Three New Pixel 8 Series Leaks Reveal Colors, Camera Updates, Pricing (UPDATED)

With just over 10 days to go until Google reveals the Pixel 8 series phones, leakers shed more light on the upcoming devices. UPDATED: This article now includes a third leak regarding the pricing.

The first leak comes via MySmartPrice, which confirms and/or reveals all of the colors in which the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will be made available. The Pixel 8 Pro will come in Porcelain, Sky Blue, and Black Obsidian, the site reports, while the Pixel 8 will come in Gray, Peony Rose, and Obsidian Black colors.

The second leak, from 91mobiles, centers on a promotional video that may have been intended for the Pixel 8 series announcement on October 4. It highlights some still camera features like Pro controls (a Pixel 8 Pro exclusive), Real Tone, Night Sight, Astrophotography, Super Res Zoom, and a face swap feature that might be part of Magic Editor, and some video features such as Video Boost, Night Sight for low-light videos, improved skin tones, and Audio Eraser (which previously leaked).

But the leak also details new camera specifications, which, I’m sure you know, is a key concern of mine. Some of this confirms a previous rumor, including the 50 MP wide (main) lens that both models will get. And some of it is contradictory: Instead of the 64 MP ultra-wide lens we were promised in that same rumor, it will instead (allegedly) be a 48 MP ultra-wide lens. (The other lenses appear to match up.)

So far, I like what I see of the Pixel 8 Pro, especially. But I’m not as happy with the third leak, which concerns pricing: 9to5Google reports that Google is raising the prices of its flagships, as it did earlier this year with the Pixel 7a. So the Pixel 8 will start at $699, reportedly, while the Pixel 8 Pro will start at $999. That’s a $100 increase in both cases, which is unfortunate, but maybe the launch-day trade-in values will make up for it. At least they still undercut their Samsung and Apple rivals.