Pixel 8 vs. Pixel 7 vs. Pixel 6: How Google’s Flagship Phone Has Changed

Google‘s new flagship phone, the Pixel 8, has arrived. It starts at $699 (£699, AU$1,199), which is $100 more than last year’s Pixel 7 and the Pixel 6 before it, and goes on sale on Oct. 12. The Pixel 8 offers excellent cameras along with seven years of software upgrades, making it longer than any other Android phone. It’s intended for people who are looking to upgrade to a flagship Android phone that takes great photos, which has been Google’s signature focus.

After Google overhauled its phone lineup with the Pixel 6 in 2021, the Pixel 8 offers an iterative upgrade rather than the radical changes of three years ago. The design, with its signature camera bar running across the chassis, is largely identical save for a slightly larger screen and a slightly lower weight, among other minor changes in appearance.

Arguably the biggest Pixel 8 improvement has come by way of its software, which is one of the key attractions of a Pixel phone. The new seven-year software policy represents a significant upgrade over the Pixel 7 series, which Google pledged to support with five years of security patches and three years of major Android updates. The Pixel 6 has three years of OS upgrades and five years of security patches promised, showing Google’s increasing support over the years.

Beyond its software updates, the Pixel 8 comes with new features, namely Night Sight for video, Audio Magic Eraser, a powerful tool for removing background noise from videos, and Best Take, a photo editing tool that alters the expression on someone’s face in a group picture.

Some of these features may come to older Pixel phones in time, perhaps the ones running on Tensor chipsets, but they’re available on the newest Pixel phone first. 

As for the cameras, the Pixel 8 features a 50-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera, which are the same as those in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6. This year, there is a higher-res 10-megapixel selfie camera. 

The Pixel 8 runs on Google’s years-in-the-making Tensor chip once again, but this year it’s the next-gen version known as the Tensor 3, but we won’t know how much it’s improved on the Tensor 2 (in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7A) and Tensor 1 (in the Pixel 6) until we have time to test it. The new phone’s 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage are unchanged from previous Pixels, though its 4,575 mAh battery sits between the capacities for the Pixel 7 (4,355 mAh) and Pixel 6 (4,614 mAh).

There’s also support for a higher refresh rate of 120Hz on the display from the Pixel 7’s 90Hz maximum, which should allow for smoother scrolling and navigation. Pixel 8 also has a higher charging speed of 13 watts versus 5 watts in older Pixel phones for Qi-compatible devices, though the wired charging remains at the same 30W as in the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6.

For more details on how Google’s new Pixel 8 stacks up against its predecessors, check out the specs chart below for a side-by-side view. If you want to learn more about the Pixel 8 Pro, you can read this comparison piece to glean some insights.