Google offers a relatively compact, high-performance smartphone in the Pixel 8, which scores particularly well with its main camera, stock Android and seven-year update guarantee. But the latest Pixel smartphone isn’t perfect either.
The standard Google Pixel 8 has become slightly smaller. Friends of compact, high-performance smartphones may be interested in the new Google smartphone. Compared to its predecessor, the display has been upgraded and now supports 120 Hz and is noticeably brighter. In our tests, we measured an average brightness of 1410 cd/m²; the maximum brightness for HDR content is 1930 nits. The smartphone almost achieves the 2000 cd/m² claimed by Google.
The camera delivers good results, but the hardware is the same as that of the Pixel 7. Unlike the Pixel 8 Pro, the normal Pixel 8 does not have a zoom lens and the ultra-wide-angle camera has not been upgraded in the small model. This year, Google is focusing heavily on AI image editing with the “magic editor”. The results are mixed – somewhat impressive, somewhat insignificant. However, post-image processing takes some time and the end data has be saved in the cloud.
It’s also a shame that Google still uses UFS 3.1 storage. We would have liked UFS 4.0, especially given the price increase compared to its predecessor. The built-in USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 also only delivered slow transfer rates in our measurements and does not support image output.
Google’s own SoC, the Tensor G3, delivers solid performance. However, it is still not on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, as our benchmark measurements show. Otherwise, Google deserve praise for its new update policy, promising 7 years of updates. This should include security, system updates and feature drops. Google also intends to provide spare parts for the same length of time.
All in all, we were impressed by the performance of the new Google Phone. If the Pixel 8 is actually provided with updates for seven years and can be used for a correspondingly long time, the additional price over its predecessor is justified. Lastly, the smartphone has no serious shortcomings.
Technology and journalism have always come together in my past. However, it was mostly cars and motorcycles that I put under the microscope. Since my active triathlon days, I’ve been a fan of sports watches and smartwatches – triathlon is history for me, but the enthusiasm for watches is still there. That’s why, in parallel to my dissertation in theology, I write at Notebookcheck mainly about smartwatches, but also about other news and technology that interests me.
Translator: Jacob Fisher – Translator – 399 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022
Growing up in regional Australia, I first became acquainted with computers in my early teens after a broken leg from a football (soccer) match temporarily condemned me to a predominately indoor lifestyle. Soon afterwards I was building my own systems. Now I live in Germany, having moved here in 2014, where I study philosophy and anthropology. I am particularly fascinated by how computer technology has fundamentally and dramatically reshaped human culture, and how it continues to do so.
Benedikt Winkel, 2023-11-25 (Update: 2023-11-25)
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