Google Pixel 8 Review: The Unexpectedly Essential Android Phone

When Google or Apple or Samsung announce their flagship phones, it’s the Pro or Ultra models that get most of the attention. After all, they have the best hardware. But that doesn’t mean the more affordable model lacks its charms and, let’s face it, the lower price point means the regular phone will likely end up as the big seller.

Google’s latest models are the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. You can read Forbes contributor Ewan Spence’s review of the pricier Pixel 8 Pro here.

The Pixel 8 is more expensive than the Pixel 7 by $100, and it has a smaller display than what came before. Before you turn away, it also has a lot more going for it.

Google Pixel 8: Design

We can cover this quickly. It looks pretty similar to the Pixel 7 with that distinctive phone-wide camera bar across the back. There are three colors available—hazel, rose and obsidian. All are gloss-finish.

Because the display is smaller, so is the phone. This means that it suits every hand and is a noticeably better fit than before. Last year, there was a choice between large and extra large. This year, the Pixel 8 is medium to large, and the Pro is still extra-large.

Google’s design has settled into a classy, easily recognizable shape that looks and feels good, and the Pixel 8 is the best version yet.

Google Pixel 8: Display

The smaller size isn’t that different, and the benefit mentioned above of a better fit in smaller hands is worth the trade-off. The display is flat instead of curved this time, which is the same with the Pixel 8 Pro. This could have made the phone less comfy to hold, but it doesn’t. After all, your hand wraps more round the back than the display.

The display has had a big upgrade, switching from a 90Hz screen to one capable of 120Hz, though this refresh rate isn’t enabled by default. It makes for a superbly smooth experience.

It’s brighter than last year’s, up to 2,000 nits against the 1,400 nits on the Pixel 7.

And the pixel count is the same as last year, 1,080 x 2,400, which means that the pixel density has slightly gone up, from 416 pixels per inch last year to 428ppi now.

The bottom line: it may be smaller, but it’s better in every way.

Google Pixel 8: Cameras

There are two rear cameras on the Pixel 8, not the three found on the Pro. Let’s remember that for years, Google only put one camera on its Pixel phones, making up for the lack of extra glass with software sleight-of-hand. That trickery has become smarter than ever with artificial intelligence in the mix.

That’s what is happening now, as well, with features like Magic Editor, which works like Photoshop without needing to learn how to use it. It means you can radically edit your photos, quickly. It works well.

There’s also Best Take, which is great for group shots, swapping faces from different takes to get to one where nobody is blinking. This worked fine, but I found it less enjoyable than Magic Editor—sometimes those wacky faces make for a better result.

The main lens has a 50-megapixel sensor and is a pretty big for a smartphone, 1/1.31 inch. The second lens is an ultrawide and has a 12-megapixel sensor that is a little smaller, though with bigger individual pixels.

Sometimes, the results of this camera can look a little over-processed, and this is a reminder that tech on its own isn’t enough: you need good taste in your engineers and algorithms, too. But that’s a manageable trade-off compared to the benefits the phone can offer, from turning an unusable shot taken in too-low light into something beautiful.

Google’s cameras have consistently been strong and these are the best yet, though the Pro has more, of course, and if photography is key to your smartphone use, you could go for the Pro. But even so, this is pretty good.

Google Pixel 8: Performance

This is one of the big upticks Google has been telling us about: the move to the Google Tensor 3 processor. It makes a lot of things possible. For a start, it makes Face Unlock much more useful. Face Unlock has been on earlier Pixels but it’s been absent. Now, it’s back and is good enough to be used for banking apps and payments. If you’re using it in a dark room, it probably won’t work, and you must rely on authentication from the fingerprint sensor. Face ID on the iPhone works much more comprehensively (which is lucky as there’s no fingerprint sensor on those iPhones).

It’s also what makes Magic Editor happen, which is exclusive to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, as well as other camera features. And above all, it’s what makes the phone run at speed, non-stop.

It adds capabilities to apps like that other Pixel specialty, Recorder. It’s the app that lets you record an interview or a board meeting or whatever, and you can watch the words being transcribed onto the phone screen in real time. It’s not perfect, but it’s way better than alternative options, and it’s done on-device.

Battery life is decent on the Pixel 8, lasting the day, though not with too much juice to spare. Heavy usage will see your mileage vary, of course.

Google Pixel 8: Verdict

Cool design, a better display than before and super-fast performance all make the Pixel 8 a highly usable phone that, unless you really must have the significantly better camera set-up on the Pro, is easy to recommend.

The price has gone up this year to $699, compared to $599 last time around. But that’s a great deal cheaper than the $999 you need to splash out on the Pro. Last year’s Pixels were flagship phones at mid-range prices. That’s not the case any longer, but the Pixel 8 still represents good value.