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Design and Display

The Pixel 8 Pro has a sleek and minimalist design, with a matte glass back and an aluminum frame. The color options are Bay (light blue), Obsidian (black), and Porcelain (white). I received the Bay model, which looks elegant and understated. The phone is IP68 rated for water and dust resistance, which is always a plus.

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The most noticeable feature of the phone is the large camera bar on the back, which houses three cameras and a flash. The camera bar is slightly raised, but it does not wobble when placed on a flat surface. The phone feels solid and premium in the hand, but it is also quite heavy at 213g.

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The front of the phone is dominated by a 6.7-inch LTPO OLED display, which has a resolution of 1344x2992 pixels and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The display is bright, sharp, and vibrant, with excellent viewing angles and contrast. It supports HDR10+ and can reach up to 2400 nits of peak brightness, which makes it great for outdoor use. The display also has an in-screen fingerprint scanner, which works fast and reliably.

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The Pixel 8 Pro has thin bezels around the display, except for the top where there is a small punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera. The phone does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack, but it does have stereo speakers that sound loud and clear. The volume and power buttons are on the right side of the phone, while the SIM tray is on the bottom next to the USB-C port.

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Performance and Software

The Pixel 8 Pro is powered by Google’s own Tensor G3 chipset, which is a custom-made processor that focuses on machine learning and artificial intelligence. The chipset has nine cores: one Cortex-X3 core clocked at 3GHz, four Cortex-A715 cores clocked at 2.45GHz, and four Cortex-A510 cores clocked at 2.15GHz. The phone also has an Immortalis-G715s MC10 GPU, which handles graphics-intensive tasks.

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The phone comes with 12GB of RAM and four storage options: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB. There is no microSD card slot for expansion, so you have to choose wisely. I received the 256GB model, which had plenty of space for my apps and media.

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The Pixel 8 Pro runs on Android 14, which is the latest version of Google’s operating system. Android 14 brings some new features and improvements, such as Material You design language, Live Translate, Privacy Dashboard, Face Match, Adaptive Sound, and more.

The Pixel 8 Pro also has some exclusive features that are powered by Google Assistant, such as Hold For Me, Call Screen, Smart Reply, Now Playing, and more.

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One of the best things about the Pixel 8 Pro is that it will receive seven years of software support from Google, which means it will get updates until 2030. This is unprecedented for an Android phone and gives you peace of mind that your phone will stay secure and up-to-date for a long time.

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Camera

The Pixel 8 Pro has a triple camera setup on the back: a 50MP main camera with f/1.7 aperture, multi-directional PDAF, multi-zone laser AF, and OIS; a 48MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual pixel PDAF, and a 126-degree field of view; and a 48MP telephoto camera with f/2.8 aperture, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, and 5x optical zoom.

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The camera app is simple and intuitive to use, with modes such as Portrait, Night Sight, Video Stabilization, Panorama, Photo Sphere, Slow Motion, Time Lapse, and more. You can also access Google Lens from the camera app to identify objects or text in real time.

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The Pixel 8 Pro takes amazing photos in almost any situation. The main camera captures sharp and detailed images with accurate colors and dynamic range. The ultra-wide camera adds more perspective to your shots without distorting the edges too much. The telephoto camera allows you to zoom in on distant subjects without losing quality.

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The Pixel 8 Pro also excels in low-light photography with its Night Sight mode, which combines multiple exposures to create bright and clear photos even in dark environments. You can also use Astrophotography mode to capture stunning shots of the night sky with long exposures.

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The Pixel 8 Pro also has some AI-assisted photo editing features that let you enhance your photos with just one tap. For example, you can use Magic Eraser to remove unwanted objects from your photos, or use Portrait Light to adjust the lighting on your subject’s face. You can also use Cinematic Pan to create smooth and dramatic videos with motion blur.

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The selfie camera on the Pixel 8 Pro is a 10.5MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, and a wide-angle lens. The selfie camera takes decent selfies with good detail and skin tones, but it can sometimes struggle with exposure and dynamic range. The selfie camera also supports Portrait mode and Night Sight mode, which can improve your selfies in different scenarios.

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The Pixel 8 Pro can record videos up to 4K resolution at 30 or 60fps, or 1080p resolution at up to 240fps. The video quality is good, with smooth stabilization, accurate colors, and clear audio. The phone also supports 10-bit HDR video recording, which can capture more details in highlights and shadows.

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Battery and Charging

The Pixel 8 Pro has a 5050mAh battery that can last for a full day of moderate to heavy use. The phone supports 30W wired charging with PD3.0 and PPS standards, which can charge the phone from 0 to 50% in about 30 minutes. The phone also supports 23W wireless charging and reverse wireless charging, which can charge other devices such as earbuds or smartwatches.

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The Pixel 8 Pro also has some battery-saving features that can extend the battery life further, such as Adaptive Battery, Extreme Battery Saver, and Battery Share. You can also use Battery Optimization to limit the background activity of certain apps that drain your battery.

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Conclusion

The Google Pixel 8 Pro is an impressive smartphone that offers a lot of features and performance for its price. The phone has a beautiful display, a powerful chipset, a versatile camera system, a long-lasting battery, and a clean and smooth software experience.

The phone also has some unique features that are powered by Google Assistant and machine learning, which make it smarter and more helpful than other phones.

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Overall, the Pixel 8 Pro is one of the best (if not the best) Android phones of 2023, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a premium and future-proof smartphone that can do almost anything you want it to do.

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If you are looking for a phone that puts AI in your pocket and lets you capture amazing photos and videos with ease, then the Pixel 8 Pro is the phone for you.

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