The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are still a few weeks away from release, but Google has jumped the gun and formally announced the phones via preview videos and on its website.
Here’s all we know about the phones from Google, as well as previous leaks and rumors.
When will the Google Pixel 8 be released?
There is no official release date for the Pixel 8 variants yet, but Google has revealed that its next Made By Google event will take place on October 4th, where new Pixel phones will be presented.
Big fall launches are stressful, but Pixel helps its friend stay cool as a cucumber. #BestPhonesForever
The w8 is almost over. Rest up for #MadeByGoogle on October 4th and sign up for updates: https://t.co/hcAzJ83ajV pic.twitter.com/NWBP2RTdSn
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) August 30, 2023
Google then confirmed the existence and design of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in an official teaser film, which also reveals that they will be available for pre-order on October 4:
A second video showed off the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, as well as the new Pixel Watch 2 and a short look at earphones that might be the Pixel Buds Pro 2 or a new colorway for the original Pixel Buds Pro from 2022.
How much will the Google Pixel 8 cost?
There has been no word from Google on the probable price tags that will accompany the Series-8 devices, but we have an early leak from Yogesh Brar, who predicts a starting price of $649 or $699 – a $50/100 increase over the previous generation:
- Google Pixel 7: $599/£599
- Google Pixel 7 Pro: $899/£849
- Google Pixel 6: $599/£599
- Google Pixel 6 Pro: $899/£849
Google has been very set in its ways when it comes to pricing, but with inflation being what it is, a price increase this year doesn’t seem too surprising.
What about the Pixel 8’s specs and features?
Obviously, with the Pixel 8 release date so far away, there isn’t much to go on in terms of new components or features – but there have been some leaks and rumors pointing the way.
Design
Here are some shots from Google’s teaser movie showcasing the Pixel 8 in pastel pink and the Pixel 8 Pro in what we now know as Porcelain:
So, while we now have formal confirmation from Google of the Pixel 8’s existence, it’s still astonishing how much information about the phones had leaked previous to that. Google regularly manages to leak the new Pixel phone itself every year. The year 2023 is no exception.
Google inadvertently uploaded a picture of the Pixel 8 Pro (as confirmed by the image’s metadata). It was extensively tweeted:
Here's a look at the Google Pixel 8 Pro in Porcelain.
This image is from the Google Store website, which inadvertently published this image early in the promo page for "Google Subscriptions & Services".
Thanks to @android_setting for the tip! pic.twitter.com/nARd4Hz8hk
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) August 30, 2023
The rear of the phone is remarkably similar to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.
One of the most thorough leaks thus far comes from OnLeaks (via Smartprix), who has an exclusive look at the Pixel 8 Pro design from all angles, revealing a similar yet altered appearance to its predecessor. The main difference is the switch from a curved to a flat display, which OnLeaks reports will be 6.52in – smaller than the 6.7in display on the 7 Pro.
It’s worth mentioning that display specialist Ross Young and Android Authority both believe the 7 Pro will retain its current 6.7in display size.
Smartprix further claims that the phone will be the same size as the 7 Pro, measuring 162.676.58.7mm (12mm with the camera bar), and that the camera module now has a single cut-out for all cameras, whereas the 7 Pro has a separate part for the telephoto lens.
The new component beneath the flash is thought to be an infrared temperature sensor, as seen in a video provided with 91mobiles by leaker Kuba Wojciechowski, which has subsequently been removed due to a copyright strike.
The video, which appears to be an official Google commercial, shows how the temperature sensor can be used as a contactless thermometer to check your body temperature – a health function probably inspired by Covid. The video also reveals a design that closely resembles OnLeaks’ renderings, down to the solitary, big pill-shaped camera cutout.
OnLeaks has also provided us with our first glance at the standard Pixel 8, this time in collaboration with MySmartPrice. The phone features fewer alterations than the Pro variant, with a design that is essentially identical to the Pixel 7 – and no trace of the temperature sensor.
The phone’s dimensions will be 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9mm, but the greater news – or should we say smaller news – is that the display will be reduced from 6.3in to 5.8in. Ross Young and Android Authority, on the other hand, estimate a dip, but only to 6.16in/6.17in, almost the same size as the latest Pixel 7a.
TechGoing has also obtained supposed photos of each phone in each case. These don’t disclose many details, but they do show the same camera bar designs as the renderings above, adding credence to the idea that Google is modifying the Pro setup.
An supposed 8 Pro prototype has even surfaced in hands-on images on Reddit. They’ve since been removed, but that’s generally a hint that they’re genuine, and thankfully GSMArena got the images before they vanished. They don’t show much, but they do match the images above, so that preliminary design is confirmed.
Finally, Android Authority has reported on the phone’s colors, alleging that Google has four in the works for each phone, but not all may make it to final release, and the names may change. In any event, for the time being, both are expected to receive ‘Jade’ and ‘Licorice,’ with ‘Haze’ and ‘Peony’ for the ordinary model and ‘Porcelain’ and ‘Sky’ for the Pro.
If those names are confusing, go to the Android Authority website to view what it claims are the official wallpapers for each hue, which will give you an idea of what they could imply.
Specs
In terms of specifications, the Dutch site GalaxyClub reports that work on the third version of Google’s Tensor chipset is already well underway, implying that it would be released alongside the Pixel 8. The source claims that Samsung will be the manufacturer once more, with a chip with the code S5P9865 already surfacing on test boards. This is consistent with the earlier Tensor 1 and 2 processors, which were designated S5P9845 and S5P9855, respectively.
Android Authority has obtained further information on the Tensor G3, claiming a “source inside Google” for the latest specifications of the processor, codenamed “zuma.” The G3 will reportedly have a unique nine-core architecture, with a single Cortex-X3 prime core operating at 3.0GHz, four Cortex-A715 cores running at 2.45GHz, and four A510 cores running at 2.15GHz. Meanwhile, it’s also planning to upgrade to the Immortalis-G715 GPU, which will provide ray-tracing capability.
The good news is that those cores are all enhancements over their predecessors in prior Tensor processors, including a move to the more modern Armv9 architecture, implying a significant performance gain.
The bad news is that it still doesn’t use the most recent generation of Arm designs, which means the Tensor G3 will likely trail behind the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and MediaTek Dimensity 9300 when they come later this year.
Other improvements include a new 1.1GHz TPU for machine learning processing and quicker UFS 4.0 storage support.
A phone with the Tensor G3 and the specifications listed above has emerged on Geekbench, albeit its multi-core score of 3809 falls much behind other recent flagships. Still, it’s early days, and there’s certainly a lot of optimization’s to come, so this is unlikely to be the ultimate performance of the Pixel 8 phones.
In terms of other fundamental specifications, Yogesh Brar anticipates that the ordinary Pixel 8 will include 8GB of RAM and 128/256GB of storage. However, the Pro variant is rumored to include 12GB RAM and the same storage choices.
Google appears to be confident in the Tensor G3’s power, as Android Authority reports that the phone will support USB DisplayPort, allowing you to use the phone’s USB-C port to output to a monitor – most likely implying that Google is adding a desktop mode so that you can use the phone as a mini PC on the go.
Software
9to5Google reports that it is considering extending software support for the Pixel 8 series, which is long overdue. Google now provides Pixels with three years of Android platform upgrades and five years of security fixes. The latter, along with Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi, is the finest in the business, but those firms provide four years of Android upgrades.
Given that Google creates Android, its own phones should be competitive.
A new software feature for the Pixel 8 has also been disclosed on Twitter. It appears that Google has developed a new function called Audio Magic Eraser, which can erase background noise from films in the same way that the existing Magic Eraser tool on Pixel phones can eliminate people or objects from images.
Seems like the new Pixel 8 series will introduce Audio Magic Eraser feature to reduce video background noise.#Pixel8 #Pixel8Pro #GooglePixel pic.twitter.com/Tb23MoDuUI
— EZ (@EZ8622647227573) August 11, 2023
Displays
WinFuture discovered additional specific information regarding the two phones after digging through “publicly available code sources.” The site discovered the code names ‘Shiba’ and ‘Husky’ for two phones. Google has previously used animal names for Pixel flagships, such as Cheetah and Panther for the Pixel 7 series, thus it appears that this pertains to the Pixel 8 devices.
Both phones, according to the code, will run Android 14 and the ‘zuma’ processor. More intriguing, both phones have 12GB of RAM, and the display resolution is similarly high: 2268 x 1,080 for Shiba and 2,822 x 1,344 for Husky, implying the latter is the Pro variant.
Those two codenames also appear in the Pixel product roadmap, but with the additional note that, while the Pro (Husky) will remain roughly the same size, the regular 8 (Shiba) will have a “smaller display and overall smaller form factor” – correlating with the reports above.
Specific resolution claims have also been made by Android Authority, however they don’t exactly match up with the previous WinFuture report. These are the results of a thorough examination of the two phones’ screens, which revealed a wealth of useful data.
To begin, as previously stated, both phones will now feature flat displays, with the 8 Pro measuring 6.7in and the 8 measuring 6.17in. The 8 Pro will allegedly feature a resolution of 2,992 x 1,344 (a little decrease from the 7 Pro), while the 8 will retain its previous resolution of 2,400 x 1,080.
More intriguing, both screens are brighter than previously, with a peak brightness of 1,600 nits on the Pro and 1,400 on the ordinary model. They also get refresh rate bumps: the regular 8 reportedly goes up to 120Hz for the first time, while the Pro stays at 120Hz but adds improved variability with the option to drop as low as 5Hz to conserve battery or hit a range of points between 60Hz and 120Hz to more accurately match content.
Cameras
Let’s move on to cameras. So far, the most reliable source has been Android Authority’s “source inside Google,” who has detailed the supposed specifications of each camera in both phones.
The biggest difference is that both the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro will reportedly feature the Samsung ISOCELL GN2 camera sensor for their primary cameras, according to leaker Ice Universe. That’s a large 1/1.12in sensor with a 50Mp resolution, which is significantly larger than the 7 Pro’s 1/1.31in sensor and should capture significantly more light.
Both phones feature updated ultrawide as well. The Sony IMX787 64Mp sensor utilized in the Pixel 7a’s primary camera will be used in the 8 Pro. It appears to be running significantly wider at 0.49x zoom (compared to 0.55x previously), but it may have lost its macro capabilities.
The Pixel 8 will retain the same 12Mp IMX386 sensor as before in its ultrawide mode, but it will be wider: 0.55x rather than 0.67x.
Perhaps frustratingly, the 8 Pro’s telephoto lens remains unchanged, with a 48Mp 5x periscope, as do the 11Mp selfie cameras in either model.
Developer Kuba Wojciechowski discovered another feasible update. They published source code from the Pixel camera app, implying that the future phone may employ staggered HDR:
Google's 2023 flagship Pixels to include support for staggered HDR – 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ZfWtwQBykY
— kamila 🌸 (@Za_Raczke) December 19, 2022
Currently, Pixel phones do not support staggered HDR, which is a feature that allows several exposures to be captured at the same time while using the same pixels.
“This allows achieving the same effect as regular HDR but without the increased capture time or the risk of the photos being blurry due to misalignment of frames caused by movement,” Wojciechowski said on Twitter.
9to5Google has also dug into the code of Google Photos to discover two new video capabilities that might be Pixel 8 exclusives when they arrive. Both are not currently operational, but the team discovered the user interface for a ‘Video Unblur’ option, which is believed to utilize machine learning to sharpen fuzzy video footage, as well as a set of video ‘overlay’ filters such as black and white and gradient.
Anything that will improve the already excellent Pixel camera is good in our book.
Battery and charging
Finally, Android Authority has also reported on the phones’ batteries and charging.
According to an unidentified Google insider, both phones will have somewhat bigger batteries: 4485mAh on the Pixel 8 (up from 4270mAh) and 4950mAh on the 8 Pro (up from 4926mAh).
Charging appears to be somewhat faster: 24W on the 8 (up from 20W) and 27W on the 8 Pro (up from 23W), however wireless charging speeds stay unchanged – 20W on the 8 and 23W on the 8 Pro if you use Google’s proprietary charger, and slower rates on a Qi pad.
Those charging speeds are, in the end, still modest by industry standards, but Google is making progress toward its competitors.
