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chad.petree

macrumors 6502a
Feb 2, 2013
568
259
Germany
I don’t like the shiny camera module for the Pro models. They scratch so easily. The matte ones on the non-Pro models is better.

I wonder if Google will fix the poor battery life and slow down in performance after 2-3 months of ownership.
That shiny camera module scratches just by looking at it, what a shame that they missed this opportunity to make them matt.
 

drinkingtea

macrumors 65816
Jan 31, 2016
1,240
3,271
Damn. Someone who did an unboxing of the P8 confirmed that the fingerprint scanner is optical. If that's the case, I just might grab a 7 Pro instead :/. Seeing brand new 7 Pros going for about $500~ on Swappa.
 

okkibs

macrumors 65816
Sep 17, 2022
1,070
1,005
The smaller non-pro Pixels are so uninteresting. Not offering a smaller Pro phone with the full camera and other hardware is so unfortunate. My 6 Pro is too big and I went for that regardless due to the better hardware. As is widely known the smaller Pixel 6 had a terrible screen. I need to move away from that size but I want a flagship and not the subpar standard models. Likely it's back to the small Pro iPhones for me until Google brings the old Pixel XL size back to life.

Seeing brand new 7 Pros going for about $500~ on Swappa.
If you want to buy in the next couple weeks/months and don't mind the size as well as the display bending over the edge (I hate it with passion on my Pixel) it's the most hardware (especially the camera) and cleanest Android you can get for the money with plenty of years of upgrades (4 years left now).

Just based on the price alone a 7 Pro makes more sense than buying a brand new 8 series Pixel at launch.
 

Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,517
5,692
Damn. Someone who did an unboxing of the P8 confirmed that the fingerprint scanner is optical. If that's the case, I just might grab a 7 Pro instead :/. Seeing brand new 7 Pros going for about $500~ on Swappa.

That's not good news. And it also won't have the faster UFS 4.0, but still 3.1.
 

BMox81

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 14, 2014
1,114
1,051
United Kingdom
I can’t lie, having never had these issues as I’ve been away for so long yet seeing people post up complaining about optical and GN1 sensors really puts a dampener on me putting in a pre order…
 
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840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,489
6,385
Twin Cities Minnesota
Will the new phones also have the option for facial unlock?

Hazel?! It’s grey!!! :O
EDIT - Actually, just watched that video above. It does have that greeny grey tinge so I will let them off calling it Hazel :p
It is always hard watching videos online when you have zero idea what color profile they have their camera set for. I remember seeing reviews of the Pixel 6 and worried my "sorta seafoam" preorder was going to be ugly as sin.

Thankfully the real color was far, far, far more pleasing than whatever potato cameras YouTube reviewers were using.
 
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840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,489
6,385
Twin Cities Minnesota
Let me go back, the last time I had an iPhone was the 12 Pro Max, as I was happy to try out on iPhone, my first since the iPhone 3G. I recall being super pumped for it, and actually excited for iMessage, seriously. After a few days I asked some people, is there some settings or options I have disabled to get the full magic out of iMessage? Because I'm not seeing anything extra special or unique about it, my iPhone friends said no, "it just works" But even when texting my siblings that do have iPhone's direct iMessage to iMessage, I thought I didn't have iMessage configured properly or there was some issue, because it just seemed so regular to me, not bad nor great, but just another text app to be honest. I'm not trying to diss iMessage, honestly, I just didn't see the magic or speciaspecialness of it.

Ok rant over, let's talk Pixel 8 movving forward :)
Coming back to daily driving Android, I have been severely disappointed with RCS. When messaging the same 2 users, we have 4 different chats that have popped up because one of our phones dropped the token or whatever. What's worse, we have added a larger group of friends (all of whom have RCS working fine when I directly text them), and we have yet to successfully create an RCS chat with more than 3 users. While the RCS limit is claimed to be 100 users, I have never been part of a group with more than 4, and even then, it will degrade to an MMS more times than I care to count.

We have tried many combinations of apps to keep it working, samsung messages, Google messages, etc. While an iMessage will occasionally pop over to a green bubble, RCS is just too dang random for me.

I still love RCS over iMessage (when it works), but my experience (and that of many of my friends), it isn't exactly prime time yet.
 

Aneres11

macrumors 601
Oct 2, 2011
4,353
9,551
I can’t lie, having never had these issues as I’ve been away for so long yet seeing people post up complaining about optical and GN1 sensors really puts a dampener on me putting in a pre order…
It really shouldn’t be putting a dampener on your pre-order. The things being discussed are just nice to have’s rather than deal breakers. And if they end up being deal breakers for you then just return within the window :).
The Pixels are great phones. You’d need to be super picky to not get on with one - or, expecting the world! Bear in mind these devices are a chunk cheaper than the alternative flagships from Apple and Samsung, so there’s going to be some trade off’s.
 

840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,489
6,385
Twin Cities Minnesota
Great question. I am thinking Samsung will still win out in most minds. the 10x zoom is huge for many, so is their screen technology.

I am not a fan of Samsung in many facets outside of phones (TVs, appliances, etc) so it is hard for me to like the phones much. Also seeing friends consistently crack their screens, they just don't seem durable enough for my rough and tumble lifestyle of work, photography, and tourism.
 

Supersonicc

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2016
809
1,850
Will the new phones also have the option for facial unlock?


It is always hard watching videos online when you have zero idea what color profile they have their camera set for. I remember seeing reviews of the Pixel 6 and worried my "sorta seafoam" preorder was going to be ugly as sin.

Thankfully the real color was far, far, far more pleasing than whatever potato cameras YouTube reviewers were using.
From the specs it looks like the Pixel 8's will have the option for face unlock from the lock screen. For things like Google Pay, biometrics likely still required.
 
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Supersonicc

macrumors 6502a
Sep 7, 2016
809
1,850
This is a good question, who will be top dog when it comes to the two main things?

Camera
Battery life
Yeah I think it could come down to how good the Tensor G3 chip is with controlling thermals & extending battery life. The Pixel 8 Pro cameras I expect to be produce better quality photos than the S23 Ultra, despite the longer range Samsung zoom. Pixel is usually camera king.
 

Dave245

macrumors G3
Sep 15, 2013
9,852
8,079
Yeah I think it could come down to how good the Tensor G3 chip is with controlling thermals & extending battery life. The Pixel 8 Pro cameras I expect to be produce better quality photos than the S23 Ultra, despite the longer range Samsung zoom. Pixel is usually camera king.

I would be happy if battery matches my iPhone 14 Pro Max or the S23 Ultra.

I have seen a number of videos about the Pixel Pro 7 being the best (up until the iPhone 15 Pro Max and S23 Ultra) so I can imagine the Pixel Pro 8 will be better than iPhone 15 Pro Max.
What’s the zoom like on Pixel phones? Better than iPhone but not as good as Samsung?
 

Dave245

macrumors G3
Sep 15, 2013
9,852
8,079
I really like these themes, is that the standard out of the box theme that comes what the phone, or does it have to be downloaded from Google Play store? Those clocks and weather widgets look great 😍
IMG_5362.jpeg
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
16,074
19,069
US
This is a good question, who will be top dog when it comes to the two main things?

Camera
Battery life

Why limit it to those 2 things? I would say let’s focus more on the whole user experience than just 2 features. But I get that those things are important as well.
 
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Dave245

macrumors G3
Sep 15, 2013
9,852
8,079
Why limit it to those 2 things? I would say let’s focus more on the whole user experience than just 2 features. But I get that those things are important as well.

They are the main 2 things to a lot of people. Definitely include other things, like heat management, durability, smoothness of the software, reliability and so on.
 
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BMox81

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 14, 2014
1,114
1,051
United Kingdom
I really like these themes, is that the standard out of the box theme that comes what the phone, or does it have to be downloaded from Google Play store? Those clocks and weather widgets look great 😍
View attachment 2286051
You’ll be able to change the icons from within the wallpaper and style section under the “Themed Icons” option.

Widgets are default as well.
 
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Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,517
5,692
I really like these themes, is that the standard out of the box theme that comes what the phone, or does it have to be downloaded from Google Play store? Those clocks and weather widgets look great 😍
View attachment 2286051

That's the stock Material theme or whatever they call it. It's easily done in the Settings, no third party apps needed.
 
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