The Pixel I recommend to everyone.

Google has released many superb smartphones in the last few years with the most recent 9-series feeling like a distinct step up in several areas. But in many others, it also feels like an iterative upgrade over 2023's models. There's one particular handset that, on sale right now, I recommend to anyone asking for a cheap and cheerful long-term mobile. This is the Google Pixel 8 Pro - 1 year later!

[saman_tabieb]

One year old flag ship are always the best value for the money

[nhsanju]

I'm still rocking my pixel 5. Will be waiting for tsmc's G

[walterdockins]

I'm still rocking a Pixel 3a. Recently purchased a new Pixel 7a on clearance at Target for $147! Maybe I'll use it for 4-5 years as well.

[skrufff]

I had the 6 that I was planning to keep for a while, but my carrier was doing a stupid good deal on the 8 for only $10/mo on top of your plan. So after two years, I'll only have paid $240 to own a Pixel 8, while I plan on keeping it for the full 7 year support cycle (which was also my reason for upgrading).

Either 8 or 8 Pro is a crazy good deal now because of its longevity. You really don't need to upgrade yearly or bi-yearly with phones anymore, we've hit a feature and quality plateau, and most companies are starting to fall in line with the 5+ year support now. Get something nice and ride it out as long as you can.

I have no personal interest in Gemini and AI whatsoever so I'm not feeling any FOMO on missing out on the 9 or any future phones. I'm happy to get every Android version up to 21, as long as they don't arbitrarily lock decent features behind the new phones.

[achinism]

Camera-wise Pixel 8 pro is almost identical to 9 pro, except the newest AI tricks. P8p at least got some brighter lens and new UW sensor as upgrade and to what end would Google replace the recently upgraded UW in p9p is still a mystery to me as once again, the results are identical! While the overall build quality and aesthetic is better on the 9, the edge-to-edge camera visor of the Pixel 7/8 series still looks unique and standout in my opinion.

[MrJTHines]

My P9P XL looks really good with it's flat sides, but my P6P, which I'm still rocking as my work phone, is WAY more comfortable in the hand.

[DovahRS]

I really love my Pixel 8 and I'm gonna hold onto it for a while

[leonvanlent]

I bought a p8pro 6 weeks ago, new for €445, - and it delivers 💯%!
Display and cameras are fantastic, day to day usage is very, very smooth.
Could not be happier.
I owned a few Samsung S Ultra but the 8 Pro is so clean and easy to use😊

[mocha-ib]

have rocked my pixel 8 pro and it has been so good it feels like ive had it for years

[denislenut]

I recently bought the regular Pixel 8 and for a user thats coming from cheap 200ish Xiaomi phones and using aosp custom roms and gcam mods, this has been the best decision I've ever made, the phone runs incredibly smooth, its size is perfect and honestly, at first I thought Im missing out a lot from the Pixel 8 Pro but my brother bought it a few days ago and the biggest thing you lose is that x5 telephoto, dont expect the 48mpx uw lens to be a huge upgrade over the regular pixel 8 uw, it does take some less noisy videos at some low light conditions but its not like a game changing massive difference, the pro mode with the ability to shoot 50mpx looks pretty much the same to me as the 12mpx shots, video boost takes ages to process but its a nice thing to have, ltpo screen is nice but honestly, most of the time the display will be running at 120hz or 60hz anyways so realistically its only worth it if you use always on display, brightness on pixel 8 is enough for sunny days but pixel 8 pro is a bit brighter, regarding battery life the Pixel 8 Pro might be the better choice as the regular Pixel 8 doesnt last a whole day if you use it a lot (in my case max brightness, LTE, taking pictures and videos, especially the first days of owning the device where you just cant stop tinkering with it) but if you use it as a normal person, only when you need it it does last a whole day without any issues, but its definately not a phone for power users.

The regular Pixel 8 is also a solid choice if you want a smaller phone, check out camera/battery comparisons if you want to be sure.

Pixel 9 series is also great but if you're on a budget its honestly not that big of a difference, its essentially the same phone with a nice fingerprint reader and a much better selfie camera if you buy the pro model, and some AI goodies that arent available for 8 series, other than that you're not really missing out on anything thats worth the extra 400€ over a regular pixel 8

Im looking forward for those TSMC Pixel 10 Pro (hope they release a non-XL Pro like they did with the Pixel 9) I also hope to see some bigger leap in camera performance

[AnitaSpankyBB]

Nice review, I literally got one of these this week, 50% off MSRP new as an early black Friday deal.

[MysterX]

To the optical fingerprint sensor in the Pixel 8/ Pro I can give you one advice

1. Setup the first finger. Left AND right thumb alternating. .... LeftRightLeftRight and so on
2. After three days your thumbs will not work perfectly due to wet/dry/dirty condition. Quickly run the same setup for both thumbs for the 2nd finger
3. After two weeks, other conditions again ... 3rd setup
4. After three months, .... last setup - both thumbs for the 4th finger

I swear after that you will have an extremly responsive and perfectly working optical sensor 99.9% of the time

[jordanwright]

I've had mine for about a year now. The camera is excellent. It used to get a bit warm during video calls but the update seemed to have fixed that issue as it hasn't happened since.

[marcelpan]

I use the Pixel 8 Pro since day one (preordered it) and it is so good. I have no intentions at all to upgrade soon. But I am still excited for Pixel 10 with (hopefully) TSMC made SoC 😅.

[MaximumAndroidEng]

I've got 8 Pro. And being a Pixel fan, I've also recently got the 9 Pro XL... And I'm really hesitating whether I should switch to that newer one 😊 - the 8 Pro is so good!

[donthompson]

I'm still rocking my Pixel 6 Pro, and despite a few weird glitches that haven’t been ironed out and the fact that it gets a bit warm during the summer, it’s been the best phone I’ve ever had. I've owned some of the best, but this one has really stood out.

Unfortunately, I think I might have to replace it soon because the corner of my screen—just at one edge—has a few dead pixels. I’m worried it might start spreading. It’s been like that for months, but you never know; it could happen at any moment.

Thanks for the recommendation! I was considering the Pixel 8 Pro, and I think that’s the way I’ll go, maybe refurbished as well.

[pepsibIue]

I love the pixel 8 visor, I love my pixel 9 but the 8 visor just looks more mature

[shazsupreme]

No doubt. I upgraded from the S22U to the Pixel 8 pro and definitely impress overall with the phone.

[Shauryaaya]

Been using the pixel 8... The best device ive ever used... I moved from phone(2) main and pixel 7a as secondary to only using the Pixel 8 (still have those 2 around if I want to use them later)....

It has been a very pleasant experience, I felt that people just made up the issues which didn't exist in the device. I am consistently getting 6 hours + SOT on 5G with medium - heavy usage. I leave the house at 8 and return till 6... never gave up on me and always had around 20-30% left (when using the phone(2) alone, it had 50% left but it was quite a battery phone)... Love the haptics of the device and the performance is plenty because I don't game at all, this phone feels snappier than a Samsung flagship 100% of the time, only the camera app is a bit laggy...
I love the haptics and they do feel a huge upgrade from the phone(2) but to a similar level of that of the pixel 7a.

I love this device and will use the phone(2) as a secondary just because I do need a secondary device.


Overall great experience with the device

[ggfools]

I just got a pixel 8 pro on ebay like a month ago and its great, upgraded from pixel 6a which was fine overall for my usage but the 8 pro camera is fantastic and I like the bigger screen.