If Android phones are more your thing than the latest iPhone 15 then you’ll be pleased to hear the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are just around the corner, launching officially on 4 October. Google hasn’t left much to the imagination, though. To combat extensive leaks, the company itself has already confirmed the existence of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones, posting pictures of them online and trailing them in flashy videos.
They continue the design language first seen on the Pixel 6 in 2021 with a distinctive ‘camera bar’ on the back, as well as new pink and blue colour options.
The new Pixel phones will hopefully prove stern competition to the Samsung Galaxy S23 series that went on sale in February. Samsung sells the most Android phones globally, but Google has often trumped Samsung when it comes to certain features.
Here are four ways the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro could best the Galaxy S23 series.
Camera performance
Google Pixel phones have always had excellent cameras and it looks like the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will be no exception. Still image quality on Pixels tend to have a moodier look with more contrast and colour accuracy that we love, and often bests the equivalent recent Samsung Galaxy.
We find Samsung can oversaturate its otherwise impressive photos, making grass and sky look unnaturally vivid. We’ll have to wait and compare the results side by side when we get our hands on the Pixel 8 phones, though.
Pixel camera features like Super Res Zoom, which can zoom even further digitally but uses AI to improve the quality of the image, should make an appearance, though it’ll have to be special to improve on the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom. The Pixel 8 may have the beating of the regular S23 and S23 Plus, though.
Google is also ahead of Samsung when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) features on its Pixel camera. We already have fun features such as Magic Eraser that can identify and erase people or objects from photos, and uses AI to fill in the photo to make it look naturally like they were never there.
With a rumoured Magic Audio Eraser coming on Pixel 8, you should be able to remove unwanted sounds from your videos too, though it might not be clever enough to take away you singing along out of tune at the Eras Tour.
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AI smarts
AI won’t be restricted to the camera on the Pixel 8 – Google’s cleverest tricks will likely be baked into the Pixel and its close use of the Google app ecosystem.
Some great features are restricted to Pixel phones, such as the excellent utility of the Recorder app. It can quickly transcribe interviews, meetings, or presentations, transcribing and identifying individual speakers. Best of all, this works even if your phone is offline – and if you download the language packs first, you can also use Google Translate and the excellent Live Translate feature offline, too, which acts like a virtual interpreter.
You will also be able to transcribe messages quickly or translate menus or road signs – any text in fact, using the Pixel’s camera.
With the added power of the rumoured new Tensor G3 chipset on the Pixel 8, these features should run even faster. We hope Google has a few more AI surprises up its sleeve for the new phones too, as it is this area where the company truly differentiates itself from other Android phones.
Software experience
This one is a little more subjective, but we are fans of the Pixel’s software, which is more stripped back and clean compared to Samsung’s One UI Android skin.
The Pixel 8 series will ship with the latest version of Android, Android 14, out of the box, but we’ve been testing an early version of the software on an older Pixel (you can do the same thanks to the public Android beta program) and are suitably impressed. It has a playful style that lets you customise the alway-on display, home screen and app colours and more.
One UI is more customisable but it’s also overwhelming for casual users. Pixel phones look and feel great even if you never change anything about the software, but the options will be there on the Pixel 8 to make the phone feel truly your own, with the inclusion of an emoji wallpaper creator
Price
What use are all these tasty Pixel upgrades if you can’t afford a new phone in the first place? We hope Google can continue to undercut Samsung at the checkout, because last year’s Pixel 7 for £599 was an absolute steal compared to the current cheapest Galaxy S23 that comes in at £849 – that’s actually the same RRP as the more advanced Pixel 7 Pro.
You can get the S23 for cheaper if you shop around, but being able to get the Pixel 8 direct from Google on launch day at £599 – if the price doesn’t change – would be a phenomenal deal.
That said, trusted leaker Roland Quandt has claimed the Pixel 8 will sell for £699, and the Pixel 8 Pro for £999, both £100 more than last year. That still undercuts Samsung though, if true.
If you want to get the larger S23 Plus you have to fork out £949, while the best-in-class Galaxy S23 Ultra will set you back a cool £1,249. It might have a few more bells and whistles than the Pixel 8 Pro, such as a 10x zoom lens and S Pen stylus, but if Google can price the 8 Pro at £849 like the 7 Pro, Samsung’s price will look even more expensive than before.
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