GooglePixel 8 - Unlocked Android Smartphone with Advanced Pixel Camera, 24-Hour Battery, and Powerful Security - Obsidian - 128 GBECOLOGOECOLOGOECOLOGO

I really like just about everything about this phone. The screen is large and high resolution with a sharp image. It takes great pictures and has more options than I need. Being a Pixel, it always gets the latest Android version and doesn't have extra bloatware. I love using Google Lens on it to translate foreign language text. It can cast the screen to any device that supports it, and likewise for playing music. The processor is powerful enough to run graphics-intensive games, but it gets quite warm in the process.The only issue I've run into is when I tried to connect an external monitor via USB-C, it only worked in screen copy mode and not desktop mode like you can on a Samsung device (using DeX). Android 15 has it partly implemented, so I'm hoping it will be fixed in the next update.

It has been a while since I bought this phone but I still have it. It's not flagship today by any means but it does everything I need. Takes pictures, runs apps, plays music and shows maps with Android Auto. It's fast enough between apps. It also allows me to call people.I feel that the screen is really clear. This phone is not locked which was great for when I switched carriers. If it's heavy, I couldn't say. What's a few grams between friends. I've never sat at the end of the day thinking that my phone was too heavy. It's light weight enough. It's got a sturdy build. No flex under normal use.I charge my phone about once a day but I can go two days on a single charge. I'm not a heavy user.I find that google phones to be a good value for me and have been rocking this phone for a long time now. I'm not in the market for a new one yet.I don't need to upgrade this phone as it does everything that I need today.

First off, I confess to being a Pixel 4a fanatic. To my mind, it is the single best Android phone ever, given the price point, sleek dimensions, and durability. After four years of use, my darling Barely Blue 4a was still going strong. If it were up to me, I would have continued to use it until it would run no more.Alas, as with all things business nowadays, it has a usable lifespan that is shorter than its little-phoone-that-could heart. Google stopped providing security updates for it in August 2023, and I will not wade into the hatchet job the company effected from afar on Pixel 4a users through a forced battery software retool in January 2025.Luckily for me, my 4a was not among the Impacted Devices that imploded after Google's sneaky move. Still, the battery had already degraded, and the battery "fix" meant that it lost power sooner. My 4a is still fine as a backup phone, and I will use it that way going forward. In any case, I had purchased this Pixel 8 over the holidays, after being unimpressed by the Pixel 9 series phones at the significantly higher pricetag.No phone will rival the 4a in my heart (though perhaps the Pixel 5 was close enough), but this is now the most compact feature-laden phone I could find. The Pixel 8a is quite close, and I nearly chose that, but the 8 has significant upgrades that made it worthwhile, particularly as I actually paid less for it than sale prices on the 8a.The Pixel 8 has a sharp screen, snappy performance, and on the tweaks I care about, without any of the pricey additions that do not matter to me. Certainly the screen is brighter, the processor a tad faster, and the battery a bit beefier on the 9 series, but not enough to distract me from my wallet's contentment with the 8's pricetag. The fingerprint reader is a disappointment, particularly coming from the effortless 4a back-of-the-phone version, but again, not worth several hundred dollars more to me for the upgrade.This phone has guaranteed security updates through fall of 2030, smooth scrolling, all the great Pixel camera perks and none of the silly gimmicks. Although the 9a is just around the corner, I am quite content to sit with my Pixel 8 until someone wises up to the niche of folks who want a small (as in 4a size) phone with many but not all of the bells and whistles, or until I give up and purchase another phone with enough to offer to make it worth my while.

(4/5) After about 2 days of using, the best features of the Google Pixel 8 are:1: One of the best cameras in the market. On top of being a great camera, any imperfections in photos are fixed by Google's AI software.2: Amazing screen brightness & quality. The new OLED screen resolution and quality overall is one of the best I've seen in androids, definitely up there with the newest Galaxy S models. It can get very bright when you need it to and very dark.3: The design/durability. Google is well known for their unique phone designs, and the Pixel 8 is no exception. Anybody looking at the phone will know it's a Pixel. The back is also scratch resistant and can handle major falls. An added plus on top of its 7 year software updates!Where it falls short:1: It's G3 Tensor chip. Google has recently started developing their own phone chips, and the processing power in the G3 is good for a $600 phone. However, it unfortunately falls short of other flagship Samsung or Apple phones. It also tends to heat up a bit, but that's an added plus in winter time :)2: It's battery life. The battery is decent, lasting about 7 - 8 hours of heavy use, but is again outraced by Samsung.Overall, the phone is perfect in its camera quality, durability/design, and new OLED screen. However, it falls behind in its battery and G3 powering chip. Fixing these 2 issues would make it the perfect phone!