Google Pixel 8 Pro review - GSMArena

A more thorough review than most. Verdict excerpt below:

With the Pixel 8 Pro Google has made strides to address a host of the complaints we had about the previous generation. No longer is the selfie camera a hit-and-miss affair, and the new ultrawide is also miles better than before. The improvement in charging speed didn’t go unnoticed either, but the Pixel had so much to catch up here that it couldn’t all happen in one generation.

Some of the old pain points remain, however, key among them is the battery life that’s a bit below average. The in-house chipset isn’t quite up to the standard of the day in absolute performance and doesn’t handle sustained load with much grace. The limited regional availability of the exclusive software features also rubs us the wrong way, though a valid counterargument is that if Google doesn’t sell it in your country, you can’t expect it to work to its fullest in your country.

Moving to the good stuff, it’s not just that the ultrawide camera is no longer a source of grievances, but the telephoto has been improved too. So, with both flanks of an already great main camera now covered, the normally excellent cameraphone is now somehow even better.

The brand-new display is now up there with the leading efforts in the industry - not that the old one was bad, it’s just that this Super Actua panel is more deserving of high praise, than a simple ‘yeah, that’s good enough’. Similarly, the already stellar software support gets promoted to best-in-business - we’ll see how quickly Google will forget about that 7-year promise, but right now, it sounds really nice.

When first introduced, the visor on the back of the Pixel 6 Pro was quite polarizing, but two years later, it’s evolved into a somewhat appealing trademark design element. This year Google has also fitted a thermometer in there - we’re not quite sure just how useful it is yet, but if no one else has one, it has to be a plus for the Pixel 8 Pro. What we find to be another welcome development is the flat display - even one of the biggest supporters of curves in this office has grown to appreciate screen protectors and truly trouble-free handling.

In the end, we think the Pixel 8 Pro is the evolutionary upgrade you’d expect it to be and then some. Google could have done less this generation and still charged the extra $100/€200, but instead, they actually did bring some meaningful improvements that move the series forward. We approve.