The Pixel 7 Pro has been replaced in Google’s portfolio by the officially announced Pixel 8 Pro. It stands for the top of the line and the absolute finest that the business has to offer right now. By doing this, it avoids resting on the already excellent Pixel 7 Pro’s laurels and instead enhances the crucial elements that its predecessor was frequently criticized for having.
If you’re thinking about upgrading to either phone or curious to see how your Pixel 7 Pro compares to the brand-new Pixel 8 Pro, here’s everything you need to know about some of the features. I’ve used the Pixel 7 Pro extensively over the past year and have been using the Pixel 8 Pro for a week.
The Google Pixel 8 Pro is on sale now, and Google will keep selling the Pixel 7 Pro this year, so it’s likely that it will also be available at other retailers for the foreseeable future. The Google Pixel 8 series is launching in a few more regions than the 7 series. It has launched in the US and Canada along with most Western European countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK) as well as Australia, India, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan.
| Specification | Google Pixel 8 Pro | Google Pixel 7 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| SoC | Google Tensor G3 | Google Tensor G2 |
| RAM | 12GB | 12GB |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| Battery | 5,050mAh | 5000mAh, up to 23W fast charging, up to 23W wireless charging (Pixel Stand) |
| Ports | USB-C | USB-C |
| Operating System | Android 14 | Android 13 |
| Front Camera | 10.5 MP Dual PD selfie camera | 10.8MP f/2.2 (92.8° FoV, fixed focus) |
| Rear Camera | 50 MP Octa PD wide camera, 48 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera, 48 MP Quad PD telephoto camera | 50MP f/1.85 primary (82° FoV w/OIS); 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with autofocus (125° FoV); 48MP f/3.5 5x telephoto w/OIS; LDAF, Spectral and flicker sensor; 5x optical and up to 30x Super Res Zoom |
| Connectivity | 4G, 5G mmWave, UWB, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC | 5G (mmWave supported in the US), Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, Ultra-Wideband, Dual-band GNSS, Dual SIM (nanoSIM + eSIM) |
| Dimensions | 162.6 × 76.5 × 8.8mm | 3.01 x 6.4 x 0.35 inches (76.6mm x 162.9mm x 8.9mm) |
| Colors | Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay | Obsidian, Snow, Hazel |
| Weight | 213 grams (7.5 ounces) | 7.4oz (212g) |
| Charge Speed | Up to 30 watts | 23W wired with Google 30W USB-C charger, up to 23W wireless with Pixel Stand, 12W wireless with compatible Qi chargers |
| IP Rating | IP68 | IP68 |
| Price | $999 USD | $899 USD |
Design
The Google Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 8 Pro are comparable at first glance. Over the past three years, Google has unquestionably stayed true to its design aesthetic. Both of them have the recognizable glass and polished aluminum camera bar that spans the upper back of the phones in a visor-like fashion and blends into the frame. They both have large 6.7-inch front screens with a selfie camera that is located in the center of the status bar.
Clearly, the specifics are most important in this situation. The improved rear glass on the Google Pixel 8 Pro has a matte texture. It gives the phone a more premium appearance and feel while doing a great job of obscuring fingerprints and simply feeling nicer to the touch. The polished aluminum rail contrasts nicely with the smooth, non-reflective finish, but I worry that, like the Pixel 7 Pro, the metal may show little and large scratches quite easily.
The Pixel 8 Pro also has massively bigger lenses that take up more space in the camera bar, and thus, it only offers a single glass cutout for all three cameras on the back. In contrast to that, the Pixel 7 Pro has its telephoto camera in an extra circular cutout next to the pill-shaped glass for the primary and ultrawide. This gives it a more playful look that also mimics Google’s Material You software design to an extent.
Display
The Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro both have 6.7-inch displays, but the Pixel 8 Pro’s display is undoubtedly the biggest exterior differentiator between the two. The Pixel 7 Pro now delivers a flat screen with perfectly level spacing all around it, in contrast to the Pixel 6 Pro’s slightly curved edges and irregularly sized bezels at the top and bottom. It eliminates the bothersome reflections that come with every curved screen and gives the Pixel 8 Pro a far more premium appearance in my opinion.
Curved screen supporters frequently and correctly point out that large phones with large displays are easier to hold with this type of design, but the Pixel 7 Pro already has far less steep curves than the Pixel 6 Pro before it or other curved displays available. Because of this, I personally don’t really see much of a difference in the display when holding these two large phones, but I can see how someone with smaller hands could disagree slightly.
The more rounded corners of the Pixel 8 Pro make good for the less curved sides for me — both of these designs come with their own tradeoffs. Truth be told, neither the Pixel 7 Pro nor the Pixel 8 Pro is a phone you’ll be comfortable using one-handed for extended periods of time — you’ll have to look elsewhere for good small flagship phones.
Moving back to the displays themselves, Google claims some impressive improvements in display technology, too, even though the Pixel 8 Pro offers a slightly lower resolution of 1344 x 2992 vs 1440 x 3120 on the Pixel 7 Pro. It makes good on that with maximum brightness, with the Pixel 8 Pro reaching up to 2,400 nits at peak and 1,600 in HDR. For the Pixel 7 Pro, that’s only 1,000 and 1,500 nits, respectively, which are already good numbers in themselves.
The Pixel 8 Pro can also officially go as low as 1Hz to as high as 120Hu when it comes to the refresh rate while the Pixel 7 Pro can only go down to 10Hz. This is good for battery life when using the always-on display or looking at other static content, such as an e-book page.
Software
The Google Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 7 Pro both run Android 14, therefore the fundamental user experience is the same on both devices. You should be aware of a few key changes, though. While the Pixel 7 Pro is now only guaranteed to receive three major Android updates and five years of security patches, the Pixel 8 Pro is expected to receive seven years of Android upgrades (along with seven years of spare parts in case the hardware breaks). As the Pixel 7 Pro was released with Android 13, one of its software updates has already been applied, leaving you with Android 16 (assuming that’s what it’s called) in 2025.In contrast to that, the Google Pixel 8 Pro will get updates all the way until 2030, at which point we should have Android 21 (again, if that’s still how Google numbers its releases then).
Beyond the update promise, there are some more exclusive software upgrades in the Pixel 8 Pro that may never make it to the Pixel 7 Pro. Both phones support biometric face unlock, but only the Pixel 8 Pro offers so-called Class 3 biometrics. This means that the Pixel 8 Pro lets you use Face Unlock to enter secure applications like your online bank or make payments. Google says that it uses more advanced machine learning and upgraded algorithms to achieve this in a secure manner without relying on extra hardware like the Pixel 4’s or the ir blaster, and it’s possible that these algorithms can only run reliably and fast on the new G3 chipset inside the Pixel 8 series.
The Google Assistant is another area that gets some extra features on the Pixel 8 series. You can use AI to summarize articles for you (only in English in the US), which doesn’t work all that well all the time.
Performance and hardware
The Tensor G3 processor from Google claims to deliver improved performance at lower temperatures. Given the overheating problems owners of earlier Pixel generations have observed, particularly over the summer, this is desperately required. The Pixel 8 Pro’s performance in this area can only be fully determined after a lengthy test, but based on our initial review, we can confidently state that the phone maintains a respectable level of cooling even under normal use. Although it doesn’t compare favorably to high-end Snapdragon phones, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro don’t appear to be as awful.
This automatically changes if you use the Pixel 8 Pro for activities that put additional strain on the processing pipeline, such as gaming or using the Magic Editor AI tool. The same is true when shooting lengthy films or lots of images. However, the Pixel 8 Pro appears to be a significant upgrade over the Pixel 7 Pro overall.
We can also confirm that the Pixel 8 Pro functions effectively regardless of temperature. Even during more demanding tasks, the phone maintains its snappiness and consistency, letting background apps function largely reliably and providing no unpleasant performance shocks.
When it comes to other hardware, the Pixel 7 Pro and 8 Pro are largely identical. They both have 12GB of RAM (LPDDR5X on the 8 Pro vs LPDDR5 on the 7 Pro), UFS3.1 storage (the 8 Pro adds a 1TB model at the top of the lineup), the Titan M2 security chip, and the usual 5G antennas. The Pixel 8 Pro upgrades to Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, though.
Cameras
The Pixel 8 Pro’s camera upgrades over the previous year are greater than we could have anticipated. The 50MP primary camera in the Pixel 8 Pro remains, but it has been upgraded to one with a larger sensor that can capture more light. The enhanced 48MP ultrawide camera, which marks a significant improvement in quality over its 12MP predecessor, is the most noticeable difference in this instance. Additionally improved, the 5x telephoto camera now supports optical image stabilization.
In actuality, this means that the most recent Pro Pixel model will provide you with even better images than before. The larger sensor allows the Pixel 8 Pro’s Night Sight to activate a little bit later than it did on the Pixel 7 Pro without sacrificing image quality. The upgraded lens further enhances your ultrawide shooting experience by being able to capture significantly more information than the 12MP camera on the Pixel 7 Pro. Overall, the Pixel 7 Pro is still a fantastic photography phone, and even if there have been some upgrades, you aren’t necessarily losing out on anything if you stick with the 7 Pro.
On top of the new hardware, you can also enjoy some new software options like Magic Editor, which lets you fully recompose images thanks to AI, an improved Magic Eraser that’s even better at getting rid of distractions in your images, Magic Audio Eraser to get rid of distracting sounds in your videos, and many more features that Google said would be coming soon with the December Feature Drop.
Price, specs & availability
Let’s get the most painful change out of the way first. The Google Pixel 8 Pro is $100 more expensive than the Pixel 7 Pro. Its 128GB version costs $1,000, and it can go up to $1,400 if you need 1TB of storage — that’s double the storage that the Pixel 7 Pro offers in its biggest configuration. When the Pixel 7 launched, its 128GB version went for $900, which is still the official price that Google sells it at. You can pick it up for much cheaper when it’s on sale, though, with rebates of about $250 often available over the last year. It’s likely that it will be discounted even further now that it’s not the latest and greatest anymore.
Which is right for you?
I can only advise choosing the Pixel 8 Pro if you’re looking for a new phone and have to choose between it and the Pixel 7 Pro. It is superior to its predecessor in every way, finally getting rid of the curved screen in favor of even bezels all around, providing a smooth, fingerprint-resistant glass texture on the back, offering an upgraded camera system all around, receiving seven years’ worth of Android updates, and, as far as we can currently tell, having better battery life and performance.
The Pixel 7 Pro isn’t completely out of date, of course. The Pixel 7 Pro might be a wonderful alternative if you’re trying to save money but truly want a large screen and a telephoto camera, which the ordinary Pixel 8 won’t provide you, but $1,000 is a lot to spend on a phone. The Pixel 7 Pro is still an option in this situation, even if you must be conscious of the tradeoff in terms of software updates that it entails. At the time of writing, it only has two more OS upgrades and four more years of security patches left.
| No. | Google Pixel 8 Pro Review |
|---|---|
| Pros | – Screen isn’t curved anymore – Upgraded camera system all around – 7 years of OS upgrades |
| Cons | – Gimmicky temperature sensor with questionable use – $100 more expensive than its predecessor at launch |
| Summary | The Google Pixel 8 Pro addresses many concerns users had with previous models and brings several improvements. It features a flat screen instead of a curved one, an enhanced camera system, and an impressive promise of seven years of OS updates. However, it introduces a gimmicky temperature sensor with unclear utility and comes at a $100 higher price point compared to its predecessor. |
| No. | Google Pixel 7 Pro Review |
|---|---|
| Price | $779 (Original Price: $899, Save $120) |
| Pros | – More affordable at this point – Curved display may help with grip |
| Cons | – Much shorter remaining software support window – Missing many new headlining camera features – Processor is prone to running hot |
| Summary | The Google Pixel 7 Pro, even with its flaws, is still a great phone. It offers a more affordable option, and the curved display can be an advantage for those who prefer it. However, it has a shorter remaining software support window and lacks some of the new camera features found in more recent models. The processor is also prone to running hot. |