Google Pixel 8
Upgraded across the board
Google hasn't been idle these past two years. The Pixel 8 gives you much better cameras, a more visible display, and another six OS upgrades. It isn't perfect, with some intentional downgrades to upsell you to the 8 Pro and some downsides compared to other recent Android flagships. But it certainly provides the polish that the Pixel 6 lacked.
For
- Better refresh rate, brightness, and color
- Lighter and easier to grip
- Newest camera tricks like Magic Editor & Photo Unblur
- Revamped camera sensors
- Faster Google Tensor performance and AI
Against
- Not as big of a performance gap as you'd expect
- More expensive
- No telephoto lens
Google Pixel 6
Struggling to keep up
The Pixel 6 impressed us at launch, but the cracks began to show when people complained about its connectivity issues and a faulty fingerprint sensor. While its camera AI tricks were impressive at the time, it now looks outdated because the Pixel 7 and 8 have better AI tricks that it can't access. Its dim display makes it hard to read outdoors, too.
For
- Tensor G1 still in G3's league
- Larger display
- Respectable cameras with some AI tricks
- Solid battery life
Against
- Notorious connectivity/ fingerprint issues
- Dimmer display at only 90Hz
- Won't get newer camera/AI tricks
- Design isn't as polished
- Only one OS update left
