We expect the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in October 2023. Google released the Pixel 7A in May 2023, similar to the Pixel 7 in most specifications. 90Hz OLED and the Tensor G2 SOC were common for both models, though there were different camera sensors for both.
We can expect the Pixel 8A to follow a similar trend. It’ll remain similar to the Pixel 8 in many ways, but Google will cut some costs to make it more affordable. According to the leaks, the Pixel 8 could have a 120Hz LTPO OLED screen. The 8A will probably stick to 90Hz.
We also expect some improvement in the charging speeds and battery capacity. The display is also shrinking in size, but it’s getting brighter. We will also see the introduction of the Google Tensor G3 chip this year. It’s similar to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and uses Samsung’s new 4nm fabrication.
There was one problem with the Pixel 7 and 7A, and that was the overlaps in price. The Pixel 7 drops to 499$ many times during sales. However, the Pixel 7A retails for 499$ and drops to about 449$ at most. The Pixel 7A does not make sense over the Pixel 7, considering the latter has a much better Graphite Cooling System and larger sensors.
To combat this, Google will probably increase the price of the Pixel 8. With all the upgrades, the Pixel 8 could now start at 699$. For context, the Pixel 7 was 599$ at launch. While the Pixel 8 is still cheaper than the Galaxy S23 and the iPhone 14, it’s still a bit more expensive than its predecessor if Google plans a price hike.
There were rumors that the Pixel 7A would be Google’s last A series smartphone. However, we don’t think this is true since the leaked Geekbench scores of the Pixel 8A. Geekbench is a popular cross-platform CPU benchmarking tool.
Geekbench contains the database of scores of several smartphones. You can even find unreleased smartphones under testing sometimes, and the scores suggest that the Pixel 8A could come with the same Tensor G3 that will power the upcoming Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.
The internal codename for the Google Pixel 8A is apparently “Akita.” Interestingly, the chipset appears to be underclocked for the Pixel 8A. This is probably because the 8A won’t have extensive Graphite Cooling. Google did something similar with the Pixel 7 and 7A. The Pixel 7 has Graphite Cooling and slightly higher clock speeds than the Tensor G2, and the same trend is supposedly repeating with the Pixel 8A.
The report also mentions that the phone will have 8GB of RAM and the Mali G715 GPU. This GPU upgrade is significant. The phone will also run Android 14 out of the box and get three or four years of major Android updates.
The single-core score is 1218, the multi-core score is 3175, and the listing was on Geekbench 5, not the latest Geekbench 6. For Geekbench 5, these scores do not appear very impressive. However, Google phones are not known for performance; they sell for the software experience.
Also, benchmark scores do not always accurately represent real-world performance. If Samsung’s 4nm node is better now, the Pixel 8A will mostly not suffer from heating issues and throttling. We hope Google improves the internal modem since that was a key complaint with the Pixel 7 series.
