The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are definitely still a long way off, as the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are only due in October 2022, but we’re already thinking about — or even hearing about — the next model.
Below you’ll find everything we’ve heard so far, as well as our expert predictions, including a possible release date, price, and specs.
Then below we have our wish list of what we want from the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, because while the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are Google’s best phones ever, they’re not perfect.
The standard Pixel 7 in particular has room for improvement, but even the Pixel 7 Pro has some flaws, so our wish list includes the key improvements we hope to get from these next-gen models.
Google Pixel 8 release date and price
There’s no word on when the Google Pixel 8 will be released, but it’s easy to guess that major-numbered phones almost always land in October of the release year.
In fact, with the exception of the Pixel 5, which was released on September 30, 2020 (hence, almost October) and didn’t ship until October, all Pixel models other than the A-line have been released in October .
It gets more specific and trickier because the October dates are different, but the Pixel 8 will likely be released in early or mid-October 2023, and then ship in mid- or late-October, about a week after this announcement.
We’re not sure how much the Pixel 8 will cost, but the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are priced exactly the same as their predecessors, so it’s possible Google will stick with the price for another year.
In this case, the Pixel 8 starts at $599/£599/AU$999, while the Pixel 8 Pro starts at $899/£849/AU$1,299. That said, we wouldn’t be surprised if Google pushes the price up a bit, especially if the current model undercuts key rivals like the iPhone 14 series.
Google Pixel 8 news and leaks
We haven’t heard much about the Google Pixel 8 yet, but some leaks have emerged. On the one hand, there are reports that the Tensor 3 chipset we expect to power the phone is already in development, and this will again be made by Samsung. However, there is no word yet on how much more powerful this will be than the Tensor G2 in the Pixel 7.
Meanwhile, another leak suggests that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro may be codenamed Shiba and Husky, respectively, and they may both have 12GB of RAM and run Android 14. According to the same source, the Pixel 8 has a 1080 x 2268 screen, while the Husky has a 1344 x 2822 one.
We also know that the Pixel 8 will likely offer satellite communications, just like the iPhone 14. Hiroshi Lockheimer (SVP of Android) said that Android 14 will support this; so the Pixel 8 will likely be the first Google phone to offer it.
Finally, there’s evidence that a mysterious Pixel phone is in the works, which could be a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro based on leaked specs. 9to5Google(Opens in a new tab) found this evidence in the public code of the Android Open Source Project, which points to a phone with a 1440 x 3120 120Hz screen, a Tensor chipset, and dimensions of 155 x 71 mm.
Those screen specs are in line with the current Pro model, but the dimensions are more in line with what we’ve come to expect from the standard Pixel 8, so this could mean the standard model has plans to upgrade its resolution and refresh rate.
However, that screen resolution is also different from the one leaked above, so we’re going to take all those leaks with a grain of salt for now.
What we want to see
Below we’ve listed the five things that we most want the Pixel 8 line to offer.
1. A 120Hz screen for both models
The Pixel 7 Pro has a 120Hz screen, as you’d expect from a flagship phone, but the standard Pixel 7 doesn’t — it’s stuck at 90Hz.
Given that even some of the cheapest phones now have 120Hz screens, this seems a little unacceptable, so we really wish Google offered 120Hz screens on both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
2. More power
The Pixel 7 series uses the Google Tensor G2 chipset, a chipset that has many uses.
It’s designed for these phones and excels in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence, but the Tensor G2 is a bit lacking in raw power as it outperforms the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 and the Apple A16 Bionic in most benchmarks . In fact, it performed much worse.
So we’d like to see the focus on Tensor G3 (or whatever the next model ends up being called) so that the Pixel 8 series is more competitive in that regard. However, we don’t want to sacrifice what the Tensor chipset is currently good at.
3. Better battery life and faster charging
Based on our testing, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro should easily get you through a day of heavy use, but they won’t get you through the next day, and in most cases won’t even get you through the second day halfway through.
So their lifespans are respectable, but far from exceptional, and they’re also slow to charge, so we’d like to see improvements in battery life and charging speeds on the Pixel 8 series.
4. Longer-term support
Google has promised three years of Android version updates and five years of security patches for the Pixel 7 series, which wins out on some Android phones but doesn’t match the years of support Apple typically offers its iPhones.
Since Google makes Android and is using a custom chipset designed for the phones here, there really isn’t any reason why its phones can’t be supported for longer, so we’d like to see the Pixel 8 offer extended support.
5. 10x optical zoom on the Pro
The Google Pixel 7 Pro offers 5x optical zoom, up from 4x on the Pixel 6 Pro, but we’d like to see the next model take an even bigger leap to 10x, in line with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
That said, we still want to provide a shorter zoom (ideally 2x or 3x), so there are two very different zoom distances to choose from. The Google Pixel 7 Pro is already one of the best camera phones out there, but with this upgrade, the Pixel 8 Pro could be even better.
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