Google Pixel 8 Pro 128GB Unlocked Android Smartphone with Advanced Pixel Camera, 24-Hour Battery, and Powerful Security (Renewed) (Obsidian)

Key Features

• Pixel 8 Pro is the all-pro phone engineered by Google; it’s super fast, powerful, and secure, with the new Google Tensor G3 chip that’s custom-designed with Google AI for cutting-edge photo and video features and smarter ways to help
• With the most refined design yet, Pixel 8 Pro has an immersive, 6.7-inch Super Actua display that makes everything sharp; the refresh rate intelligently adjusts between 1 and 120Hz for responsive performance
• Google Pixel 8 Pro has four updated pro-level cameras with Pixel’s best zoom ever; Pro controls unlock advanced settings and support full-resolution photos
• The Pixel 8 Pro camera gives you amazing video quality; it records sharp, smooth videos, even in dimly lit places; and Audio Magic Eraser uses Google AI to reduce distracting noises, like cars and wind
• Pixel’s Adaptive Battery can last over 24 hours; when Extreme Battery Saver is turned on, it can last up to 72 hours; and it charges faster than ever
• Pixel 8 Pro can notify first responders in an emergency and share your location, and can even detect if you’ve been in a severe car crash; if you’re unable to respond, your Pixel phone can call emergency services and notify your chosen contacts
• With powerful security features, your Pixel phone helps keep your info safe; Google Tensor G3, VPN by Google One, and the Titan M2 security chip give your Pixel multiple layers of security
• Switching to Pixel is easy; just connect your old phone to your new Pixel and transfer contacts, photos, messages, apps, and more in about 30 minutes

About This Product

Refurbished (Fair) - Google Pixel 8 Pro 128GB - Obsidian - Unlocked

Product Details

Brand

Amazon Renewed

Color

Obsidian

Manufacturer

Google

ASIN

B0DKLJDJXW

Customer Reviews Summary

As far as the refurb goes - the phone arrived in factory new condition, with not a scratch anywhere on it. The screen is good, the cameras are good, all the other hardware works - it's incredible.In addition, the battery reports a grand total of one charge cycle. I'm not entirely sure if this is due to a replacement or not, but either way it's very good.In addition, I had zero trouble unlocking the bootloader; the phone was not carrier-locked either, as some other reviews have mentioned. It was basically the same experience as if I had walked into a store and paid full price for a brand new factory unlocked phone.With that out of the way, let's talk about the phone itself. The 8 Pro is just over 1.5 years old at the time of writing, and it holds up incredibly well - it is a modern flagship, after all.The hardware is very polished. You get a high-refresh-rate screen (120Hz) which can clock down to just 1Hz for power saving. The optical fingerprint reader in the display is fine, albeit a bit finicky at times. Buttons are tactile and very satisfying. The phone feels solid and premium in the hand; I have zero qualms about durability.I do have two gripes about the hardware: first, the volume buttons are inconveniently placed. I typically hold my phone in my left hand, and this means they are on the wrong side for my thumb to easily interact with them.Second, the camera glass is barely recessed into the camera bump. I have a fairly thick case that recesses the entire bump, so this isn't a major issue for me. However, I think the camera glass could be smashed very easily if you were to drop the phone with a lower-profile case. Definitely get a case that protects the camera bump.Arguably the biggest selling point for privacy-concious users is the Pixel series' friendliness to alternate Android distributions. This is important because it allows the user to escape Google's ever-present Play Services. Yes, Google-made phones are the best for keeping Google out of your life. Ironic.Specifically, Pixel phones support re-locking the bootloader after a different OS is flashed. This keeps your phone much more secure; should it ever be stolen by a malicious actor or siezed by police, it will be every bit as secure as the stock OS - more if you flash a security-oriented distribution.In my case, I flashed an alternate OS almost immediately after buying the phone; what follows is mostly an assessment of the hardware, with some software that I carried over. I'm not saying you should do the same; do your own research and come to your own conclusions - but if you're concerned about your phone spying on you, it is definitely something to look into.Moving on - the speakers sound pretty good; arguably exceptional for a phone, and much better than what I expected. They're lacking in bass and won't fool anyone into thinking you've got a large bluetooth speaker, but they do a nice job of replicating acoustic music with decent stereo separation - and even Geometry Dash sounds impressively good. I am actually okay with watching YouTube on my phone's speakers now; normally I am quite the audio snob and will put on a set of high-end headphones.But there is no audio jack. You might think that's fine. It is, sort of - USB-C actually supports analog audio out. But it's near impossible to find a USB-C analog audio cable, as cheaper phones don't support this and require an external DAC in the cable instead - and most of these cheap USB-C DACs can't drive demanding headphones like my Sennheiser HD600s. This is actually a major downgrade from my $300 OnePlus budget phone, which has a pretty solid integrated DAC and can drive them at a modest volume level without peaking.Okay, can we talk about the cameras though? We really need to talk about the cameras. Seriously, can you tell I'm excited about the cameras?I've attached a few sample photos I took while on a run recently. I'm using Pixel Camera with internet access priveleges denied; I have not found another camera app with image processing that competes with Google's, and so this is what I've settled on.The granular control that Pixel Camera gives means the 8 pro has a very powerful photography toolkit, when combined with the 50MP main shooter and two 48MP auxiliary lenses (0.5x and 5x). All three lenses are fixed-aperture, but you can switch between them if you need a specific aperture for a shot and then crop in with digital zoom, thanks to the high sensor resolution.You have manual focus, ISO, and shutter speed control on all three lenses, all of which capture great photos. In a nutshell - this is comparable to a DSLR from the mid 2000s, with three lenses that you can switch between at a moment's notice. You can get some great photos with this camera; keep in mind that the hardware is only half the equation, with the other half being the skill of the photographer. I am definitely still an amateur when it comes to that last bit.50MP mode is hit-and-miss; you lose out on pixel binning and often end up with a worse photo than just using the 12MP mode. I've found it recreates a bit more detail on rough surfaces and looks better after some basic sharpening and post-processing. In other words - it's situational and depends entirely on the shot. I take photos in both resolutions if I know I'm going to be editing on my computer later; you do have to do this manually, as RAW+JPEG mode in 12MP saves a 12MP RAW photo - which is just dumb. I want the actual raw resolution, thank you.The editing suite that Google Photos provides is quite impressive as well. While I won't be talking about Magic Editor here - since it requires sending your photos to Google - a number of AI features like Magic Eraser, Portrait Light, or Sky Editing only require an internet connection to initally download the model. I had Photos download all the editing models, and then denied its internet priveleges afterwards; my phone can now edit photos completely offline using some pretty nifty features.The Photos editor has all the basic features you'd expect - boosting shadows or highlights, moving the white and black points, saturation, tone, et cetera. There are also some basic sharpening options, and a few filters that can change the tone of your photo with a single tap. Overall, it's a compelling package and I rarely find myself transferring photos to my desktop computer to work on in more detail.The AI features, then, are the icing on the cake. You do absolutely need an eye for detail, and the results are inconsistent (Magic Eraser can produce incoherent garbage reminiscent of Picasso), but when they work it's great. There's no guarantee that your photo will be perfect after the fact, but I've found the results to be passable with some trial-and-error, and sometimes really impressively good with no artifacts whatsoever. I will say that Magic Eraser's camoflauge mode works much better than erase mode, since it only changes the colour of objects and doesn't have to generate an entire region of the photo from scratch.The one disadvantage to the camera, then, is the battery drain. It does make sense in a way - processing 50MP sensor inputs is computationally intensive. But just 45 minutes of screen-on time in the camera actually drained 25% of the phone's battery. Realistically you're not going to be spending more than that in the camera per day, and it's probably fine for 99% of scenarios - but on multi-day backcountry camping trips, I will need a larger powerbank than I otherwise would.Battery life outside the camera, conversely, is really good. When you're not hammering the phone's processor and pushing it to the max, it is really efficient thanks to the LTPO display. As I write this, I've had 1.25 hours of screen-on time today watching YouTube, browsing Reddit, and playing a bit of Geometry Dash - and the phone is still at 91%. No, the phone is not on battery saver mode. I definitely think getting 2-3 days out of this phone would be doable with battery saver on and minimal screen-on time.Aside from that - it's a phone. It does phone things. Phone calls are good; RCS is better than ever now that Apple bent the knee to the EU and added proper interoperability. Cell signal is fine. BLE works as expected when connecting to my smartwatch.And all that for $650? A complete steal. The Pixel 9 series is a marginal upgrade over the 8 Pro, and nearly double the cost of a refurbished phone. Get the 8 Pro - for this price, you will not regret it.