Google’s October hardware event took place this morning in New York City. During its presentation, the company showed off three new pieces of hardware: the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones, and the Pixel Watch 2. The new phones are flush with new features, from secure face authentication and seven years of software support to a built-in thermometer, while the second-generation Pixel Watch has more modest improvements over its predecessor. There are also some software upgrades coming to the Pixel Buds Pro, Google’s wireless earbuds.
Today’s event wasn’t just about hardware. Google also unveiled its plans to inject Google Assistant with its Bard large language model, imbuing the voice chatbot with artificial-intelligence-fueled conversational powers. You can read more about that in a separate story. Below is everything you need to know about the Pixel 8 series phones and Pixel Watch 2.
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Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro
Photograph: Google
It’s year eight for Google’s Pixel smartphones, which means the handset line has officially survived longer than Google Reader. (I’m not salty.)
The Pixel 8 is a bit smaller than last year’s Pixel 7, with a 6.2-inch screen; the Pixel 8 Pro retains the 6.7-inch screen size of its predecessor. Both phones have more-rounded edges than before—they mold to my hands quite nicely!—and the Pixel 8 has a matte camera bar with a glossy glass back, whereas the Pro model has a soft-touch matte back glass with a glossy camera bar. Both of the new models have frames crafted out of 100 percent recycled aluminum.
Google’s going the Apple route of giving its OLED displays a proprietary name—the Pixel 8 has an “Actua display” and the Pixel 8 Pro has a “Super Actua display.” Like Apple’s Liquid Retina Display, the cute name doesn’t really mean anything special. What’s new, however, is that the Pixel 8 can hit a peak brightness of 2,000 nits in outdoor conditions, 42 percent brighter than last year’s Pixel 7. The Pixel 8 Pro pushes this to 2,400 nits. Both phones support a screen refresh rate up to 120-Hz, making the animations on the display look smoother than ever, but only the Pro model has a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide screen, meaning it can dial back the number of frames per second displayed—anywhere from 120 to 1, based on what’s happening on the screen—to conserve battery life.
One of the more surprising additions to the Pixel 8 series is support for secure face authentication. If you’ve been following Pixel hardware over the years, you’ll remember that the Pixel 4 was the only one to ever support facial recognition as a secure biometric authentication method, utilizing Google’s radar technology. The Pixel 8 series doesn’t have the Soli chip that powered that function in the older handset, but these new phones have the same capabilities. This means you can use your face to securely access banking and payment apps, or anything that usually requires a PIN or fingerprint authentication. If you don’t like face recognition, both phones still have fingerprint sensors.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find this next new feature on another smartphone: a temperature sensor. This is exclusive to the Pixel 8 Pro. Google says you’re able to measure the temperature of almost anything by pointing the sensor on the back of the Pixel to an object. I measured cups of hot and iced water, and it delivered results quite quickly, though you have to get very close to the thing you want to measure, and you’ll get more accurate results if you choose one of the preset options on the material you’re trying to read, like glass or ceramic. (Google says these presets help calibrate the sensor.) Theoretically, you can even measure someone’s body temperature. Google has submitted the app to the FDA for this purpose, but it hasn’t been cleared for such use.
These new phones are powered by Tensor G3, Google’s third generation of its custom silicon processor, and the company says “every subsystem has been upgraded,” including the image signal processor to improve the Pixel’s picture-taking capabilities. Speaking of, the Pixel 8 has an upgraded 50-megapixel primary camera with what Google claims is a 20 percent improvement in light sensitivity. (More light sensitivity means brighter and sharper photos, especially in low light.) It’s joined by a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera that supports macro mode from the Pixel 7 Pro, so you can capture close-ups.
The Pixel 8 Pro has upgraded light-gathering capabilities in all three of its cameras: a 50-megapixel main camera, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 48-megapixel telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom. Its macro mode can now get even closer to a subject, and the Pro’s autofocus system is now “multi-zone,” allowing for a wider cone of focus in photos. This Pixel also gets an exclusive Pro camera mode that allows shutterbugs to tweak things like ISO and shutter speed while still taking advantage of the Pixel’s computational photography.
Both phones have a 10.5-megapixel selfie camera, but I have good news and bad news. There’s finally autofocus on the front-facing camera, allowing you to see all your pores in sharp detail. Unfortunately, this is available only on the Pixel 8 Pro. The Pixel 8’s front camera has a fixed focus.
There are some new camera software tricks this year. The coolest is Video Boost mode, yet another exclusive for the Pixel 8 Pro. Here, when you take a video in low-light conditions (up to 4K, 30 frames per second), the clip is sent to Google’s cloud servers for processing and is then sent back to you—depending on the length of the video, it can take several hours. However, the improvements are startling. Google showed me clips using this mode versus those from the iPhone 14 Pro, and the Pixel’s video was much brighter and sharper, with better stabilization.
Magic Editor is a new tool in Google Photos that allows you to edit a photo in a variety of ways. You can change the position of a subject—in a demo, a Google spokesperson moved a kid throwing a basketball from the ground to the hoop, making it look like he was dunking; you can even move shadows, and the software knows to fill in the background with similar textures. Google also showcased changing the lighting of the scene to golden hour, to simulate warm sunset tones. Another capability is Audio Magic Eraser, which can be used to remove unwanted sounds in your videos, such as an ambulance siren going off while you’re trying to record a song on your violin. Google’s also bringing Real Tone, which enables more accurate skin tones for people of color, to videos. And there’s a new tool to change the face of someone in a group photo—maybe they blinked or looked away from the camera—with another one. These features blew me away so much when I was sitting through the demo that I’ve written about them in greater detail in a separate story.
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
The camera isn’t the only area with new Google smarts. There’s a new capability in Google Assistant to summarize pages in Chrome and read them aloud. (It can also translate these pages into other languages.) Google Recorder will soon be able to summarize transcripts too. Gboard can now suggest grammatical changes instead of just autocorrect, and Google’s Assistant Voice Typing now supports more languages. Call Screen now lets you respond to people without having to say anything—if a FedEx driver calls to drop off a package, Assistant will let you choose a prompt to respond to leave it at the door if you’re unable to take the call, and it will convey that message to the driver. And there’s a new Magnifier app! No need to launch the camera to read fine text.
More importantly, Google’s Pixel 8 phones will be the first Android devices ever to get an update policy of seven years. Yes, seven years! This update window includes both Android OS enhancements and security updates, beating the rest of the competition. Google is going toe-to-toe with Apple, which usually supports its iPhones for six to seven years.
This software policy is potentially tied to the recent California law that requires companies to provide seven years of documentation, spare parts, and software support for devices that cost more than $100. The problem with software update windows that extend this far is that they leave open the question of whether the devices being supported can survive that long. Google has confirmed that the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro will have parts available for the full seven-year support window. We don’t yet know how repairable the new Pixel phones are, but we’ll talk about that in the product review in the coming weeks.
The Pixel 8 has a 4,485-mAh battery, and the Pixel 8 Pro has a 5,050-mAh cell. Google claims this gives both “beyond 24-hour battery life,” though we’ll have to wait and see if that’s true. Google says it has upped the fast-charging speed for both phones to 27 and 30 watts, respectively, claiming up to a 50 percent charge in about 30 minutes. Both phones have wireless charging but do not support the upcoming Qi2 protocol, which would have enabled MagSafe-like magnetic charging.
These new Pixel phones are getting a price hike of $100 over last-year’s models. The Pixel 8 costs $699 and comes in obsidian, hazel, and rose. The Pixel 8 Pro costs $999 and comes in obsidian, porcelain, and bay. Remember, Google phones frequently go on sale at retailers like Amazon and Target, so I suggest waiting for a sale (like Black Friday). Disappointingly, they both still start with just 128 gigabytes of storage, though the Pixel 8 Pro has a 1-terabyte storage option now.
You can preorder them now, and if you snag the smaller phone, Google is throwing in a free pair of Pixel Buds Pro. If you opt for the Pro Pixel, you’ll get a Pixel Watch 2 with your order. They officially go on sale October 12 in 20 countries. Google says it will continue selling the Pixel 7 series until supplies run out.
Google Pixel Watch 2
Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Last year’s Pixel Watch launched with limited features, but Google added new capabilities over the year via software updates. Thankfully, the Pixel Watch 2 now has the full suite of smartwatch features out of the box, with some small upgrades. It looks the same; it still has the domed glass design, though there’s a slightly redesigned haptic crown that more finely gives you feedback as you use it to scroll the interface. There are two new strap styles (still utilizing the proprietary strap), and six new watch face families.
One big hardware change is the material the Pixel Watch 2 case is made from—100 percent recycled aluminum. Gone is the stainless steel, which was more durable and scratch-resistant. Google says it made this change to make the watch 10 percent lighter and thereby more comfortable. Sadly, this doesn’t make the watch less expensive, even though aluminum is the cheaper material.
Bizarrely, Google has decided to change the charger. A new contact charger can now recharge the Pixel Watch 2 faster than before, giving it about 50 percent juice in 30 minutes or less. This means the first-gen Pixel Watch’s charger will not be compatible with the new smartwatch, and vice versa. Talk about e-waste! Google has yet to announce any kind of accessory that can charge your Pixel Buds, Pixel phone, and Pixel Watch simultaneously, though there are dozens of these 3-in-1 chargers for Apple’s ecosystem.
The Pixel Watch 2 skips out on a Samsung processor in favor of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, which the company says enables much faster performance overall, so you won’t see stutters on the interface that pop in here and there on the first-gen model. It runs the new Wear 4 operating system, which first debuted on the Samsung Galaxy Watch6. New features include a Gmail and Google Calendar app, the ability to have Google Assistant fetch your health data (“How did I sleep last night?”), and support for backup and restore so you won’t have to reset the watch when you switch phones.
The most notable new software feature falls under the Personal Safety umbrella. That includes emergency location sharing with your medical ID and Safety Check. The latter turns on a timer and, if it runs out with no action on your part, your emergency contact will be notified with your real-time location. There’s also Safety Signal, which is only on the cellular version of the Pixel Watch 2. If you haven’t signed up for cellular connectivity on the watch, these safety features will still work even when the watch is not connected to a smartphone. The catch? You need to activate it first, and you’ll need to have a Fitbit Premium subscription.
On the fitness side of things, Google says it has a new multi-path heart rate sensor that offers more photodiodes to pick up more accurate heart rate measurements. Specifically, the Pixel Watch 2 is now 40 percent more accurate when measuring heart rate during vigorous activities, Google claims. There’s also auto start and stop for seven workouts, plus pace coaching and heart rate zone coaching that lets you target a zone you want to stay in, and it’ll coach you via voice and haptic alerts. The workout screen has been tweaked to show more relevant information at a glance.
Photograph: Google
Finally, there are two new sensors: a skin temperature sensor and a continuous electrodermal activity sensor. The former acts as part of the sleep tracking system and can show you if your temperature changes over time, which might indicate changes to your environment. Google says it’s not being used to track menstruation. The latter works with the skin temperature sensor to track microscopic sweat beads and can detect physiological stress (or excitement!). You can log your mood when it detects these changes and can even offer ways to cope with stress, like taking a walk or doing some guided breathing exercises.
Google has previously stated that it can’t repair the first-gen Pixel Watch. People running into performance issues with the wearable can file a claim with Google’s support team to get a replacement model. This is unfortunately still the case with the Pixel Watch 2, and it’s unclear for how long this will be, as new right-to-repair laws mandating access to spare parts proliferate beyond states like California and New York, where they already exist. Google says it’s adding Preferred Care for the second-gen watch in the US and Canada, but it’s perplexing that a company the size of Google can’t figure this out.
The Pixel Watch 2 costs $349 for the base model and $399 for the model with cellular connectivity. Each watch comes with six months of Fitbit Premium. The models are available for preorder now with a launch date of October 12.
Google Pixel Buds Pro Features
Photograph: Google
Google’s flagship wireless earbuds are now available in two extra colors: bay and porcelain. But that’s not all that’s new. They now support Bluetooth Super Wideband, which purportedly doubles the bandwidth for voices, meaning you should sound clearer during phone and video calls. They also support the Pixel phones’ Clear Calling feature, which reduces background sounds.
The Pixel Buds app (which is now also available for Chromebooks) will now tell you how loudly you’ve been listening to music, which is probably too loud for me, but it’s meant to help you be aware of safe hearing levels. There’s now a Conversation Detection mode just like what’s offered by competing earbuds, which understands when you’ve started speaking. It will pause your music and switch to Transparency mode so you can hear more of your surroundings, as well as your own voice. When the convo ends, it’ll switch back to Active Noise Cancellation (if you had it turned on).
There’s also a new low-latency gaming mode when you launch a “compatible” game on a Pixel phone, cutting latency in half so you can hear the footsteps of your enemies a little more quickly.
