The new Pixel 8 from Google, AI enhanced photography, reviewed

We look at the new Pixel 8 from Google. See more about how to use the phone and camera here.

Pixel 8 reviewed

Our review team were looking forward to reviewing this product based on positive experiences with previous iterations of the Pixels. While you will always have people who love their iPhones, if you have not committed yourself to the walled garden that is the world 0f Apple, then this is a phone with a photographic punch and wow factor.

Naturally it is not all about the photography, which we will get to in a moment, but as the love child of the Google family, naturally you are going to get all the improvements and updates that have been developed across the board. In some ways the phone has got better, not solely due to the hardware, which has been upgraded too, but also simply due to the software improvements too.

This does mean a lot of photographic work can be fixed in post production. You can see how it is hard not to slip into discussing the quality of the images captured by the phone. In some ways this is understandable as the desktop of smart phones starts to look more and more ubiquitous, so it is often the camera that is the differentiating feature.

One other super positive aspect of the new Pixel 8 is that it came with a case too. The last phone, which was bigger, eventually died on us, due to just one too many slipping out of the pocket. This phone is slightly smaller, but this seems like a good thing, allied with the case if it ensures a longer life time for the phone. Both the 6 and the 7, which were bigger, perhaps suffered shorter lives due to their size, and therefore not quite sitting well and more secure in pockets.

Our testers enjoyed putting through it’s paces, and one of them immediately booted it up to take to a ballet performance to capture some furtive images by using the excellent night feature. This clearly gives the Pixel 8 a nose ahead of other phones close to or near it in price range. With the knowledge that you can also fix things in post production, this means you can capture a quick burst of images and then be confident there will be something probably as good as what the official event coordinator managed to capture.

We have heard good things about the Pixel 8 Pro and it would be interesting to stack them up side by side to see if the bang for your buck is enough to convince the Pixel fan girl or buy to make that extra commitment, but, for now this is definitely the nicest phone that the reviewers have had to play around with for a while. It is on the santa wish list for several of the team now.

More about the Pixel 8

Pixel 8 Pro starts at $999. It’s available in Bay, Porcelain, and Obsidian.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both feature fresh, modern designs with softer silhouettes, new finishes, and stylish new colors. Pixel 8 Pro is crafted with a polished aluminum frame and, for the first time on a pro Pixel, matte back glass. Pixel 8’s smaller form features a satin metal frame and polished back glass. Both phones are made with recycled materials. With their durable design and IP68 protection, the phones can handle slips, spills, and dust.

G3: the power behind Google AI on Pixel.

Google Tensor G3 is Pixel’s most powerful chip yet, and brings the latest in Google AI
to the Pixel 8 phones. Since Google Tensor was introduced with Pixel 6, its AI
capabilities have dramatically increased – the biggest machine learning model on Pixel 8 is 10X more complex compared to Pixel 6. So you get even more of the cutting-edge photo and video features that Pixel is known for, and new, smarter ways to get things done throughout your day. With the help of Tensor G3, Pixel’s Call Screen can now detect and filter out even more spam calls.

Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro both feature fresh, modern designs with softer silhouettes, new finishes, and stylish new colors. Pixel 8 Pro is crafted with a polished aluminum frame and, for the first time on a pro Pixel, matte back glass. Pixel 8’s smaller form features a satin metal frame and polished back glass. Both phones are made with recycled materials. With their durable design and IP68 protection, the phones can handle slips, spills, and dust.

Both displays are immersive, with slim, symmetrical bezels, and are scratch resistant: Pixel 8 Pro features Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2, and Pixel 8 is built with Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus.®

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