Here’s how the Pixel 8 compares to the Pixel 7

At its annual ‘Made by Google’ fall hardware event, Google revealed the new Pixel 8 series.

We’ve already deduced that the Pixel 8 Pro doesn’t feel like a significant upgrade over its predecessor, the Pixel 7 Pro, especially because of the former’s higher cost. If you’re looking to purchase the regular Pixel 8, read on to see how it compares to the Pixel 7.

The flagship is available to pre-order now for $949, and will be available starting Thursday, October 12th.

Display and design

The Pixel 8’s design and display is slightly different from its immediate predecessor. For reference, the Pixel 7 sports a 6.3-inch FHD+ display, while the Pixel 8 has a smaller 6.2-inch FHD+ screen. The overall dimensions of the Pixel 8 are smaller, too, coming in at 150.5mm height and 70.8mm width, compared to the Pixel 7’s 155.6mm height and 73.2mm width.

The latter’s display is roughly 42 percent brighter, coming in at 2,000 nits of max brightness, compared to the Pixel 7’s 1,400 nits peak brightness. The Pixel 8 also features a 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate display, while the Pixel 7 has a 90Hz refresh rate screen.

Both devices feature a 20:9 aspect ratio display with a scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass Victus cover glass, HDR support, Always-on display, Now Playing and At a glance.

They also have a fingerprint-resistant coating and IP68 dust and water resistance. Additionally, they sport an in-display fingerprint scanner with support for face unlock, which can also be used to unlock high-security apps like banking apps.

The Pixel 8 has slightly more rounded edges than the Pixel 7, alongside a matte rear finish, compared to the Pixel 7’s glossy rear finish.

The Pixel 7 is available in ‘Lemongrass,’ ‘Snow,’ and ‘Obsidian’ colourways, while the Pixel 8 is available in ‘Hazel,’ ‘Obsidian,’ and ‘Rose’ colourways.

Internals

The Pixel 8 and the Pixel 7 offer the same 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, and they’re both available in 128GB and 256GB storage variants. The new Pixel 8 has a roughly five percent bigger battery than its predecessor. The Pixel 8 runs on a 4,575 mAh cell, while the Pixel 7 is powered by a 4355 mAh battery.

According to Google, both devices can last beyond 24 hours on a single charge and up to 72 hours with Extreme Battery Saver turned on. Both devices also offer fast charging and fast wireless charging, as well as a battery share feature that essentially turns your Pixel into a wireless charger for other devices.

The Pixel 8 and its predecessor both share the same Titan M2 security chip, which works in tandem with the devices’ custom-made Tensor processors. The Pixel 7 ran on 2022’s Tensor G2 chipset while the Pixel 8 runs on the current-gen Tensor G3 chipset, which makes the Pixel 8 more powerful than its predecessor with AI-assisted experiences.

The chipset allows for on-device generative AI and includes the latest generation of ARM CPUs, an upgraded GPU, a new ISP and Imaging DSP and Google’s next-gen TPU, which was custom-designed to run Google’s AI models. The company says the Tensor G3 can run more than twice as many machine learning models on-device than the original Tensor, which was first launched with the Pixel 6 series.

The Pixel 8, in tandem with the Tensor G3, uses the same text-to-speech model that Google uses in data centers, allowing the device to seamlessly read out webpages and even translate them to different languages.

The new chip is also responsible for the Pixel’s speech and natural understanding, allowing you to talk to the Google Assistant at your own pace, with pauses and “uhms.” It’s also responsible for upgrades to already present features like the Magic Eraser, which can now erase larger portions of a photo, thanks to being paired with the Tensor G3.

You can learn more about the Tensor G3 here.

Cameras

The Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 both feature 50-megapixel Octa PD wide camera, which essentially means that the sensors combine four pixels into one to make a larger pixel, resulting in sharper images with more detail. The Pixel 8’s wide-angle camera offers a slightly lower f-stop than its predecessor at ƒ/1.68 aperture. Both devices feature 0ptical and electronic image stabilization, 82-degree field of view and 1.2 μm pixel width.

The ultra-wide lens on the Pixel 8 is 12-megapixel, which is the same as its predecessor, although it now features auto-focus and a larger field of view of 125.8 degrees. Elsewhere, both devices’ ultra-wide sensors offer ƒ/2.2 aperture, 1.25 μm pixel width and Lens correction.

The selfie camera on the Pixel 8 has a slightly lower resolution than its predecessor. The new phone offers a 10.5-megapixel front shooter, while its predecessor featured a 10.8-megapixel selfie camera. The Pixel 8, however, offers dual pixel binning on the front, which should in theory, result in sharper and clearer images than the Pixel 7. Other than that, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 7’s front shooters are identical, with both offering a ƒ/2.2 aperture, Fixed focus, 95-degree ultrawide field of view and a 1.22 μm pixel width.

Paired with the Tensor G3 chip, the Pixel 8 Pro’s cameras offer some features that its predecessor didn’t, namely:

• Best take
• Audio Magic Eraser
• Macro Focus
• Magic Editor
• Ultra HDR
• Astrophotography

Here are some of the camera features that were available on the Pixel 7 and are also available on the Pixel 8:

1. Night Sight
2. Top Shot
3. Portrait mode
4. Super Res Zoom
5. Motion auto-focus
6. Live HDR+
7. Frequent Faces
8. Dual exposure controls
9. Cinematic Pan
10. Portrait Light

At launch, the Pixel 7 cost $799 in Canada. The Pixel 8, on the other hand, starts at $949, a sizeable increase of roughly 19 percent or $150. Similarly, the Pixel 8 Pro also costs $170 more than what the Pixel 7 Pro retailed for at launch.

Similar to the Pixel 8 Pro, the Pixel 8 doesn’t really feel like a significant upgrade over the Pixel 7. Sure, the on-device AI functionality will come handy, but we’ll actually have to put the phone through its paces to come to a safe conclusion. The new device does feature minor camera improvements, a battery size upgrade, and the benefits of a current-gen processor, but they don’t necessarily warrant an upgrade from the Pixel 7.