Google’s Pixel 8 Pro offers impressive but subtle updates

Google has finally officially revealed the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, and the duo of phones are impressive, offering worthwhile updates across both devices.

While I’m always more interested in the ‘Pro’ option, the Pixel 8 features meaningful changes that make it a step up from its predecessor. On the other hand, the Pixel 8 Pro’s updates might be less noticeable to some — but immediately from the jump, I noted several of the changes and new features I’m excited about.

While I received demos for the Pixel 8 Pro’s new thermometer, ‘Summarize’ feature, and Magnifying app, alongside its ‘Best Take,’ ‘Magic Editor’ and ‘Video Boost,’ I haven’t tried these features myself, so you’ll need to wait for the full review for my personal experience.

If you want to learn about my general impressions of the Pixel 8, check out my full hands-on of the smaller flagship here. However, if you’re here for the Pixel 8 Pro, you’re in the right spot.

The Pixel 8 Pro features a more rounded design, following in the path of the new iPhone 15 Pro series. Further, the device is less squared off than its predecessor. The Google employee who gave the demo said that the company put the phone in the hands of more than 100 people to test out its comfort. Google claims that you won’t mind using the larger handset even with smaller hands.

“While I can’t say the Pixel 8 Pro will be the best of the year without further testing, it could turn out to be Google’s best smartphone yet.”

I can’t speak to that claim, but the Pixel 8 Pro is undeniably more comfortable to hold than its predecessor. It also features a polished aluminum frame and matte back glass. The matte glass back feels nice and should prevent smudges and fingerprints.

Even though the handset features rounded corners, it lacks a curved screen. I’ve always preferred curved panels because they create a better viewing experience. However, the flatter screen offers a more premium-looking appearance, especially when compared to other high-end devices on the market.

If you flip the phone to the back, you’ll notice a subtle difference with the camera visor. The cameras are all together now instead of the periscope lens being on its own.

The Pixel 8 Pro comes in ‘Obsidian,’ ‘Porcelain,’ and ‘Bay,’ the new blue colour. I asked Google why it called it Bay, and I was told the option is designed to reflect the blue sky off of Mountain View Bay. It’s a beautiful blue colour and definitely the highlight of the colour options this year.

The Pixel 8 Pro also features a 6.7-inch LTPO display with a variable refresh rate that can go from 1hz to 120Hz, just like last year.

Spec-wise, the 8 Pro features a Tensor G3 chipset, 12GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage and a triple rear camera setup. There’s a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide with macro focus and a 48-megapixel camera with 5x zoom.

Thanks to the trio of cameras, the Pixel 8 Pro can take pictures in all modes upscaled to 50-megapixel. This lets users snap photos with more detail and makes it easier to crop images closer and have them still look good. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take any photos with the handset, but I did watch cool demos that showed off what Pixel 8 Pro’s cameras are capable of.

Cool new features

Google showed me several demos of the Pixel 8 Pro’s camera, including the new ‘Best Take’ feature. The demo showed a user who had taken many pictures at a dinner table, but one person in the picture had a blurry face. Using Best Take, AI will replace that user’s face by taking a sample from a previously snapped picture. And if the AI doesn’t use a face sample you like, you can pick from different options. This looked pretty easy to do from the camera app and seemed to work well.

Another demo featured ‘Magic Editor,’ a new feature that takes ‘Magic Eraser’ to another level by using machine learning to edit a picture. The demo showed a woman at a beach. The editor let the user move the woman, making it so that it was golden hour and even changing the image to look more like anime. The Magic Editor also automatically changes highlights and adds greater dynamic range to images.

Both of these camera-focused demos were great, and I can’t wait to try out the features for myself.

‘Video Boost’ was definitely one of the more interesting options. You take a video, and then you can select Video Boost, which uploads the video to Google’s data centres and then sends it back to you in a couple of hours. The feature boosts brightness, HDR and other settings to make your video look better.

Another demo I saw featured the Pixel 8 Pro’s temperature sensor. The sensor can measure the temperature of things like cups, clothing, your computer and more, but it’s not regulated to measure your own temperature. Google is working with the FDA regulations (and likely Health Canada) to get the feature approved, but until then, the device can’t tell users to measure their temperature. We’ll definitely see whether this works before the full review.

Promising flagship

The Pixel 8 Pro seems pretty fantastic so far, but so did the Pixel 7 Pro. I’m unsure if the handset is that much of a step above its predecessor, but new features like Magic Editor and Best Take could prove very useful.

The handset offers top-of-the-line specifications, with a trio of cameras that feature up to 5x zoom. While I can’t say the Pixel 8 Pro will be the best of the year without further testing, it could turn out to be Google’s best smartphone yet.

I’ll put the Pixel 8 Pro through its paces, testing out the battery, the Tensor G3 chip, and cameras, and I will have a review before the handset releases on October 12th. The Pixel 8 Pro starts at $1,349.

You can find my hands-on with the Pixel 8 here. Follow this link for all of our content from Google’s Pixel 8 event.