Google’s subsequent flagship has leaked, and a launch date has been set. The Pixel 8 will arrive lower than a month after Apple plans to launch the iPhone 15. Smartphone fall is coming!
Google is internet hosting an in-person Pixel launch occasion on Oct. 4 in New York Metropolis. The thrill begins at 7 A.M. PT / 10 A.M. ET, and we’ll be on the bottom to introduce you to the brand new Pixel household of units. These occasions are sometimes livestreamed to most people, so if you happen to can’t be there in individual, you’ll be able to watch on YouTube.
We count on Google will announce the environment friendly Pixel 8 and the well-equipped Pixel 8 Professional. We’re additionally anticipating a thinner second-gen Pixel Watch smartwatch to match. However we’re nonetheless determining what this yr’s launch is about and what marquee options Google will carry to its ecosystem.
What’s the take care of the Pixel 8?
With each iteration of a Pixel gadget, Google normally has a story round distinctive options and the way new skills and tips outrank the competitors. We’re nonetheless attempting to determine the story with the Pixel 8 and eight Professional.
What we all know to this point—and what has been confirmed primarily by Google’s leaked advertising supplies—is that the Pixel 8/8 Professional can have markedly rounder corners, which may make it narrower and simpler to grip. We all know the digital camera bar has been prolonged alongside the bottom to incorporate the Pixel 8 Professional’s third lens and {that a} vivid coloration and darkish colorway will likely be accessible, since that’s what we’ve seen circulating by way of the rumor mill. And we all know the curved show across the edges is probably going going bye-bye—it means instances will match flush, and also you received’t get as a lot mud inside the edges as on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7.
The opposite components of the Pixel 8’s design that we’re nonetheless attempting to determine is whether or not there will likely be a bodily SIM slot or if it’s ditching it to indicate off to the iPhone. Google additionally has but to disclose the particular coloration. Will or not it’s a inexperienced motif like with the Pixel 7/7 Professional? Or will or not it’s an identical pair of blue hues like this yr’s Pixel 7a?
The Pixel 8’s story appears like it is going to be a marked enchancment on the options it’s already identified for. The telephone’s well-known Evening Sight capability will doubtless be prolonged to video recordings so you’ll be able to shoot evening footage with out worrying about extra lighting. The Pixel 8 Professional, which can have a 3rd digital camera lens, may also undertake a sharper, higher-resolution ultra-wide-angle lens for archive-worthy panorama photographs.
The Pixel 8 and eight Professional might be Android’s first foray into satellite tv for pc connectivity akin to Apple’s Emergency SOS through satellite tv for pc. The story on Twitter is that Google is partnering with Garmin for its present Iridium satellite tv for pc community, which Qualcomm can even hook up with when it rolls out satellite tv for pc connectivity to different Android units later this yr. We’re nonetheless determining if you happen to’ll should pay further for that connectivity on each Google and different Android telephones. We’ll know quickly sufficient.
What about what’s contained in the Pixel 8?
This yr’s Pixel 8/8 Professional will doubtless introduce Google’s third-gen Tensor G3 processor. Within the Twitter rumor mill, it’s codenamed Zuma, and that very same supply is suggesting the chipset is predicated on Samsung’s 3nm node, which ought to show to be as highly effective and environment friendly as Apple’s Bionic silicon.
The Pixel 8/8 Professional will doubtless have the identical pairing of RAM, although we’d like to see 12GB of reminiscence within the small Pixel 8 and the bigger Pixel 8 Professional because the Pixel 7a—the mid-range collection—comes customary with 8GB.
The under-display fingerprint sensor isn’t leaving the Pixel collection. Nonetheless, Google may improve to an ultrasonic sensor, which must be quicker than its present optical one. And talking of sensors, different sources recommend a temperature sensor can even be on the gadget.
Pixel Watch 2, too
Google’s first-gen Pixel Watch was nice, however the Pixel Watch 2 will hopefully enhance on the weather its predecessor was lacking. Specifically, the Pixel Watch 2 wants higher battery life to surpass the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. Earlier within the yr, 9to5Google spoke to sources alleging that switching from Google’s CPU to a Snapdragon chip would assist “enhance” the battery.
Google plans to make Fitbit a big a part of the Pixel Watch 2’s introduction, a bit greater than it did with the first-gen. There will likely be precise sensors within the Watch 2 to accommodate the Fitbit app’s wellness-tracking experience. There might be an electrodermal exercise (cEDA) sensor for monitoring stress ranges all through the day by measuring sweat ranges on the pores and skin’s floor. We’re additionally hoping for a pores and skin temperature sensor, which Samsung has provided for cycle and sleep monitoring because the Galaxy Watch 5.
With the Pixel Watch 2 launch, we’ll additionally see this Fitbit transform floating round for some time. The one factor that Google has that Samsung doesn’t is a well being and wellness model that’s already well-established. Samsung Well being definitely tries, but it surely takes a little bit of finagling earlier than it really works with different ecosystems.
We’ll uncover all this as soon as Google formally publicizes every thing on Oct. 4. Keep tuned!