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Today, Google finally took the wraps off of the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Even though they had leaked out already, almost entirely in full. But now they are officially, official. And they look incredible. And are the first phones to launch with Android 14.
After walking out of the keynote room at the Made by Google event today, and making my way into the hands-on area, there were two things that caught my eye. First was the Bay color Pixel 8 Pro. But second was just how bright these new displays are. The Pixel 8 has a peak brightness of 2000 nits and 1400 for HDR. While the Pixel 8 Pro has a peak brightness of 2400 nits and 1600 for HDR. Those are some seriously bright displays. For reference, Samsung’s 2023 flagships have a peak brightness of 1750 nits. While Apple’s new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max do 2,000 nits of peak brightness. So these are incredibly bright for the price.
Not only is the display brightner, but it’s also more crisp. Just picking up the phones, it’s pretty apparent that the displays got a much bigger upgrade than just being brighter. These are also better with contrast, and offer a really incredible picture quality. Now this was in a controlled environment with lots of lighting, so we’ll have to wait until we get them in the real world to see how good they are.
Pixel 8 Pro’s matte finish is incredible
Last year, one of the big complaints that many of us had about the Pixel 7 Pro was that the back was glossy. Which means it picks up fingerprints more easily, and can get rather disgusting pretty quickly. But on the Pixel 8 Pro, that’s no longer an issue. As the back is now completely matte, and all three colors look great. That’s the new Bay color, as well as porcelain and obsidian.
However, the camera bar is not matte. It’s still a glossy finish. Which I’m actually a bit worried about. The Pixel 7 Pro’s camera bar picked up scratches stupid easily, and just from the hands-on area, it looks like that might be the case this year too. Again, we’ll have to wait until we get into the real world to see how well or not so well, it works. But that’s a bit worrying right now.
AI in everything
This is Google. A company that has been heavily investing in AI for many years. So it should come as no surprise that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro come with a ton of AI built-in. And Google also has a few generative AI features coming in the near future.
One of the features that got the biggest round of applause during the launch event, was Best Take. This feature basically allows you to swap out people’s faces in group pictures. It’s not forcing people to smile, but instead taking many images and giving you different faces from those images that you can swap into each person. It’s a really cool feature, and one that we’ll need to test out of course in the real world. But not nearly as creepy as the leaks would lead you to believe.
Pre-orders for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro start today and they ship next Thursday, October 12. You can get your pre-orders in at the links below.
Pre-order Google Pixel 8 - Best Buy
Pre-order Google Pixel 8 Pro - Best Buy
Google Pixel 8
Google Pixel 8 Pro
