Google Pixel 8 / 8 Pro

L[Deactivated] on 05/10/2023 - 10:46
Last edited 05/10/2023 - 10:58

How's everyone feeling about the 8 / 8 Pro?

Personally - I feel its a vicious cycle of optimism followed by buyers regret / disappointment year after year. My recent experiences

  • Pixel 5 (Great phone): Expected flagship SOC, but got the 765G. Had a few cases of screen lifting but otherwise solid phone.
  • Pixel 6 (overhyped): Huge expectations of custom chips in the same vein as Apple's A Series. Didn't happen, got buggy software, serious connectivity issues, overheating, terrible fingerprint and subpar battery.

  • Pixel 7 (slightly improved): Better software stability and ever so slightly improved fingerprint sensor, modem improved, battery life still bad and thermals improved slightly.

  • Pixel 8 (My take): Refinements all-round, extremely skeptical about Tensor G3 efficiency gains given its still fabbed on Samsung's 4nm process. Despite the hype & marketing, Samsung has never delivered solid battery life on their own SoC's. Everything else will be much the same sprinkled with more "AI" software features. Worst of all the price hike (at least for RRP) is overboard, one would literally have to be a die hard fan to choose this over the equivalent Samsung/iPhone which are known quantities.

How's everyone else feeling about it?

Mobile Google Mobile Phone Android

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 05/10/2023 - 10:47
    +14

    I feel ok

    • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2023 - 10:48

      the myth, the legend ………… muzza

      • pegaxs on 05/10/2023 - 17:05
        +1

        the myth, the legend ………… muzza

        FTFY…

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 05/10/2023 - 10:59

      +1

    • HeWhoKnows on 06/10/2023 - 14:52
      +1

      Did OP come here to ask peoples opinions on the Pixel 8 or just to have a whinge?

      I dont see any poll so obviously the latter.

      And I dont think OP would be happy with any phone so I will just park this one

    • HeWhoKnows on 06/10/2023 - 14:53

      So do I. and I dont even have a Pixel 8.

  • capslock janitor on 05/10/2023 - 10:50
    +6

    viscous

    Well, it seems we've gone from smartphones to smart syrup in this viscous cycle of tech enthusiasm!

  • gamerkonks on 05/10/2023 - 11:11
    +1

    I've had great experiences with The original XL, 2 XL, 3 XL, and now 4 XL which I'm currently daily driving. Thinking of jumping to the 8 Pro (pending reviews and a decent discount), hopefully they've worked through the teething issues since the 6 and their Tensor processors.
    I think the biggest upgrade they announced is the 7 years of guaranteed OS updates.

    • xlynx on 05/10/2023 - 12:33
      +1

      I went from 4 XL to 7 Pro. No noticeable difference in performance, briefly missed the face unlock but got over it, tri lens is nice.

      • gamerkonks on 05/10/2023 - 13:00
        +3

        According to early reviews you can use the face unlock more on the 8 pro, vs 7 pro (eg. in banking apps, etc.).
        I'm assuming it won't work as well as the 4 XL though, i.e. not in the dark, since there's no IR blaster.

  • pingMarky on 05/10/2023 - 11:13
    +2

    Looks like a decent enough phone but the cost is pretty crazy ($1700…. better last 7 years!)

  • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2023 - 11:19
    +3

    Commitment and Google don't go hand in hand. However, would be amazing if this eventuates.

  • Axelstrife on 05/10/2023 - 11:21
    -1

    You would have to be insane to choose this over the S23 Ultra, also i still have a bad taste from owning the pixel 6 pro disspointment.

    • eek on 05/10/2023 - 12:05

      Was waiting for the P8P to come out as I had wrecked my phone and currently on a Samsung S9+….with cracked screen. Still doesn't seem overly impressive compared to a S23 ultra. Have never owned or used a Pixel before, was going to try and switch this time. S24 range is still potentially 6 months away?

    • kiitos on 05/10/2023 - 13:32
      +2

      What does the s23 offer over this? I have a p7pro which I enjoy, except the curved screen, so a bit bummed that the p8 has gone back to flat.

      • Axelstrife on 05/10/2023 - 16:41
        +2

        S-Pen, Larger screen, Faster charging, Faster Single and Multicore scores

        Dont know the battery life of the 8pro yet but i very much doubt it's beating the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2's battery life considering the Tensor G3 is using samsung 4nm.

        S23 Ultra's been out for over 9 months now so we already know how great of a phone that is, There's no need to roll the dice on a phone that's had a mediocre line up for the last few years and now randomly is $400 more expensive. The S23 Ultra on sale has also been a similar price to the 8 pro.

    • reactor-au on 06/10/2023 - 09:35

      I'm fine with the p6 pro but yep the new pricing I'd consider trying Apple for the first time ever. Or just switch to p8 pro when the p9 pro launches and p8 pro pricing is closer to A$1000.

  • jugsy on 05/10/2023 - 12:03
    +3

    I feel hungry. People need to stop comparing apples and oranges in this space. In my eyes it's a really good thing that the new phones have no must-have features over my current.

    (Happy Pixel5 user waiting for insane price drops or another couple of generations)

    • Pidgeon on 06/10/2023 - 20:21

      My pixel 5's screen has just gone to the big " satelite" in the sky.

      Pixel 5 will be missed but not forgotten.

  • urahara on 05/10/2023 - 14:04

    Samsung has never delivered solid battery life on their own SoC's
    -SoCs have patents on design. Fabrication is different from having your own SoC

    Having a software focussed SoC lets you do more than a generic one. That has been the theme of Google . 4nm fab means possibly lesser battery consumption while keeping all the benefits of training data for AI work

    • daniesaurs on 05/10/2023 - 23:41
      +1

      4nm fab also meant to increase efficiency and heat dissipation but apparantly the Pixel 8/P still throttles and have lesser performance scores.

      I am still waiting for real world reviews though. S21, S22 burnt me but the S23 base is one of the best phones 6.1'' or less I've owned (performance, battery wise)

  • localhost on 05/10/2023 - 14:27
    +3

    With this price… better to buy P7P for $500-600 during the clearance sales.

  • randysal on 05/10/2023 - 14:30

    I do love me a good Pixel.

    I think rather then looking at the phone itself, have a look at the Made by Google youtube videos. This year it is more and more about AI and not what the phone has, but rather what it can do with the help of AI.

    I don't think it is a good deal for the price, but you can get some cherry on top with Student Beans and Goggle One and JB Hi Fi have good discounts too (just check this forum). I could not help myself.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2023 - 16:09
    +1

    Interesting read

    If it translates in anyway to real world use, going to be disappointing and a repeat of the 6 7.

  • brendanm on 05/10/2023 - 18:12

    No thanks at that price. Still on pixel 5 and still going strong.

  • KenDiaMoi on 05/10/2023 - 22:19

    Flagship price for slightly below flagship performance.

    The main thing going for pixel was it's super competitive price.

    I'm not paying $1700 for 5.5 hours screen on time

  • Fudnut on 06/10/2023 - 08:52
    +4

    I'm taking advantage of the HN/Optus deal, so essentially I'm getting the Pixel 8 Pro 256Gb for ~ $1000 i.e. new sign-up for $69/mth Optus plan (cancelled after 1st month) + $99 to upgrade to 256Gb + $838 cancellation fee and you keep the phone.

    • BusMan247 on 08/10/2023 - 09:38

      I saw that and am considering it. Still not sure if I'm seeing enough praise for what it actually does well. Magic eraser isn't something I need.

      Good battery and slick performance is. And the likelihood of me using this in 7 years is 0.

  • billdsl on 06/10/2023 - 09:37
    +1

    Last 3 pixel phones I bought had serious carplay issues, which ultimately led me away from them, huge part of the functionality a modern phone provides

    Hows that been of late?

    Im no an iphone muppet with an iwatch and an apple tv but would one day like to think i could jump back across to something with more functionality, but not at the price of the stability of the vehicle platform

    • gamerkonks on 06/10/2023 - 11:01
      +1

      Given Pixels run Android and Android doesn't support Apple CarPlay, I'm not surprised you've had serious issues.

      • billdsl on 06/10/2023 - 11:54

        You know what i mean, brand naming aside

    • eek on 06/10/2023 - 15:33

      Last 5 phones have been Samsung Galaxy flagship phones. Thinking of switching to Pixel Pro 8 this time (just out of curiosity). Wish me luck.

      • killabob on 08/10/2023 - 10:50
        +1

        Just did the same…

  • Rear CreviceEruption on 06/10/2023 - 09:38
    +3

    One of my friends is still using the Pixel 3 all day every day without any issues. Still taking decent photos too. He does charge it twice a day though.

  • dealsucker on 06/10/2023 - 09:56

    Anyone who has even the slightest of idea of chip design, "Pixel 6 (overhyped): Huge expectations of custom chips in the same vein as Apple's A Series." this is total fluff. Apple A series was not built in a day, its almost a decade of design and engineering.

    • [Deactivated] on 06/10/2023 - 10:28
      +2

      100% but realize Tensor wasn't an overnight exercise either. In Google's defense, they are only on the 3rd iteration. So its not a fair comparison to the A series.

      The issue is public perception, Apple has done such a stellar job with their A/M series in recent years that people associate "custom" chip designs with excellent performance/battery life. Hence the expectations for Tensor.

      anyway, keen to see how it unfolds in coming weeks when the reviews drop

      • dealsucker on 06/10/2023 - 10:40
        +2

        Google hasnt done $hit to be honest. They are using off the shelf arm core design, off the shelf arm gpu design with perhaps their own neural engine for AI related tasks. There is a reason why it cannot handle demanding tasks and games.

  • Sleeqb7 on 06/10/2023 - 14:56
    +3

    Anyone saying someone should buy a Samsung instead has to be dreaming.
    Samsung's support is absolute garbage tier (My own experience, my friend's experience, the experience of many posters on OzBargain over the years), their phones are full of bloatware (To the point where they were fined over it and have barely cut back), and they price them way higher than Google for the features offered.

    I bought a Pixel 6 Pro on launch and have little to no issues with it.
    Lots of people complaining, but that's always been the opposite of my experience with the device.
    Before that, the Pixel 3 and 5 were both fine.

    If I could get a < 6" phone with the Pro-series camera, I'd be happy. I don't want another 6.7", but I use my phone camera a lot and don't want to lose camera features.
    As such, I think if I end up changing phones I'd probably end up with a Zenfone for the best size to camera quality ratio.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/10/2023 - 19:19

    The only Pixel I can say I genuinely miss is the 3XL, the rest have been very lacklustre. But then again, this is coming from someone who doesn't value Android phones enough to justify purchasing a flagship model.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/10/2023 - 08:42

    Reviews have dropped, after watching a few - can be summarized as follows

    • Screen is brighter and now matches or slightly exceeds the flagship competition
    • Fingerprint appears to be "slightly" better with a lot of reviewers praising the face unlock (I suspect simply because its easier to avoid the FPS)
    • Performance is slightly improved (not that the P7 was slow to begin with)
    • Thermals slightly improved, still gets hot when pushed.
    • Battery is pretty much the same as previous (aka average)

    All-round very iterative update and not enough for me to hit the go button, based on the above - I don't think it justifies the steep price hike.

    Also, keep in mind majority of YouTube reviews can't really be trusted as most have been given the devices from Google.

    • gamerkonks on 12/10/2023 - 13:19

      Iterative update if you're coming from a 7, but why would anyone upgrade from last years model?
      Coming from the 4, it looks like great upgrade, and for $928 for the 256GB, it's a great deal.

      • [Deactivated] on 30/10/2023 - 05:30

        I’m coming from someone who wants to get away from the iPhone. However, nothing about the 8 / 8 Pro is convincing enough to make the jump without making serious concessions

    • [Deactivated] on 13/10/2023 - 17:57

      Isn't that like every Pixel though? They're hardly considered an "upgrade" year to year.

  • mike6969 on 28/10/2023 - 08:32

    Current price is $1199 for the Google pixel 8 base model which seems a rip off.
    How cheap do you think it will get in the next few months? Ie black Friday, Christmas sales etc.
    I'm interested in buying outright

    • gamerkonks on 29/10/2023 - 16:53

      Maybe $999?
      Obviously just speculation.

      • mike6969 on 29/10/2023 - 23:24

        Thanks. I'll hold off for a while then

  • [Deactivated] on 05/12/2023 - 13:18
    +1

    UPDATE (Dec)

    I ended up biting the bullet and picked up a 256GB 8 Pro and have been using it for about 4 weeks now. Coming from a 14 Pro Max, the only objective downside the battery isn't at the same level. Its not bad by any means, can get through a fully day easily - but its not like an iPhone in-regards to stand-by drain.

    Other than that experience has been great (Cameras, UI Stability, Smoothness, Screen brightness etc).

    The switch to a flat screen cannot be understated, no more having to deal with TPU screen protectors or LOCA UV glass.

    • SydBoy on 15/12/2023 - 11:49
      -1

      what you mean by " no more having to deal with TPU screen protectors or LOCA UV glass" ? does it have unbreakable screen?

      • gamerkonks on 15/12/2023 - 11:56

        I believe he means he can use regular tempered glass screen protectors because the screen is flat.

        • [Deactivated] on 15/12/2023 - 21:13

          Thanks, didn’t think that needed explaining

  • this is us on 15/12/2023 - 12:01

    I feel fine, no regrets. P8P
    Coming from P5

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