The Google Pixel 7 and its sibling models are among the best camera phones you can buy today. The company is working on the Google Pixel 8 series with a major camera upgrade for 2023. We’re still months away from the phone’s official launch, but a new leak has extensively detailed the specs and features of the 2023 Pixel’s camera.
With the 2021 Pixel 6, Google switched the primary camera to a 50MP ISOCELL GN1 sensor, and has continued that with the 2021 Pixel 7 lineup. However, for the upcoming Pixel 8 lineup, the company will reportedly switch to the new ISOCELL GN2 product from Samsung, which is about 35% larger.
This significantly increases light uptake, improving low-light imaging and dynamic range. More importantly, the sensor supports staggered HDR. This allows the camera to take long and short exposure shots at the same time, reducing motion blur and ghosting. He was in December 2022 when rumors first surfaced that the Pixel 8 would use his Staggered HDR.
The ISOCELL GN3 and Tensor G3 chips support 8K video recording, but Google is unlikely to add that support at 2023 pixels due to thermal limitations.
This isn’t the only camera hardware upgrade Google has planned for the Pixel 8 series. The upcoming Pixel 8 Pro will reportedly use a 64MP Sony IMX787 sensor as its ultra-wide camera, which is roughly double the size of the Pixel 7 Pro’s 12MP ultra-wide shooter. Android permissionssources say the field of view will also be 0.49x wider than before, at 0.56x.
Google uses the same Sony sensor as the Pixel 7a for the primary camera. Pixel phones have always lagged behind the best Android phones in the ultrawide imaging category. Switching to a significantly larger sensor on the Pixel 8 Pro should change this. Interestingly, the company may ditch the macro focus feature on its ultra-wide camera, as seen on the Pixel 7 Pro, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet.
The smaller Pixel 8 doesn’t seem to use the same ultra-wide camera, but it’s reportedly getting a minor upgrade as well. The Pixel 7’s 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor remains, but the field of view is increased by 0.55 times (0.67 times) that of his.
The 5x telephoto and 11MP selfie shooter remain unchanged.
Google apparently plans to use a more powerful 8×8 VL53L8 ToF sensor on the Pixel 8 Pro, which should further reduce autofocus time and speed. The regular Pixel 8 continues to use the older VL53L1 ToF sensor.
A leaked video shows that the Pixel 8 Pro has a thermometer sensor on the back. According to Kamila Wojciechowska’s sources, the Melexis MLX90632 sensor is intended for highly accurate non-contact temperature measurements and is unlikely to be used for other purposes in Google’s upcoming flagship Pixel.
However, hardware upgrades are only one side of the equation. Google is also planning some new camera features. A new ‘Adaptive Torch’ feature adjusts the intensity of the LED flash according to the scene to avoid overexposing low-light shots. There’s also Segmentation AWB, where the Pixel 8 uses AI to split the photo into different parts and apply selective processing as needed.
It looks like Google is planning to improve the Pixel 8’s cinematic video feature by allowing the blur level to be adjusted.
All these hardware changes suggest that the Pixel 8 series could pack a big punch in the imaging department and raise the bar for smartphone photography once again.
