There are also special modes for long exposure, for photos of moving objects and night shots.

The smartphone uses the ultra wide-angle camera for this, with a slightly different color balance to the main camera. This enables clear shots from short distances. If the software detects a close object in front of the camera, it automatically kicks in. The smartphone has a macro mode, which is activated by default. This works well at 2x magnification, but at 5x magnification the images are heavily overdone and image noise is visible. Unlike the Pixel 8 Pro, the normal Pixel 8 does not have a zoom lens the zoom is only implemented digitally. Nevertheless, the shots from the ultra-wide-angle camera are also pleasing the sharpness decreases slightly towards the peripheral areas. The setup corresponds to that of its predecessor, the Pixel 7. Only the Pixel 8 Pro gets the new 48 MP ultra-wide-angle camera. Google equips the Pixel 8 with a 50 MP main camera and a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle lens. Some of the images are heavily processed by Google's software, giving them a high dynamic range and strong contrast. The Pixel 8 continues this tradition and delivers impressive results. Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro buyers will therefore need to carefully choose a storage variant depending on their needs, since there's no option to increase the storage later.The cameras are traditionally a strength of Pixel smartphones.

In addition, while the availability of cloud storage options partly mitigates the need for additional onboard storage, uploading and downloading media and other files is data intensive and can put off some users. It is worth noting that Google has never offered microSD card slots with any of its Pixel devices, so it's not surprising that this year's models don't provide the feature. Google's decision to skip the 512GB model in so many markets is particularly strange, given how some high-end smartphones, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, are even offered with 1TB of built-in storage.

It's not immediately clear if these markets will get the 512GB option in the future, but the unavailability of this option could be a deal-breaker for power users who require more storage in their phones. Unfortunately, the 512GB model is unavailable in most regions outside the U.S., including Europe and India.

Google pixel 2 sim card slot