Google Pixel 8: A Comprehensive Review

Google has recently released the Pixel 8, a new addition to their flagship smartphone lineup. This article provides a detailed review of the Google Pixel 8.

Design and Display

The Google Pixel 8 comes with a slightly refreshed look. It is more compact and has a brighter display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The phone features a 6.2-inch OLED screen, making it attractive and pocket-friendly.

Performance and AI Features

The Pixel 8 is powered by the new Tensor G3 chip, which puts it on equal footing with the 8 Pro when it comes to AI photo, text, and automation prowess. It also comes with both local and cloud-based Tensor processing units (TPUs).

Let's look at some of the best features:

1. AI Call Assistant - Call Screen It will silently answer calls from unknown numbers with a more natural-sounding voice to engage the caller. It’s also smart enough to separate the calls you want from the calls you don’t.
2. Unblur Photos - Whether your blurry photos are old, new, taken in low light, or even taken on another device. Photo Unblur uses Google AI to fix them.
3. Best Take for Group Photos - Best Take automatically creates the perfect group photo, even if everyone's not looking at the camera. It's also a great way to get a photo of everyone in the group, even if some people are blinking or making funny faces.
4. Magic Editor - Magic Editor uses AI to make complex photo edits easy. You can resize or reposition your subject, change the lighting and background, and even remove unwanted objects.
5. Audio Magic Eraser - Audio Magic Eraser removes distracting background noise from your videos. You can use it to reduce the sound of people talking in the background, music, or wind.
6. Summarize Web Pages - Pixel can generate a summary of a webpage, so you can quickly understand the key points. You can summarize text in different ways, such as by focusing on the key points, the main arguments, or the overall tone.
7. Zoom Enhance - Zoom Enhance uses generative AI to fill in gaps between pixels. It also predicts fine details. This opens up more possibilities for framing and focusing on the most important part of a photo.
8. Gboard Got Upgraded - Google keyboard (Gboard) is now AI-powered! Gboard will now be able to suggest different ways to phrase a sentence to achieve the desired tone. This is especially useful for writing emails or social media posts.

Camera

The camera hardware doesn’t seem to have changed much from the Pixel 7. The phone has two rear cameras - a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultra-wide. Despite not having as many lenses or pixels as the Pixel 8 Pro, these cameras are nothing to sneeze at. The ultra-wide camera now offers a proper macro mode.

Battery Life

The Pixel 8 packs an impressively large battery that virtually matches the larger phone’s promised battery life.

Software Updates

One of the most impressive features of the Pixel 8 is that Google is providing seven years of OS and security updates, making the phone seriously future-proof.

Price

The Pixel 8 starts at $699, which is $100 more than the previous Pixel 7. Despite this price hike, it could still be one of the best phone values around.

Verdict

The Google Pixel 8 could be the smartest phone yet with all of its new AI features. It delivers supersmart AI camera features and a brighter display in a more compact design. However, it comes with a price hike. Despite some minor design changes and minimal camera upgrades over the Pixel 7, given its size, AI capabilities, looks, and price, it might be a value winner for Google.