9.0
Google Pixel 8
Like
New design
Finest Take works properly
The brighter display screen
7 years of OS assist
Do not like
Increased value
Audio Magic Eraser does not have a dwell preview
Magic Editor is hit and miss
Some AI instruments like “summarize” do not work
The Google Pixel 8 is not like another telephone you should purchase in the present day. After testing it for practically per week, I noticed that the Pixel 8 and its AI options supply an early glimpse at how images, calling and even our telephone’s wallpaper may evolve. I would not run out and purchase a Pixel 8 in the present day solely due to these options, but it surely definitely reveals how AI will proceed to be built-in into our day by day lives.
For instance, there is a function known as Finest Take (which I hold calling Face Swap) that works when taking a couple of consecutive images of an individual or group of individuals. After taking the images, I can pull up a face and head editor (my time period, not Google’s) in Google Images and swap out an individual’s head with a special model from one other picture from the collection to get their finest facial features. The outcome is a photograph the place everybody’s eyes are open and smiling, if that is what you need.
Philosophically, this picture does not really exist as a result of the second by no means occurred. And but, right here it’s.
This picture by no means occurred. CNET’s Jessica Fierro and Abrar Al-Heeti are usually all smiles. Whereas taking a bunch of images of them in a row, I used to be ready to make use of Finest Take and alter their faces with these extra critical ones from different images. Are you able to inform that AI helped make this?
At first, Finest Take creeped me out. However after making use of it to quite a lot of images of pals and coworkers, I feel it is unbelievable and works remarkably properly. I can not see any traces the place the heads have been swapped. (Yep, I really wrote that.) And I nonetheless cannot totally get my head across the prospects that Finest Take opens up. It is the beginning of a path the place our images will be much more curated and polished, even when the images we take do not begin out that method.
Will Finest Take make us extra useless by giving us one other device to current a seemingly superb model of ourselves on-line? Or ought to I simply get pleasure from that I can have a pleasant picture the place my pals look their finest at that doable second? I am nonetheless conflicted.
This picture additionally by no means occurred. Components of it did. I used Finest Take to combine and match Jessica’s and Abrar’s expressions.
Beginning at $699 (£699, AU$1,199) the Google Pixel 8 is a perfect telephone for most individuals. And even in the event you aren’t within the AI options (and there are numerous them), the Pixel 8’s up to date design, show and cameras make it among the finest non-Professional Google telephones. The upper value appears price it and makes you notice simply how extremely reasonably priced the Pixel 6 and 7 have been.
Watch this: Overview: We Examined the Google Pixel 8 and Its AI Options
The Pixel 8 is smaller, lighter and brighter
The Pixel 8 is sort of a svelte model of the Pixel 7. It is shorter and fewer large, though it is really 0.2 millimeters thicker. It weighs 10 grams lower than the Pixel 7. Mix all that with the truth that practically each edge is rounded over, and you will find, like me, that the Pixel 8 is extremely snug to carry, with or and not using a case.
My assessment unit is the rose coloration, which in most lighting seems peach.
The Pixel 8 in rose.
The display screen is smaller, however so are the bezels round it. The 6.2-inch show now has a 60 to 120Hz variable refresh charge for smoother scrolling and the next max brightness. It is easy to see beneath brilliant daylight, particularly in contrast with the Pixel 7 and 7A, which look dim by comparability. Watching movies, taking part in video games or simply admiring mundane Android 14 animations have been all fulfilling on the Pixel 8’s display screen.
The again remains to be outlined by that large digital camera bar, which I like. Total, the Pixel 8 seems dapper and virtually stylish.
The Pixel 8 has a brand new most important digital camera sensor
The Pixel 8’s rear cameras are nestled in a digital camera bar that spans the width of the telephone.
The Digital camera app has a slight redesign. There are two icons on the backside: a photograph digital camera and a video digital camera. Once I faucet on the picture digital camera, all of the modes beneath the viewfinder change to photo-centric ones like portrait mode and lengthy publicity mode. And once I faucet on the video digital camera image, the modes grow to be particular for video like gradual movement. It took a few day to get used to this modification, however I am a fan of the brand new structure.
Additionally, the Pixel 8 has a brand new macro focus function that kicks in when the telephone’s most important digital camera is inside centimeters of a topic. I like this addition and located it helpful for meals and occasional snaps, the place I need to get shut sufficient for the cup or plate to fill the body whereas remaining in focus.
The Pixel 8 has a brand new macro focus mode that kicks in while you get near your topic, on this case breakfast.
The 12-megapixel ultrawide digital camera is identical because the one on earlier Pixel fashions. The 50-megapixel most important digital camera has a brand new sensor that Google claims can accumulate 21% extra mild. The front-facing digital camera can be new, however nonetheless solely has mounted concentrate on the Pixel 8 – in contrast with the Pixel 8 Professional’s front-facing autofocus digital camera.
Have a look beneath at a few of my favourite images that I took with the Pixel 8.
I took this with the Pixel 8’s most important digital camera at 2x.
This shot of a canine within the afternoon solar reveals off the Pixel 8’s dynamic vary. Discover the feel within the canine’s fur and the way it contrasts the feel of the ground’s wooden grain.
The Pixel 8, like earlier Google telephones, takes glorious images of individuals.
A shot of the Blue Angels flying over downtown San Francisco that I caught with the Pixel 8’s most important digital camera.
A slice of Medovyk from Veselka in NYC taken with the Pixel 8.
A Pixel 8 picture taken in Night time Sight mode.
Listed here are a few selfies I took with the Pixel 8.
Does the Pixel 8 take higher images than the Pixel 7? Sure. However they don’t seem to be dramatically totally different. Try the images beneath of the Manhattan Bridge. Each look nice.
Each of those images of the Manhattan Bridge have been taken seconds aside. The left picture is from the Google Pixel 8 and the proper one from the Pixel 7.
But when I punch in on the place the principle upright part intersects with the deck, you’ll be able to see that the Pixel 8’s picture beneath has extra element and sharpness. Discover the person rivets on the steel uprights in comparison with the Pixel 7’s picture, the place most of them do not present up.
Listed here are 100% crops from the images above with the Pixel 8’s picture on the left and the Pixel 7’s picture on the proper.
The Pixel 8 is outlined by its digital camera AI instruments
The Pixel 8’s AI options like Finest Take steal the present on the subject of the digital camera. By the way in which, Finest Take not solely works on images taken with the telephone, however any images in your Google Images library in your Pixel 8. I used Finest Take to swap out faces in images I took on the iPhone 15 Professional and Professional Max as a part of my assessment final month.
Finest Take solely works on a collection of images in a sequence. So you’ll be able to’t take a photograph of your self at 40 and exchange your head with one from a photograph of while you have been in your 20s. Additionally, the function works solely on individuals. However I can virtually hear Google’s SVP for gadgets and providers, Wealthy Osterloh, say on the Pixel 9 or Pixel 10 launch, “we heard you and we now supply Finest Take for pets.” Applause and cheers!
The Finest Take interface in Google Images on the Pixel 8.
Bear in mind the Magic Eraser that debuted on the Pixel 6 that permits you to take away a distraction out of your picture like somebody within the background? Now there’s Magic Editor on the Pixel 8 and eight Professional, which helps you to do much more. It might take away somebody from the background and even transfer your picture’s topic and resize it. I changed the sky, floor and even all the background in some images. Mainly, in the event you see somebody leaping abnormally excessive in a photograph taken on a Pixel 8, beware: that individual might have used the Magic Editor to magnify issues.
For instance, beneath is a photograph I took of CNET’s Tara Brown and Theo Liggians leaping off a rock. I used the Magic Eraser, which has been round for a few years, to take away the rock. It is apparent one thing was altered.
On the left is the unique picture that I took from the Pixel 8. One the proper is identical picture with the Magic Eraser utilized to the rock. It does not look nice.
Under is identical picture after I used the brand new Magic Editor. It is not good, but it surely’s an enchancment over the Magic Eraser picture.
The brand new Magic Editor did a greater job, however issues may look higher.
However why cease there? I attempted the Magic Editor a second time and changed the precise zigzag tiled floor and synthetic turf with one totally product of bricks. This obscured the shadow left from the rock and made every part look extra uniform. I don’t know the place the Pixel 8 got here up with the substitute floor since there weren’t any bricks within the precise floor and that is one of many downsides to utilizing AI this manner.
I used the Magic Editor to exchange the bottom and rock with one product of bricks. There weren’t any bricks at this park, but it surely does make the picture look higher.
A majority of the time, Magic Editor generations took a matter of seconds. It did not really feel like I waited lengthy. However there have been a few instances the place it took 10 seconds and one other one time the place I needed to shut the Google Images app as a result of it appeared caught. Finest Take appears like a extra mature function than Magic Editor which nonetheless has an experimental vibe to it.
Sadly, my colleague Jessica does not really float. Clearly this was made with the Magic Editor.
Right here is an occasion the place the Magic Editor went wild, changing the ground and partitions (undecided the place it bought this artwork deco backdrop from) and eradicating Jessica’s arms and toes.
The Magic Editor is numerous enjoyable, and I really consider it provides one other stage of creativity to telephone images. However it does so whereas elevating moral questions round picture manipulation. Thankfully, Magic Editor-generated images have flaws, or a minimum of the vast majority of the images that I used it on did. I can often spot the variations between images I utilized it on versus unedited pictures. The way in which the AI tries to fill within the background often ends in one thing wanting off. However not everybody could also be as photo-savvy as me, and I think about that Google will hold refining the AI behind it to some extent the place it is onerous to inform the distinction between an altered picture and an unedited one.
Right here is an unedited Pixel 8 picture with Jessica (entrance) and Abrar.
I used the Magic Editor to take away Abrar. Discover the way in which it stuffed within the background the place Abrar was, particularly the door and wall.
There’s yet one more AI-powered digital camera device known as Audio Magic Eraser, which might clear up audio in recorded movies for higher readability. It removes distracting background noise or music that may intervene together with your video’s audio. Watch the assessment video that accompanies this text to see examples of it earlier than and after, with and with out the Audio Magic Eraser utilized.
Utilizing the device was straightforward sufficient. Nonetheless, the dwell preview did not mirror the adjustments to the audio that I made, which looks like a bug. I needed to save a replica of the edited video to listen to the distinction Audio Magic Eraser made – which was spectacular.
Taken in complete, the Pixel 8 has an excellent digital camera system with numerous options you simply do not discover on the dearer iPhone 15 and Galaxy S23. It is fascinating to see Google, who has a superb popularity on the subject of getting the most effective pictures out of a telephone digital camera, nonetheless have the ability to match the likes of Apple and Samsung all whereas leaning closely into these hit-or-miss AI digital camera options.
My CNET colleague Andrew Lanxon, who’s reviewing the Pixel 8 Professional, wasn’t as enamored with Finest Take as I used to be.
Pixel 8 efficiency and battery
A facet view of the Pixel 8. Simply have a look at how a lot that digital camera bar stands out!
Google’s Tensor chip has by no means been about pure horsepower. As an alternative, it targets optimizing particular duties and powering all these AI capabilities talked about earlier. And that is the case for the Pixel 8’s Tensor G3 chip. Throughout my six days with the telephone, I by no means bumped into any efficiency points. Once I was downloading Genshin Affect and PUBG Cellular and setting them up, the Pixel 8 did get very heat. However that was the one time I observed this occur.
The G3 chip together with Android 14 makes the Pixel 8 a delight to make use of. There’s Face Unlock, which is as soon as once more safe sufficient to make use of for contactless funds, even with out the Pixel 4’s fancy radar sensor. There are unusual non-camera AI options like AI Wallpaper that creates an unique wallpaper on your house display screen based mostly on MadLibs-style prompts. You possibly can’t enter your personal phrases and are restricted to an inventory of phrases for every entry. I may use Google Assistant to learn articles aloud, and there is a summarize function that I by no means started working. Anytime I requested the Assistant to summarize a narrative I am met with the message, “Sorry I can not summarize on this system but.”
Name Display screen debuted on the 2018 Pixel 3 and lets the Google Assistant reply a name when you pay attention in. On the Pixel 8, the Name Display screen’s voice seems like an precise human. I can not inform if it is faux or a recording of an precise human voice, which reveals you the way far Google has pushed this expertise over the previous 5 years.
The Pixel 8 has a barely greater battery than final 12 months’s Pixel 7. Over the six days, the Pixel 8 had no drawback making it by way of a full day on a single cost. I am nonetheless engaged on working CNET’s arsenal of battery life exams and efficiency benchmarks, so verify again quickly for the outcomes.
Ultimate phrase on the Pixel 8
Google Pixel 8 Professional in blue (left) and Pixel 8 in rose).
The 2 greatest adjustments to the Pixel 8 haven’t got something to do with the bodily telephone. The primary is the value. The Pixel 8 prices $699, which is $100 greater than the Pixel 6 and seven’s launch costs. However the updates you get, just like the refined design, new show and most important digital camera enhancements, are price it. And the Pixel 8’s increased value is extra reflective of simply how ridiculously reasonably priced Google priced the Pixel 6 and seven in contrast with different main smartphone makers on the time. Exterior the US, the Pixel 8’s value enhance may be steeper.
The opposite huge function is software program assist. The Pixel 8 will obtain seven years of OS assist, which is longer than most Android telephones. However the Fairphone 5 takes the crown with 8 years of assist. Will the Pixel 8 survive till 2030? Perhaps? I do not know.
However in that spirit, I casually polled a few of my CNET colleagues over Slack to ask them what was the longest period of time they owned a telephone. Most stored their telephones for lower than 5 years, however a couple of of my coworkers had practically 6-year-old telephones just like the iPhone 8 and Galaxy Word 8. So maybe there’s an viewers for this profit.
I like to recommend the Pixel 8 to anybody coming from a Pixel 6A or older, or any telephone that is a minimum of three years previous. Should you’re making an attempt to determine between the Pixel 7A and Pixel 8, know that the Pixel 8 is best in practically each method however does value $200 extra. And by way of the Pixel 8 and eight Professional, you get 85% of that Pixel 8 Professional expertise on the common Pixel 8. The Pixel 8 Professional has a nicer display screen, a brand new increased decision extremely large digital camera, extra RAM and a devoted 5x telephoto digital camera, all of which the Pixel 8 lacks. The Pixel 8 Professional additionally has extra digital camera instruments, like video increase, in comparison with the Pixel 8.
With the Pixel 8’s launch, Google’s present lineup has a telephone for each finances: $499 for the Pixel 7A, $699 for the Pixel 8, $999 for the Pixel 8 Professional and $1,799 for the Pixel Fold. The Pixel 8 is not Google’s most reasonably priced system, but it surely’s a telephone most individuals ought to take into account. Its AI options, affordable value and 7 years of software program assist assist it stand out amongst its Pixel siblings.
Google Pixel 8 specs vs. Pixel 8 Professional, Pixel 7A, Pixel 7
| Google Pixel 8 | Google Pixel 8 Professional | Google Pixel 7A | Google Pixel 7 | |
| Show dimension, tech, decision, refresh charge, brightness | 6.2-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60-120Hz adaptive refresh charge | 6.7-inch OLED; 3,120×1,440 pixels; 1-120Hz adaptive refresh charge | 6.1-inch OLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels; 60 or 90Hz variable refresh charge | 6.3-inch OLED show, FHD+ (1080 x 2400 pixels) , 90Hz |
| Pixel density | 428 ppi | 489 ppi | 361 ppi | 416 ppi |
| Dimensions (inches) | 5.9 x 2.8 x 0.4 in | 6.4 x 3.0 x 0.3 in | 6.00 x 2.87 x 0.35 in | 6.13 x 2.88 x 0.34 in |
| Dimensions (millimeters) | 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9 mm | 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8 mm | 152 x 73 x 9.0 mm | 155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7 mm |
| Weight (grams, ounces) | 187 g (6.6 oz) | 213 g (7.5 oz) | 193 g (6.81 oz) | 197 g (6.9 oz) |
| Cellular software program | Android 14 | Android 14 | Android 13 | Android 13 |
| Digital camera | 50-megapixel (large), 12-megapixel (ultrawide) | 50-megapixel (large), 48-megapixel (ultrawide), 48-megapixel (telephoto) | 64-megapixel (most important), 13-megapixel (ultrawide) | 50-megapixel (large), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), |
| Entrance-facing digital camera | 10.5-megapixel | 10.5-megapixel | 13-megapixel | 10.8-megapixel |
| Video seize | 4K | 4K | 4K | 4K |
| Processor | Google Tensor G3 | Google Tensor G3 | Google Tensor G2 | Google Tensor G2 |
| Storage and RAM | 8GB + 128GB, 256GB | 12GB RAM + 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 8GB + 128GB | 8GB + 128GB, 256 GB, |
| Expandable storage | None | None | None | None |
| Battery | 4,575 mAh | 5,050 mAh | 4,385 mAh | 4,355 mAh |
| Fingerprint sensor | Underneath show | Underneath show | Aspect | Underneath show |
| Connector | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| Headphone jack | None | None | None | None |
| Particular options | 5G (Sub 6, mmWave); VPN by Google One; 7 years of OS, safety and Function Drop updates; front-facing digital camera has autofocus; 13W Qi wi-fi charging; 30W wired charging; USB-3.2 speeds through USB-C; IP68 mud and water resistance; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on back and front | 5G (Sub 6 and mmWave); VPN by Google One; 7 years of OS, safety and Function Drop updates; front-facing digital camera has autofocus; 13W Qi wi-fi charging; 30W wired charging; USB-3.2 speeds through USB-C; IP68 mud and water resistance; Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on back and front | 5G (Sub6, mmWave); IP67 ranking; 18W quick charging; 7.5W wi-fi charging | 5G, Magic Eraser, Photograph Unblur, Actual Tone, Face Unblur, Lengthy Publicity Mode, Motion Pan; Maintain For Me, Wait Occasions, Direct My Name Dwell Translate |
| US value off-contract | $699 (128GB) | $999 (128GB) | $499 (128GB) | $600 (128GB) |
| UK value | £699 (128GB) | £999 (128GB) | £449 (128GB) | £599 (128GB) |
| Australia value | AU$1,199 (128GB) | AU$1,699 (128GB) | AU$749 (128GB) | AU$999 (128GB) |
How we take a look at telephones
Each telephone examined by CNET’s critiques workforce was really utilized in the actual world. We take a look at a telephone’s options, play video games and take images. We look at the show to see if it is brilliant, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and construct to see how it’s to carry and whether or not it has an IP-rating for water-resistance. We push the processor’s efficiency to the extremes utilizing each standardized benchmark instruments like GeekBench and 3DMark, together with our personal anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution movies and taking part in graphically intense video games at excessive refresh charges.
All of the cameras are examined in quite a lot of circumstances from brilliant daylight to darkish indoor scenes. We check out particular options like evening mode and portrait mode and evaluate our findings in opposition to equally priced competing telephones. We additionally take a look at the battery life through the use of it day by day in addition to working a collection of battery drain exams.
We keep in mind further options like assist for 5G, satellite tv for pc connectivity, fingerprint and face sensors, stylus assist, quick charging speeds, foldable shows amongst others that may be helpful. And we in fact steadiness all of this in opposition to the value to provide the verdict on whether or not that telephone, no matter value it’s, really represents good worth. Whereas these exams might not at all times be mirrored in CNET’s preliminary assessment, we conduct follow-up and long-term testing in most circumstances.
