Google Pixel 8 review

24 October 2023


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somehow disappointed by the battery performance, especially compared to the preceding model. Maybe it will improve after some updates (as it happened with previous iterations). And for the rest, nice device but that's it. As usual a buyer is treated as a paying beta tester and has the joy of going through all the shit before the hardware finally works as expected. That being said, google isn't the only one guilty of these practices, they all do this and that is simply disgusting but hey, plenty or nerds called "early adopters" who want the latest and greatest the day it comes out and it cannot come too soon. Also having a new flagship (or any device from any segment) each year is just not enough time to create new stuff, wanting to pack it with even more gimmicks and at the same time reinventing the weal each time again is the ideal recipe for these kind of situations. Why not go back to the "plus" or "T" versions that are just the same devices from last year but improved where necessary or allowing to make your phone new by having the ability to alter a modular base.
If the hardware is still performing more than enough then wanting to push each year the so called latest and greatest will always result in unfinished products where testing has somehow been rushed to please eager customers (that have been sublimated or conditioned to want new things each year)

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • mtj
    • 25 Oct 2023

    When you can get an S23 for 650 EUR and no artificial limitations vs Pixel 8's 800 EUR, the choice is more than obvious.

      4.3 rating for a phone with shitty battery life, no ultra fast charging and slow heating chipset. what is gsmarena doing with this ratings??

        Fa14bi, 25 Oct 2023Alao to you, go to the Golden reviewer YT channel, the Pixe... moreThe 865 doesnt beat either SoC in gpu performance, atleast peak performance (i think thats where, i atleast, have gotten mixed up) The 865 is about 20% weaker in gpu performance than the 888.

        If you mean they throttle more then I'd agree with you (unless the company actually cares about cooling so their device isnt really affected like my oppo find x5 with SD 888).

        Im guessing you're meaning sustained performance, if you're doing long, prolonged gaming then again, i can agree the 888 and 8g1 will throttle more often which with some devices you will see more dropped frames (or more likely too, depending on the phone), im guessing thats what the video is representing (i prefer using more factual sites that focus only on performance of all types of chips/SoCs and getting an average based off multiple test results, im not saying this youtuber isnt a professional in his work or mis representing the results).

        Worst heating phones ive used are any xperia phone and the 6 pro, wow that was "very warm" even when idle just sitting on a surface.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • MPa
          • 25 Oct 2023

          By the way, I don't own a Pixel phone. I have never owned a Pixel phone. Last Google phone I owned was a Nexus 6P.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • MPa
            • 25 Oct 2023

            "However, it doesn't sit well with us to see the Tensor G3 being outperformed by last year's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and by such a big margin."

            Most interesting. Especially because you don't list a single SD8 G1+ in the benchmarks charts.

            I also find truly bad the fact that you don't even mention secure Face Unlock, considering it's one of the big new features of the smartphone and something very, very rare to find on Android phones (Honor Magic5 Pro and... what else this year?).

            Last thing: the benchmarks you use for battery are truly and well surpassed. The hours score is the one getting most attention, editorially inevitable considering the way you present it. But the standby/voice figures are not that relevant. Almost nobody uses a smartphone in a way that makes them useful nowadays. The battery score should give far greater weight to web browsing, app use and video playback. In this order.

              Super Android 22, 25 Oct 2023So do oppo, xiaomi, moto and oneplus (possibly more), sony ... moreI'm starting to like OnePlus

                • M
                • Mark33
                • gxr
                • 25 Oct 2023

                Can anyone who owns or actually used the phone tell me for how long can it keep the screen maximum brightness when outdoors under bright sunlight?

                Reviews (from this or any other website) are completely useless when it comes to screen max brightness. It's very nice to have an incredible maximum brightness level, but useless if it can only keep it for like one minute (like my Samsung S20 FE).

                  Shitty battery life for the battery capacity.

                  With UFS 3.1 storage and 8 gen 1 performance, this just can't last 7 years. Sure, close to that, but not 7 years. Just makes the amount of updates provided useless.

                    Mills, 24 Oct 2023I prefer Dolby Vision and iPhone has that. However, 120hz i... moreSo do oppo, xiaomi, moto and oneplus (possibly more), sony and oppo find x3 pro have BT.2020 colour space, they all have 120hz+ screens aswell

                      Super Android 22, 25 Oct 2023You must be choosing bad phones because my find x5 with the... moreAlao to you, go to the Golden reviewer YT channel, the Pixel 8pro Video and skip to Minute 12 where it compares to many different phones.

                      The 865 is only there indirectly in the form of an 870, but it's above all the normal 8gen1 and 888.

                        Super Android 22, 25 Oct 2023You must be choosing bad phones because my find x5 with the... moreI said that the 865 beats them in gaming performance, not that it beats them in peak performance.


                        Also the Snap 888 heats more than the 865, but still less than the 8gen1 and is also still slightly more efficient than the 8gen1.

                        The 888 has the same problems as the 8gen1, but not as exaggerated as the 8gen1 has them.

                          YUKI93, 25 Oct 2023I'm curious why this phone got such a relatively low b... moreMy guess is a higher brightness, higher refresh rate screen plus higher clocked, more powerful cores, an extra core too. Tbh though the pixel series havent really ever had that good battery, google just cant seem to get it sorted out.

                            Anonymous, 25 Oct 2023Maybe i am the only one here but i dont see any progress on... moreThe biggest leap in tech was from the late 90's to mid 2010's. Moore's law is dead now, and companies struggle to make meaningful advances that justify a new release every year. That's why I hope they slow down and release stuff every 2 or 3 years now. Better for consumers and better for the planet as well.

                              Fa14bi, 25 Oct 2023Did the 865 get consistent higher frame rates in games than... moreYou must be choosing bad phones because my find x5 with the 888 doesnt really have any issues, about 30 sensors, maybe more in my phone checking temps and ive never seen it being "unreasonable". Also the 865 has 1.3 teraflops of performance (for the 865+), that of the original xbox one (so in no way can do native 1080p in some games lol), the 888 has 1.7 teraflops of performance and 8g1 is 2.2 teraflops (so on par with the a17 pro).

                              No test shows the 865 beating either of these 2 SoCs, actually on average the 888 seems about 20% better performing than the 865 so please explain what madness you're on about.

                                Anonymous, 25 Oct 2023This is not battery saving mode. Stop using excuses. R... morePixel 8 throttled to 164GIPS

                                Xiaomi 12s throttled to 258GIPS (+57% Advantage over Pixel 8pro)


                                On the stress test, The Pixel went from 25°C and ended at 43°C

                                Xiaomi 12s Started with 29°C and also ended at 43°C


                                The Xiaomi had worse testing circumstances and still ended with an better end result. (+200 Points above Pixel, gaining less temperature).


                                You only showed that worst case scenario 8+gen1 still beats Tensor G3 in normal scenario regardless.

                                  Anonymous, 25 Oct 2023This is not battery saving mode. Stop using excuses. R... moreYou can also watch the Videos from geekerwan, he puts in a lot of effort in testing things, also explaining why certain Problems are.


                                  That certain cores are less efficient is right, however, they don't make as much of a difference as the Samsung and TSMC part.

                                    Anonymous, 25 Oct 2023This is not battery saving mode. Stop using excuses. R... moreThat's you making up excuses really, have you seen the benchmark scores in the normal mode? It's below every single other phone with the same CPU so it functions more like a battery saving mode.

                                    Performance mode is what the mode for phones who have no mode is.

                                    Performance mode simply means don't cut the performance when not needed to.

                                    And that goes with every single device that has a performance mode.

                                    They don't overclock the CPU, they just remove certain limiters or give them a higher tolerance, which is the standard tolerance most phones will have who don't have such modes.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 0p}
                                      • 25 Oct 2023

                                      Fa14bi, 25 Oct 2023Wow, the phone in battery saving mode theottles the CPU as ... moreThis is not battery saving mode. Stop using excuses.

                                      Rog has 2 modes:

                                      1) Default mode that is gonna throttle to avoid excess heat.
                                      2) Gonna keep pushing no matter the heat generated to sustain performance.

                                      "Gaming" phone with SoC made at TSMC dropped to 60%. Fab process has less impact than people think. Same ppl that forget who made 808 and 810 .

                                      Mi 12s Ultra with same 8+g1 dropped to 54% while running wildlife and in the end showed pop up message about overheating.

                                      People here need to understand. Qualcomm dropped Samsung because the low % of usable chips (30% compared to 80% from TSMC). Not because of heat issues.

                                      When TSMC makes chips for Apple, TSMC pays for the bad chips.
                                      While Qualcomm does not have same treatment and needs to pay for them.
                                      More bad chips = more costs to qualcomm.
                                      Only reason Qualcomm left Samsung Semicon.

                                      Service provided by TSMC is far more expensive than Samsung Semicon.



                                        Anonymous, 25 Oct 2023No? https://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/reviews/22/asus-r... morehttps://fdn.gsmarena.com/imgroot/reviews/22/asus-rog-phone-6-pro/sshots/-1080/gsmarena_062.jpg

                                        This is the actual test when the Phone is in performance mode without the cooler.

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