According to a new leak, the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will reportedly upgrade their high-resolution primary sensor to a new one with their upcoming release, and the new Tensor G3 will most likely enable even more potent imaging features. The new Tensor G2 SoC, which was first seen in Google’s recently released Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones, improved the use of the improved camera hardware that was first seen in the company’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones.
The majority of these new features, which the Tensor G2 made possible, were not possible in the earlier models. Examples include a much faster Night Sight mode and a Long Exposure mode. Because of this, even though Google gave the Pixel 6 series better, higher-resolution cameras, it wasn’t until the Pixel 7 series that it was able to make better use of them.
According to a report, which included Google insiders as sources, both Pixel 8 series phones will have upgraded cameras. Beginning with the main cameras, both Samsung GN1 (50-megapixel) cameras are rumored to have been upgraded to slightly larger Samsung GN2 (50-megapixel) sensors. This new primary camera sensor is unquestionably a capability improvement over the GN1 in the previous version, packing 1.4 m pixels and a 1/1.12″ optical format. It can capture 35% more light than the GN1, which should result in images that are brighter and more detailed in low light. The sensor can record 8K video at a frame rate of 30 frames per second with a maximum supported resolution of 8,160 by 6,144 pixels. According to the source, certain thermal and Google Camera restrictions may prevent users from using the feature. Staggered HDR is another option for minimizing ghosting when recording video.
Thankfully, there are improvements to other cameras as well this year. The source claims that the 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 ultra-wide-angle camera on the Pixel 8 Pro should be replaced with a 64-megapixel Sony IMX787 camera, which is more recent and has a higher resolution. The Pixel 7a, which was released this year, uses the same sensor for both its primary camera and optical image stabilization (OIS). The Pixel 7a camera does not have true hardware-level macro capability, which means that macro mode might not be present.
The ultra-wide-angle camera on the Pixel 8 is also rumored to receive an upgrade. The new alleged ultra-wide (Sony IMX386) sensor is from the Pixel 6 series but has a slightly different zoom ratio (from 0.67x to 0.55x), suggesting that Google may have reached into its parts bin for this one.
Rest assured that the 11-megapixel selfie cameras on both devices will continue to function as before. According to the report, the 5X optical telephoto camera from the Pixel 7 Pro will also be carried over to the Pixel 8 Pro. The single-point time-of-flight (ToF) sensors from the earlier premium models will also be upgraded to a more sophisticated module (88 ToF VL53L8 sensor), but once more, only for the Pixel 8 Pro in particular, the source did mention.
Two new highlighted software features are Adaptive Torch (which dynamically adjusts flash intensity) and Segmentation AWB (which processes various portions of an image separately), along with other features like the ability to choose the amount of video bokeh blur in the viewfinder.
The aforementioned information also makes it clear that Google chose better hardware for its top-end Pixel 8 Pro model than it did for the Pixel 8, which was not the case with earlier models since both phones typically offered the same key camera hardware (wide and ultra-wide), with the Pro model also including a telephoto camera. This also suggests that the price difference between the two smartphones with the Pixel 8 series this year may be greater.
Given that the Pixel 8 Pro will include newer camera hardware and the Tensor G3 SoC, it appears to be the best imaging experience when compared to Google’s first foldable device, the Pixel Fold, which was just recently announced. The Pixel Fold has two 10.8-megapixel sensors for its ultra-wide and telephoto cameras in addition to a 48-megapixel primary camera with 0.8-micron pixels. Selfies are taken with an 8-megapixel and 9.5-megapixel camera that is built into the foldable display.
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