Google Pixel 8 latest specs, price and release date rumours ahead of the reveal
Everything you need to know about Google's imminent new phones
UPDATE: Google has now revealed the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in addition to the Pixel Watch 2. Here are our stories on the new devices:
Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro debut with new looks, more AI photo smarts
Smartphone duo land with Android 14 on board
Google Pixel Watch 2 doubles down on fitness
New CPU hopefully means better battery life for Google’s 2nd-gen smartwatch
Google Pixel 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S23: which is best?
Mainstream mobiles face off – does Google or Samsung come out on top?
Google Pixel 8 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro: which is best?
Google’s latest and greatest squares off against Apple’s titanium titan
Google Pixel 8 vs Apple iPhone 15: which is best?
Apple and Google’s sensibly sized smartphones duke it out
Original article continues below
The Pixel 7 Pro has sat comfortably towards the top of our best smartphones list since we reviewed it. But the phone world waits for no one. The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro duo are being revealed tomorrow. And the leaks have been in overdrive ahead of the covers coming off.
The Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 were a refinement on the previous generation. Will the Pixel 8 be more of the same, or will Google go for an all-out redesign? Is home-grown Tensor silicon set to stay, or will Qualcomm or MediaTek be in charge of hardware?
And can the firm’s computational camera tech stay ahead of the competition? We might not have all the answers just yet, but there’s plenty we do know (or think we know) already. Here’s everything revealed about the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro so far.
Google Pixel 8 launch and potential release date
Google has sent out media invites to an in-person event on the 4th of October. In it, the brand confirms it will “introduce the latest additions to our Pixel portfolio of devices”. The New York event kicks off at 7am PT, 10am ET and 3pm BST. The date launch neatly lines up with what we’ve come to expect from the brand.
Take a look at Google’s history with phone launches and you’ll see why:
- Pixel 7 / 7 Pro release date: October 6, 2022
- Pixel 6 / 6 Pro release date: October 19, 2021
- Pixel 5 release date: September 30, 2020
- Pixel 4 release date: October 15, 2019
- Pixel 3 / 3 XL release date: October 9, 2018
- Google Pixel 2 / 2 XL release date: October 4, 2017
- Pixel / Pixel XL release date: October 4, 2016
Barring an anomaly in 2020 when the world was mid-pandemic, Google has consistently released its new phones in October. Going even further back, the Nexus 5X also saw an October release. The Pixel 8’s launch event even lands on the exact same day as the original Pixel’s reveal. We expect it to go up for pre-order that day, with deliveries starting a few weeks later.
Pixel 8 rumored pricing
Pricing was, until recently, far harder to nail down. Google managed to deliver the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro for exactly the same amount as the previous-gen Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. That means the standard phone will cost $599/£599 and the flagship costing $899/£850. It would be nice to think the same will happen again with Pixel 8. Exchange rates are playing havoc on the cost of materials. The Pixel 7a landed at $50/£50 more than the Pixel 6a.
Twitter leaker Kamila Wojciechowska claims Google will ask $699 for the Pixel 8 in the US, and $899 for the Pixel 8 Pro. That’s a $100 hike for the smaller phone, but an unchanged figure for the larger one.
UK customers look to be even harder done by, according to regular leaker Roland Quandt. The regular Pixel 8 will apparently cost £699 and the Pixel 8 Pro will retail for £999. That’s a £100 increase for each device.
Google Pixel 8 design: flat glass back
While Google showed off the current-gen Pixel 7 early, at its I/O conference in May 2022, that was likely in reaction to a series of high-profile leaks. By the time I/O 2023 rolled around we only had a few (convincing-looking) renders to go on. So the firm kept the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro out of the spotlight.
Aside from more recent unboxings (read on for those), the best looks yet have come directly from the source, via two separate leaks. First there was an image posted to a Google Store page. This was spotted by Twitter user Android Setting, shows the Pixel 8 Pro (and possibly a Pixel Watch 2) in action.
The phone appears in Porcelain, a colour option that first appeared on the Pixel Tablet. The biggest difference can be seen on that rear camera shelf. Here it’s in silver. Three camera lenses are contained in a large oval, while an additional lens or sensor is present under the LED flash at the side.
Second, Google posted a 360-degree simulator letting you spin the phone around completely, with indicators highlighting various sensors and ports. This confirms the three colour options (Sky, Porcelain and Licorice). It also confirms the Pixel 8 Pro will arrive with a temperature sensor.
These ‘leaks’ back up earlier leaks that came via Twitter tipster Onleaks and Smartprix, who shared a detailed render of the phone based on internal info. The account also worked with Mysmartprice on a similar render for the Pixel 8.
Pixel 8 display leaks
It’s impossible to tell from these pics whether the Pixel 8 Pro is indeed getting a smaller screen than the outgoing model. Onleaks currently predicts 6.52in. It will reportedly lose the curved glass of the Pixel 7 Pro, instead going for a flat panel. Again, expect more rounded corners compared to the rather boxy Pixel 7 Pro.
According to the report, the smaller phone will get a 5.8in display. That’s smaller than the Pixel 7’s 6.1in screen. It has a more a rounded shape, but will retain the flat glass and metal camera shelf of its predecessor. It will almost certainly stick to a dual camera setup at the rear, with a punch-hole selfie cam up front.
We’ve seen this report echoed again from Onleaks, with shared CAD renders. These renders give us a close-up look at the display, and highlights the differences compared to the Pixel 7 Pro. As previously reported, we can see a flat panel that ditches the curved edges, and more rounded corners on the display. We’ve now seen this confirmed in videos (below).
In terms of colours, the Pixel 8 will land in Licorice, Peony, and Haze. Google does like a funky name or two. The Pixel 8 Pro will be offered in Licorice, Porcelain, and Sky. We’re betting these will be small twists black, white and green, and black, cream and blue respectively.
Complete Pixel 8 unboxings
As we’ve come to expect over recent years, somebody usually manages to unbox the Pixel phone before it appears at a Google event. And this time around is no exception. A Vietnamese Facebook page called Vật Vờ Studio has shared a video of the Pixel 8 Pro being taken out of its packaging.
It doesn’t seem that the page itself is claiming it has unboxed the phone, instead suggesting the images have come from a production line. As suspected and seen in other images, rounder edges are clearly present with a matte glass back and the slightly different camera arrangement with a larger oval.
Some unboxings have also been shared by PBKreviews who have unpackaged both the Pixel 8 in Hazel and the Pixel 8 Pro in Obsidian. Here they are:
Google Pixel 8 rumored tech specs
Early reports suggest the new Pixel duo uses an all-ew CPU known internally at Google as ‘Zuma’. It uses the same modem as the one found in Tensor G2, so we’re betting Google calls it Tensor G3. Expect a 1+4+4 core setup, with the high-performance core able to peak at 3.09GHz. The underlying silicon will be borrowed from Samsung’s Exynos 2300. This was originally expected to make an appearance on the Galaxy S23 series but was ditched in favour of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
A rumour from industry insider Tech_Reve suggests Samsung will use Fan-out Wafer-level Packaging (FO-WPL) when producing the chips. That’s tech speak for “runs cooler and more efficient” – something previous Tensor-powered Pixels have often struggled with. A move to 3mm manufacturing will improve power efficiency.
According to WinFuture, Google has been working on two new smartphones codenamed ‘Shiba’ and ‘Husky’ – a change to dog breeds from the big cats used before (Pixel 7 was ‘Cheetah’ and Pixel 7 Pro was ‘Panther’). Both phones should ship with 12GB of RAM, which would be a step up for the smaller of the two. The Pixel 7 has 8GB, while the Pro is already packing 12GB.
Storage options will stay at 128GB and 256GB for the Pixel 8, and 128, 256 and 512GB for the Pixel 7 Pro. This means there should still be relatively affordable versions of each, unlike rivals including the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S24, which is rumoured to ditch the entry-level 128GB option. Seemingly an iPhone-baiting 1TB model is off the cards, though.
The other info available right now is potential screen resolution. Apparently the Pixel 8 will get a 2268×1080 panel, and the Pixel 8 Pro will have a 2822×1344 one – a drop compared to the Pixel 7 Pro’s 3120×1440. That would make sense if rumours about a smaller panel are to be believed.
Pixel 8 and 8 Pro cameras
When it comes to camera, there’s a good chance Google will stick with the same 50MP main sensor used in the Pixel 7 series. The firm tends to stick with one sensor for several generations, preferring to let its algorithms do the heavy lifting rather than chasing ever-higher pixel counts. Whether the Pro will continue to be the only phone offered with a dedicated zoom lens also remains to be seen. While the Pixel 7a has a higher pixel count, its sensor is physically smaller, so would be a step down if it made an appearance in the Pixel 8 series. Google is reportedly also working on a video unblur feature for Google Photos, which would fix any out-of-focus footage using the machine learning smarts baked into the Pixel’s Tensor CPU.
In December, we got a further insight into the potential camera power of the Pixel 8. Serial leaker Kuba Wojciechowski was able to access a clean version of Google Camera Go, and in its code identified something called ‘staggered HDR’. This isn’t a feature the Google Pixel camera currently uses. Staggered HDR refers to camera technology that captures a long and short exposure image at the same time, then combines them into one individual image. Simply put, this produces better images, faster. If the Pixel 8 does indeed come with staggered HDR, then the phone will also include a new sensor.
Magic Eraser for video
Another upgrade appears to be coming on the video front. A video posted to Twitter shows an “audio magic eraser”, which strips out background sounds but preserves things like speech. The clip features a skateboarder, with the magic eraser function muting the sound of the board’s wheels but still letting you hear the rider’s cheers. It’ll almost certainly use the Tensor G2’s machine learning smarts, so will likely be exclusive to the Pixel 8 series – at least at launch.
The biggest software upgrade, outside of the shift to Android 14, could be the introduction of Samsung Dex-style support for external displays. According to Android Authority, references to USB DisplayPort alternate mode can be found in recent Android 14 betas, suggesting the feature will debut on the Pixel 8 series.
Pixel 8a debuting after?
As first reported by Android Authority, an ‘anonymous but trustworthy source’ gifted the publication a roadmap for the Pixel from 2023-2025. As well as confirming the Pixel 8 launch date, a source further told Android Authority that there will be few changes for these models compared to the Pixel 7 series. The document claims ‘shiba’ (Pixel 8) will have a smaller display and ‘husky’ (Pixel 8 Pro) will have the same display and measurements as the Pixel 7 Pro. That’s something which has since been countered by subsequent leaks.
Google also has a plan to release a Pixel 8a, codenamed ‘akita’, but apparently the phone could be shelved, depending on how well the Pixel 7a has done. Interestingly, Google is also allegedly thinking of moving away from yearly A series launches, in favour of biyearly launches. That wouldn’t be a huge shock, given how closely matched the 7a is to the more expensive Pixel 7.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
