After an endless stream of leaks, Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google launched the highly anticipated Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones Wednesday at the Made by Google 2023 event in New York City.
What Happened: Google unveiled the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones featuring the Tensor G3 chipset and a slew of camera improvements. Google has also added a temperature sensor, as rumored, to the Pixel 8 Pro. The company says it is in touch with the FDA to allow users to save temperature data as well.
Pixel 8 Series Highlights
Google has one-upped Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in a couple of areas: the Pixel 8 Pro's display is the second brightest in the smartphone world, at 2,400 nits. The iPhone 15 Pro Max's display peaks at 2,000 nits.
Apart from this, the Pixel 8 series will receive software updates for seven years - this is two years longer than Apple's traditional five-year support for iPhones.
Google also revealed some interesting new Pixel 8 series features like Guided Frame, Best Take, Generative AI-powered editing in the Google Photos app and a new feature called Audio Eraser to edit out noise. Some of these new features are unlocked by the new Tensor G3 chipset.
Both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro come with free VPN by Google One.
Pixel 8 Series Price And Availability
The standard Pixel 8 starts at $699 for the 128GB version. It comes in hazel, obsidian and rose color options.
On the other hand, the Pixel 8 Pro starts at $999 for the 128GB version. It comes in blue, obsidian and beige color options.
Google is offering the Pixel Buds Pro for free with the Pixel 8, while Pixel 8 Pro buyers will get the Pixel Watch 2 for free.
Pre-orders are now live for the Pixel 8 series now, with full retail availability scheduled for later this month.
Pixel 8 Features
The Pixel 8 gets some much-needed hardware upgrades over its predecessor. It has a 6.1-inch display with a refresh rate of 120Hz, up from 90Hz on the Pixel 7.
Apart from the Tensor G3 chipset, the Pixel 8 has a new 12MP ultrawide angle camera that sits next to the 50MP primary camera with support for 8x Super-Res digital zoom. It has a 10.5MP front camera for selfies.
The Pixel 8 has a 4,575mAh battery and supports 27W wired and 18W wireless charging.
Pixel 8 Pro Features
The Pixel 8 Pro sports a 6.7-inch Quad HD+ LTPO OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, with Corning Inc.'s (NYSE: GLW) Gorilla Glass Victus 2 offering protection.
Like the Pixel 8, the Pixel 8 Pro also boasts some important camera upgrades. It has a 50MP primary camera with OIS, along with a new 48MP ultrawide snapper and a 48MP telephoto camera with support for up to 30x digital zoom.
The front camera also gets a significant upgrade: Google has used a new 10.5MP camera with autofocus support, which should not only improve selfies, but also make video calls better.
The Pixel 8 Pro has a 5,050mAh battery and supports 30W wired and 23W wireless charging.