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Phones Google Pixel 8/8 Pro

Aneres11

Aneres11

macrumors 601
Oct 2, 2011
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AJB1971

macrumors 6502
Jun 23, 2011
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You guys might be interested in MKBHD's Smartphone Awards 2023.
As an aside, I upgraded to the 7a (got a great deal on a used one on Black Friday), and I'm really happy with it.
 
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Technerd108

Technerd108

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Oct 24, 2021
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AJB1971 said:
You guys might be interested in MKBHD's Smartphone Awards 2023.
As an aside, I upgraded to the 7a (got a great deal on a used one on Black Friday), and I'm really happy with it.
Click to expand...
Pretty good review. This pretty much sums up my feelings this year. Although I think the Pixel 8 should have also won best value considering the cost, features and length of software support?

iPhone 15 pro is finally pretty much peak iPhone. S 23 Ultra is one of the best phones of the year because of the camera zoom, screen, s pen, battery, etc but is a bit boring-specially the colors.

I think I would have picked either the iPhone 15 Pro for best design or Pixel 8 Pro?

But I agree that the Pixel 8 this year is pretty much unmatched. Everyone always just goes to Tensor and starts trashing Pixel but the Tensor G3 is a much better chipset than the G2. Most of these people are still talking about the 6 and 7 and not the 8!

I think the Pixel 8 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro have extremely unique and recognizable designs. The iPhone with Titanium, fully flat screen, beautiful colors, nice camera design. The Pixel 8 Pro I feel is the best designed phone overall with a win going to iPhone for build quality. The Pixel 8 Pro now has a flat display, it has a much nicer feel and weight with larger aluminum side rails. The blue color and integration of the camera bump and matching aluminum looks really unique and premium. I think in terms of design nothing is more recognizable while still being refined is the Iphone 15 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro. I do prefer the brushed aluminum on the Pixel 8 but overall the design is instantly recognizable.

For me I had the s23 ultra when it came out. I had a Pixel 7 Pro before that and now the Pixel 8 Pro. All of the phones have been great for me. The s 23 ultra is my ultra phone when I may not have access to a computer or tablet for a while then the Ultra is what I will take. It is what I call the kitchen sink approach to a smartphone. It has everything. However, as a daily it can be a bit unwieldy. It is a very large and heavy phone. The s23 ultra basically fixes the issues with the s22 ultra. Better performance and battery life.

The Pixel 8 Pro is similar to the s 23 ultra in that it is a pretty big improvement over the last generation and a lot of that is in fixes. The Pixel 7 Pro had mediocre battery life and a battery thirsty cpu and modem. The Pixel 7 Pro had overheating and throttling issues even under light load. The Pixel 7 Pro had mediocre reception. Now we have the Pixel 8 Pro that fixes all of those things and improves on others. The Pixel 8 Pro has great battery life, doesn't throttle under light loads and doesn't overheat under light loads, we have a more efficient modem with better reception. We now have a flat screen that is brighter, we have better speakers, we have better cameras, we have better performance. I am not going to say that the Pixel 8 Pro is perfect. The Tensor G3 could still be faster, more efficient, and have a better thermal profile but it is good enough to fix the big bottlenecks of the Pixel 7 Pro.

What I have noticed since I got the Pixel 8 Pro is that I just enjoy using it. The s23U just tends to get boring fast where as something about the Pixel just feels more fun to use. The shape and feel of the Pixel 8 is so inviting. I love holding the phone. I love the bay color. The screen is amazing.

I think for me, all the pain points of the Pixel 7 Pro are at least much improved if not a non issue now. The Pixel 8 is a good phone in pretty much every way. I prefer the Pixel UI over OneUI and I truly value 7 years of updates.

There are some things that I still prefer about the s23 ultra but overall as a daily driver the Pixel 8 Pro is better because it is more comfortable to use, has great battery life and performance.
 
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ios3

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Jun 14, 2022
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How has the December update been for you guys? I've heard good reviews regarding battery, heating, and the chips (tensor and modem) due to improved drivers
 
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Bash310

macrumors newbie
Sep 8, 2016
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I am looking to get into a pixel. Doesn't anybody else have a promo code they would want to share?
 
Dave245

Dave245

macrumors G3
Sep 15, 2013
9,852
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Bash310 said:
I am looking to get into a pixel. Doesn't anybody else have a promo code they would want to share?
Click to expand...

If you’re in the UK, Google have an offer at the moment on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. £100 off the Pro and £75 off the Pixel 8.
 
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robvalentine

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2014
548
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I had a 15 pro for a week and a bit, the fact that the picture colours weren't close to true to life meant I sent it back and went back to pixels.
 
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Jensend

macrumors 65816
Dec 19, 2008
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Technerd108 said:
The Pixel 8 Pro is similar to the s 23 ultra in that it is a pretty big improvement over the last generation and a lot of that is in fixes. The Pixel 7 Pro had mediocre battery life and a battery thirsty cpu and modem. The Pixel 7 Pro had overheating and throttling issues even under light load. The Pixel 7 Pro had mediocre reception. Now we have the Pixel 8 Pro that fixes all of those things and improves on others. The Pixel 8 Pro has great battery life, doesn't throttle under light loads and doesn't overheat under light loads, we have a more efficient modem with better reception. We now have a flat screen that is brighter, we have better speakers, we have better cameras, we have better performance. I am not going to say that the Pixel 8 Pro is perfect. The Tensor G3 could still be faster, more efficient, and have a better thermal profile but it is good enough to fix the big bottlenecks of the Pixel 7 Pro.
Click to expand...
I used a month-old Pixel 7 Pro and a brand new Pixel 8 Pro side by side for a few weeks. Besides the obvious difference in the curved edges of the screen, I noticed very few differences, except a much better ultrawide camera and improved autofocus speed in the 8 Pro.
Battery life, reception, processor performance, and speakers were pretty much identical in my testing. (though I couldn't directly compare reception, since I transferred the cellular service from the 7 to 8).

And I preferred the glossy back on the 7 Pro, because glossy glass has better grip against my skin than glass with a matte finish.
 
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danpam12358

macrumors member
Sep 13, 2023
47
45
I am traveling in Japan this month and my Pixel 8 Pro can’t keep up with iPhone 15 Pro Max. The Pixel just heats up when taking photos until it freezes the camera app. It’s horrible waiting for the phone to cool down when the lighting was perfect to take street photos in Tokyo.
 
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super chimp

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2008
1,099
486
UK
Is the Pixel 8 a better value phone than the 8 Pro, it seems like you don’t lose much for a cheaper phone, or are there downsides in going for the 8 rather than Pro?

The 8 seems to have virtually the same battery life in a smaller phone it also appears to have louder speakers, TBH the only loss seems to be the telephoto camera for much the same phone hardware. Especially as Amazon have it even cheaper than Google do.
 
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Heat_Fan89

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Feb 23, 2016
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super chimp said:
Is the Pixel 8 a better value phone than the 8 Pro, it seems like you don’t lose much for a cheaper phone, or are there downsides in going for the 8 rather than Pro?

The 8 seems to have virtually the same battery life in a smaller phone it also appears to have louder speakers, TBH the only loss seems to be the telephoto camera for much the same phone hardware. Especially as Amazon have it even cheaper than Google do.
Click to expand...
It is because the internals are identical. The 8 Pro has a slightly better camera and a temperature sensor. However the slightly better camera boils down to software and NOT hardware. Now things change if you were lucky enough to get in on the $200 off the 8 Pro plus a $125 discount coupon for a total of $325. That would bring the 8 Pro closer in price with the Pixel 8. At that point, the 8 Pro becomes the better value and that's if you prefer a larger screen.
 
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Jensend

macrumors 65816
Dec 19, 2008
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Heat_Fan89 said:
It is because the internals are identical. The 8 Pro has a slightly better camera and a temperature sensor. However the slightly better camera boils down to software and NOT hardware. Now things change if you were lucky enough to get in on the $200 off the 8 Pro plus a $125 discount coupon for a total of $325. That would bring the 8 Pro closer in price with the Pixel 8. At that point, the 8 Pro becomes the better value and that's if you prefer a larger screen.
Click to expand...
The 8 Pro has a significantly better ultra wide camera, and, of course, a telephoto camera. The telephoto is my least used camera, though, and I think I'd use a 2x lens more.

I mostly got the 8 Pro because it was $399 through my carrier (my home internet provider).
 
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super chimp

macrumors 65816
Mar 21, 2008
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There’s quite the price gap on the 2 models on Amazon UK with the 128GB models respectively £605 & £899.
 
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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
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Jensend said:
The 8 Pro has a significantly better ultra wide camera, and, of course, a telephoto camera. The telephoto is my least used camera, though, and I think I'd use a 2x lens more.

I mostly got the 8 Pro because it was $399 through my carrier (my home internet provider).
Click to expand...
True but as Marques points out around the 3:37 mark that both phones are using the same G3 chip and primary cameras and super bright displays. Is the $300 bump in price worth it? I got the 8 Pro because of the screen size and because of the colors. I was torn between Bay and Porcelain. I went with porcelain.

 
Technerd108

Technerd108

macrumors 68040
Oct 24, 2021
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super chimp said:
Is the Pixel 8 a better value phone than the 8 Pro, it seems like you don’t lose much for a cheaper phone, or are there downsides in going for the 8 rather than Pro?

The 8 seems to have virtually the same battery life in a smaller phone it also appears to have louder speakers, TBH the only loss seems to be the telephoto camera for much the same phone hardware. Especially as Amazon have it even cheaper than Google do.
Click to expand...
What is most important to you? If saving money is most important obviously the Pixel 8 is a great value. However cost is relative to feature set and competition. The two other large premium major smartphones are the s23 ultra series and iPhone Pro Max cost much more than the Pixel 8 Pro. Specially when you consider promotions and discounts.

That being said the Pixel 8 is a great phone and for people who like smaller screens you are making few compromises and saving a bunch.

The way I look at it I am going to be using one device over and over again every day for at least a year I don't want to feel like I compromised. I like larger screen, I like larger battery, I like telephoto, and the extra ram.

There is no bad choice. There is no better value than what you prefer. You can find deals that will make the extra cost of the 8 Pro less painful.
 
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