In our initial review, Google Pixel 8 Pro impressed us upfront with its transformative use of AI, and it’s only grown more useful and more integral in our daily lives. However, our review was not only impressed with Google’s growing AI power.
TechStomper also loved the muted aesthetic that wears Google’s design language perfectly. Google Pixel 8 Pro iterates on the the well-received Pixel 7 series aesthetic with the bold visor design making a return. In addition, we loved the display and camera, which both aim for a realistic and natural colour palette where other makers turn the saturation and vibrancy up to 11.
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The series RRP continues to sit well below other premium manufacturers, offering a fully premium experience with the latest tech for substantially less than other flagship Pro models. In Ireland, the Google Pixel 8 Pro starts at €1,099 SIM-free from Google.
10-Bit Colour Display
Google Pixel 8 Pro’s display is excellent. It features a glass-to-glass 10-bit image pipeline with 10-bit colour images from its tri-lens setup all the way through the 10-bit display.
The 6.7″ 1,440 x 3,120 screen has over a billion colours on offer. However, the default colour palette is muted and natural so Pixel 8 Pro’s AMOLED display may, at first glance, seems less colourful than other premium devices. You can can adjust your settings if you desire abundant saturation and want every image to pop.
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A 120Hz refresh rate gives that premium smoothness to the display while scrolling or playing games that allow higher frame rates. Google Pixel 8 Pro’s resolution and contrast allow for excellent detail.
Another area in which Pixel 8 Pro shines, literally in this case, is its maximum screen brightness. With auto-brightness enabled, the screen can reach over 2,000nits so you can read your favourite TechStomper articles while standing on the Sun.
Pocket Power
Google’s next-gen Tensor G3 chipset is built on a 4-nanometre process. The chipset is more than capable to keeping Android 14’s subtle transitions and animations flowing smoothly in everyday use.
The Tensor G3 does not match other flagship devices in terms of raw specs, however, it’s more than capable for work and play. The new chip is also central to Pixel 8 Pro’s AI-augmented experience, which is a large part of what makes the device stand out above other phones.
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Android 14 is also a neat aesthetic upgrade to go with improvements to productivity and the overall user experience. Pixel 8 Pro’s Android 14 UI is minimal and elegant in terms of its visual design.
The smooth fonts and rounded edges are pleasant to look at. A great volume of information can be displayed without it ever becoming cluttered. The selection of default styles is mostly a mix of dusty and muted tones with some contrast lent by using greys and tans against less earthy colours.
You can always change the line-up of colours if the muted minimalism is a little too gentle. Practically every aspect of the home screen and UI can be customisted with Android 14 on Google Pixel 8 Pro.
However, the default templates and schemes are beautiful within that soft and sparse aesthetic. Those unwilling to go wild with customisation will find something they like.
Everyday AI
Google Pixel 8 Pro incorporates AI into its features to a greater degree than any device to date. While AI has been part of the Pixel experience for a few devices already, Pixel 8 Pro sees it creep into more areas and perform better in the areas it had already touched.
Google’s AI assistant produces more human-like answers in text and its text-to-speech voice sounds less robotic. The Live Caption feature is more reliable than on the Pixel 7 series.
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AI can be called forth with a long press in many situations such as transcribing or translating audio, pulling text from an image or producing an outline. For the certain types of user, this type of functionality baked in will be life-changing, or at least, very useful.
The ‘At A Glance’ bar learns your habits and adjusts its quick reminders to suit. The weather tomorrow in the place you are booked to travel for, for example. Over time, these reminders and badges become more refined as the AI learns your priorities, your schedule and your repeated tasks.
Over our months with Google Pixel 8 Pro, we’ve come to rely upon our AI helper more and more. Pixel 8 Pro offers a fairly deep look of what living and working with AI will look like in the near future.
Pixel Editor
Google Pixel 8 Pro also leverages the power of AI in many of its best photo and video features. ‘Best Take’ sees Google Pixel 8 Pro take a quick barrage of snaps and stitch them together so nobody’s eyes are closed and nobody’s caught mid-smile. It works extremely well, and even better still, it requires minimal work from the user. AI just does it and asks what you think.
The device can also produce convincing advanced editing effects in the box using Magic Editor. Effects or edits like blurring a background or removing an intruder from your frame are incredibly easy to achieve.
The ease with which various editing effects can be convincingly used by those with zero prior skill or experience is, of course, another AI feature that stood out over during our long-term use of Google Pixel 8 Pro.
Phone Photographer
The image capture quality of Google Pixel 8 Pro overall is excellent. The device uses AI to select the best type of shot and does a great job of it almost every time. First-time shots are almost always perfect, in terms of scene selection and other adjustments to the shot.
Google Pixel 8 Pro adds some camera features over the 7 series and, generally, is a little less approachable with these extra dials and options. It’s worth noting that Pixel 8 Pro still presents a streamlined and intuitive imaging experience but just less so than its predecessor.
Like the display, the camera aims for a natural and realistic colour palette by default. The 10-bit images look life-like, especially when showing off to family members on that 10-bit display. If you like, you can bump the saturation for a more vibrant look.
The three lenses are impressively uniform in terms of colour, contrast and detail. Google Pixel 8 Pro avoids those jarring changes in the viewfinder as you zoom around, adjust focus or otherwise ask different lens to take the wheel.
The 5x optical zoom is very useful and implemented well. Combining the zoom lens and the digital zoom of a huge 50MP main lens gives a maximum 30x zoom. On a sunny day and with a steady hand, you can wring decent snaps out to an impressive 12x or 15x.
Pixel 8 Pro Battery and Stamina
One of the points made during our initial review was that the large 5,050mAh battery and Android 14’s battery management tech did not deliver the competitive run times that we expected.
At first, the device seemed to need the charger before bedtime on most days. However, it has picked up quite a bit since then. Whether AI worked its magic and pared power consumption around my habits, or it was a simple update, Google Pixel 8 Pro makes it to the charger at bed-time with 10-20% battery left. This is a significant improvement and sits with the longer-lasting devices that Google Pixel 8 Pro competes with.
Google Pixel 8 Pro sports an emerging standard USB PD3.0 which allows chargers from all manufacturers to power up quickly. In the next few months, most of your devices will be able to charge at convenient speeds with compatible chargers.
Google Pixel 8 Pro charges at a maximum of 30W. At this speed, the device takes well over an hour to charge from 0-100% where other flagships have trimmed in to nearer a half-hour. Google Pixel 8 Pro does 0-50% in a still-convenient 33 minutes or so. But, once you get used to faster charging devices, it can be tough to make time to charge in one go.
Google Pixel 8 Pro Specifications
| Chipset: | Google Tensor G3 (4 nm) CPU – Nona-core (1×3.0 GHz Cortex-X3 & 4×2.45 GHz Cortex-A715 & 4×2.15 GHz Cortex-A510) GPU – Immortalis-G715s MC10 |
| RAM: | 12GB |
| Storage: | 128GB (reviewed), 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Display: | 6.7″ diagonal, 1,440 x 3,120 pixels, LTPO OLED, 120Hz, 10-bit colour, HDR10+ |
| Camera: | – 50 MP, f/1.7, 25mm (wide), multi-directional PDAF, multi-zone Laser AF, OIS – 48 MP, f/2.8, 113mm (telephoto), dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 5x optical zoom – 48 MP, f/2.0, 126˚ (ultrawide), dual pixel PDAF Video: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@24/30/60/120/240fps; gyro-EIS, OIS, 10-bit HDR |
| Selfie Cam: | Photo – 0.5 MP, f/2.2, 20mm (ultrawide), PDAF Video – 4K@24/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps |
| OS: | Android 14 |
| Battery: | Li-Po 5,050 mAh |
| Charging: | 30W wired/23W Qi-enabled wireless |
| Connectivity: | – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7, tri-band, Wi-Fi Direct – Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE, AptX HD – GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS, NavIC |
| Dimensions: | 162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm |
| Weight: | 213 grams |
| Colours: | Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay |
Google Pixel 8 Pro Pricing and Availability
Pre-orders for Google Pixel 8 Pro are open in Ireland, Google Ireland’s SIM-free MRSP for the device is €1,099.
