The Google Pixel 8 Pro: Is AI Enough to Justify the Price Hike?
The Google Pixel 8 Pro boasts a brand-new design, a powerful AI-driven processor, and an array of AI-enabled features, but the question remains – is it enough to tempt you away from last year’s model or competitors vying for your attention? While the Pixel 8 Pro offers several improvements and refined features, including a premium design, upgraded cameras, and enhanced software experience, Google’s decision to significantly hike the price in India poses a significant challenge, questioning whether these advancements truly justify the steep cost.
Google Pixel 8 Pro Price in India
Unlike the Pixel 7 Pro, which only offered a single storage option in India, the Pixel 8 Pro finally provides a higher storage tier, with a 128GB variant priced at Rs. 1,06,999 and a 256GB variant available at Rs. 1,13,999. This price hike, a significant increase of Rs. 22,000 compared to the Pixel 7 Pro, puts it in direct competition with premium flagship phones from other manufacturers. Despite the higher price, the phone still only offers 128GB of internal storage and no free cloud storage access making it a difficult sell to consumers who prioritize value and storage space.
Google Pixel 8 Pro: Design
The Pixel 8 Pro undergoes a significant design refresh compared to its predecessor. While it retains the flat display and overall flatter profile, Google has refined the overall look and feel. The distinctive "visor-like" camera module remains, although it’s received a sharper, more contoured design. The matte-finished rear glass panel replaces the glossy finish of the Pixel 7 Pro, offering improved fingerprint resistance and a premium, luxurious feel. The phone’s rounded edges and soft-finished glass back hark back to the original Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, providing a comfortable and elegant grip. Despite the increased size and weight (213g), the Pixel 8 Pro feels balanced and well-built, with IP68 water and dust resistance. The removal of the curved-edge display further enhances the overall user experience.
Google Pixel 8 Pro: Specifications and Software
At the heart of the Pixel 8 Pro is Google’s new Tensor G3 processor, built on a 4nm process, which promises improved performance and efficiency. While the 12GB RAM remains standard, the phone now offers up to 256GB of storage, although sadly there’s no expandable storage or microSD card slot. Connectivity features include WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, USB-C port, ultra-wideband (UWB) support, and support for multiple global positioning systems. The 5,050mAh battery supports 30W wired charging and 23W wireless charging, but the box doesn’t include a supported charger.
The Pixel 8 Pro is powered by Android 14 and boasts a range of new AI-powered features. One of the most notable is the AI Wallpaper feature, which uses AI to generate unique and interesting wallpapers, although it requires an internet connection. The AI-powered editing tools in the Photos app are incredibly impressive, especially the Magic Editor. This tool allows you to reposition people and objects in a photograph, delivering incredibly realistic results, though it does require an internet connection and cloud upload. The Best Take feature uses AI to analyze a sequence of photos and creates a near-perfect shot, effectively removing any flaws or imperfections.
However, some known camera-related bugs from the Pixel 7 Pro persist. The Night Sight bug, which causes photos to not save when transitioning from 1X to 2X in night mode, remains a frustrating issue.
Google has also made significant strides in software updates. The Pixel 8 Pro is guaranteed to receive up to 7 years of software updates, including quarterly Feature Drops and security updates. Google’s commitment to provide long-term support is a considerable advantage, appealing to users who prefer not to upgrade frequently.
Google Pixel 8 Pro: Performance
The Pixel 8 Pro packs a 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED display with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, offering a smooth and responsive experience. The phone also boasts excellent outdoor visibility and accurate colours. While the phone offers a satisfactory gaming experience for casual titles, performance in graphics-intensive games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty: Mobile can be underwhelming.
Battery life remains a concern. The Pixel 8 Pro consistently falls short of its competitors, offering just slightly better battery life than the Pixel 7 Pro. In our video loop battery test, the Pixel 8 Pro lasted for 14 hours and 15 minutes, compared to 21 hours and 7 minutes achieved by the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The Tensor G3 processor, while impressive in terms of AI processing, falls behind other flagship smartphones in benchmark tests. The Pixel 8 Pro scored 10,38,343 points in AnTuTu, 1,629 in Geekbench single-core, and 3,274 in Geekbench multi-core. These scores, while acceptable, lag behind the OnePlus 11 5G, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which achieved significantly higher scores.
The Pixel 8 Pro also experiences heating issues, particularly when using the camera app, especially in demanding modes like Portrait and Night mode. The phone also tends to get hot outdoors when connected to 5G networks. The lack of dedicated cooling solutions, such as vapour chamber cooling, adopted by many premium smartphones, is a concerning omission.
The Face Unlock feature offers quick and reliable authentication in good lighting conditions, but struggles in low-light environments, forcing a reliance on the fingerprint sensor.
Google Pixel 8 Pro: Cameras
The Pixel 8 Pro introduces several camera upgrades. The most significant change is the new 48-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, replacing the 12-megapixel sensor in the Pixel 7 Pro. The primary camera has also been upgraded to a 50-megapixel sensor with a brighter aperture, promising improved clarity and light capture. The other cameras remain unchanged from the Pixel 7 Pro.
The Pixel 8 Pro gains a Pro Controls mode, offering a more comprehensive set of camera controls for manual adjustments. However, while it’s a significant improvement over previous Pixel models, it’s still not as advanced as the camera app on devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, making the Pixel 8 Pro’s Pro Controls less versatile for advanced users.
The Pixel 8 Pro’s Pro Controls mode gives users granular control over settings like Night Sight duration, brightness, shadows, white balance, focus, shutter speed, and ISO. The focus peaking feature, which highlights the focused area in pink, is particularly helpful for achieving precise focus.
Overall, image quality is impressive, particularly in well-lit environments. The primary camera delivers exceptional detail and dynamic range, though colours sometimes appear less accurate than expected. Low-light performance is excellent, but the primary camera can sometimes crush blacks in high-contrast scenes. The ultra-wide-angle sensor significantly improves detail and dynamic range compared to the Pixel 7 Pro, delivering accurate colors and impressive clarity. Macro photos are also exceptional, allowing you to get incredibly close to your subject.
The telephoto camera captures excellent detail and manages a natural bokeh effect, making it ideal for crisp portraits and close-ups. Super Res Zoom, although effective up to 10X, experiences degradation in quality beyond its optical limit.
While the Pixel 8 Pro offers enhanced video quality, 4K 30fps recording, improved stabilization, and low-light performance remain a significant step forward compared to the Pixel 7 Pro.
Google Pixel 8 Pro: Verdict
The Google Pixel 8 Pro showcases Google’s commitment to pushing AI boundaries in the smartphone domain. The phone’s AI-powered capabilities are impressive, particularly in the realm of image processing and editing. The Pro Controls mode offers a welcome addition for users who desire manual control, making it a more appealing choice for photography enthusiasts.
However, the steep price hike presents a significant barrier to entry. The Pixel 8 Pro needs to offer a more compelling value proposition to justify the cost, especially considering that the Pixel 7 Pro still delivers impressive camera quality and a solid overall experience.
With its strong AI features, camera upgrades, and long-term software support, the Pixel 8 Pro certainly has its appeal, but its high price tag makes it a difficult recommendation. For consumers looking for the best value in this price range, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, with its impressive zoom capability, larger display, excellent battery life, and the broader Samsung ecosystem, might be a more compelling choice.
