You’ll be hard-pressed to search out this subsequent new function on one other smartphone: a temperature sensor. This is unique to the Pixel 8 Pro. Google says you are capable of measure the temperature of just about something by pointing the sensor on the again of the Pixel to an object. I measured cups of scorching and iced water, and it delivered outcomes fairly rapidly, although it’s a must to get very near the factor you need to measure, and you will get extra correct outcomes in case you select one of many preset choices on the fabric you are making an attempt to learn, like glass or ceramic. (Google says these presets assist calibrate the sensor.) Theoretically, you may even measure somebody’s physique temperature. Google has submitted the app to the FDA for this goal, however it hasn’t been cleared for such use.

These new telephones are powered by Tensor G3, Google’s third era of its customized silicon processor, and the corporate says “every subsystem has been upgraded,” together with the picture sign processor to enhance the Pixel’s picture-taking capabilities. Speaking of, the Pixel 8 has an upgraded 50-megapixel main digicam with what Google claims is a 20 % enchancment in mild sensitivity. (More mild sensitivity means brighter and sharper photographs, particularly in low mild.) It’s joined by a 12-megapixel ultrawide digicam that helps macro mode from the Pixel 7 Pro, so you may seize close-ups. 

The Pixel 8 Pro has upgraded light-gathering capabilities in all three of its cameras: a 50-megapixel predominant digicam, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 48-megapixel telephoto digicam with 5X optical zoom. Its macro mode can now get even nearer to a topic, and the Pro’s autofocus system is now “multi-zone,” permitting for a wider cone of focus in photographs. This Pixel additionally will get an unique Pro digicam mode that enables shutterbugs to tweak issues like ISO and shutter velocity whereas nonetheless making the most of the Pixel’s computational images.

Both telephones have a ten.5-megapixel selfie digicam, however I’ve excellent news and dangerous information. There’s lastly autofocus on the front-facing digicam, permitting you to see all of your pores in sharp element. Unfortunately, that is out there solely on the Pixel 8 Pro. The Pixel 8’s entrance digicam has a hard and fast focus.

There are some new digicam software program methods this yr. The coolest is Video Boost mode, yet one more unique for the Pixel 8 Pro. Here, whenever you take a video in low-light circumstances (as much as 4K, 30 frames per second), the clip is shipped to Google’s cloud servers for processing and is then despatched again to you—relying on the size of the video, it might take a number of hours. However, the enhancements are startling. Google confirmed me clips utilizing this mode versus these from the iPhone 14 Pro, and the Pixel’s video was a lot brighter and sharper, with higher stabilization.  

Magic Editor is a brand new device in Google Photos that means that you can edit a photograph in a wide range of methods. You can change the place of a topic—in a demo, a Google spokesperson moved a child throwing a basketball from the bottom to the ring, making it appear to be he was dunking; you may even transfer shadows, and the software program is aware of to fill within the background with comparable textures. Google additionally showcased altering the lighting of the scene to golden hour, to simulate heat sundown tones. Another functionality is Audio Magic Eraser, which can be utilized to take away undesirable sounds in your movies, resembling an ambulance siren going off whilst you’re making an attempt to file a track in your violin. Google’s additionally bringing Real Tone, which permits extra correct pores and skin tones for folks of coloration, to movies. And there is a new device to alter the face of somebody in a bunch photograph—perhaps they blinked or seemed away from the digicam—with one other one. These options blew me away a lot once I was sitting by way of the demo that I’ve written about them in greater detail in a separate story.