January 16th, 2026

Pixel 8 One-Day Review.

But… But… your Pixel 6?

Pixel 8 One-Day Review.

Only one day? Why not three, at least? Are you lazy? And did you kick that Pixel 6 you claimed you’d keep for a while to the curb?

No. I don’t want to keep people waiting. Mom’s Pixel 6a dies too fast, so she needs this phone fast as well. And since I am the (self-proclaimed) phone expert in the house, I get to test it and ensure its functionality functions.

Oh, ok. That makes sense. I thought you’d upgraded yourself again.

Nope. My phone works just fine.

Desgin and handling.

The Pixel 8 looks great. This one came in the Hazel color. Initially, I wanted to get the Rose color, but Mom uses a case anyways. I ended up liking the Hazel. It’s got a hint of green to it. It’s no Sorta Seafoam, but it’s also better than black or white.

It’s got the cellular antennae on the sides, bottom, and top of the device, though the bottom antenna is not symmetrical, in typical Pixel design. Oh well. The sides are silver, which looks pretty nice. The right hand side of the phone has the power and volume buttons. There is no headphone jack. Phone manufacturers believe that flagship users won’t ever want such a “outdated” feature.

The back of the phone is typical Pixel, with the metal camera bar with holes for the two lenses and the flash. It’s got the Hazel color all over it, though the camera bar matches the sides of the phone.

The back of the Pixel 4, Pixel 6, and Pixel 8. The camera does not pick up the green hint on the Pixel 8 that well.

The back of the Pixel 6a and the Pixel 8.

The size of the device’s display left me in a bit of disbelief. It’s a 6.2 inch display, as opposed to the Pixel 6’s massive 6.4 inch display. It’s also nearly the same size as the Pixel 6a, despite the display being a bit larger. And it’s only slightly bigger than my Pixel 4. Slightly. It’s perfect.

The front of the Pixel 4, Pixel 6, and Pixel 8. That Pixel 6 really does look massive.

The front of the Pixel 6a and the Pixel 8.

Software and usability.

The phone was sent with Android 16 QPR1 on it. I updated it to QPR2 for the latest experience.

Android 16 QPR2 felt like… Android 16 QPR0 on my Pixel 6, but with some extra transparency and some quality-of-life improvements in the notification shade. I wasn’t surprised that much. There isn’t much to be said about it. It’s Android, same as Material 3 Normal Android, just a bit more expressive. It also still has this ugly color it overlays on the media player in the notification shade.

I didn’t feel like AI was being shoved in my face 24/7, though, as someone who doesn’t rely on those features, I wouldn’t have noticed. The Gemini app didn’t even come preinstalled for whatever reason. Google did try and shove backups in my face with Google Photos though. I always uninstall anything I don’t want on my phone, so any AI apps probably would have been sent to the rubbish.

Overall, the software experience is great. I did have to enable the 120Hz refresh rate manually, which did make the phone feel a lot faster. It makes my Pixel 6 with its 90Hz refresh rate feel dated and a bit slow.

It does have Desktop Mode, which is nice to have, but not super useful to me yet. Too bad the Pixel 6 doesn’t have that, and Apple is too afraid to add it to iPhone.

Battery life is “Used Pixel Battery Life”, essentially, fine, and better than the 6a by a long shot. It’s sitting at about 75% after a boatload of updates ant 1hr35min of screen-on time. (Edit to add, Mom has been using it and it hits about 50% with around three hours of screen-on time with GrapheneOS. That’s not bad for a used phone).

Biometrics are one other thing this phone has that I use. It has a fingerprint sensor, which is under the screen and can blind you in the dark. It is faster than the Pixel 6’s fingerprint sensor. It’s also got Face Unlock, which uses the front camera. Google says it’s secure, though I trust it less than I did the Face Unlock on my Pixel 4. It’s pretty fast, but can’t work in the dark.

Material 3 Expressive: Lock screen and notification shade. Google did really well with the default wallpaper.

Material 3 Expressive customization options. For some reason I didn't screenshot the home screen...

Lock screen customization options.

Cameras.

To me, this is the most important part of this phone: Its cameras will make a difference on my view of the device, and this phone is not disappointing at all. Quite frankly, if I had the money to buy this when I bought the Pixel 6, I would have gotten this one. The main camera takes great photos, but the wide-angle is where the upgrade is really at. It now is a 0.5x lens as opposed to a 0.7x on the Pixel 6 and 7, and it has autofocus, enabling a macro mode. As someone who likes close-up shots of things, this is a really nice feature. Lens switching could be a bit smoother but it’s still fantastic. There’s fancy modes on the camera, but I never really use those, other than Night Sight. Other reviews have done better jobs with testing these things, but here’s a few normal time photos. Since it’s Christmas, I’ve included a few Nativity scene photos. It’s perfect for this phone.

Wide-angle.

Normal 1x camera.

2x digital zoom.

Macro photo of the Baby Jesus on the nativity.

Macro photo of a Christmasy placemat.

Macro photo of a knockoff Calico Critters ice cream container. I can actually read the text now!

Macro photo of a laptop keyboard. I should have picked a better key than the Microslop Windows key though.

Macro photo of the i7 sticker on the laptop.

There are other people out there who have done MUCH better camera reviews. You can read one HERE.

Other Things.

This phone is obviously used, in this case purchased from some random seller on Swappa. The phone was listed as being in “good” condition, though, ignoring the scratches by the charging port, it was in excellent condition. Good thing it survived shipping, since it was scantily packaged, and was rattling around in the box. The seller had shipped it with its original Google box inside another box, containing a case, a Micro USB charger (Pixels use USB-C) and brick, and a single small piece of bubble wrap. The phone had been in the Google box, but thanks to shipping it was rattling around in the box with all of the other stuff. Despite my gripes with the shipping of the device, the phone having no scratches on the screen makes me feel better about what that phone went through on its journey.

The seller also neglected to remove his SIM card. Please don’t make that mistake if you sell your phone. It’s not something you should really send through the mail to a total stranger.

In the end, I’m pretty happy with this phone. It’s a great design, performs well, and will hopefully last the test of Mom for the five remaining years of Google support it has.

Non-Phone Stuff.

I’ve still got a Pixel 6 review that’s supposed to have been posted this week. The chickens are fine, and they got a new heater for their sleeping area. It’s gotten to around 18F (-7C) here in the nights.

It’s also Christmas, and on that note, may you have a Merry Christmas.

"What is THAT thing? Did you put that there?" — Empress Josephine.