Google Pixel

I upgraded from a 6 Pro because I shattered my 6 Pro's screen a couple of months ago.

Overall I like the upgrade. A lot of it is very similar - but the most noticeable improvement to me is the flat screen vs. the curved screen from the 6 Pro. I also appreciate the 5x optical zoom over the 6's 4x. It's also noticeably better at macro shots - did the 6 pro even have a macro lens?

I don't know if the 6 Pro had an OLED screen or if the 8 Pro just does a better job showing it off, but it does a little lighting effect with my photos that make the per-pixel lighting noticeable in a way I never noticed on the 6 Pro.

The one major downgrade I've noticed, which I think also affects the 6 Pro since it's software, is that they removed the ability to take a photosphere from the camera app. That's a major disappointment since I was a big fan of that feature, and I'm on the lookout for a competent replacement app for that functionality.

Also a very minor annoying change that I know affects the 6 Pro too: The Calendar widget can no longer be shrunken to be only 3 tall. This is particularly annoying because I had it that size on my 6 Pro, and noticed I couldn't on my 8 Pro (before trading it in) - so I made it 4 tall on my 6 Pro to test out, and it never let me put it back to 3 tall again. Seems like a pointless change that gives me less space.

Pro tip: If your trade-in phone has a cracked screen, just lie about it. They were offering $200 for a working 6 Pro with cracked screen or $400 for one without a cracked screen. My crack was pretty noticeable but it passed inspection anyways and I got the $400. If they do notice it you'll just get bumped down to the $200 you'd have gotten with honesty anyways. Also sign up for the $2.50 trial of Google One, which gets you 10% back in store credit for Google Store purchases - that $2.50 one month trial got me my phone case, screen protector, and camera protector for free after the credit from the actual phone purchase.

I feel like I was pretty rambling here. You can ask about specifics if you have any.

I have a Pixel 8 with GrapheneOS. No complains from me, battery lasts a couple of days. Phone does what it needs. Camera is amazing for a point and shoot.

Would recommend.

Pixel 8 Pro 265Gb here. My first Pixel, my last Google device was a Nexus.

Right now, it's a love/hate relationship:

I love the camera, display, software, haptic feedback, build, design, sound, call quality (seriously, I can use speakerphone without the other side even noticing that I'm doing so, wow!) and the face unlock during the day - when it's bright enough, it's almost magical. All really, really great things.

I'm fine with the performance (coming from an older Snapdragon 865 it surprisingly doesn't feel like a notable uplift, but it's good enough, and the most demanding game I play mobile is the NYT crossword), the fingerprint scanner is a little worse than on my old Xiaomi/Poco midranger and, I believe/hope, currently hampered by a bug where it doesn't reliably trigger from AOD, which probably is the reason why it's only just "ok" for me overall. Battery life on wifi is fine, albeit surprisingly a bit worse than on my three-year-old phone with its 4700mAh and identically sized display. Reception is fine, no complaints there.

I'm a bit miffed that some of the more interesting AI features are US-only, but what is there in the EU is still mostly nice and useful. Bluetooth is a bit weak, I had some connection issues with my Sony in-ears that I never had before.

I hate, hate, hate the battery life on mobile, especially on 5g. It's utterly, embarrassingly, awful. How the fuck is it so much worse than on my three-year-old cheap-o phone with its far smaller and slowly dying battery - on the same carrier/5g? Why does it constantly feel warm when on 5g? There's no way I can use this phone away from charger and wifi for a whole day.

So, yeah, best phone I ever had on wifi. A pretty, but useless, paperweight after a slightly longer day out on mobile. And it's hard to comprehend why it's so awful for me, I feel like there must be some kind of explanation or bug.

Literally the only issue I'm having with the phone, but if there's no solution to this, it may turn out to be a dealbreaker.

Is the fingerprint sensor any better? I find the fingerprint sensor on my Pixel 6 leaves much to be desired.

I was considering upgrading from my 6a but the specs don't seem that much faster to justify the upgrade.

Pixel 8 Pro 265Gb on gOS here. My first Pixel, my last device was an iPhone 8 Plus.

Massive upgrade. Everything is good. Massive battery, no overheating, amazing cameras, beautiful screen and plenty of power for my use case. No issiues with gOS too, pretty much everything works besides the thermometer (planned).

Pixel User since the first. Best phone and pixel I ever had.

It's ok, build quality, camera, display and loudspeaker are top notch, but the price is too and SoC is only fine.

It's my first Pixel, coming from Pocophones with LineageOS, with the last one Poco F3, i gotta say i've expected more performance, especially scrolling is not on par with the rest of the experience, we'll see if they can fix it in post though.

Pixel 8 pro here from a pixel 6 pro. Better battery life, haptics, front camera, display. Feels better in the hand.

Pinned for more attention since I was thinking of making such a thread anyway 😁

For those with a Pixel 8 or 8 Pro, how are the photos in particular? (there's also a Pixel photos megathread if you feel like sharing some shots!)