Google Pixel 8 Pro review

26 October 2023


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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • R5v
  • 29 Oct 2023

Anonymous, 29 Oct 2023And even in low light conditions, there are many cases wher... moreWhen you stare at the neon lights, your pupils contract but when you shift gaze to a dark area, your pupils dilate and take sometime to adjust and see an image. The eyes do see more dynamic range but these are two different focus points. If you take a look at the night time sample photos here of the Pixel 8 pro, they really not true to the actual scene. When you focus your gaze on the lighting, the sky should be a lot darker. Only when you shift your gaze to the sky will you see cloud detail, and it takes some time for your eyes to adjust. The image therefore has brighter shadows that you normally don't see in one gaze/one eye focus. It is for this reason, I say the image is hyperreal, more than what the eyes usually see in one gaze/focus. The images tend to show more color and details and higher brightness especially in the shadow areas which human eyes normally do not see anymore in the actual scene at that instance. It's a different case if you are talking about how much the eyes can see in terms of its total dynamic range. You can never replicate it in a jpeg which has limited dynamic range. You tonemap the image to approximate the actual scene but sometimes the tonemapping ends up cartoony if not done right.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • R5v
    • 29 Oct 2023

    Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023I was talking about the daylight dynamic range and in that ... moreYes you do see more dynamic range at daytime than what the Pixel can capture because the cones which are active at daytime adapt a lot faster than our rods in low lighting conditions. For very bright light sources which our pupils can no longer handle, we squint our eyes to be able to see detail in very bright light sources. Tthen when moving our gaze to the shadow areas, we open our eyes normally and our pupil dilates to allow our eyes to see more detail in shadow areas. HDR photography can actually capture that large dynamic range - you can do it manually by bracketing several images and merging later in a single HDR photo. The Pixel's computational photography does the same but since it is fully automated, it only covers for the most typical high dynamic range scenes and cannot adequately capture some scenes that are more extreme in terms of dynamic range. What you do is you take at least 3 exposures with your Pixel (one under exposed for the highlights, one normal exposure, and another, overexposed for the shadows). You manually combine the three exposures to form 1 HDR image. You then use an HDR editing app for merging on the Pixel. You'll need steady hands or a tripod for best results. Alternatively, you can download Open camera app from the Playstore and shoot in HDR mode. It performs better than the default Pixel camera for some very high dynamic range scenes during daytime.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • fCE
      • 29 Oct 2023

      Pixels lately seem to have terrible battery scores

        Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023if audio jacks are so archaic why do electric and bass guit... moreMost laughable comment of the week, made by an anon of course.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • gDf
          • 29 Oct 2023

          Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023I was talking about the daylight dynamic range and in that ... moreAnd even in low light conditions, there are many cases where my Pixel 7 Pro shows a much lower dynamic range than what my eyes see. For example, neon signs have often blown out highlights (colors are lost, clipping) in photos of my Pixel 7 Pro while the shadows (for example street) can be at the same time darker than what my eyes see.
          Therefore, I have to frequently use the in-camera brightness and shadows sliders because the jpgs often have darker shadows than what my eyes see and often blown out highlights.
          My experience is not based on sample images. I look at the scene while(!) I use my 7 Pro and compare the results while(!) I take photos, not afterwards.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • gDf
            • 28 Oct 2023

            Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023You're doing your eye - Pixel photo capture comparison... moreI was talking about the daylight dynamic range and in that case, my eyes often see brighter shadows or less blown out highlights in reality.

              Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023if audio jacks are so archaic why do electric and bass guit... moreare you going to play the guitar with the phone? You are complaining just for trolling, there you have the Sony Xperia 1v has the connector, why don't you buy that one?

                Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023if audio jacks are so archaic why do electric and bass guit... moreThey're music instruments, unlike smartphones.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • gwy
                  • 28 Oct 2023

                  SPM, 27 Oct 2023Audio jack? Really? How archaic. I had a Pixel 8 Pro for 10... moreif audio jacks are so archaic why do electric and bass guitars use them you ignoramus? why not use usb c?

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • R5v
                    • 28 Oct 2023

                    Anonymous, 27 Oct 2023"Wow! The Pixel 8 Pro photos are hyperreal. The HDR to... moreYou're doing your eye - Pixel photo capture comparison wrong. Our eyes don't actually see shadow detail at night when there's strong lighting illuminating our eyes (high dynamic range scene). We have to shield our eyes from the strong light source to be able to see in the shadow areas and adjustment period takes at least several minutes for full visual acuity at night because unlike the cones, rods take longer to adapt (up to several hours in the darkest of lighting conditions). Our pupils dilate to up to four times their size in the dark to allow more light into our optic nerve and it is our brain that gives us the impression of color in the shadows even when our rods don't detect any color. So technically, what phones like the Pixel capture is no longer representative of what humans actually see at that focus point at that instant. When you focus your eyes on bright areas, your eyes do see detail but then you don't see anything much in the shadow areas. The shadows end up darker than what you see in the Pixel's captured photo. If you focus your eyes on the dark areas and shield them from strong lighting, only then will you see shadow detail.

                    For this reason, you normally see a near black sky devoid of any cloud detail when looking at citycapes with plenty of street lighting unless you shield your eyes from the strong lighting or raise your head up and look solely on the night sky.

                    The Pixel photos are therefore technically not true to the actual scene captured anymore when compared to normal human eye perception of the same scene. Many phone manufacturers overdo night scenes resulting in cartoonish looking night images. The third and fourth night time Pixel photos in this review for example, are to me, bordering on being overly HDR and somewhat almost cartoonish, but still acceptable depending on one's personal preference.

                    In general, Pixels do well on the HDR tonemapping aspect (it's a careful balancing act) which on many other phones, you get an overcooked cartoonish looking photo capture that no longer looks realistic compared to what your eyes can actually see at that instance.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 7sy
                      • 28 Oct 2023

                      ab1dali, 28 Oct 2023$5 for an adapter like that is expensive, in most other par... moreFair point, guess you could say the same for 90% of phones on the market now. Including the high end ones

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • 7sy
                        • 28 Oct 2023

                        Fearghast, 28 Oct 2023That's why you should actually read the review and not... moreCorrect, also it's 4.4 :)

                          Sohrab, 27 Oct 2023It falls significantly short when compared to the iPhone 15... moreI get where you are going, but whenever I reached the 16 hour mark of browsing on the small phone screen my eyes are burning and I will go to sleep, plug in the phone and all good for my next session of 16 hours. Browsing for 24h in a row can't be healthy.

                            jtafurth, 27 Oct 2023In your hands on GSMArena mentioned a serious lag in the pr... moreI guess it was ironed out. I have one for close to 2 weeks and have never noticed any lags whatsoever. It is actually extremely fluid in real life use compared to the other phones I have and we have in the family (Note 20 Ultra, Fold 4, S21 Ultra, Pixel 7Pro and Pixel 7a).

                              Anonymous, 27 Oct 2023https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YAtJOX-lQew&t=318s Rob... moreWow, a robot set to open apps... sounds like a real life scenario.

                              No matter what phone, I generally open an app, then use it for a while, close it again and then eventually open a new one. Have never had any 40 seconds wait for an app on any phone. Neither on the Galaxies I had nor the Pixels, including the 8 Pro.

                                DP1963, 27 Oct 2023Too many negatives listed for a 4.3 out of 5 review. That's why you should actually read the review and not just look at summary and number/5.

                                  Anonymous, 28 Oct 2023Heard of a type c to 3.5mm adaptor literally costs $5.. boo... more$5 for an adapter like that is expensive, in most other parts of the world, it's expensive.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • D$0
                                    • 28 Oct 2023

                                    SPM, 27 Oct 2023Audio jack? Really? How archaic. I had a Pixel 8 Pro for 10... moreNothing archaic about the headphone jack bud , it still produces the best sound , and best connection , and charging bud and headphone batteries is not required.
                                    As for the pixels unlocking mechanisms such as face ID and finger print sensor , I agree it is very lack lustre and inconsistent.
                                    It's pretty obvious Google cheaped out on the sensors for both and it sticks out like dogs balls.
                                    I would have been happy to pay more for the pixel 8 pro for better biometrics hardware .

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • at1
                                      • 28 Oct 2023

                                      Anonymous, 27 Oct 2023https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YAtJOX-lQew&t=318s Rob... moreActually s23 ultra the only android phone keeps with iPhone lol.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • R5v
                                        • 28 Oct 2023

                                        justasmile, 28 Oct 2023This phone is the best garbage of the year. Most of the ... moreI partly agree. If you don't need the best camera in a mobile phone, there is an ocean of options elsewhere that cost less and do better in all other areas.

                                        I also own an S23+ in addition to a Pixel 7. The Samsung is my main phone despite being inferior to the Pixel in terms of camera performance simply because my phone use is more than just having an excellent camera or excellent photo editor.

                                        I hated the Pixel's lack of 5G SA/NSA, VoNR, ViLTE and 5G/4G/network band selection feature (all of which are available even in very cheap midrange Samsung phones like the A14 5G /A34 5G). For some incomprehensible reason, Google intentionally blocks all those above just because the phone is used in an unsupported country (which means 99% of the world and all who travel to unsupported countries). Google lies to its teeth and blames the local network for the failure to have 5G, VoNR/VoLTE, ViLTE, etc. when it's actually an INTENTIONAL software block by Google's Pixel firmware.

                                        I also hated many things about the Pixel's user interface which you can NEVER change even with a custom launcher:

                                        1. That annoying white/gray gesture bar at the bottom center of the screen that wastes so much space and that you can't hide or remove (Samsung and many other Android phone brands allow one to hide it; many Pixel users have requested Google to have option to hide it like in Samsung, Xiaomi and other Android phones for the longest time, but to no avail);

                                        2. That stupid combined Wifi and mobile data toggle that makes no sense especially since Pixel phones drain so much faster than other phones when on mobile data and/or wifi, and the extra taps needed to disable one or the other just doesn't make sense;

                                        3. That recent apps list that you have to swipe all the way to the left to clear them all, instead of just having 'close all recents' button displayed immediately when you access all recent apps (like in other android phones);

                                        4. That quick settings drop down menu that is huge and wasteful and don't go all the way down for easier access like in Samsung's OneUI;

                                        5. The inability to hide the notification bar using ADB commands (adb shell settings put global policy_control immersive.navigation=*) starting with Android 11, (not so with Samsung phones), and

                                        6. The mandatory restart/reboot required to turn off developer options to enable banking apps that don't work with developer options 'on' to work (Samsung phones don't need to reboot).

                                        There's actually more but these are my pet peeves for the Pixel phones. I just hate Google's arrogance not listening to feature requests from many Pixel users. But for photography, Pixels really do better than my Samsung especially now with manual controls (which used to be another pet peeve for many Pixel users).

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