Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Google Pixel 8 in Obsidian is a sleek powerhouse that's set a new standard for smartphones. The 128GB unlocked version not only looks stunning with its glossy obsidian finish, but it also feels premium in the hand, balancing sophistication and functionality. I would say, its performance is nothing short of impressive thanks to Google’s new Tensor G3 chip, which powers seamless multitasking, fast app launches, and smooth transitions. The 6.2-inch OLED display is incredibly vibrant, offering rich colors and deep blacks that enhance everything from streaming to scrolling through photos. Speaking of photos, Google has once again outdone itself with the Pixel's camera. Low light, portrait shots, or landscape photos – it captures every detail with exceptional clarity and natural color. The new AI-powered features add extra magic, making photo editing easy and intuitive. Battery life on the Pixel 8 is fantastic, easily lasting a full day even with heavy use, and the quick charge feature is a lifesaver for anyone on the go. Google has also committed to long-term software support, making this phone a future-proof investment. Plus, it’s loaded with smart Google features and integrations that make everyday tasks a breeze. If you're looking for a phone that combines cutting-edge technology, a premium design, and a stellar camera experience, the Pixel 8 in Obsidian is a top choice. It’s the perfect blend of style, performance, and functionality, and it's well worth every penny.

**Google Pixel 8 Review: A Powerful, Compact Flagship** **Pros:** * **Excellent camera:** Captures stunning photos and videos in any lighting. * **Smooth performance:** Tensor G3 chip handles demanding tasks with ease. * **Vibrant display:** 6.2-inch OLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate. * **Long battery life:** Lasts a full day on a single charge. * **Clean software:** Android 14 with 7 years of updates. **Cons:** * **Pricey:** I got it on deal but original price is bit more for the product. * **No telephoto lens:** Zoom capabilities are limited. * **Can get warm:** Under heavy use. **Overall:** The Pixel 8 is a top-tier Android phone with a fantastic camera, smooth performance, and long battery life. It's a great choice for those who want a compact flagship phone with a clean software experience.

As a digital creator, having a phone with a high quality camera and good battery life is integral to my workflow. After using the Pixel 7 for a year, I decided I wanted to give the Pixel 8 a try. This is now my third Pixel phone with the new Tensor processor and the Pixel 8 has the smallest build yet, which pairs nicely with my small hands. The transition from the Pixel 7 to the Pixel 8 went smoothly, albeit timely. I appreciate that the layout of all my apps & home page matches my old phone so I could just transfer and continue using a device that I’m already familiar with. I received this phone just in time to take it to Disney World in Florida. I love capturing media at theme parks and events so I was excited to get nice photos of my trip. I’ve never met a Pixel phone camera I didn’t like, given good lighting conditions. Lighting is everything! If the environment is low light, the Pixel 8 has the potential to do well if it’s placed propped up or on a mount. I use the camera app and Google Photos a lot, so the main thing I wanted to see was an improved camera. The phone’s UI is visually very similar to my previous two Pixels, so I want to focus on the camera performance. CAMERA APP The camera app is pretty user friendly. The latest update has its differences, but the UI is not hard to get used to. I LOVE Portrait Mode, especially for photos of my dog. So many modes to choose from, yet the regular Photo mode does a great job of quickly capturing moments. Night Sight really does capture low-light photos with a lot of dimension, but of course, always remain as still as possible as it can take a few seconds. You can even adjust Brightness, Shadows, and White Balance right in camera, instead of changing those settings in post. I’d say the Camera app is in my top 5 apps used on this phone overall. REAR CAMERA The Pixel 8 rear camera features its new .5x 12MP ultrawide camera capabilities. Wider than what its predecessor could achieve, the field of view gets up to 125.8 degrees in comparison to the Pixel 7’s 114 degree field of view (.7x 12MP). Of course, when you’re using the ultrawide camera, you lose the higher quality of the main camera which on the Pixel 8 has a f/1.68 aperture, an improvement on the f/1.85 aperture on the Pixel 7. Main camera features like the 82 degree field of view, the sensor size, and the Super Res Zoom (8x) are identical to the previous version. Looking into the specs more, I would have liked to try the Pixel 8 Pro, so if you’re wanting more from the rear camera, I’d check out the Pixel 8 Pro for the high quality ultrawide and telephoto lenses. My favorite upgrade to the rear camera is the macro (close-up) capabilities. The Pixel 7 will warn you “back up to improve focus”, but the Pixel 8 invites you in and auto-switches to macro mode when you’re close enough to a subject. I love taking pictures of my food and I’m excited to take closeups with this new setting. FRONT CAMERA The front camera still has .7x wide like its predecessor but the ultrawide field of view of the Pixel 8 is 95 degrees, an improvement on 92.8 degrees. The Pixel 8 has a 10.5 MP Dual PD selfie camera, while the Pixel 7 has 10.8 MP. If I’m being honest, I was really hoping for a bigger improvement on the front camera. It’s just so much more convenient to use. It’s still a decent camera and I’m happy to have it. GOOGLE PHOTOS EDITING The edit function in Google photos offers some great options for those who want a comprehensive edit from the suggestions, which I think are awesome. It also caters to users who like to edit with even more precision like altering brightness, highlight/shadows, contrast, etc. The Magic Eraser is one of my favorite editing tools that makes it easy to remove certain parts of a photo, otherwise I’d have to access the photo on desktop to Photoshop it, and that’s a whole process that I can bypass if the edit is simple enough. The Magic Eraser will automatically make removal suggestions, and I use them about half the time. I’m blown away by the Magic Editor. I am able to select subjects and adjust their size to make them bigger and fit better in a photo. I am so grateful at how simple it is to do this on mobile. The process to do this on a desktop would easily take 10x longer. The Sky tool is pretty neat too. I used the Sky presets for some of my Disney castle pictures and I feel like I got some good options, which I’ll share in the photos attached to this review. I get plenty of use out of a lot of the editing features. Even something as simple as the crop tool is super helpful to get different aspect ratios and leveling adjustments. Although I never really found the unblur tool to be super useful for the photos I tried it with, I get a lot of use out of other editing tools and features. PROS I love the customization on this phone. I am able to have multiple apps running at once and any normal use is met with an acceptable amount of battery loss. The key here is “normal use”. I love that this phone is small, it fits in my pockets and in my bags neatly. I think the camera on this phone is incredible and I’m happy to use it for future events and outings. I like the spam filters for phone calls and messages - it’s so helpful to be able to use Google Assistant to screen calls. I dodge so much spam this way. CONS I find that Pixel phones can get a little hot at times. Granted, I do have to go in and make sure I’ve closed my apps, but sometimes it just gets too hot to the touch. It tends to heat up if it’s on my dashboard as well, so I can’t always use it for maps if the phone gets too hot in the car (despite AC). This might be a weird one but, the fingerprint light is too bright. It was too bright on the last two phones and at this point, I won’t expect this to change moving forward. ALL IN ALL I will likely keep coming back to Pixel phones and would recommend this phone to techies, novices, and everyone in between. Photos Editing is so much more fun when you have tons of settings to adjust and filters to choose from.

The Google Pixel 8 is the smaller of their two newest Pixel phones. I was shocked at how small this phone really is. While it has a screen size of 6.2 inches (measured diagonally), the physical size of the phone is actually quite small visually, and when you hold it. It’s narrower than some others on the market at under 3 inches wide. Right off the bat, I’ll say if you have large hands or prefer larger screens, this won’t be for you (check the Pixel 8 PRO for a larger screen). If you ARE a fan of smaller phones, you may well like this one compared to others. The 1080p screen does have some advancements over previous models, though – such as being much brighter if needed for outdoors use, a variable 60-120hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling, and it’s OLED technology which makes colors and blacks stand out. Other than the narrowness which makes it so small (to me), I like the screen. The body of mine, is a glossy black (Obsidian Black) which does hold on to fingerprints, but I figure most of us will be using a case so that isn’t an issue – it is a little slippery, so yes, I would say a case and screen protector is suggested. The Pixel 8’s overall specs are bumped up with 8 gigs of RAM and their new “Tensor G3” chip, which is faster and supposedly cooler running than their last G2 chip. Mine has 128 gigs of built-in storage, and you can also get one with 256 gigs of storage. Choose carefully as to what your needs are, as there is NOT a microSD card slot, so you cannot add additional storage as you can some other Android phones. Android 14 comes installed with the phone, but you should run any new updates to the operation system as soon as you get set up. Be warned, even though the update may not be huge in file size, it did take an awkward amount of time to install. Updating your pre-installed apps as well will make sure every current fix and changes are installed before you start using your phone. Things seem speedy so far, and I haven’t experienced any processor hiccups or stall-outs, though there’s some heat involved when you do your initial setup (expected) or when using the phone continuously (not quite so expected as it happens even with simple apps or tasks like phone calls). I briefly had a Pixel 7 a while back, and the 8 doesn’t heat up quite as much as the 7 did, but, it does get moderately warm fairly quickly under certain conditions – more than some other phones I’ve used, less than others. An under-the-screen fingerprint sensor works fine. I’ve seen faster but also much slower. It’s convenient once you get it set up. The front selfie camera can also be used to unlock the phone via facial recognition and you can also choose to use a password. Going from standby to opening is speedy enough and I’ve only had the fingerprint sensor ask me to redo it once. It’s an improvement over past attempts but still not quite perfect. Battery life so far is what I’d call average. Charging speed will depend a on the charging cube (you have to provide this) that you use with the included USB-C cable. While using the phone for a variety of tasks, I haven’t noticed any weirdness from the battery, however, trying out a long phone call at an hour and 15 minutes, the battery drained 21% during that one call. I would call this, “not great”, to be honest. I had transferred my Google Fi phone service (which uses T-Mobile towers and WiFi) to the Pixel 8. On my older phone (Pixel 5a) I would as a guess, drop about 10-12% of my battery on such a long call, and this was roughly twice as much on the Pixel 8. On some social media apps it handles battery life ok, and others that are more battery draining, you do notice it dropping pretty quickly while in use. I have also noticed the battery dropping some while just sitting in standby mode over a few hours even with unnecessary background processes disabled, and even when in airplane mode. So far, I would again rate battery life on the 8 as average at best, again having seen worse on other phones, but also much better. The microphone and speakers are also another average. After multiple calls so far, every person I’ve talked to has said I sound a bit “muffled” on speakerphone. They say I’m loud enough, but it just seems like there’s too much bass and not enough treble in the voice on their end. Likewise, their voices on the speaker are loud enough and still clear overall, but do sound a little muffled as well. When holding the phone to my ear, voices are more muffled, though the sound is definitely loud enough. Antenna strength seems fine – I haven’t dropped any calls, though there have been a few garbled moments during some; this could be the antennas, or the Google Fi service as it’s hard to say. I haven’t seen the WiFi drop when using apps around the house and yard, but have seen Fi switch between WiFi and 5G when on a call. Built-in Pixel features include the ability to screen calls, where the phone answers calls for you and posts what the other person is saying on the screen in real time, allowing you to answer the call or not, with adjustable levels of intervention. There’s a live translate mode so you can have basic conversations with someone who speaks another language, allow the Pixel to hold for you on hold calls and tells you when someone picks up, voice typing, and more. These ARE very convenient features though you need to do some looking up on how to use them all… they are numerous. Of course, the main reason people aim for a Pixel phone is their cameras being so good. The Pixel 8 is no different. The updated 50 megapixel main camera and 12 megapixel wide cameras are overall, excellent, and take clear, bright, photos – probably among the best or the best on a phone out there. They’ve been updated to handle lower light situations better (not a huge improvement over past models, but still overall excellent). There are a few artifact bugs in certain textures (leaves, etc) when zoomed in, but hopefully this will be cleared up in software updates. A 10.5 megapixel selfie camera on the front is good overall. The number of new AI-ish processing features built in to the phone now is amazing. Macro (closeup) is better. Tones and skin tones are better. And now you can take a series of pics of a person or group, and choose which faces aren’t blinking or looking away and replace those faces of each person onto one shot – it actually works, called Best Take. The person I tested it on didn’t want a pic of them online, but I did test this out several times and it replaced a previous shot’s face with a newer one and you can’t tell. Neat! Magic Editor allows you to remove an object from a photo, or “move/slide” an object over. These are not perfect and you may have to redo it once or twice to get it perfect, but they do work very well overall and help with goofs or to rearrange a photo without having to retake it; you also have to be using Google Photos to back up your pics before the phone will allow you to use these features (awkward). Video can be taken up to 4K, 60 frames per second – It’s good, but not perfect, as I do notice a few times when a frame can skip. A new feature called Audio Magic Eraser will allow you to reduce or in some cases remove background noises from video, focusing on what you’re aiming it. You can zoom in from wide to around 8 times on the Pixel 8 and the photos still look very good. Beyond that and you see digital zoom artifacts start to creep in the more you go. So, overall, I have mixed feelings about the Pixel 8. I’m giving this 3 stars, and say it’s above average, but not stellar. On the plus side, I of course love the camera and it’s overall great photos, as well as the new post-processing tricks they’ve added. I like Google’s promise of giving 7 years of operating system and security updates for the 8 and 8 Pro. I also like the call screening, translate, and other phone features Pixel phones have, including the improvements to them in the Pixel 8. If these and an excellent camera are your goals, I say without hesitation to get this phone. However, I’m disappointed a bit with the battery life, microphone and speaker quality on calls, how the phone gets quite warm when doing some basic tasks long enough (random), and how small the phone feels due to how narrow the body is. The placement of the volume keys is awkward sitting right where your thumb sits if you’re right-handed, and, while the cameras are overall great, there’s a few glitches in their processing. If you love small phones (by today’s standards), and can handle the Pixel 8’s quirks, you’ll love this one, if not, aim for the Pixel 8 Pro with it’s larger screen and larger battery. So I’d say I recommend this phone for some, and with reservations for others.

The Google Pixel 8 is the latest sub-flagship smartphone from Google, and the third iteration in the modern series of Pixel phones that use the Google-designed Tensor processor. The combination of those processor smarts and software finesse has never been better, and Google has really dialed in the fit and finish of its phones this year. The big headline for me with the Pixel 8 is the new 50-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. In my testing, Pixel 8 photos look far superior to those I can take with my Pixel 7 Pro from last year. Simply put, I have never seen smartphone photos that look this good. They are sharper, brighter, with more dynamic range and detail than any other smartphone camera I've used. See my attached pictures for examples. And the photography fun doesn't stop when you click the shutter button. New for the Pixel 8 series is Google's Best Take feature, which uses the camera to take a burst of photos and allows you to choose the best facial expressions from all the different shots, composing group photos that look great, every time. Another new feature is Magic Editor, which uses cloud-based AI to help you do amazing things with Pixel photos. You can remove people and objects, rearrange things, increase the size of certain components in the shot, and Google AI intelligently fills in the background. The things you can do with Pixel 8's camera are astounding, and Pixel 8 Pro can do even more (more on that later). There are many other top reasons to choose Pixel 8, including: • Google's version of Android, which is clean and perfectly integrated with other Google services. • AI features, like call screening, live translate, and new AI wallpapers that put you in (some) control over what gets displayed behind your icons. • The new version of Face Unlock, which uses just the front-facing camera to do a very secure scan of your facial features and can be set to skip the lock screen and get you right to work after you glance at the phone. • Pixel 8 is an excellent small phone for people who love small phones. It's light and easy to use with one hand. • The matte aluminum metal frame is really nice, and the power and volume buttons are perfectly clicky. • The Pixel's rear camera bar keeps the phone from wobbling when lying on a table and provides a perfect place to rest your finger. • The new 120Hz 1080p "Actua" display is super color accurate gets very bright. • The Pixel 8 series comes with 7 years of operating system and security updates. One very important thing to point out is that Pixel phones in general may be the best phones for kids. Google's Family Link app is incredibly useful and usable piece of software, and lets you set app and web permissions with an amazing level of granularity. Furthermore, with Pixel, you know you're getting the latest security updates to keep the phone up to date and less susceptible to hacking. You can get a Pixel 8 for yourself now and know that it will be ready for your kid to use in a year or two, and they can keep using for years after with security and O/S updates. Things to know if you already have an older Pixel phone: • Pixel 8 is an iterative upgrade. The main camera lens is way better, the Tensor 3 is a bit faster and more capable, and the 8-series exclusive features are really neat. Other than that, older Pixels are fine, and still get many of the great features of Android 14. • Trade-in values for older Pixel phones were decent at launch, but quickly fell to pretty low, so consider your options when it comes to dealing with your old phone. • The new setup process is a breeze, and as long as you have a recent backup, you can restore all your apps, SMS, MMS, and even your Authenticator account, all without your old phone nearby. If you don't yet have a Pixel phone, get ready for the best version of Android, with lots and lots of Google's best ideas and AI expertise baked in. Also get ready for the best smartphone camera and editing tools. Finally, get ready to fall in love with Pixel. There are also some drawbacks here: • The Pixel 8 has the same processor as the Pixel 8 Pro, but gets fewer software features because Google wants to differentiate its top flagship product. I hope Google will amend this in a software update in the next 6 months or so (around when the Pixel 8a launches would be nice). • The Pixel 8 doesn't do an amazing job with memory management, and despite its 8 GB of RAM, it aggressively closes background apps. In my experience, this happened to Pokemon Go when I tried to take a few photos. Google needs to improve this in a future update • When used all day, battery life is just average. However, Google's Battery Saver and Extreme Battery Saver features work well if you need to keep your phone going with a depleted battery. • The fingerprint reader is under the screen, and uses a bright light to visually match your fingerprint. I love it and have never had a problem using it, but some people report that it doesn't work very well for them. I have heard that people with drier skin can sometimes have problems.

I brought a Google Pixel 8 and suddenly a green line appeared on the screen.

Review: The Google Pixel 8 is hands down one of the best phones I’ve used. The performance is fast and fluid, apps load instantly, and the display is super crisp with vibrant colors. What really stands out is the camera—it takes stunning photos even in low light. I also love the clean Android interface and the frequent updates directly from Google. Battery life easily lasts a full day with moderate use. The Obsidian finish looks sleek and premium. Definitely worth the investment!

I am loving this device. Initially I was going to get the iPhone 15, but after checking it out in person what the 15 had to offer, I felt underwhelmed. I really didn't want to spend about $800 for mostly the same specks as my iPhone 13. So instead I checked out the Pixel 8 and was pleasantly surprised and gave it a try. I switched from an iPhone 13 to Pixel 8 and have to say, I am having a really great experience with this phone. The biggest concern that I had read about this was battery life, cellular connection, and over heating issues. Battery life and over heating can be a slight issue IF you keep it on 5g, I switched it from 5G to 4G and have not experienced any over heating issues or connectivity issues. The battery needs to take a few days to learn your usage before it really starts getting better. On the first 3 days I was getting about 3-4 hours of screen on time before needing to charge, but on the 4th day I got 7 hours Screen on time before having to charge it at night (day started at 6:30 am and ended at 9pm when it got to 1% turning on battery saving mode at 20%). I stream music, videos, some social media, and lots of texting and email, so battery is a big thing for me, so it makes me happy to know that my phone can last a day before needing to charge it. So it does seem like battery is getting better. As far as performance goes, this thing is great! I don't play games on my phone so sure, on paper the chipset might not be as strong/competitive with other manufacturers, but for the person using their phone for every day use and not heavy gaming, then this thing is great. Photos do take a little time to edit, but personally, that's not a big deal. The fact that I am able to remove objects I don't want in a photo on the Pixel compared to quick editing with just cropping and coloring only on my iPhone is a trade off I am happy to make. Features on this phone are so nice that I have family members using iPhone who are considering switching when they upgrade. Some people might think the AI features are gimmicky, but for photo editing and video noise cancelation, I have saved many photos/videos by using these features by removing unwanted audio in videos and people or objects that I forgot to remove before taking a photo. Overall, I think this phone checks all the right boxes for every day use and is a great size if you don't care about huge slabs.

PROS + AI features everywhere, from wallpapers, to photo editing, to audio editing, to call screening, to page summarization, and much more + Google is really going for it with tons of software features across the board, including several accessibility features + The camera in particular receives a lot of software enhancements to expand on the hardware capabilities + Speaking of which, the camera is as fantastic as you would expect coming from a pixel phone + Video quality is also pretty good overall, with high resolution and good motion handling, a noticeable step-up from past Pixel phones + Screen gets plenty bright at its brightest and has a fairly effective auto brightness feature + Nice high refresh rate screen + Tensor G3 feels pretty snappy overall + All around great sounding call quality CONS - Several AI features feel more like gimmicks, and can be hit or miss on quality of output - Camera app by default goes a bit too heavy with the post-processing and HDR, some might prefer this - External hardware doesn’t feel as premium as the software features, with a lightweight but somewhat cheaper feeling build that definitely feels more fragile - Fingerprint sensor works pretty well, but feels just a tad slow for my liking and is quite bright when used in the dark - Software can slow things down at times SO-SO * Phone feels pretty small despite the 6.2” screen size, which may be a pro or con depending on what you are looking for. I personally found it a bit too small feeling for my liking * Battery life feels fine, but nothing spectacular, it gets through the day without issue but maybe not much more than that THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT The Google Pixel 8 is definitely an extension of previous Pixel phones rather than a revolution of the philosophy Google has been taking with their phones. Depending on what you prioritize, this may be a great thing or not. I have always been a fan of Pixel software, and with the Pixel 8 they have doubled down on software features, specifically AI features. Honestly, there are software solutions for things you would never have thought of. Want to replace people’s faces in group photos with better versions of them from similar photos? You can. Want to use generative AI to edit your photos in crazy ways? You can. Want to have your own AI call screening bot that can vet suspicious calls for you? You got it. Summarize a webpage with Google Assistant AI? No problem, the Pixel 8 has you covered. I am surprised they didn’t call this the Pixel AI given how many AI features they throw at you right from boot-up! But that being said, not all software features are great, and in many ways, you can feel Google throwing a bit of everything at the wall and seeing how it sticks. Many of these features will likely improve over time as well with more training data, so you can tell there are seeds planted here for more features coming down the road. Things like the AI Magic Editor, which is accessed by clicking a rainbow button in the lower left of the screen when editing a photo, lets you move objects around, stylize photos, remove objects, create portraits, and more, by sending your photos into a generative AI model that creates 4 new photos with the desired edits. I have posted some photos with my review to demonstrate this where I “stylized” different photos using generative AI. It was a fun feature, but felt pretty gimmicky for me. I never felt that the edited or stylized photos looked better necessarily, and if you are familiar with what AI images tend to look like, it is not hard to detect them even when you are trying to make subtle edits. But for every software feature like that, which feels a bit gimmicky and beta like, there is another that feels genius. Personally, I love the unblur feature that can take blurry photos and help restore detail lost to the blur. Or being able to make almost any photo a portrait using post-processing. Likewise, being able to remove people from the background of your photos with the magic eraser is actually surprisingly effective so long as they don’t take up too much of the frame and the background behind them is fairly predictable. I even enjoyed trying to edit video audio to erase background noise like kids playing in the background or a plane overhead, which while not always effective, was super easy to do and still surprisingly effective on several occasions. Where I found things like the ability to create AI Wallpapers a bit niche and less appealing than standard wallpapers, it's still a feature that is there for folks to use if they want! And that I think is the big takeaway when it comes to the Pixel 8 software, it throws it all out there, and lets you pick and choose what you want. It never forces you down any one path, and just when you think there are too many features, you find one that changes for the better how you approach something you have been doing one way for a long time. So, while the software is largely amazing, and provides a laundry list of features for people to take advantage of (including several fantastic accessibility features), I did find that the hardware wasn’t always up to the standard of the software. Honestly, in many ways the hardware and phone itself just feel like a container to hold all of the software, without much about the hardware feeling particularly impressive (with one exception, the camera). The screen gets plenty bright and has a nice refresh rate, with good colors, but the overall build quality feels pretty middle of the road. The phone feels fragile, and more than usual I really felt like I needed to put a case on it as fast as I could. Part of this might be down to the fact that it also feels surprisingly small in my hand for being a 6.2” inch screen. It is fairly tall and skinny, which just feels less secure when in my hand when coupled with the light weight build. It looks exactly like past Pixel phones of recent years, with the visor camera on the back that gives it a distinctive look. I did find that the screen would hitch occasionally, which was noticeable with the normally high refresh rate, and that things like the fingerprint sensor built into the screen was just a tad slow compared to others I have used. When browsing the phone feels super snappy, but at moments it can also feel like it is trying to do too much and slows down for a few moments. Overall, as a smartphone, it is thoroughly fine, but nothing remarkable. When you add in the variety of software, it really helps bring it up a level in my mind. The exception to all of this is the camera, which is almost universally excellent. Even without all of the AI features, the resulting photos are almost always amazing looking and you get a lot of controls to help you edit the photos to your liking. The 50MP camera has a lot of detail, and even using the macro focus works great for those up close and personal shots. The Pixel line of phones built their reputation on their excellent cameras, and the Pixel 8 really carries on this legacy with pride. I did find that by default the camera app did automatically process the photos a bit too much for my liking, applying some sharpening and extra contrast from HDR that “juiced” the photos a bit too much for my liking, as someone who prefers natural looking photos. This being said, some people may really like this, and compared to some other phones I have used from big brands, which take a very heavy-handed approach to post-processing, I did still like the Pixel 8 a lot more. If I had to choose my phone based entirely on the camera, I would without hesitation pick the Pixel 8. It really is the most well rounded picture quality I have seen on a smartphone. Overall, this is a good phone, many times great, and sometimes underwhelming. It doesn’t all hit, but when it does it really hits it out of the park. I would probably give it a 3.5/5 if I could give it half stars, but understanding I am also a bit more picky when it comes to my phones than the average consumer, I have no problem giving this a solid 4 stars. If you like AI though, and playing with quirky software features and showing off what your phone can do to others, you will probably love this.

Google Pixel 8: Exceeded my expectations! I'm absolutely thrilled with my Google Pixel 8 and can't recommend it enough! It's exceeded my expectations in almost every way. Here's why I'm giving it a perfect 5-star rating: Amazing camera: The Pixel 8 camera is simply outstanding. It takes incredible photos and videos in any lighting condition, thanks to the upgraded sensors and advanced image processing. I'm particularly impressed with the Night Sight feature, which captures clear and detailed photos even in low-light situations. Long-lasting battery: The battery life on this phone is phenomenal. I easily get through a full day of heavy use without needing to recharge. And when I do need to top up, the fast charging feature is a lifesaver. Sleek design and build quality: The Pixel 8 has a beautiful and sleek design that feels comfortable to hold. The phone also feels very well-built and sturdy. Clean and smooth software: The Pixel 8 runs on stock Android 13, which is a breath of fresh air. It's free from bloatware and offers a smooth and lag-free user experience. Plus, you're guaranteed timely software updates directly from Google. Additional features: I love the other features like the in-display fingerprint sensor, water resistance, and integration with Google Assistant. Overall: The Google Pixel 8 is an exceptional phone that delivers top-notch performance in all aspects. It's the perfect combination of a fantastic camera, long-lasting battery, clean software, and a beautiful design. If you're looking for a powerful and reliable smartphone that won't disappoint, the Pixel 8 is definitely worth considering.

Great smaller phone, fixes issues prevalent with Pixel 7. The biggest issue I had with the 7 was the poor battery life. This Pixel 8 seems to have resolved those issues, and also provided better call quality amongst many other improvements. Most of those improvements are not based around hardware, but rather Android 14 OS improvements specific to the Pixel 8. A big issue with my previous Pixel 7 was not just battery life but also how hot the battery got. This seems to also have been fixed here with the Pixel 8. It just runs slightly warm at the highest use scenarios for me right now. Call quality also seems to now be improved for me across T-Mobile from the 7 to this new Pixel 8, and my t-mobile calls seem to have better quality now. There are so many new improvements based around AI that it is hard to know where to start and how I really feel about some of them. "Top Shot" lets you take a series of photos with groups of people. The AI will then let you choose subjects best shot. For example if someone looks good in one of the sequence, you can swap the heads out with their head from one of the other shots. This is pretty cool, and in my testing it does work, and I cannot tell if these photos were manipulated or not. This type of thing would have had to be done in Photoshop in years before. Not only that, but Pixel 8 now has something else called Magic Editor, which acts a evne a whole lot more like photoshop. You can do things like select a person or object in a photo, move them somewhere else in frame, and the AI processing with the new Tensor G3 chip will essentially select what it "thinks" you are trying to move, and select around it, let you move it, and even replace what was previously behind the moved person/selection you moved. This works fairly well, though I have seen it make a few weird things happen to the filled back in backgrounds, with odd shadow shapes on occasion. While all of these generative AI features are fun to use, in the age of deep fakes, it does kind of make me feel weird about if these are "true" moments or time captured in photos, or are they something else. It will be interesting to see how the future sees this turn of events with AI technology. Shooting video on the pixel 8 has other AI tricks up its sleeve too. They have something now called Audio Magic Erase, and it uses its AI to remove things like background noise. This is one of my favorite features, and one I am sure people will love. I was able to remove background noise from a busy street as a subject spoke to the camera. It removed just about all the noise in the background without altering the speaker's voice. Hardware wise, the new screen on this Pixel 8 is fantastic. The biggest plus on this year's pixel is the 120hz refresh rate. This is one of those things that once you experience, it will be hard to go back to a lower refresh rate screen. Pull down a website, it feels smooth as butter! Watch some high resolution video, super smooth, now smearing or screen tearing. The display also gets SUPER BRIGHT now, and makes it so much easier to use in very bright outdoor environments. I really love the way the pixels have physically looked the last few years, since moving to the rear camera "bar", and this year continues that trend. I just love the way the phone looks, especially against the competition. It just looks more of a design evolution to me. It being a bar like that also provides a nice flat bar should you want to type while the phone is resting on a flat area. The cameras on other flagship phones give you a wobbly surface, while that camera bar here on the Pixel 8 is dead flat, and again, just looks nicer to my tastes. While I am very glad to hear that Google is promising 7 years of OS and feature drops to the Pixel 8, this is a fantastic plus for those that care about the environment. I also am weary of Google promising things today, and in the not so distant future pulling the plug on promises. I want to fully believe they will hold true to the 7 year of updates, but recent things they have pull the plug on keep me weary. Only time will tell. This is a great phone for most people, and the best update to the Pixel phone line up since the Pixel 5!! A true great update if you need a great camera, great hardware, really good call quality and a phone that isn't huge in your hands. Easily one of the best phones of 2023, if not THE best overall. There are some quirks for sure, but overall this has been a better experience for me than another family member's flagship phone.

The Pixel 8 is a great evolution from prior year pixel line up, it improves on all the key factors battery life, pictures, video, sound, screen, form factor, AI and update guarantee. Every aspect of this phone has been improved over the prior years and makes you want to go team pixel. Screen: The brightness has been turned up (2000 nits) so you can easily use the phone in direct sunlight, this added with the fact that the screen is 120 Hz makes everything feel buttery smooth when your playing games swiping through apps/pictures Battery life: Battery life was always really good and this year the pixel has left me with about 28% at the end of the day with heavy usage (hotspot/calls/music streaming/video streaming). I was pleasantly surprised by this because I was expecting a small drop off since google has included the new 5G mmwave with the cell phone radios. Speaking of connections the pixel also has wifi 7, while most people don’t have it now, or wont for a little bit its nice to know that the phone is future proof. Pictures/Video: The camera is a decent step up from last year, the close-up picture with macro focus works perfectly. Capturing pictures/processing pictures are about 30-40% faster than last year and the night shot is a bit more forgiving with small movements. Video recordings are much improved along with the stabilization, however when panning from time to time you will get some transition jitter. I did notice that the jitter is there if you look at the video right after you take it, if you wait about 5-10 seconds to review the video there is no jitter and I believe this must be due to post processing of the video which the pixel is doing. Sound: This is by far the best Pixel speakers on any non-pro pixel, I tried comparing the last 3 generations and the pixel 8 sounds much more robust. Form factor: The Pixel 8 is smaller and not as wide which makes it much easier to use and carry around. The rounded edges make it feel great in the hand, it is a bit slippery though so I would infest in a case. AI: This is where the pixel shines above all others, the amount of AI/automation is ridiculous. Picture edits are easy and the processing from the pixel works surprisingly well, now its not perfect but how good it is will blow you away. I do wish all the editing could happen on device but some of it needs to be sent to the cloud. The AI editing for video is also very easy and smooth, just about anyone can do it. I was uber impressed with the sound editing for videos, this is something you have to try you can literally remove all noise that’s not relevant to your video with the click of a button. The pixel 8 also upgraded the screen my call assistant to sound more natural and I have noticed that more people are willing to respond to it over the robotic sounding one from last year. The AI features are over the top and the best in the business. Update guarantee: Google has promised 7 years of software and security updates which is the best in the business from any of the main manufacturers. Google has polished this phone in all aspects with very few shortcomings. My only real complaint is the delay of the video processing other than that this is the best pixel phone and with the 7 years of guarantees this little phone could be something you keep for years.

This is not my first Android phone, as I have owned other Pixel releases, so I was looking forward to seeing the improvements they made with this model. The first thing I love about Pixel phones is that the hardware is made by Google. When paired with their Android OS, you can tell that there is an advantage when the same company is providing both the hardware and software. Everything works smoothly and seamlessly. And from my experience, Pixel phones tend to get the latest and greatest OS updates before most other Android phones. The Pixel 8 continues the tradition of having a very good camera. This model comes with a 50 megapixel front-facing camera. I got some great shots at a high school football game the other night and was impressed with the crispness of the colors and the fantastic resolution (see photo). The included photo editing tools are always top-notch if you need to make any tweaks. The battery life has been the most impressive thing about the Pixel 8 so far. I went over 2 days before needing to charge it, even while using it more than I would normally during the first few days of owning it. This model comes with 128GB of storage which is more than enough for pretty much anyone. I also love the display which has a 120Hz refresh rate. The scrolling was incredibly smooth. One last thing that stood out as a cool feature is that when adding contacts, people's addresses would autocomplete after I started to input them. This was really cool and saved me a lot of time. Overall, this is a great phone that not only comes with fantastic features, but is a terrific value even when not on sale. So many of the new phones out there are priced at $1000 or more but you can get great quality at a fraction of the price with the Pixel 8.

I'm reviewing the Pixel 8 as a previous Pixel 7 owner. First thing first, the Pixel 8(6.2 inch screen) is actually 0.1 inch smaller than the Pixel 7. For me this is a good thing as I want a smaller phone, which is why I have a Pixel 8 and not a Pixel 8 Pro. On the plus side, the refresh rate is now 120hz versus the 90hz on the Pixel 7. So scrolling and touch operations feel slightly smoother. Other than that you have the expected processor upgrade (Google Tensor G3) though the battery is thankfully slightly upgraded too (4575 mAh versus the Pixel 7's 4355 mAh). Do note you get seven years of software upgrade with the Pixel 8. Regarding the camera, the hardware is just about the same. I myself don't take too many pictures, but there are some nifty upgrades on the software side. The Macro Focus lets you take photos of tiny objects with better clarity. Real Tone for video recordings captures skin tone more accurately. Best Take lets you splice similar photos together so if let someone blinks during a picture, you can replace his face from another photo taken in succession. Magic Editor uses A.I. to help you make edits to your photos. A lot of other features are brought over as expected such as the Call Assist and Live Translate. One new standout feature though is AI Wallpaper(Android 14 feature). You basically pick a category and then wallpaper images will be auto generated as you change the word prompts that are given to you. Call quality is good on the Pixel 8 much like the Pixel 7. There seems to be some algorithm at work that helps cut down on the amount of background noise on the person you're talking to. This is an important to me because at the end of the day a smartphone needs to have good call quality to facilitate phone conversations. At $699, the Pixel 8 is one of the more affordable flagship phones compared to other companies like Samsung, Apple, or Sony. If you're buying a Pixel phone for the first time and want a smaller phone(compared to the Pro) as well as a pure Android experience with less bloat, I can strongly recommend the Pixel 8. Though if you're upgrading from the Pixel 7, you have to see if some of the new features are worth upgrading to. That said if you can get a good trade deal, I would say to go for it.

I upgraded from the Pixel 7 to the latest version, and I am thoroughly impressed with the improvements. The new design, featuring more rounded edges, makes the phone fit comfortably in my hand. The screen quality is outstanding, and Google's unique design stands out when compared to other phones on the market. One of the standout features of the Pixel series is undoubtedly its vibrant and stunning colors. I'm amazed at how beautiful the colors appear; it's akin to the difference between regular and truly deep, rich hues. It is difficult to explain, you have to see this with your own eyes. While the Pixel may not be the most powerful smartphone out there, its performance is more than adequate for the next few years. Where it truly shines is in its AI capabilities and camera features. To be frank, this phone offers an exceptional range of possibilities considering its price point. Google has once again set the bar high with the Pixel, making it a fantastic choice for anyone seeking a reliable and feature-packed smartphone experience.

After a full year with my Pixel, I can confidently say it’s been an absolute game-changer. The phone has aged like fine wine – here’s everything that makes it worth every cent: Camera Excellence: The Pixel’s camera lives up to the hype! From low-light magic to high-definition detail, I’ve captured some truly professional-looking photos. The computational photography is next-level, and the Night Sight mode still blows my mind. Pure Google Experience: Having the latest Android updates straight from Google has been fantastic. It’s bloat-free and smooth, and the customizations just keep getting better. The Pixel’s exclusive features, like “Hold for Me” and “Call Screen,” make daily life simpler and more efficient. Battery Life and Charging: The battery has stayed consistent throughout the year. I get a full day without the dreaded mid-afternoon “low battery” warning, and the charging speed is reliable and quick. Performance and Speed: No signs of slowing down! With apps, multitasking, and gaming, it’s always responsive. The integration with Google Assistant is seamless and genuinely useful – I find myself using it more than ever. A Few Minor Quirks: No device is perfect, and the Pixel does have minor quirks. Occasionally, I’ve noticed a slight lag in the camera app. And while I love the sleek design, it’s a bit slippery, so a case is a must! Verdict: For anyone wanting a streamlined Android experience, a standout camera, and a smart, reliable device, I highly recommend the Pixel. It’s a year in, and I’d still choose it again in a heartbeat!

This phone is okay, but not the greatest Google has made. Some of the main issues: Camera: For some reason, the autofocus is glitchy. Specifically when taking videos, but also when trying to take photos. The autofocus tends to focus on random objects instead of the person (people) in the frame. There have been too many times when I try to take a video, set up the camera, walk away from it, and find out later that mid-video it focused on a different object and the whole video is now blurry. Overheating: The phone overheats ALOT. I could be doing something basic like scrolling through TikTok or checking emails, and the phone is burning. I did fix it by disabling 5G (which the phone should be able to handle is can't) and disabling adaptive connectivity services and reabling it (like a reset). This fixed the overheating issue, but it does mean I need to leave the 5G function disabled. If this is an issue for you, then this is not the phone for you. Personally, 5G does not make much of a difference for me because of the area I live in, but I know it does for some people. Speakers: The speakers are just located in weird places. It's not too much of an issue with the phone itself, but it does present an issue when you put a case on it. Overall these are more annoyances for me than complex complications, but its still bad considering phones have come such a long way for there to be these basic problems. Some positive because there are some: Processing Speed: The processing speed is great though, incredibly fast. AI and features: The AI and assistant are great and it has so many features to make your like simpler. Honestly, its features is the main reason why I continue to get google phones. I like the simplicity of Apple, but when it comes to having a phone that will actually help your everyday life, google always blows me away. Pictures and Video: The picture and video on it is amazing, when it actually takes pictures and videos correctly it looks amazing. Battery: The battery lasts a long time and I use my phone ALOT. This could also be because I disabled the 5G function in mine, but its still great to know it will last me all day

I am thoroughly impressed with the Google Pixel 8. The camera quality is exceptional, capturing vivid details and vibrant colors, making every photo a masterpiece. The battery life exceeded my expectations, providing a reliable and long-lasting experience throughout the day. The sleek and modern design not only looks great but also feels comfortable in hand. Performance-wise, the Pixel 8 operates seamlessly, handling multitasking and demanding applications effortlessly. The integration of cutting-edge technology in this phone truly sets it apart. Google has once again delivered an outstanding device that excels in all the key areas that matter to me.

I have been using the Google Pixel 8 for a few days now and I'm overall very satisfied with this phone. I currently also have a Pixel 7 and an iPhone 14 Pro. The size of the Pixel 8 is a little smaller than the 7 and is about the same size as the iPhone 14pro. I thought the 7 was a touch two big to easily hold in one hand, but the Pixel 8 fixes that problem. This phone is also very slippery and I would strongly recommend using with a case. I had the phone sitting on an end table and some how it slipped off onto the uncarpeted floor. The fall was only four feet, but the phone has no damage which is good. Setup was very easy to do. When setting up the phone it asked if I wanted to port my number from the pixel 7 to an esim on the 8. I did that and the phone was working on my cellular network without any issues. I was able to transfer everything over from the 7 to the 8 without any issues. Going from the 7 to the 8 was seamless and everything is setup exactly the same as my pixel 7. I will say if you already have the Pixel 7, going to the 8 is not a night and day difference. While I do love the upgrade, the differences are very few. I know on the new 8 the screen is 120HZ, while some will notice this upgrade I did not. The changes I noticed are the new AI features and that the phone is smaller, lighter, brighter display, and better camera. The 8 also has a slightly larger battery, but I found the battery in the 7 to last all day as well. I do love the camera with AI features. The camera on the 7 took very good photos and the 8 does as well. We did a test of a night shot of our Halloween decorations. We used the iPhone 14 Pro and the pixel 8. The photos where nearly identical with the iPhone have a slightly better clarity. I'm sure the pixel 8 pro has a better camera, but the pixel non pro is no slouch and takes some great photos. The one feature I have yet to test is the Best Take photo. This is where you can blend similar photos into one. It looks pretty simple to use, but I just didn't have enough photos/people to test it out with. A couple of built in items that are nice is the google assistant for call screening. I get lots of spam calls and this feature helps weed them out. Another was the live translate, it really does work great! We played around with speaking in Spanish and English. The phone was super quick at translating everything in Spanish to English, even if someone is speaking fast. This will be very helpful when traveling if you do not know the language. There are lots of nice built in items that I keep finding while using the phone. One thing I noticed is that Google Pixel phones have the same familiarity as using an iPhone, and I believe this is due to the user interface. I had been using only Samsung phones before and noticed after time they would slow down or the UI would get clunky. Samsung uses their own interface instead of the one included with android. The one that comes built into android just simple works and is clean and easy to use, just like IOS. When using my iPhone pro or this pixel the feel is similar and things just work. If you are thinking of leaving IOS for android do yourself a favor and get a pixel. If I only needed one phone I would choose the Pixel 8 because of its features and price point. I like its simplistic approach, the ease of use, AI, and nice camera. I also like how google integrates the cameras into the phone. Instead of two or three circles on one side, google just created a metal bar all the way across the top. This is superior to other phones because if you set it down flat and try using it as it doesn't wobble back and forth.

As a consumer, the Google Pixel 8 in Rose is a delightful smartphone experience. Camera Brilliance: The 128GB model captures stunning photos, even in challenging lighting conditions. Snap and share memorable moments effortlessly. Speedy Performance: This phone is quick and efficient, handling everything I throw at it with ease. Apps open in a flash, and multitasking is a breeze. Clean Android: The Pixel's clean Android interface is a joy to use. It's free of bloatware and provides a straightforward user experience. 5G Ready: With 5G capabilities, staying connected at high speeds is effortless, ensuring smooth streaming and faster downloads. Stylish Design: The Rose finish is not only visually appealing but also feels premium in my hand. The build quality is solid and exudes elegance. Privacy Matters: Google's commitment to security is evident with the Titan M2 chip and regular security updates, providing peace of mind. In a market full of complexity, the Google Pixel 8 keeps it simple, powerful, and secure. If you appreciate a fantastic camera, a clean Android experience, and privacy, this phone is a fantastic choice. It's a flagship phone that delivers on all fronts, making it an ideal pick for any smartphone user.