Hands On with the Google Pixel 8 Pro and Google Pixel Watch 2
retail price: $999 (Pixel 8 pro)
and
$399.99 (pixel watch 2 LTE)
Disclaimer: Google sent us a unit of the Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2 free of charge to review, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are our own and were not discussed with the company prior to publishing.
Google October has returned and here at The Sypnotix, we’ve been waiting all year to see what they’ve been cooking up with the brand new Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel Watch 2. Ever since last year’s launch of the Pixel Watch and release of the Pixel 7 Pro, we’ve been curious to see what this year’s flagship would iterate and improve on.
pixel 8 pro
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Let’s first start with the Pixel 8 Pro. Similar in design to its predecessor, it features a metal frame and glass back with the famous Pixel camera hump. The 8 Pro comes in three different colors: Obsidian, Porcelain, and Bay (our variant). The display is one of the biggest differences from the Pixel 7 Pro, with a 6.7 inch OLED display (1344 x 2992p resolution) and a 120 Hz refresh rate. It’s advertised as being brighter than previous versions, with a peak brightness of 2,400 nits.
As for performance, the Pixel 8 Pro uses Google’s new Tensor G3 chip. We’ll share our thoughts once we spend a little more time with the new chipset, but hopefully it improves upon some of the shortcomings its predecessor had. Every Pixel 8 Pro features 12 GB of RAM and our version comes with 128 GB of storage.
There’s also a slightly larger battery this year that is bumped up to 5,050 mAh. Google touts up to 72 hour battery life with Extreme Battery Saver and fast charging functionality. Of course we don’t foresee those numbers with actual usage, but we do have high hopes that we will see the continued trending up of battery longevity we’ve seen in recent Pixels.
The rear camera setup features a 50 MP wide sensor, a 48 MP ultrawide lens and a 48 MP telephoto lens. With Super Res Zoom up to 30x and all the features that come in Google’s camera technology, we’re curious to see how photos will test out in the real world. Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 Pro’s front camera has a 10.5 MP selfie camera with 95 degree ultrawide field of view.
AI improvements to processing and post-processing will play a heavy factor with how we analyze how well the camera on the Pixel 8 Pro performs. Google has continued to bank on utilizing their software tricks to enhance and produce quality photos and videos. We’re going to play with all of these editing techniques and will discuss their viability in our full review.
Product Specs +
- Tensor G3 CPU
- 12 GB Ram
- 128 GB Storage
- 50 MP, f/1.68 wide
- 48 MP, f/2.8 telephoto
- 48 MP, f/1.95 ultrawide
- 10.5 MP, f/2.2 Selfie Camera
- 6.7 Inch AMOLED Display
- 1344 x 2992 p
- 120 Hz Refresh Rate
- 5,050 mAh battery
pixel watch 2
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We absolutely loved reviewing the Pixel Watch last year. This year’s Pixel Watch 2 comes in four options with ours being the Polished Silver Aluminum Case with Bay Active Band LTE variant. The Pixel Watch 2 has a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 display with a 320 ppi AMOLED display. Included with the watch are two band sizes to accommodate for a variety of wrist sizes. Similar to last year’s model, there’s a featured side button with haptic feedback and a scrolling crown.
The Pixel Watch 2 houses a 306 mAh battery with USB-C fast charging through a magnetic cradle just as it did the previous year. Google chose to go with a Qualcomm 5100 chip and Cortex M33 co-processor with 32 GB of storage with 2 GB of RAM to power WearOS 4.0.
While I mentioned last year that I hadn’t originally intended to use the Pixel Watch as a fitness specialist, I’ve altered my routine to incorporate more fitness tracking regularly this year and am excited to see how the Pixel Watch 2 performs.
Google typically puts a lot of thought into their device upgrades each year and this year appears no different. Stay tuned to hear more about how these devices live up to expectations in real life!
Product Specs +
- Qualcomm 5100/Cortex M33 co-processor
- 2 GB Ram
- 32 GB Storage
- WearOS 4.0
- Corning Gorilla Glass AMOLED Display
- 306 mAh
- LTE
Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!