As we near the end of 2023, almost every major tech company has announced their hardware refresh. For smartphones, there’s Apple, Samsung, and every other Android OEM. Now, it is Google’s turn. Aside from the launch of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, they also had a wonderful surprise which we will get into detail below.

Both models sport an aluminum frame, rounded corners, flat screens, and a pronounced primary camera module at the rear. The smaller of the two comes with a 6.2” Actua OLED display with a peak brightness of 2000 nits and a 120 Hz refresh rate. As for its larger and more premium sibling, it’s outfitted with a 6.7” Actua LTPO OLED panel which maxes out at 2400 nits and also supports a 120 Hz refresh rate.

Gorilla Glass Victus and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection keep scuffs at bay on the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, respectively. In addition to the dimensions, there are distinct cosmetic variances between the handsets. For instance, the compact device flaunts a satin finish on its metal borders and is available in Rose, Obsidian Black and Hazel.

At the same time, the flagship gets a polished bezel and the colors Bay, Obsidian, and Porcelain. Perhaps in an effort to keep fingerprints and smudges in control, the glass rear cover is matte. Google’s latest units are packing Tensor G3 chipsets with 8 GB of RAM on the Pixel 8 and 12 GB of RAM on the Pixel 8 Pro. Internal storage starts at 128 GB and goes as high as 1 TB on the bigger smartphone.

The front-facing shooter is listed as 10.5-megapixel across the board, while main camera configurations are different. The Pixel 8 is assigned a 50-megapixel PDAF wide-angle and 12-megapixel AF ultra-wide-angle. Meanwhile, Google endows the Pixel 8 Pro with a 50-megapixel PDAF wide-angle, a 48-megapixel PDAF telephoto, and a 48-megapixel PDAF ultra-wide-angle.

Now for the cool stuff! Google has been lauding the advancements in artificial intelligence over the years and it’s now integrating some fascinating features to its new hardware. This appears to be exclusive to the Pixel 8 Pro only for the meantime, which seems like a justifiable incentive for those who choose the more expensive SKU. Assistant with Bard blows the competition away as it packages all the awesome Chat GPT functions into Android.

Another aspect wherein AI shines is computational photography. The Pixel series has been renowned for outstanding imaging capabilities, but this takes it even a step further. Among those highlighted during the presentation include Zoom Enhance, Video Boost, Best Take, Audio Magic Eraser, and Magic Editor with Magic Eraser. Finally, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are due for seven years of OS, Feature Drop, and security updates.

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Images courtesy of Google