Google Pixel 8 - Unlocked Android Smartphone with Advanced Pixel Camera, 24-Hour Battery, and Powerful Security - Rose - 128 GBECOLOGOECOLOGO

Probably the best phone I have ever owned. Purchased new (obsidian, 128gb, first time Pixel user) for $400 on prime day. I think the only phone that might compete price/hardware wise is the Xiaomi14, but at $400 the pixel 8 is a much better value for me personally(compared to $700+ Xiaomi14).This phone is really fast. Really fast. So far it has handled all of my playstore games and emulated games really well. Can even run ps2/dolphin just fine. The battery is great, charges really fast and doesn't drain fast even when gaming. The adaptive battery feature has already proven to be a life saver as well. Reducing how fast the device charges when over 80% (especially for people who charge over night) should help to keep the battery's charge for a while. I switched from the original A50 that I purchased for $300 in 2019 and the difference is night and day. The A50, a value oriented phone with great features, drained power incredibly fast even when brand new.The camera+screen quality is probably the highlight of the phone for me. The camera has a ton of features and very sharp and crisp looking photos. However what really shines about the 8's camera is its photos in low light/night time and the ability to edit photos/videos easily with just a few button presses. The 120hz screen and actua display competes with just about any other flagship phone and really makes the phone much more responsive and expressive.The few cons to this phone aren't enough to warrant knocking any stars, but I will still mention them. When holding/operating the phone, at-least for my hand, its very easy to smudge your camera lens with your fingers on the back of the phone. While not needed, I opted for a glass screen protector that makes any smudges easy to wipe off. Also, being a phone produced by Google, the Pixel sports a google search bar at the bottom of the screen that you are unable to remove, move, or resize. While not a big deal, I did find it odd that non of the video reviews I watched for this phone mentioned this. However I do understand its been a part of Pixel for a long time and most likely was covered for previous models. Having not bought a new, nice phone in 5+ years, I was also very bummed that a charging block was not included. While this is listed clearly on this page and is easily visible, it has been frustrating to track down a power block that can really deliver the 27w to the phone. So many blocks might be advertised as "high speed power bricks" but often I find you don't receive the full listed wattage. Especially if the block has multiple outlets. Even if the price needs to be higher to compensate, with mobile devices becoming more power hungry, new phones should be shipped with both a charging cable and power brick. Google obviously isn't alone in this practice and appears to be part of the cost of upgrading to a new phone.Over all, switching from Samsung to pixel has been incredibly simple and easy. After a couple weeks I have completely taken to my new phone and probably have been converted to a Pixel user for life. I have now become the picture taker in my relationship and can no longer say "yeah but my phone is bad!" to avoid taking them haha. The promise of 8 years of updates, 7 now that the 9 is out, has me excited to keep this phone for as long as possible as well.

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.

I had a few Samsung phones in the past. Most recent was a very expensive Fold that lasted an appallingly short time. So I made a switch. This economical phone is not the biggest, but it's big enough. It functions very well. It's a little powerhouse. Performance is solid, especially against the cost. I expect this to last way longer than the vastly more expensive terrible Fold.