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Google Pixel 8

Google Pixel 8

Leading the midrange pack

4.0 Excellent
Google Pixel 8 - Google Pixel 8
4.0 Excellent

Bottom Line

The Pixel 8 offers similar performance and functionality as the larger Pixel 8 Pro, but costs $300 less, making it the midrange Android phone to beat.
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  • Pros

    • Competitively priced
    • Advanced AI features
    • Terrific cameras
    • Compact
    • Excellent build quality
  • Cons

    • Unimpressive battery life
    • No telephoto camera
    • Storage capped at 256GB

Google Pixel 8 Specs

Battery Life (As Tested) 10 hours 20 minutes
Camera Resolution (Rear; Front-Facing) 50MP / 12MP / 10.5MP
CPU Google Tensor G3
Dimensions 5.9 by 2.8 by 0.4 inches
Operating System Android 14
Screen Resolution 2400 by 1080 pixels
Screen Size 6.2

The $699 Google Pixel 8 mirrors its larger sibling, the $999 Pixel 8 Pro, in nearly every way. It has the same Tensor G3 processor, the same Android 14 software, and the same long-term support commitment from Google. Its smaller size and some missing features, like a telephoto lens and a thermometer, add up to big savings if those extras don't matter to you. And the Pixel 8's more advanced AI and machine learning powers give it a serious leg up on the budget-minded $499 Pixel 7a. All of these Pixels are worth your attention, but the Pixel 8 sits right in the sweet spot, beating out the Moto Edge+ to earn our Editors' Choice award for midrange Android phones.


Small and Comfortable

Google has trimmed the screen size of the smaller Pixel 8 and the result is a more compact phone that's just a little bit easier to hold and use. It measures 5.9 by 2.8 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.6 ounces, which is more comfortable than the Pixel 7's 6.1 by 2.9 by 0.3 inches and 6.9 ounces, as well as the 6.4-by-3.0-by-0.3-inch, 7.5-ounce Pixel 8 Pro.

The Pixel 8 has a premium feel with a matte aluminum frame and camera bar punctuated by glossy glass. It comes in three colors: Hazel (grayish), Obsidian (black), or Rose (light pink). These colors pop thanks to the reflective finish, while the muted metal frame offers a pleasing contrast. Google says Corning Gorilla Glass Victus covers the front and back, while the Pixel 8 Pro gets tougher Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the rear panel. Both Pixel 8 phones are rated IP68, meaning they are dustproof and can withstand being submerged in shallow water for up to 30 minutes.

There's a power button and volume rocker on the right side of the device, a USB-C connector on the bottom, and a SIM tray on the left. The Pixel 8 supports one physical SIM card and one eSIM card, but it does not accommodate memory cards for expandable storage.

The dual sensors in the rear camera bar remain one of its standout design features. As with the 8 Pro, the Pixel 8 features a revised camera bar with the sensors appearing in individual cutouts rather than one larger one. One thing you won't see? The thermometer that appears on the Pixel 8 Pro.

Google gives the Pixel 8 series two biometric security options, both kept under lock and key by the Titan M2 co-processor. New this year is a face unlock tool that's secure enough to use for authenticating mobile payments. It's powered by the selfie camera, which is in a tiny cutout at the top of the display. If you prefer, the phone also includes an under-display fingerprint reader. We found both authentication methods reliable in testing.


Tight and Bright

Google touts the Pixel 8's 6.2-inch OLED screen as an Actua display, which is supposed to let you see things more accurately. It has a resolution of 2,400 by 1,080 pixels for a pixel density of 424ppi and a refresh rate that ranges from 60Hz to 120Hz, which gives you sharp images and smooth animations. The Pixel 8 Pro's 6.7-inch screen has 2,992 by 1,344 pixels with a density of 489ppi and a variable refresh rate that ranges from a lower 1Hz to 120Hz. This is one area where the Moto Edge+ does well; its 6.7-inch screen may have the same resolution, but it has a much higher refresh rate of 144Hz.

The display is brilliantly vivid, with an average brightness of 1,400 nits and a peak of 2,000 nits, which means you can see the phone under direct sunlight very well. This is a big improvement over the Pixel 7. Using the Pixel 8's maximum brightness indoors can be jolting if you have a light color scheme with lots of white. Viewing angles on the Pixel 8 are excellent.


A Pixel-Perfect Camera

The main shooter on the Pixel 8 is a 50MP camera with optical image stabilization and a Super Res Zoom of up to 8x. Images can be quad-binned to create well-exposed 12.5MP images or you can go into the settings to get full-resolution snaps for more detail. The 12MP ultrawide camera features a single-zone laser detect autofocus (LDAF) system. There is no dedicated telephoto lens like there is on the Pixel 8 Pro, nor are there pro camera controls in the app. The 10.5MP selfie camera on the front has a 95-degree field of view.

Images captured from any of the cameras on the Pixel 8 are incredibly detailed and handle differences in light without issue. Colors are consistent between cameras but appear oversaturated when compared with real-life colors. It's a nice effect to see a sky that is bluer than you remember, but an oversaturated green taxicab may look a little odd. The Super Res Zoom tool, which uses digital cropping and machine learning to fill in and sharpen the gaps worked OK, but fine details can be lost. Pixel phones continue to excel at low-light photography, and the Pixel 8's algorithms seem to now retain more shadows, giving images a more natural look.

Ultrawide camera
Main camera
Left to right: Night Sight off, Night Sight on

When it comes to selfies, the Pixel 8 captures an excellent amount of detail in every image, with fine hairs or wrinkles appearing sharp. Portrait mode looks incredibly natural with its default settings. Areas around messy hair are processed, but provide a good distinction between the subject and the foreground.

Video capture is very good, but still has the same slightly oversaturated look as still photos. For more accurate colors, we suggest enabling HDR. When scrubbing through video captured on the Pixel 8, virtually every still frame is sharp and in focus. Details are well preserved, as the Pixel has no issues with recording a subject that is in shadows next to another that is well lit. Digital zoom at 7x is available when recording, but you will lose detail and any camera movement is highly amplified.

The Pixel 8 easily surpasses the photo capabilities of the Moto Edge+, even though the hardware is about the same.


Photo Magic Tricks Abound

Google has expanded its roster of AI-enhanced editing features available in Google Photos. Magic Eraser lets you remove objects in images by selecting them and letting your phone figure out the rest (like generating a believable replacement for the missing item). This feature works quite well in general, but sometimes the resulting image may look strange due to an oddly rendered background. Considering how easy it is to use Magic Eraser, the Pixel 8 can be forgiven for not generating 100% realistic backgrounds every time. And in case you just want to mask something, you can use Magic Eraser to camouflage the item so it stands out less.

The Pixel 8 series gains Magic Editor, which is kind of like a more powerful Magic Eraser. Magic Editor lets you select one or more objects in an image, then remove them entirely, move them within the photo, or resize them as much as you want. This generally works well, but it does run into the same background image generation issues as Magic Eraser. The Pixel 8 Pro gets on-device AI for Magic Editor, but the Pixel 8 still relies on cloud processing to make it work.

Audio Magic Eraser is entirely new. This feature analyzes the audio in videos that are between one second and two minutes long, differentiates between the different types of sound, and then lets you change the levels of the music, nature, noise, or speech in the background. All this magic is performed on-device and you don't need to be connected to a network to use it as long as the video clip is on your phone.

In testing, we played music in the background while speaking to the camera and ran the video through Audio Magic Eraser. It didn't totally remove the music, which was still audible in the background, but the feature definitely does lower unwanted noises. When using these magic tools for a long time, the back of the Pixel 8 would get warm to the touch, but not uncomfortably so.

Best Take is also new to the Pixel 8 series. This feature aims to take on a very simple problem: making sure everyone looks good in a group photo. Google's solution is to analyze the images you took and give you the option to replace the faces in one image using better expressions from others. All you have to do is choose an image, then tap Edit > Best Take (if you don't see Best Take there, it is not available). The Pixel 8 takes a second to look at other photos and then gives you the option to replace faces. The results appeared natural, although certain articles of clothing may look a little warped due to the combined faces and poses.


Assistant Earns More Smarts

Certain Google Assistant features are available only on Pixel phones. For the Pixel 8, Google Assistant can now provide summaries, read aloud, and even translate pages into speech in Google Chrome. Go to a web page, invoke Assistant, and tap on one of the chips (such as Summarize or Read Aloud). These features don't work for every website, however. When it works, the Summarize function provides a bullet point version of the underlying article. The Read Aloud feature has speed controls so you can listen at your own pace. The same speed controls are also available when Read Aloud translates for you.

These functions do not work systemwide. For example, Read Aloud doesn't work in the Amazon Kindle app and Summarize doesn't appear when using the Brave browser.

Call screening is improved on the Pixel 8 series. Assistant can now ask callers to explain themselves before getting to talk to you. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), we did not receive any spam phone calls during the testing period to see how this works in real life.


Not All-Powerful, But Strong Enough

The base model of the Google Pixel 8 comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, or you can upgrade to 256GB for $60 more. If you plan to keep the Pixel 8 for any length of time, we suggest going with 256GB. The 8 Pro ships with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage, in comparison. Both devices are powered by Google's new Tensor G3 processor, which the Web giant hasn't fully detailed.

We run benchmarks on phones to objectively determine performance. Our standard set of apps could not be installed through the Google Play Store, but we were able to sideload some to put the Pixel 8 in better context with its competition.

First up is Geekbench 5 (because Geekbench 6 would not run), which measures CPU performance. The Pixel 8 scored 1,229 on the single-core test and 3,140 on the multi-core exam. These marks are similar to the Google Pixel 8 Pro, which scored 1,268 and 3,271.

On the PCMark Web 3.0 benchmark, which covers the performance of web-based activities, the Pixel 8 scored 9,959. That puts it well below the Pixel 8 Pro's score of 11,709 and the Moto Edge+'s score of 14,531.

For graphics, we ran the 1440p Aztec Ruins GFXBench test. The Pixel 8 ran at 49 frames per second (fps), which is better than the Pixel 8 Pro's 38fps. Here, the Edge+ averaged 61fps on the same test. Last, we ran Basemark Web 3.0. The Pixel 8 managed to score 684, well below the Pixel 8 Pro's 761.

In real-world gaming, playing Genshin Impact on medium settings at 60fps worked quite well even though the Pixel 8 warned of slowdown. When on high settings at 60fps, the phone handled things well, with one slowdown in a sub-20-minute play session. During longer play sessions, the back of the Pixel 8 got warm to the touch.

Having two apps up at once or switching between multiple apps created no problems. Booting and app load times were also speedy. The offline capabilities of the Pixel 8 (and 8 Pro) should not be undervalued. These devices are capable of doing some serious photo and video magic without a connection. The translation feature works very well offline once you have the languages downloaded.

As for the battery, the Pixel 8 packs a 4,575mAh cell that can charge at 27W wired, 18W wirelessly with the optional second-generation Google Pixel Stand, or 12W using standard Qi wireless charging. In our battery test, in which we stream an HD video from YouTube with the screen at full brightness, the Pixel 8 lasted 10 hours and 20 minutes, which is one hour and 15 minutes more than the Pixel 8 Pro. Neither of these results are particularly impressive. The Moto Edge+ trounces the Pixel 8 on battery, lasting an incredible 16 hours and 55 minutes—more than most other Android phones.

There is no charging brick in the box, but if you have the right charger the Pixel 8 can go from 0% to 100% in around 1 hour and 45 minutes. A 15-minute charge delivered a 23% battery boost. It took a little under 40 minutes to reach a 50% charge from zero.


5G and Wi-Fi for Now and the Future

The Pixel 8 supports mmWave and sub-6 5G compatibility (including critical C-band spectrum) for 5G, as well as Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, which are both upgrades over the Pixel 7.

On T-Mobile's 5G UC network in New York City, the Pixel 8 reached speeds of 666Mbps down and 102Mbps up. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra hit 649Mbps down and 112Mbps up when tested in the same spot. This means the Pixel 8 performs at about the same level as competing Android phones when it comes to mobile network connections.

When connected to a Wi-Fi 6 access point in testing, peak download speeds hit 167Mbps, with uploads topping out at 16Mbps (that slow upload speed is more a function of the ISP than the phone). For comparison, the Galaxy S23 Ultra hit 467Mbps down and 19Mbps up when tested in the same spot, and the Moto Edge+ achieved speeds of 765Mbps down and 134Mbps up. We noted similar Wi-Fi weirdness on the Pixel Pro 8 in testing, which means there could be a software or hardware issue shared between the devices that limits Wi-Fi performance. We've reached out to Google to determine the cause. Taking the Pixel 8 as far away as possible from the access point in my apartment saw speeds drop to 64.8Mbps down and 8Mbps up, while the S23 Ultra reached 79.4Mbps down and 12.4Mbps up.

In listening to our audio test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," the bass response of the Pixel 8's stereo speakers is just OK. We suggest using it with Bluetooth headphones to really hear all the details of your music. In testing, the speakers reached a maximum volume of 93.6dB. Even with the volume topped out, we heard no distortion.

Call quality is very good. The earpiece speaker reached 68.1dB and the speakerphone hit 75.9dB. Hearing calls is easy even in a noisy room.


A New Android and a New Commitment

The Pixel 8 ships with Android 14, which is full of new features and tools. You can read our full review of Android 14 here. Most of what makes a Pixel a Pixel are the software tricks Google adds like Magic Eraser and Magic Edit, as discussed above.

More importantly, the Pixel 8 comes with a promise from Google to support the device for seven years with OS upgrades, security updates, and feature drops. Google will also supply spare parts for repairs for that same length of time. This is a big change from Google, which previously limited support to four years for OS upgrades and five years for security, while basically offering no promise for spare parts. For comparison, Apple generally supports its iPhones for a period of five years.

Of course, who knows if Google will honor its promise. The company has killed off products prematurely in the past. Notably, it recently axed the Pixel Pass program that would give subscribers a new Pixel handset after two years.


The Best Midrange Android Phone

Google really knows how to make things tough. The Pixel 7a is a wonderful budget phone and Editors' Choice winner for its affordable $400 price. Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 Pro impresses with its large screen, triple-camera array, and odd-but-interesting thermometer. It comes at a price, though, starting at $300 more than the Pixel 8. That puts the $699 Pixel 8 in a comfortable in-between position. It's a clear step up from the 7a while also being a fine and reasonable alternative to the Pixel 8 Pro since it doesn't lose too much in the way of features. Compared with the Moto Edge+, the Pixel 8 has better software, cameras, and support, for $100 less. That makes it the best midrange Android phone you can buy right now, and our Editors' Choice.

About Iyaz Akhtar