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

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've had this phone for 4 months now! Here are some things I LOVE:•Takes GORGEOUS photos• It's very fast• It has a long lasting battery and charges within an hour• The neutral yet sophisticated color of this phone. I put a clear case on it to show it off.• Unlocked - it was a breeze to set up with my existing carrier• Brightness has a wide range which is great for being outside in the sun and in bed with the lights off• Android has a seemingly unlimited number of customization features which I always am excited forCons:• This thing is massive and kind of heavy - just something to think about• The camera sticks out a bit so the phone never lays flat on its back, only if you lay it screen side down• There is no double-tap to wake or turn off the screen - this is something I miss about my old phoneOverall, it really is the best phone I've ever had - no regrets!!

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.

It's by far the nicest phone i've ever had, and it feels quite premium. The smooth aluminum side makes it a bit tricky to grip, I was afraid of dropping it before getting a case.The screen is very nice, the OLED looks very rich and it gets decently bright for outdoor use. The fingerprint scanner is hit or miss, but mostly does the job.The camera is also quite capable. I have had some issues with exposure in dark settings, but all in all I'm quite satisfied.Speakers are really nice I think, a bit step up over my old phone for sure. I normally use earbuds though.One thing i've noticed is the google assistant voice volume just sorta randomly changes itself, sometimes It's hard to hear, sometimes it's fine, other times it cranks the volume way up for no reason. strange.The connectivity is fine, but I will say it seems like it uses a whole lot of battery life on the wireless receivers. The battery life in general is rather so-so for a brand new phone. My old phone did have a larger battery, but even after 4 years I feel like it has better battery life than this phone has brand new. That's not the best but if I needed to I could go 2 days without charging with moderate use. Still a bit of a bummer to use 30%+ of my battery life with only 1.5 hours or so of screen time throughout the day. This is with it aggressively killing off my podcast app and requiring multiple tries to play or pause what I have going, which honestly i don't know if I should blame the phone or the app. I believe is the wireless modems being battery hogs too, but i'm not certain.The software is pretty nice, a lot of cool features they include in their version of android. But I do miss some of the things Samsung had going on. It wasn't until last year that Pixels could limit their charge max percentage, even. But it's a trade off I can live with.One thing that bothers me a lot though, is the wireless charging simply stopped working one day. My wireless charger works fine, my phone simply doesn't seem to charge on it anymore. I suppose i will contact google support about that soon. I don't need wireless charging but it's a feature it used to have and i'd like it back.all in all, it's a nice phone. Not my perfect phone perhaps but it's got plenty of support years left and performs fine for the price I got it ($400).