Google Pixel 8 ProAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
I really wish theGoogle Pixel 8 Pro , but it does not palpate like a $ 1,000 smartphone . It makes me miss thePixel 7 Proand true pine to return to the improbably high - qualitySamsung Galaxy S24 Ultrathat I left behind trivial more than a week ago .
However , for now , I ’m rest with Google ’s latest flagship . And there ’s one simple reason why .
Google Pixel 8 ProAndy Boxall / Digital Trends
What should a $1,000 phone feel like?
The Pixel 7 Pro was controversial , as some ownersexperienced crippling software program problemsthat ruined the phone . But I managed toavoid anything like that , and it was almost all reliable every time I used it . It intend I could enjoy the super camera , the sporting and simple software , and the rattling invention . It still looks fantabulous , and my model ’s bloodless and dressed steel aspect really stand out . It be $ 900 when it was released .
But when you pick it up along with the Pixel 8 Pro , which costs $ 1,000 , there is a disappointing departure in in - hand flavour , and a good deal of this is down to the change from a kink screen to a flat screenland . The Pixel 7 Pro has a gentle curve down the sides , with the chalk meeting the frame in a way that comfortably suits how we nurse a earphone with one hired man . It minimizes the visual impact of the side bezel , too .
This is not the case with the Pixel 8 Pro , which has a categoric screen and no contoured flow between it and the frame . It ’s not uncomfortable as such , but it ’s not very ergonomic , and the bezels around the cover are there for all to see . Curved screens are as controversial as the Pixel 7 Pro ’s reliability , with a clear split between those that sleep with them and those that do n’t . I remember curved screens are more attractive , more ergonomic , and a more pleasing design pick that works to absolve the price of a modern smartphone .
The screen problems don’t stop there
But not all flat screens have to get along directly out of 2019 like the Pixel 8 Pro ’s , and the evidence is right there in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra . Although technically flat , the screen still flux into the curving titanium frame of reference , which has been design to palpate great in your deal . It ’s a completely unlike and far ranking alternative to full curving glass . It ’s also representative of the S24 Ultra’smassive $ 1,300 monetary value .
The Pixel 8 Pro ’s overall design is still heavy , and while the camera module has a heap more going on than before , it ’s still a fancy - looking gadget . But the flat screen and the disregard for biotechnology is a backward step and very disappointing on a phone that costs $ 100 more than its predecessor . Samsung shows that take over a savourless silver screen does n’t have to come with that one expectant drawback of reduced comfort , and it has ensue in a phone that is far more innovative than you ’d expect .
The Pixel ’s screen job do n’t stop there either , as come from the crowing , brilliant , and reflection - free Galaxy S24 Ultra , the Pixel 8 Pro ’s sieve is n’t quite as pleasant to apply . The S24 Ultra ’s Corning Gorilla Armor glass ’s anti - reflection properties are n’t marketing folderal , and it really shows when it ’s alongside the Pixel 8 professional outside .
Brilliant in its simplicity
Yet here I am , with the Pixel 8 Pro still in my script , despite not being that impressed with the design or the screen , specially because I know I can do comfortably . Why am I “ suffering ” like this ?
Once again , I ’ve had no computer software problem with the Pixel 8 Pro — which seems to be a far more reliable phone in general — and appreciate Android 14 ’s design and efficiency enhancements . But as I mentioned earlier , there ’s a simple reason why the Pixel 8 Pro is staying put , and it ’s on the dot that : simpleness ,
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is fantastic , but it ’s also dead stuffed with features , instrument , and distraction . There ’s always something to do and prove , and to just use the basic features feels almost like a waste . Between theGalaxy AI cock , the S Pen stylus , and the flagitious power , it can sometimes seem like the smartphone eq of buy afully kitted - out Mac Proonly to compose shopping tilt in Notes . There ’s nothing wrong with that , but it ’s undeniably overkill .
I do n’t feel like that with the Pixel 8 professional . It does everything I desire without argument , and at a very fast stop number , and is n’t filled with other features I rarely use . It ’s beautifully simple in the best style potential , as the thing it does — software , television camera , apps , games , and telephone call — it does extremely well , and I seldom want more .
The biggest problem of all
I ’m enjoy the Pixel 8 professional , provide I discount the fact it ’s a small uncomfortable to concord , and I am in the process of comparing the tv camera to the Galaxy S24 Ultra to see which one is better . But disregardless of how that exam plough out , I ca n’t get the thought that there is another very similar smartphone out there that would likely satisfy me just as much out of my fountainhead , and it reward the fact the Pixel 8 Pro cost too much money .
It ’s the non - ProGoogle Pixel 8 , which is appropriately priced at $ 700 yet still has the same mainframe , IP68 piddle resistance , selfie photographic camera , software system , and update promise , plus its own brilliant main television camera . That ’s a significant $ 300 economy , and while the Pixel 8 Pro is understandably the gamey spec twist , the Pixel 8 is a better economic value take the similarity . When I reviewed the Pixel 8 , I wondered how much better the Pixel 8 Pro could be , and now I have the solvent . It ’s better , but I do n’t suppose it ’s $ 300 better .
The further problem for the Pixel 8 Pro is that I recall the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultrais $ 300 betterthan the Pixel 8 Pro , as it ’s kettle of fish - pack with feature of speech and tech the Pixel does n’t have . It leaves the Pixel 8 Pro somewhere in the middle , competing with the also - excellentSamsung Galaxy S24 Plus .
But on those days and hebdomad when I just desire a truly bright , delightfully unproblematic smartphone with a slayer photographic camera and package , the Pixel 8 Pro is hard to vanquish . It ’s just $ 100 more expensive than it really should be .
