New Delhi: It’s confirmed. The Google will release its next flagship smartphones, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, on October 4, weeks after the launch of Apple’s new iPhone 15 lineups. The devices are claimed to be codenamed Shiba (Pixel 8) and Huskey (Pixel 8 Pro).
Google has sent invitations to an event taking place on 4 October. It will be almost three weeks after the Apple released its new range of iPhone 15 and next generation smartwatches on September 12, marking a sense of competitiveness here from Google.
Price range of Pixel 8
It is expected that the devices, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will be put on sale a couple of weeks later so likely before the end of October 2023. Market analysts say that Pixel 8 would cost around ₹54,000 and Pixel 8 Pro might cost around ₹64,000 in India.
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The Pixel 7 starts at $599 in the US, £599 in the UK, and €649 in Europe, while the Pixel 7 Pro starts at$899 in the US, £849 in the UK and €899 in Europe, which was the same as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. It’s not yet clear if we can expect the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro to fall within the same ballpark, though we would expect them to be close in price.
Design
The first design leaks came in the form of some renders from OnLeaks and MySmartPrice. These renders show some changes to the camera housing on the rear of the Pixel 8 Pro, as well as what appears to be a flat display rather than curved. For the Pixel 8, it looks like the 2023 model will have slightly rounder edges than the Pixel 7.
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These renders were then backed up by a, since-deleted, Reddit post whereby a user managed to get his hands on an early prototype device and shared some real-life photos. These pictures also showed a matte finish which would be an interesting addition, though it’s hard to say if this is something that will make it to the final release.
A leak from WinFuture tells us that we can expect the Pixel 8 to come in Licorice, Peony and Haze colour variants, while the Pixel 8 Pro will be available in Licorice, Porcelain and Sky. We’ve subsequently seen the Porcelain colour confirmed by Google itself thanks to a leak on the Google Store showing the phone.
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If the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, the devices will likely feature an under-display fingerprint sensor and a centralised punch hole camera. The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are both IP68 water and dust resistant so it is expected that the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro would also be.
We’ve also seen what could be a prototype of the Pixel 8 Pro showing off a new feature – temperature sensing. This could be a new feature the phone offers and there might be a new sensor to support it on the rear – but the phone used in that demo video is close to the leaked renders we’ve shared above. That video has since been removed from YouTube.
Display
There have been a couple of reports about the display on the next-gen Pixel so there’s a good picture forming about what’s to come. It’s said the Pixel 8 will have a 2400 x 1080 display, while the Pixel 8 Pro will move to a 2992 x 1344 display. It’s also been claimed the Pixel 8 Pro will move to a 6.7-inch display, while the Pixel 8 will have a 6.17-inch display which is smaller than its predecessor. Display industry analyst, Ross Young, backs up these sizes, claiming we can expect a 6.16-inch display on the Pixel 8, and 6.7 on the Pixel 8 Pro.
There’s also the suggestion that the Pixel 8 will have a 1400 nits brightness, with the Pixel 8 Pro getting 1600 nits, both an increase on the previous generation.
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The Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch display with a 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution, while the Pixel 7 Pro has a 6.7-inch display with a 3120 x 1440 pixel resolution. The Pixel 7 has a 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pixel 7 Pro has an adaptable refresh rate between 10Hz and 120Hz. It looks like the Pixel 8 Pro might have a smoother adaptive refresh rate system, while the Pixel 8 will jump to 120Hz.
Hardware and Specs
The Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro both run on the Google Tensor G2 chip, and rumour has it the newer versions will feature the next generation of this chip, codenamed Zuma. That new Tensor G3 hardware is said to use more modern cores, so could be much more powerful, with 9 CPU cores in a 4+4+1 configuration. That’s four Cortex-A510 cores (little), four Cortex-A715 (big) and finally a Cortex-X3 which is a high-performance core. Then there will be a Mali-G715 GPU, again with more power than the Tensor G2.
With the Pixel 7 offering 8GB of RAM and the 7 Pro offering 12GB RAM, we’d expect the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro to offer similar. A leak shared by WinFuture tells us to expect the Pixel 8 to come with either 128GB or 256GB of storage, while the Pixel 8 Pro will add a 512GB option – just like the Pixel 7 series. As usual, we don’t expect to see microSD support on any of them.
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The Pixel 8 is said to have a 4485mAh battery with 24W wired charging and support for 20W wireless with the Pixel Stand, while the Pixel 8 Pro is said to offer a 4950mAh battery, 27W wired charging and 23W charging through the Pixel Stand. None of these charging rates are especially fast – in fact, if true, they’re pretty slow overall.
There’s another rumour that’s doing the rounds about the Pixel 8 – and that’s the possibility of it being eSIM only – in some regions at least. This comes down to eSIM transfer features appearing in Android 14, with the suggestion that it might be an option for the US market at least.
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We’re also hearing that Google might move to extend the software support on its devices – which could mean the Pixel 8 matches the iPhone for the length of software support it offers. This would be over 5 years – but that’s still to be confirmed.
Camera
The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are expected to move from a Samsung GN1 sensor to the Samsung GN2. That would see a larger sensor for better light capture and resulting in better Night Sight performance too. On the Pixel 8 Pro it’s said that there will be a 64-megapixel ultrawide camera using a Sony IMX787 sensor, while the Pixel 8 keeps its ultrawide on a Sony IMX386, but offer a wider capture angle.
A report shows some indication that the Pixel 8 or 8 Pro could support staggered HDR, designed to boost the HDR performance.
Currently, the Pixel 7 has a dual rear camera with a 50-megapixel main sensor and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor. The Pixel 7 Pro meanwhile has the same setup, along with a 48-megapixel telephoto camera.
While not a camera feature, one of the leaks that has surfaced shows an extension of the Magic Eraser function. This time it will allow you to remove background noises from video, meaning you can clean-up your video and get better results thanks to a bit of AI.
