Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will surely be a long way off, as Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro only didn’t arrive in October 2022, but we’re already thinking – and even hearing – of more models.
Below you’ll find everything we’ve heard so far, along with predictions from our experts, including a possible release date, price, and specs.
Then we’ve included a wish list of what we want from the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro below, because while the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are the best phones Google has ever made, they aren’t perfect.
The standard Pixel 7 in particular has room for improvement, but even the Pixel 7 Pro has some drawbacks, so our wish list includes the key improvements we expect from these next models.
To the point
- What is this? Another flagship phone from Google
- When will this end? Probably October 2023
- How much does it cost? Probably at least $ 599 / £ 599 / $ 999
Google Pixel 8 release date and price
There is no news yet about when the Google Pixel 8 could launch, but it’s easy to guess as phones with major numbers almost always land in October of their release year.
In fact, every Pixel model outside of the A-line was announced in October, with the exception of the Pixel 5, which was unveiled on September 30, 2020 (which is almost October) and wasn’t shipped until October.
More specific than that is more difficult as the October dates were different, but the Pixel 8 will likely be unveiled in early or mid October 2023 and then shipped mid to late October, possibly about a week later an announcement.
We’re not sure how much the Pixel 8 will cost, but the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro had exactly the same prices as their predecessors, so it’s possible Google will keep these prices for another year.
In this case, the Pixel 8 will start at $ 599 / £ 599 / $ 999 and the Pixel 8 Pro will start at $ 899 / £ 849 / $ 1,299. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if Google raised the price a bit, especially as current models weaken key competition like the iPhone 14 line.
Google Pixel 8 news and leaks
We haven’t heard much about the Google Pixel 8 yet, but there have been a few leaks. First, there have been reports that the Tensor 3 chipset we expect to power the phone is already working and that it will be made again by Samsung. However, there is no news yet about how much more powerful it will be than the Tensor G2 in the Pixel 7.
We also know that satellite communications are likely to be offered by the Pixel 8, as is the iPhone 14. Hiroshi Lockheimer (Android Senior Vice President) said support for this will arrive with Android 14; so probably the Pixel 8 will be the first Google phone to offer it.
Finally, there is evidence of a mysterious Pixel phone that, based on the specifications revealed, could be the Pixel 8 or the Pixel 8 Pro. 9do5Google (opens in a new tab) found this evidence in publicly available code from the Android Open Source Project and points to a phone with a 1440 x 3120 120 Hz screen, a Tensor chipset and dimensions of 155 x 71 mm.
These screen specs are in line with current Pro models, but the dimensions are larger than we would expect from the standard Pixel 8, so it could mean that there’s a resolution and refresh rate update planned for the standard model.
What do we want to see
Below, we’ve listed the five things we expect the most from the Pixel 8 line.
1. 120 Hz screen for both models
The Pixel 7 Pro has a 120Hz screen, just as you’d expect from a flagship phone, but the standard Pixel 7 doesn’t – it’s stuck at 90Hz.
Considering that even some of the best cheap phones now have 120Hz screens, this seems a bit unacceptable, so we really hope Google is offering a 120Hz screen on both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
2. More power
The Pixel 7 line uses the Google Tensor G2 chipset and it is a chipset that has a lot to offer.
Designed specifically for these phones, it excels in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence, but when it comes to pure power, the Tensor G2 is a bit lacking as it performs worse in most benchmarks than key rivals like the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 and Apple A16 Bionic. In fact, it fares much worse.
So we’d like to focus on the power of the Tensor G3 (or whatever the next model will be called) to make the Pixel 8 line more competitive on that front. However, we don’t want this to come at the expense of what Tensor chipsets are currently good at.
3. Better battery life and faster charging
Both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro should comfortably get through a day of fairly heavy use, based on our testing, but in most cases they won’t survive day two or even half of day two.
Their longevity is therefore respectable but far from exceptional, and they also charge quite slowly, so we’d like to see an improvement in both the battery life and the charging speed of the Pixel 8 line.
4. Long-term support
Google has promised three years of Android version updates and five years of security patches for the Pixel 7 line, which has beaten some Android phones but doesn’t come close to the number of years of support Apple usually offers with its iPhones.
Since Google is making Android and using a dedicated chipset specifically designed for phones here, there really shouldn’t be any reason why it can’t support its phones anymore, so we’d like to see the extended support offered on the Pixel 8.
5. 10x optical zoom on the Pro
The Google Pixel 7 Pro offers a 5x optical zoom, compared to the Pixel 6 Pro’s 4x, but we’d like to see a bigger jump for the next model, increasing it to 10x compared to the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
That said, we still want a shorter distance zoom to be offered as well – preferably 2x or 3x – so there are two clearly different zoom distances available. The Google Pixel 7 Pro is already one of the best camera phones out there, but with this update, the Pixel 8 Pro can get even better.