New Pixel 8 Pro leak suggests the series won't see a huge leap in performance
New leaks have surfaced revealing what may be the specs for Google’s upcoming flagship smartphone; the Pixel 8 Pro.
This information comes from industry insider Yogesh Brar on Twitter. According to Brar, the device will sport a 6.7-inch Quad HD Plus LTPO (low-temperature Polycrystalline oxide) OLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The triple camera system will consist of a 50MP main lens, 64MP ultra-wide, and a 48MP telephoto option for up-close photography. The main camera will also have OIS (optical image stabilization) for keeping the imagery steady and sharp. The selfie camera is set to host an 11MP lens. Powering everything is a 4,950mAh battery supporting fast charging up to 27W.
The internal hardware is rather interesting. Under the hood, the Pixel 8 Pro will reportedly run on the Google Tensor G3 SoC (system on a chip) alongside a Titan chip to protect sensitive information. The RAM is capped at 12GB. There will be two storage options at launch: 128GB and 256GB. The screen is said to host an ultrasonic fingerprint reader.
There’s even a mention of a temperature sensor adding further validity to a leak from May which stated the Pixel 8 Pro will have a built-in thermometer below the rear camera. We do question if such a feature warrants inclusion. It’s not the worst idea in the world, but is it something that people want on their phones? It seems to be a tech better suited for smartwatches, in our opinion.
Mostly a rehash
If any of this sounds familiar to you, that’s because these specs are very familiar to what you find on the Pixel 7 Pro. The older device has the same LTPO OLED screen, meaning the rumored Pixel 8 Pro could also output a resolution of 3,120 x 1,440 pixels. Memory is the same. Storage options are the same. The Pixel 7 Pro even has an in-screen fingerprint reader (although it's an optical sensor and not ultrasonic).
There are a few upgrades, of course, with the addition of the Tensor G3 chip being the most notable. There is some hype surrounding the new SoC as it could introduce a big boost in gaming performance. Ultra-wide and up-close photographs taken by a Pixel 8 Pro may look even better thanks to the improved lenses. Plus the upcoming flagship phone potentially has a slightly bigger battery meaning it’ll probably last a bit longer.
Analysis: Keeping it modest
Regarding the leak, we’re of two minds. On one hand, Google is repackaging an admittedly great smartphone while fixing a couple of things. Macros Focus on the Pixel 7 Pro didn’t amaze us nor did the battery life. But the company is possibly granting mostly everything on our Pixel 8 wish list. We would like to know if the software support will go beyond five years.
On the other hand, it may disappoint current Pixel owners hoping for a major upgrade or interested people looking for a reason to jump ship. It seems like Google is choosing to play it safe with its next-gen mobile device over knocking the socks off people.
As with any leak, take everything you see with a grain of salt. Things could change at the last minute. Hopefully, Google decides to do more than simply roll out a modestly upgraded Pixel 7 Pro and does something to wow us. Either way, we’ll know for sure when the Pixel 8 Pro probably releases later this year. The launch date is expected to be sometime in October.