us to see the Tensor G3 being outperformed by last year's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and by such a big margin at that. In pretty much all tests, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro outperform only last year's Pixel 7 family, but not the current crop of rivals.

Keep in mind, though, that if high-performance gaming isn't on top of your priority list, the Pixel 8 will do a great job in day-to-day tasks. The device performs excellently in non-synthetic benchmark scenarios.

Sustained load, on the other hand, might be a more relevant issue to look into. Previous Pixel generations have failed this test, but somehow, the Pixel 8 family is even worse at sustaining the CPU's frequency for long periods of time. Even the larger size of the Pro doesn't really help it much with heat dissipation under prolonged high loads.

CPU Throttling test • 3D Mark

Improved ultrawide and telephoto, same main camera

The Pixel 8 Pro continues in the footsteps of the previous generation with its camera system, offering a trio of 50-ish megapixel cameras on its back. In principle, they're the same setup too - a primary camera with a wide lens, an ultrawide one, and a telephoto that brings around 5x zoom. That said, there are several key improvements in the hardware, plus some software tweaks for good measure.

The main camera uses what appears to be the same sensor as last year - a 50MP 1/1.31" unit with 1.2µm pixels and a 4-to-1 binning to get from its nominal resolution to 12.5MP resulting images. What's new this year is the lens, now specified to have an f/1.68 aperture, as opposed to the f/1.85 of last year's model - we'd go with f/1.7 vs. f/1.9. The specified field of view of 82 degrees corresponds to an equivalent focal length of around 25mm. The lens is still stabilized.

The Octa-PD AF capability of the sensor is augmented by a laser, which on the Pro we have here is a multi-point system, while the smaller Pixel only has a single-point setup.

As is the case on the Pixel 8, the Pixel 8 Pro's ultrawide gets possibly the most meaningful upgrade. But while the small phone only gains autofocus, the Pro is treated to a larger and more capable sensor. The new 48MP imager has a 1/2.0" optical format and a 0.8µm pixel pitch, up from the 12MP 1/2.55" unit of the previous generation. The lens covers a 126-degree field of view and has an f/2.2 aperture. It still supports autofocus, of course.

The telephoto camera's sensor is the same size as before, at 1/2.55", and it's got a 48MP nominal resolution and a 0.7µm pixel size. The lens is different though - while the old one had an equivalent focal length of 120mm, the new one stands at around 113mm. Also changed is the aperture - from f/3.5 on the 7 Pro, to f/2.8 on the new model. This new lens is stabilized too.

Over on the front, the selfie camera features a 10.5MP sensor with a 1/3.1" optical format and 1.22µm pixels. The lens has a 20mm focal length equivalent and an f/2.2 aperture. The unit on the Pixel 8 Pro has autofocus, unlike the one on the Pixel 8, so while we appreciate the functionality here, we won't hesitate to point out that we don't quite get why the 'lesser' Pixel gets fixed focus.

Camera app and features

From a software perspective, there are some interesting things about the new Pixel phones. The new camera app now houses the settings pane on the bottom, and it can be accessed by swiping up instead of down. The app is also split into dedicated photo and video modes, with each having its own sub-modes.

An interesting change here is that the Pro and the non-Pro models have different camera settings. Both phones get the option to shoot in RAW, but only the Pro phone also lets you pick between 12MP and 50MP resolution.

You also get the option to force a lens choice, and the camera will use your chosen lens regardless of the light levels or distance from the subject. This way, you can avoid the phone automatically switching lenses without your permission. It's nice of Google to give you that level of control that Apple, for example, doesn't.

Both phones get a new menu with the ability to adjust brightness, shadow detail, and white balance, but the Pro model also gets manual focus with focus peaking, shutter speed control, and ISO. This, along with the previously available RAW capture, finally brings full control over the image capture experience that was always missing on the Pixel phones. Having said that, these are all software features, and gatekeeping them to the Pro model only is disappointing.

Both new Pixel 8 phones can also capture images in Display P3 color space, after enabling the option from the advanced settings. The phone will save the original raw data in a much wider Display P3 color space that can show a greater range of shades, especially in the green and red areas of visible light compared to sRGB, but you need an appropriate display and subject to fully see the difference. All images shown below, however, are in standard sRGB for compatibility.

Another cool thing with the image capture experience is actually in the Photos app. Like the iPhones, the Pixel 8 phones now capture additional metadata regarding the luminance levels of the images they capture. This information is then used to generate HDR PQ-like effect in the Photos app, where image highlights are automatically brightened when you view them, creating a stunning high dynamic range effect. It was always a cool trick previously found only on the OLED iPhones, and we are glad it is making its way to more devices.

Camera UI

Daylight photo quality

Quite expectedly, you can get some excellent daylight photos from the Pixel 8 Pro's main camera. While the 12.5MP resolution is no different than most competitors, and this year we're seeing an uptick in sharpening, the Pixel still renders detail in a more pleasing way than a lot of its rivals. There's hardly any noise to see in these photos, even if you look long and hard.

Tonal development is handled in the usual Pixel way with exposing for the highlights and relatively high contrast, so you may end up with slightly darker shadows than you'd get from some other makers' efforts. Still, we think there's a slight tendency towards brighter images this year.

The auto white balance is dependable and very consistent, with the slight lean towards cooler settings and a faint magenta bias characteristic of the Pixel M.O. We're also liking the saturation we get in these images - they're neither drab nor overdone.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x)

Unlike the Pixel 8, the 8 Pro does allow you to shoot at each camera's nominal resolution. Depending on subject matter, distance, and lighting, you do stand to get some extra detail by shooting at 50MP in the main camera, with no obvious penalties in the global image quality properties.

Daylight samples, main camera (1x), 50MP

You can count on some pretty decent 2x zoom shots out of the Pixel 8 Pro, even though they may not be pin-sharp when examined at 1:1. For example, truly random greenery might end up a little fizzy, depending on just how fine the detail is and how much movement there was while capturing the photo. However, less intricate scenes will generally look quite good.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x)

For whatever reason, the Pixel 8 Pro also allows you to save 50MP shots at 2x. These have a distinctly upscaled look, and we reckon they're not worth the file size.

Daylight samples, main camera (2x), 50MP

The telephoto camera on the Pixel 8 Pro is among the main reasons to go Pro and not vanilla. We're seeing some nicely sharp images with great detail and definition - a notable step up from the previous generation's somewhat soft-ish results - the new optics appear to be doing a better job. Global properties also live up to the high standard set by the main camera, so the dynamic range is solid, and colors maintain a

pleasing level of saturation and fidelity.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (5x)

The nominal resolution shots don't have quite the same acuity, and there are traces of noise to be seen here or there. Once again, we're not convinced there's a lot of practical use in the full-res mode.

Daylight samples, telephoto camera (5x), 50MP

The upgraded ultrawide on the Pixel 8 Pro captures excellent photos as well. The detail is great, and sharpness is preserved almost all the way to the extreme corners. Dynamic range and colors are also hard to fault.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x)

The full-res mode on the ultrawide is lacking in sharpness and is once again questionable in its usefulness. Still, though, it's nice that it doesn't come with any real penalties in the global properties.

Daylight samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x), 50MP

What's not debatable is the ultrawide's usefulness as a close-up shooter - not just for regular shots of nearby objects like the Lego items above, but also for the Pixel 8 Pro's 'Macro' mode. The implementation is familiar - the phone crops the center portion of the ultrawide camera's sensor to match the main camera's FoV. It's in this exercise that the Pro's ultrawide shows its superiority over the vanilla model, and brings you sharper, better detailed shots.

'Macro' samples

Low-light photo quality

You wouldn't be surprised to read that the Pixel 8 Pro takes excellent photos in low light with its main camera. While it's very likely doing at least some level of auto Night mode processing at all times under certain light levels, it doesn't always explicitly notify you of it in the viewfinder, though it will be very apparent when it does. We'd trust its process anyway, but we need some sort of structure to discuss its image quality, so we'll start with the samples that do have Night mode applied - whether auto or forced.

The Pixel's Night mode shots have very nicely balanced exposure with well-preserved highlights and just the right amount of boost in the shadows. Things aren't looking artificially brightened up, but it's not a 'realistically dark' rendition either. We also have high praise for the Pixel's auto white balance in the dark, which handles all sorts of mixed street lighting with ease.

Detail is generally very good - in the highlights and shadows alike. We found the Pixel to have a slight tendency to wipe out detail in certain textures; its noise reduction mistakenly treating it as noise, but it's not so pronounced or common as to be an issue. Overall, we're quite happy with the rendition of detail.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night Mode (Auto or forced)

If you disable Night mode and you're faced with a relatively darker scene, you can expect underexposed dingy photos. Better-lit scenes won't be as bad, and in more balanced light, there won't be all that big of a difference whether you have Night mode on or off.

Low-light samples, main camera (1x), Night Mode off

Night mode delivers better results at 2x as well. Detail tends to be a little better defined than without Night mode, and there is, of course, the superior development of shadows and highlights. Colors have more pop in Night mode too.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x zoom), Night Mode (Auto or forced)

Here's how these scenes look with Night mode disabled.

Low-light samples, main camera (2x zoom), Night Mode off

The telephoto doesn't mind the darkness one bit. While differences tend to be small here between Night mode versions of these scenes and their Night mode-less counterparts, we'd still prefer the better tonal development that Night mode delivers. We'd also argue that the Night mode images have better definition and less noise.

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (5x), Night Mode (Auto or forced)

Low-light samples, telephoto camera (5x), Night Mode off

Stop us if you've heard us before, but Night mode does make the ultrawide camera's photos better in most ways. Contrasty scenes benefit greatly, with shadows getting a healthy boost, while highlights are better contained and less burnt out. Once again, colors have some welcome extra bit of saturation as well. Also, the Pixel 8 Pro's ultrawide photos are thoroughly superior to the Pixel 8's - a predictable outcome, but one that's worth pointing out nonetheless.

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x), Night Mode (Auto or forced)

Low-light samples, ultrawide camera (0.5x), Night Mode off

Once you're done with the real world samples, head over to our Photo compare tool to see how the Google Pixel 8 Pro stacks up against the competition.

Pixel 8 Pro against the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra in our Photo compare tool

Portrait mode

The Pixel 8 Pro, a lot like the Pixel 8 proper, shoots portraits at two zoom levels - 1.5x and 2x, both captured on the main camera. There's no provision for 5x portraits taken on the telephoto camera. Since it's the same main camera on both sizes of Pixel 8s, and the Portrait mode implementation is the same, there's no difference in the end results between the two phones either.

The 2x default setting delivers good levels of detail on your subject. Softness only tends to show up in dimmer lighting, but even then the results remain okay. The Pixel isn't quite the benchmark in subject detection though, and if you look closely, you can see imperfections along clothes likes or even your subject's face.

Portrait mode samples, main camera (2x)

The 1.5x zoom mode isn't as sharp as the 2x one, and we'd tend to refrain from using it - the difference in coverage isn't dramatic enough to necessitate the 1.5x setting, we think.

Portrait mode samples, main camera (1.5x)

Selfies

In selfies, you also get two magnification levels, with the phone defaulting to a 1x zoomed-in frame. The 0.7x toggle gives you the camera's native FoV. Both modes output at 10MP.

The Pixel 8 Pro's autofocusing selfie camera doesn't give it any real advantage for shots at arm's length when compared to the Pixel 8's fixed-focus setup, but the Pro does have a tiny bit of extra natural background blur. Other than that, the selfies are mostly the same.

You'll have good detail and definition in your 0.7x selfies, so long as they're not backlit in which case the gain needed to bring up the exposure on your face up to likeable levels and the resulting noise reduction will limit the amount of pores you'd be able to count. Other than the occasional small misstep in white balance, we have little to complain about the color rendition or skin tones.

Selfie samples, 0.7x

If you shoot at the 1x zoom setting, you'd be sacrificing absolute sharpness a bit, but it's not that dramatic of a difference, so you'd be just fine if you prefer the tighter frame.

Selfie samples, 1x

Video recording

The Pixel 8 Pro can record video up to 4K60 with all four of its cameras (front-facing one included), and you also get 24fps modes on all, in addition to the 'mainstream' 30fps. The default codec is h.264, but h.265 is also available in settings. 10-bit HDR recording is also an option, up to 4K30. You also get stabilization in all modes.

The Pixel 8 Pro's main camera captures great-looking videos. The footage has ample detail, with no difference between 24fps and 30fps modes, with 60fps clips having the slightest drop in sharpness. Global parameters like dynamic range, white balance and color saturation don't give us any grounds for complaint either.

While still acceptable, clips shot at the 2x zoom level are more of a compromise in terms of image quality, and close-up inspection easily lets you know that there's some upscaling going on. Shooting at 1080p might be a wiser move, though if you'd prefer 4K for some consistency, these aren't as bad as to be unusable.

The 5x telephoto delivers excellent footage - again, without discriminating between 24fps and 30fps modes when it comes to detail, only here, the 60fps mode also looks indistinguishable on a pixel level. The colors are great, the dynamic range is nice and wide, and the exposure is on point - all is well, really.

The ultrawide left us with some mixed feelings when it came to video quality. It does capture excellent detail (notably better than the Pixel 8's) at all three frame rates - that's great. The dynamic range is also respectable, and shadows and highlights are well-developed.

What's not so awesome is this camera's white balance, which resulted in our balcony scene being rendered overly warm and yellowish. We observed a bit of that in the stabilization samples (further down below), so it wasn't a one-off with the balcony scene either. And it's not something we spotted in photos, so it's apparently a video-only issue. It's hardly a dealbreaker, but it won't go unnoticed, particularly in side-by-side comparisons.

The Pixel 8 Pro's main camera continues its strong performance at night, capturing good detail in its videos. The good dynamic range, spot-on white balance, and nice color saturation are also praiseworthy. The one thing that's a bit annoying is the ghosting from point-light sources, though it's still not as pronounced as we normally get on iPhones.

The telephoto has its issues at night, the most pressing one being its tendency to hunt for focus, though it will probably handle scenes with less depth a lot better. The other imperfection is the astigmatism that presents itself as these bright streaks from point light sources, but in all fairness, that's a common trait of most teles in the dark. When it does manage to acquire focus, the Pixel 8 Pro's zoom camera captures decent detail, and if you refrain from pixel peeping, you'd likely be satisfied with the results. Dynamic range is rather good for such a camera in these conditions, and the colors are hard to fault too.

The ultrawide camera on the Pixel 8 Pro is once again notably better than the non-Pro's when it comes to low-light video recording. Its level of detail is pretty good, on par with the ultrawide on the iPhone 15 Pro (Max). The Pixel isn't as good in terms of dynamic range though, with both shadows and highlights looking rather harsh.

Stabilization on the Pixel 8 Pro is very good to excellent, depending on how you look at things. The one thing close to an issue (but rather more of an annoyance) that we observed is that when initiating pans on the main camera, there tends to be an abrupt transition from stillness to motion. We only saw it on the main camera of the Pixel 8 Pro (not on the ultrawide, and not on the telephoto), but we also encountered it on the Pixel 8 non-Pro, so we're thinking it's not an isolated occurrence. More careful panning should help mitigate the issue.

That aside, there's nothing to complain about really. Both the main camera and the ultrawide do a great job at ironing out walking shake (though perhaps an iPhone is still a better option, if you walk a particularly shaky walk). Pans are trouble-free on the ultrawide and the telephoto, and when not panning but just pointing the phone in one direction, all three are rock-solid.

Here's a glimpse of how the Pixel 8 Pro compares to rivals in our Video compare tool. Head over there for the complete picture.

Pixel 8 Pro against the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra in our Video compare tool

Competition

Being the company's ultimate smartphone, the Pixel 8 Pro only competes with similarly top-tier offerings from rival brands. And with the increased price this year (€1,100/$1,000), looking at it from the perspective of a value proposition isn't quite as justified as before.

A Galaxy S23 Ultra costs about as much as the Google flagship and has a lot going for it - the S Pen is essentially a one-of-a-kind feature, battery life is better on the Galaxy, the Samsung cameras are about as close to the Pixel's in versatility as it gets. The Pixel 8 Pro does counter with unique features of its own (in supported regions), the longest software support in the industry, and, if we have to admit it - a camera experience which, if you're a fan of, you can't really be entirely happy with a Galaxy.

Pixel 8 Pro (left) next to Galaxy S23 Ultra

Another similar comparison is against the iPhone 15 Pro - that non-tangible and very subjective 'it's about how it makes you feel' debate. On the objective side of things, we have the iPhone's generally superior video quality and notably longer battery life, which the Pixel counters with €350/$200 of savings, though the situation gets trickier if the 15 Pro non-Max joins the discussion. We'd be happy to leave this dilemma to ecosystem considerations and personal preference.

Pixel 8 Pro (right) next to iPhone 15 Pro Max

Less obvious alternatives can be found too. For example, the OnePlus 11 can save you several hundred Euros or dollars (depending on who you ask and when, but around €300/$300), and it's only going to be a significant compromise if you're after long reach with your camera. Or, of course, the Google software, but that's a concession you might be forced to make anyway.

An unorthodox option could be a Xiaomi 13 Pro - we'd consider the Ultra, but that could prove difficult to track down. For about Pixel 8 Pro money, you could get a higher-specced 13 Pro with a 1-inch sensor main camera and a unique close-focusing telephoto - it's not the Pixel's camera system, but it's a hugely capable camera system that may align more closely with your wants and needs.

Last, but not least, why not an Xperia 1 V? It's about as Pixel-like as you'd get in this bunch when it comes to software, before you get to its myriad camera apps, and those can open a world of possibilities for your photo and video capture. And the Sony also has quite remarkable imaging hardware, even if not all of it translates into real-world image quality. It does also feature a microSD slot and a headphone jack, if you're that kind of person.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra • Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max • OnePlus 11 • Xiaomi 13 Pro • Sony Xperia 1 V

Verdict

With the Pixel 8 Pro Google has made strides to address a host of the complaints we had about the previous generation. No longer is the selfie camera a hit-and-miss affair, and the new ultrawide is also miles better than before. The improvement in charging speed didn't go unnoticed either, but the Pixel had so much to catch up here that it couldn't all happen in one generation.

Some of the old pain points remain, however, key among them is the battery life that's a bit below average. The in-house chipset isn't quite up to the standard of the day in absolute performance and doesn't handle sustained load with much grace. The limited regional availability of the exclusive software features also rubs us the wrong way, though a valid counterargument is that if Google doesn't sell it in your country, you can't expect it to work to its fullest in your country.

Moving to the good stuff, it's not just that the ultrawide camera is no longer a source of grievances, but the telephoto has been improved too. So, with both flanks of an already great main camera now covered, the normally excellent cameraphone is now somehow even better.

The brand-new display is now up there with the leading efforts in the industry - not that the old one was bad, it's just that this Super Actua panel is more deserving of high praise, than a simple 'yeah, that's good enough'. Similarly, the already stellar software support gets promoted to best-in-business - we'll see how quickly Google will forget about that 7-year promise, but right now, it sounds really nice.

When first introduced, the visor on the back of the Pixel 6 Pro was quite polarizing, but two years later, it's evolved into a somewhat appealing trademark design element. This year Google has also fitted a thermometer in there - we're not quite sure just how useful it is yet, but if no one else has one, it has to be a plus for the Pixel 8 Pro. What we find to be another welcome development is the flat display - even one of the biggest supporters of curves in this office has grown to appreciate screen protectors and truly trouble-free handling.

In the end, we think the Pixel 8 Pro is the evolutionary upgrade you'd expect it to be and then some. Google could have done less this generation and still charged the extra $100/€200, but instead, they actually did bring some meaningful improvements that move the series forward. We approve.

Pros

• Always evolving, the visor still makes for a recognizable design; the flat screen helps with usability and screen protectors.
• Spectacularly bright display, but also sharp, color-accurate, and with a competent adaptive refresh rate.
• Android from the source, exclusive feature set, 7 years of software support.
• Great camera quality overall.
• There's a thermometer on board?

Cons

• Battery life is not competitive.
• While improved, charging speed is still behind the curve.
• Some software features are limited to certain countries.
• The Tensor G3 chipset doesn't compare well in raw performance or stability under load.

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