Pixel 8 / Pixel 8 Pro

Google really needs to switch to a spring release cycle for their high end phones so they're not releasing new phones in Q4 with chipsets barely competitive with Qualcomm's new flagship SoCs that are available in Samsung's and other's phones starting in the by end of Q1.

But here's to hoping they finally improve the two things they failed to improve much on from the 6 to 7; better battery life and fingerprint scanner. They should just go back to a rear scanner for faster authentication and cheaper to implement, esp if you like to use any sort of glass screen protector. I would also like to see them improve the speakers and ideally put front firing speakers back on the phone like they used to, but doubt we'll see that or then dropping the hole punch camera.
 
I hope that the slight drop in screen resolution is an indication that they're not just cutting a cost but gaining some thermal headroom. Going from the 6 to the 7 Pro and experiencing many of the same overheating issues as the 6 Pro continues to frustrate.
 
I think Google has conceded they don't want to compete at the high end SOC performance. Phones for most tasks are already overkill. I hope they continue to push the efficiency and custom co processors built into the SOCs. I am hoping to upgrade in 2024 from current 6.
 
Unless you're playing games, there's minimal reason to upgrade from a previous gen phone right now. Better camera? For the average person taking snaps of their kids or recording videos of fights at the Waffle House, you can't tell the difference. Better battery? I guess if you don't like plugging your phone in every day or two. Planes and vehicles are all equipped with chargers and new phones will all last a day. Better refresh rate? Once you go over 90Hz, that matters less and less. Horsepower? Again, that's a games thing. Even then, only high end games, too. You can only open Facebook or Google Docs so quickly. More horsepower isn't gonna improve your Candy Crush experience. There isn't really a game-breaking new tech on the way since 5Guw has been in phones for 2 years now.

That puts the Pixel 8 in a weird spot. Other than the people who upgrade every time something new hits, how do you win over the people that already have 6's and 7's? Nothing that's currently being speculated upon seems like it would truly make a difference to the average consumer. If they don't make major changes, their own cycle of updates can doom them. Either that or they need someone charismatic enough to sell minor advances as life changing. ...or they start acting like dicks and make all their new software features exclusive to only the newest Pixel model.
 
T4rd said:
Google really needs to switch to a spring release cycle for their high end phones so they're not releasing new phones in Q4 with chipsets barely competitive with Qualcomm's new flagship SoCs that are available in Samsung's and other's phones starting in the by end of Q1.

But here's to hoping they finally improve the two things they failed to improve much on from the 6 to 7; better battery life and fingerprint scanner. They should just go back to a rear scanner for faster authentication and cheaper to implement, esp if you like to use any sort of glass screen protector. I would also like to see them improve the speakers and ideally put front firing speakers back on the phone like they used to, but doubt we'll see that or then dropping the hole punch camera.
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I don't mind the fall schedule and not-really-high-end chips so long as Google offers value for money. That's where the Pixel line really stands out — you're getting a pretty powerful phone (particularly camera-wise) for hundreds of dollars less than the usual Apple or Samsung flagships. I saw a woman buying a Pixel 7 Pro at the carrier store yesterday and couldn't fault her one bit for getting it; even an iPhone 14 Plus or S22+ could be much more expensive while delivering speed gains she wouldn't actually notice.

I like the under-screen fingerprint scanner. I just wish Google would use a more advanced version that's more responsive. The Pixel 6/7 reader is more reliable now through updates, but having to press forcefully feels awkward when I know an S22 will unlock with a gentle tap. And speakers? Apple has shown that you don't need front-facing speakers as such, just robust speaker quality.
 
Aurelius said:
I don't mind the fall schedule and not-really-high-end chips so long as Google offers value for money. That's where the Pixel line really stands out — you're getting a pretty powerful phone (particularly camera-wise) for hundreds of dollars less than the usual Apple or Samsung flagships. I saw a woman buying a Pixel 7 Pro at the carrier store yesterday and couldn't fault her one bit for getting it; even an iPhone 14 Plus or S22+ could be much more expensive while delivering speed gains she wouldn't actually notice.

I like the under-screen fingerprint scanner. I just wish Google would use a more advanced version that's more responsive. The Pixel 6/7 reader is more reliable now through updates, but having to press forcefully feels awkward when I know an S22 will unlock with a gentle tap. And speakers? Apple has shown that you don't need front-facing speakers as such, just robust speaker quality.
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Now that they've switched to their Tensor SoCs, it's not quite as an issue as it was before everyone was on Qualcomm and Google was launching their phones on 6-8 month old SoCs and phones launching another 4-6 months afterwards were getting the neg gen chips with presumably (and more importantly) better power efficiency and (less importantly) performance. And power efficiency is where Tensor seems to fall behind all other SoCs (except Exynos which it's based upon from what I recall), so I really hope they emphasize that in their next revision since battery life is one of the key areas the recent Pixels need improvement relative to its Snapdragon-based rivals (let alone Apple's A-series SoCs that have long dominated in both performance and power efficiency).

The under screen readers work adequately on my wife's and son's Pixel 6s now as well.. without a screen protector on them. But putting a screen protector on them noticeably reduces their accuracy and speed. That is my main issue with the under screen scanners; you shouldn't have to choose between using biometric authentication or protecting your display, and you also shouldn't have to spend $40+ on a screen protector just for it to be compatible with it and fit the curved glass properly as well.

For speakers, Apple's speakers would still be better if they were (both) front facing, and so would any other phone's speakers. Apple probably has the best speakers of any phone as they are though as they are, which if Android OEMs are going to keep cheaping out on speakers, they should make at least one of them front facing and not occlude them behind the display like Google is doing now, which makes the top speaker noticeably weaker/quieter than the bottom speaker.
 
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