00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Let's talk about Pixel 7 Pro.
00:06 Had a great value in launch, pretty good cameras,
00:10 and design was okay, but it had some shortcomings.
00:13 For example, the battery life was kind of short,
00:15 the G2 processor was kind of lagging behind the competition,
00:19 and the display wasn't as bright as other phones.
00:22 With that in mind, this is the Google Pixel 8 Pro.
00:25 It's meant to address some of those issues
00:28 with last year's model, while also introducing
00:30 some new features, for example, a lot of Google AI stuff,
00:33 better camera here, and overall, hopefully a better phone.
00:36 I will tell you though, it is $100 more
00:39 than last year's model.
00:40 So, does it hold its value?
00:42 We'll find out, but before anything else,
00:44 I wanna talk about the display.
00:46 (upbeat music)
00:48 So the Pixel 8 Pro has a 6.7 inch display,
00:52 same size as the 7 Pro, but it's a totally different panel.
00:55 They call it a Super Actua display,
00:58 and they claim that it gets up to 2,400 nits of brightness,
01:01 which is ungodly more than the 7 Pro.
01:04 So it's one thing to say that claim,
01:06 but it's a totally different thing to see the impressions.
01:08 So I'm gonna show you exactly how it stacks up
01:10 against the 7 Pro.
01:12 Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, show you our website here,
01:16 and right away, I could tell the difference between the two.
01:19 The whites are stronger here with the Pixel 8 Pro,
01:23 a lot brighter, it's a night and day difference.
01:26 It got up to 1,526 nits in my testing,
01:30 which blows away the Pixel 7 Pro.
01:33 It's actually on par with the iPhone 15 Pro Max,
01:36 and a lot better too than the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
01:39 For the most part, it looks like a Pixel,
01:44 just like before you have that noticeable camera hump
01:46 on the back, not really thrilled
01:48 about that single piece of glass, but it is what it is.
01:50 There are some slight changes to its looks,
01:52 but again, like I said,
01:53 it looks similar to last year's model.
01:55 The deal with the Pixel 7 Pro's battery last year
02:03 was that it was underperforming.
02:04 It reached a little bit under eight hours in our testing.
02:07 That was well short of the 12 plus hours
02:09 that we got out of the iPhone 14 Pro Max
02:11 and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
02:13 This time, there's a slightly larger
02:15 5,050 milliamp hour battery in the Pixel 8 Pro.
02:19 It's still technically stuck at 30 watt wire charging
02:21 and also 12 watt wireless.
02:23 Luckily, the battery life's improved here
02:25 with the Pixel 8 Pro.
02:27 It actually reached 10 hours in our testing
02:29 versus the eight hours with the Pixel 7 Pro,
02:32 so that's great, but it still trails
02:34 some of the other flagships in the space,
02:37 like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
02:40 Google Assistant works wonders
02:43 with the new call screen feature, the Pixel 8 Pro.
02:46 It's like having an actual person
02:47 who could pick up the phone for me.
02:49 Not only does the Assistant sound human,
02:52 but Google's AI magic comes up with contextual responses
02:55 that actually make sense.
02:57 It even gave me a reply about confirming
02:59 an upcoming appointment that I had,
03:01 along with another message about being 10 minutes late
03:04 to the movies.
03:05 When the rumored features magic audio eraser
03:08 turned out to be true here with the Pixel 8 Pro,
03:11 and it's one of its exclusive features.
03:13 It lets you basically remove background noise
03:16 from your video, so it's almost like
03:18 having noise cancellation.
03:19 Okay, so I'm testing out the Pixel 8 Pro's
03:23 new magic audio eraser to hopefully remove
03:27 some of this background noise.
03:28 I'm in front of the camera because I feel like
03:30 the microphones do a better job of picking it up
03:32 versus me behind the camera, so we'll see
03:35 if it takes out any of this noise around.
03:37 While it does work in certain scenarios,
03:39 I did find that it just kind of has a tougher time,
03:42 especially when there are multiple people talking.
03:45 I need to want to focus on one person,
03:46 but if there's just background noise,
03:48 whether it's music and just you talking,
03:51 it does a pretty good job.
03:52 Magic editor is one of the new features
03:54 with the Pixel 8 Pro, and it's powered
03:55 by the Tensor G3 chip, and I find it really neat
03:59 being able to actually isolate a subject
04:01 and being able to move them around the photo,
04:03 so it looks like you have some Photoshop-like tools
04:06 at your disposal.
04:07 Best takes also another really neat feature.
04:10 If you have a bunch of people in your photos
04:11 and they're not looking at the camera,
04:13 or looking away, and you just want to get the best photo,
04:16 what happens here is that you take a bunch of photos,
04:18 and later on, you can actually mix and match
04:21 using the Tensor G3 chip to know people's faces,
04:24 so the end result is just the perfect photo.
04:28 All those new Google AI-powered camera features
04:30 are wonderful.
04:31 It's like having a Photoshop editor on your phone,
04:35 but it's in your phone.
04:37 Of course, it doesn't really matter
04:38 if the cameras are crap.
04:40 Triple camera system, largely unchanged.
04:43 You still have a five times zoom, telephoto zoom camera
04:47 that's paired with the main 50 megapixel camera,
04:49 and also the 48 megapixel ultra-wide.
04:51 Pro controls, it's another exclusive feature
04:59 on the Pixel 8 Pro, and I'm excited
05:01 because it's like having a DSLR.
05:03 It gives me new opportunities,
05:05 such as long exposure photography,
05:07 so I can do some light painting, astrophotography.
05:10 My only criticism is that it doesn't really come out
05:12 to the video side.
05:14 You're only limited to the color temperature
05:16 and the exposure compensation.
05:18 You don't get that full, rich package
05:20 like you do with photography.
05:22 The main camera is pretty good.
05:23 It rivals pretty much all the other flagships,
05:26 the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
05:28 Takes a lot of great detail.
05:30 I can punch into the shots.
05:31 There's also great dynamic range.
05:34 It seems to balance out the shadows and the highlights,
05:36 and overall, I can't complain about the results.
05:39 I also really like the five times zoom lens
05:42 in the Pixel 8 Pro.
05:43 It captures a lot of detail,
05:45 and when I compare it to the iPhone 15 Pro Max,
05:47 they both look almost identical,
05:50 but I'm gonna probably give it to the Pixel 8 Pro
05:53 because it seems to draw out a little bit more detail
05:56 in the shadows.
05:57 Macro mode is also great.
05:59 It takes a lot of detail, and the best part is
06:02 you don't have to actually go to separate mode.
06:04 You just point your camera, get close to something,
06:07 and it does it for you.
06:08 Portrait mode is really good with the Pixel 8 Pro.
06:11 It's convincing, just like as if
06:14 you're using a standard DSLR camera.
06:16 I like the amount of bokeh it applies,
06:18 and it keeps the subject extra crisp and in focus.
06:22 Looking at these selfies I took myself,
06:24 the iPhone 15 Pro Max is just a little bit sharper
06:27 with its selfie camera,
06:29 but I do like how the Pixel 8 Pro
06:32 portrays my skin tone a lot better,
06:34 and I also like how it has also better dynamic range.
06:38 And finally, low light.
06:40 The Pixel 8 Pro does a pretty good job,
06:42 but against the iPhone 15 Pro Max,
06:44 you can definitely tell that there's a big difference here.
06:47 The iPhone 15 Pro Max just does a better job
06:49 of exposing the scene
06:51 and drawing out more details in the shadows.
06:53 Testing out the stabilization with the front-facing camera.
06:58 Doesn't look like it's working at all or that great.
07:01 It's kind of shaky.
07:02 Video recording still tops out at 4K 60 frames per second.
07:06 As far as the performance go, I think it's not bad.
07:09 You get rich details, punchy colors.
07:11 However, the iPhone 15 Pro Max
07:14 still has the better dynamic range, in my opinion,
07:16 because it's able to better balance out the shadows
07:19 in the trees and leaves
07:20 in these videos of Bethesda Fountain.
07:22 All right, so I'm playing Dead Effect 2 here
07:27 on the Pixel 8 Pro.
07:29 It's very smooth.
07:30 It ran all my apps perfectly fine.
07:32 So the real world stuff, it does great.
07:34 But after running some benchmark tests,
07:36 it tells a different story.
07:38 The results weren't as good as the iPhone 15 Pro Max
07:41 or the Galaxy S23 Ultra,
07:44 but at least it's better than the Pixel 7 Pro.
07:46 So one of the strange things about the Pixel 8 Pro,
07:49 in my opinion, is the temperature sensor.
07:52 It's here in the back, right below the flash.
07:54 Now, it's kind of weird
07:55 because I'm not sure if it's really all that practical to use
07:58 because for starters, you have to be two inches away
08:01 from what you're trying to record
08:03 to actually get an accurate reading.
08:04 And here at the coffee, it's telling me it's 109 degrees,
08:07 which I assume is accurate,
08:09 but there are infrared cameras, thermal cameras,
08:12 where you could actually measure temperature
08:14 from a longer, safer distance.
08:16 You don't have to be so up close.
08:17 Although, it's still waiting on FDA clearance
08:20 so you could use the temperature sensor
08:21 to actually measure your body temperature.
08:24 And I guess in that sense, it might be useful.
08:26 So is the Pixel 8 Pro good value?
08:31 Well, first of all, you should know it's $100 more.
08:34 So the starting price is 999.
08:37 It also starts with 128 gigabytes of storage,
08:40 which is less than some of its rivals.
08:43 But despite that,
08:44 I think it's a pretty good upgrade versus the 7 Pro.
08:47 It also matches some of its main competitors
08:49 like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
08:53 It's a lot cheaper,
08:54 almost 200 bucks cheaper than those phones.
08:57 And what I love about it most
08:58 is that they really emphasize the camera,
09:01 the new features, the AI stuff,
09:03 and it's all packaged into just
09:05 a really good performing phone.
09:07 And that's it for the Pixel 8 Pro.
09:09 What do you guys think about it?
09:10 Let me know in the comments.
09:11 If you want to learn more about anything
09:12 in Tom's video, check out our website, tomsguide.com.
09:15 I'm John V.
09:16 Don't forget to follow us on social @tomsguide,
09:19 and I'll see you in my next video.
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