Pixel 8 / Pixel 8 Pro / Pixel 8a

Damn, the trade-in return going 7-to-8 is much lower than last year's 6-to-7. Add in the price increase and it's much harder to justify upgrading this year.

Maybe things will get a bit better come the Black Friday sales.
 
kirbyrj said:
with the exception of the physical circle to put your finger in so you know you're in the right place.
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That right there is the problem though. With the physical reader on the back, my finder finds it during the short journey from my pocket to a viewable position, and the screen is already unlocked by the time I am looking at the phone.

The through the screen design serves no other purpose than looking "cool" (which is subjective) and functions worse in almost every use scenario, even if it reads perfectly.

It just pisses me off that phone makers keep being insistent on making phones worse and worse with every release.

Sure, they have faster CPU's, more RAM, etc. now than in the past, but from a pure usability perspective the phones we had a decade ago were vastly superior to anything being released today, and it's enough to make my head explode.

I'm holding on to my 6a until it goes EOL in the remote chance that they come to their senses before then, but I understand that this is highly unlikely. I have absolutely no idea what I will do after that. Every single choice right now is a bad one., and I have absolutely no faith this won't still be the case in 2024.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm holding on to my 6a until it goes EOL in the remote chance that they come to their senses before then, but I understand that this is highly unlikely. I have absolutely no idea what I will do after that. Every single choice right now is a bad one., and I have absolutely no faith this won't still be the case in 2024.
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Alternative Android distributions might have come a long way by then. And will run on the 6-series for a long time.
 
Pixel 8 Pro colors, that blue does looks look awesome, but with the shiny glossy sides that killed it for me, if the sides were the same flat matte color I would've stuck with Bay, but I changed my mind and went with the Porcelain white.
 

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BlueLineSwinger said:
Damn, the trade-in return going 7-to-8 is much lower than last year's 6-to-7. Add in the price increase and it's much harder to justify upgrading this year.

Maybe things will get a bit better come the Black Friday sales.
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Yep, I was going to trade in my 7, but changed my mind after checking the trade in value. To be honest the 8 looks the same as the 7 or I am missing something here except for newer Tensor?
 
hmz said:
Yep, I was going to trade in my 7, but changed my mind after checking the trade in value. To be honest the 8 looks the same as the 7 or I am missing something here except for newer Tensor?
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All phones this year looked the same as last year's;

-S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra
-iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro
-Pixel 7 and Pixel 8
 
Aurelius said:
The 8 is still a massive upgrade from your 5, though. Pro exclusives aside, it should have a much better camera system, run much faster and have a nicer display, among other upgrades. Think it may be worth a hands-on (or waiting for the reviews) before making a final decision.
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It may be a massive upgrade on paper, but I don't see it being much in real world usage. My Pixel 5 still runs and loads apps plenty fast. The only time I see it chug is when it's processing pictures being taken and applying its HDR or other effects, which I only see when I try to view a pic immediately after taking it. It's not an upgrade for RAM or storage (on the base model at least, $70 more for the 256GB that cost them an extra $4 to put in). The display should be much brighter at least for outdoors, but my 5 is adequate still outdoors when while wearing sunglasses.

My next biggest concern after size is battery life, which Google didn't even try to claim better efficiency or battery life over the 7, so that doesn't bode well since the 7 was mediocre at best and that wasn't even an improvement over the 6 either. So Tensor continues to be last among all other common SoCs in power and efficiency it seems. A larger battery doesn't help much either and only adds to the charging time needed while still not providing better battery life compared to other Snapdragon or A-series based phones with similar or smaller capacity batteries.

It's amazing they didn't upgrade the fingerprint scanner still either. My wife and son's Pixel 7 and 6 Pro are a complete crap shoot and usually fail the first or second attempt. My wife just stopped attempting most of the time and uses her pin unlock. Meanwhile the rear scanner on my 5 is solid and I use it to swipe down my notification shade with every use. I'll def miss that functionality on my next phone, unless it's the Zenfone that does it as well with its side mounted scanner.
 
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hmz said:
Yep, I was going to trade in my 7, but changed my mind after checking the trade in value. To be honest the 8 looks the same as the 7 or I am missing something here except for newer Tensor?
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Top of my head for the non-Pro, minor tweaks. Brighter screen w/faster refresh, slightly larger battery, slightly better camera, increased OS update life.
 
T4rd said:
It may be a massive upgrade on paper, but I don't see it being much in real world usage. My Pixel 5 still runs and loads apps plenty fast. The only time I see it chug is when it's processing pictures being taken and applying its HDR or other effects, which I only see when I try to view a pic immediately after taking it. It's not an upgrade for RAM or storage (on the base model at least, $70 more for the 256GB that cost them an extra $4 to put in). The display should be much brighter at least for outdoors, but my 5 is adequate still outdoors when while wearing sunglasses.

My next biggest concern after size is battery life, which Google didn't even try to claim better efficiency or battery life over the 7, so that doesn't bode well since the 7 was mediocre at best and that wasn't even an improvement over the 6 either. So Tensor continues to be last among all other common SoCs in power and efficiency it seems. A larger battery doesn't help much either and only adds to the charging time needed while still not providing better battery life compared to other Snapdragon or A-series based phones with similar or smaller capacity batteries.

It's amazing they didn't upgrade the fingerprint scanner still either. My wife and son's Pixel 7 and 6 Pro are a complete crap shoot and usually fail the first or second attempt. My wife just stopped attempting most of the time and uses her pin unlock. Meanwhile the rear scanner on my 5 is solid and I use it to swipe down my notification shade with every use. I'll def miss that functionality on my next phone, unless it's the Zenfone that does it as well with its side mounted scanner.
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Valid criticisms. I've got the Pixel 8 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra ordered. My plan is to compare them, keep the one I like best, and trade-in my 7 Pro for additional discount. I'll end up paying $375 for the S23U or $580 for the P8P.
 
T4rd said:
It may be a massive upgrade on paper, but I don't see it being much in real world usage. My Pixel 5 still runs and loads apps plenty fast. The only time I see it chug is when it's processing pictures being taken and applying its HDR or other effects, which I only see when I try to view a pic immediately after taking it. It's not an upgrade for RAM or storage (on the base model at least, $70 more for the 256GB that cost them an extra $4 to put in). The display should be much brighter at least for outdoors, but my 5 is adequate still outdoors when while wearing sunglasses.

My next biggest concern after size is battery life, which Google didn't even try to claim better efficiency or battery life over the 7, so that doesn't bode well since the 7 was mediocre at best and that wasn't even an improvement over the 6 either. So Tensor continues to be last among all other common SoCs in power and efficiency it seems. A larger battery doesn't help much either and only adds to the charging time needed while still not providing better battery life compared to other Snapdragon or A-series based phones with similar or smaller capacity batteries.

It's amazing they didn't upgrade the fingerprint scanner still either. My wife and son's Pixel 7 and 6 Pro are a complete crap shoot and usually fail the first or second attempt. My wife just stopped attempting most of the time and uses her pin unlock. Meanwhile the rear scanner on my 5 is solid and I use it to swipe down my notification shade with every use. I'll def miss that functionality on my next phone, unless it's the Zenfone that does it as well with its side mounted scanner.
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It loses official support and security patches this month, so if you don't replace it, you may want to consider shopping around for third party ROM's that are patched, as running any system that is no longer patched is a pretty bad idea...
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
It loses official support and security patches this month, so if you don't replace it, you may want to consider shopping around for third party ROM's that are patched, as running any system that is no longer patched is a pretty bad idea...
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Damn, you're right. I thought it had another year of security updates.. guess I confused it with the Pixel 6+ that got 3 years of OS updates, plus 2 years of security updates.

I'll be ok for a few months at least; it still gets Play Services updates that many security patches come through as well. I did the same thing after my 2 XL reached EOL and waited a few months for a $450 deal on my P5, which was way overpriced by Google at the time at $700 with its mid-range SoC.

Software support is really the only thing keeping me with Pixel and away from the Zenfone. Asus is only commiting to 2 years of OS updates and 4 years security updates on the Zenfone 10. I think Samsung is at 4/5 of OS/security updates, which is adequate for me, as I like to keep my phones for 3-4 years now since hardware has mostly stagnated.
 
T4rd said:
Damn, you're right. I thought it had another year of security updates.. guess I confused it with the Pixel 6+ that got 3 years of OS updates, plus 2 years of security updates.
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Yes, the P6 was the first one on the longer support promise.
 
T4rd said:
It may be a massive upgrade on paper, but I don't see it being much in real world usage. My Pixel 5 still runs and loads apps plenty fast. The only time I see it chug is when it's processing pictures being taken and applying its HDR or other effects, which I only see when I try to view a pic immediately after taking it. It's not an upgrade for RAM or storage (on the base model at least, $70 more for the 256GB that cost them an extra $4 to put in). The display should be much brighter at least for outdoors, but my 5 is adequate still outdoors when while wearing sunglasses.
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The HDR implementation was really the only improvement that I have noticed going from the 2 to the 7 Pro
I had the 4a and the 6 in between but across the board I've found that the Pixels chug when it comes to how it deals with photo storage and access.
 
My 15 Pro Max shipped today. By this time next week I'll have the best iPhone, Pixel, and Samsung phones in my hands. (y)
 
Mad Maxx said:
My 15 Pro Max shipped today. By this time next week I'll have the best iPhone, Pixel, and Samsung phones in my hands. (y)
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Can't wait to read your impressions buddy, super curious.

Mostly want your opinion on the Pixel 8 Pro vs. Galaxy S23 Ultra.
 
Got the S23U today. It's a very sleek and impressive hunk of hardware. The FPS really isn't any more/less responsive than what's on my 7 Pro. In fact, it took longer to set up than on my Pixel. I always try to get my new phone to match the appearance, functionality, apps, etc. of my current phone. That'll be my focus tomorrow. I'll post pics and comments when it's ready.
 
I just pre-ordered the Pixel 8 Pro to replace my Pixel 6 Pro, which will be handed down to my wife, and work pays me a mobile phone stipend. So, yay.
 
So if you buy the Pixel 8 Pro (in the US) for $999 you actually get the $350 watch for free? Is there a catch other than that the watch is "just" the wifi version?
 
Mad Maxx said:
Got the S23U today. It's a very sleek and impressive hunk of hardware. The FPS really isn't any more/less responsive than what's on my 7 Pro. In fact, it took longer to set up than on my Pixel. I always try to get my new phone to match the appearance, functionality, apps, etc. of my current phone. That'll be my focus tomorrow. I'll post pics and comments when it's ready.
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I also received my S23U yesterday and
I can corroborate about the finger print reader.
The biggest improvement over the 7Pro is how quickly it can dissipate heat.
Every single performance optimization that I made on the 7 Pro was to mitigate excess heat generation.
 
Very curious to read your impressions on both of you getting new S23 Ultra's.

I currently use a Pixel 7 Pro and have an 8 Pro on order.

Haven't used a Galaxy phone since the S8+ days and hated Lagwiz back then, but I've heard One UI is night and day better than the old TouchWiz.

But is One UI as smooth and fluid as the Pixel UI? No stutter or hiccups?
 
After a few days I am giving serious consideration on punting pixel 8 and going just 7a as a replacement for my 3a. I don't game on my phone, and use it for basic functionality like messages, email, browsing, and just a handful of apps.

I'm not super convinced the price tag is going to be with it for me.
 
Zorachus said:
Very curious to read your impressions on both of you getting new S23 Ultra's.

I currently use a Pixel 7 Pro and have an 8 Pro on order.

Haven't used a Galaxy phone since the S8+ days and hated Lagwiz back then, but I've heard One UI is night and day better than the old TouchWiz.

But is One UI as smooth and fluid as the Pixel UI? No stutter or hiccups?
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I had a pixel 7 and a s23 side by side and the s23 was much smoother and had less lag than the pixel phone. Especially when scrolling between different screens in the UI.
 
I got 2 pixel 8 hazels on the way with the pixel watch 2.
Google game me 200$ trade in for my pixel 4a5G. Nice!
 
https://wccftech.com/google-tensor-g3-not-mass-produced-on-samsung-4nm-lpp-process/

https://wccftech.com/pixel-8-pro-tensor-g3-geekbench-6-and-3d-mark-wild-life-benchmarks/

As a long time Google phone fan I am utterly disappointed. I had the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Pixel 3a XL, and currently have a Pixel 5a, Pixel 6a, and Pixel 7 Pro. The Pixel 6a and 7 Pro are unusable for me using wireless Android Auto, the phone runs too damn hot and throttles. Forget trying to charge it on a commute. Maybe it's because I have a bluetooth smartwatch paired too. Tensor not only lacks in performance (which I can daily a phone with a Snapdragon 765G no problem, I don't need crazy performance) but it just runs too hot under many circumstances. I think these two articles confirm Tensor G3 is going to have the same problems.

I bought a OnePlus 11 and have not had a single issue with thermals. I can even charge my phone while driving and the phone doesn't get too hot (34 - 36C max on the battery vs quick 42C+ on the 6a/7Pro). Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones seem to not have this widespread heating problem. Maybe there will be hope in the Pixel 9, which Tensor G4 will still be based on Exynos but move to the "better" LPP+ Samsung 4nm node, but realistically I think I'll have to wait until the Pixel 10 when Google switches away from Samsung for design/fabrication and moves to an in-house SOC design manufactured by TSMC.

If you had a Pixel 6 series or Pixel 7 series and didn't have issues the 8 will probably work well for you. If you used your phone frequently in scenarios where it was overheating, you must be a masochist if you order the Pixel 8 / 8 Pro. But of course AI AI AI AI AI AI will make the phone sooooooooo good.
 
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