The Google Pixel 8 Professional and Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely are two of the highest Android telephones you should purchase. However determining which is the suitable one to your wants is difficult, so we’re right here to assist information your determination.
Google’s Pixel 8 Professional is the newer of the 2 telephones, and prices much less whereas additionally impressing with all types of distinctive AI and software program options. The Galaxy S23 Extremely gives a extra versatile digicam system although, plus a superior processor and battery. Each telephones are wonderful, the one query is which is able to swimsuit you higher.
On this Pixel 8 Professional vs Galaxy S23 face-off, I examine the specs, design, show, efficiency, cameras and extra to find out the general winner.
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Specs
| Pixel 8 Professional | Galaxy S23 Extremely | |
| Value | $999 / £999 / A$1,699 | $1,199 / £1,249 / A$1,949 |
| Show | 6.7-inch Tremendous Actua Show (OLED) | 6.8-inch QHD AMOLED |
| Show decision | 2,992 x 1,344 | 3,088 x 1,440 |
| Refresh fee | 1 – 120Hz adaptive | 1 – 120Hz adaptive |
| Rear cameras | 50MP important, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP 5x telephoto | 200MP important, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto, 10MP 10x telephoto |
| Entrance digicam | 10.5MP selfie | 12MP selfie |
| Chipset | Google Tensor G3 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy |
| RAM | 12GB | 8GB/12GB |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB | 256GB, 512GB, 1TB |
| Battery | 5,050 mAh | 5,000 mAh |
| Charging | 30W wired / 23W wi-fi (with Pixel Stand) | 45W wired / 10W wi-fi |
| Water/mud resistance | IP68 | IP68 |
| Dimension | 6.4 x 3.0 x 0.3 inches (162.6 x 76.5 x 8.8mm) | 6.4 x 3.0 x 0.35 inches (163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm) |
| Weight | 7.5 ounces (213g) | 8.2 ounces (233g) |
| Colours | Obsidian, Porcelain, Bay | Phantom Black, Cotton Flower, Botanic Inexperienced and Mystic Lilac |
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Value and availability
The Google Pixel 8 Professional launched in October 2023, so it is the newer of the 2 telephones on this comparability. It begins at a worth of $999 / £999 / A$1,699, which has elevated from final yr, however that is nonetheless an affordable worth for an Android flagship cellphone.
In the meantime, the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s been on sale for longer, first launching in February 2023. It goes for $1,199 / £1,249 / A$1,949 in its fundamental spec, which continues to be costlier than the Pixel 8 Professional, even with Google’s worth hike.
Winner: Google Pixel 8 Professional
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Design
You may’t accuse Google and Samsung of copying one another’s designs. Whereas the 2 telephones are related from the entrance, each are distinct from the again, with the Samsung separating all its cameras out into particular person metal-ringed lenses, and Google combining all of them right into a horizontal digicam bar. The Pixel 8 Professional additionally options rounded corners, whereas the Galaxy has sharp right-angled ones.
The Galaxy S23 Extremely is just a little thicker and heavier than the Pixel 8 Professional, which can be a key consideration for customers wanting an easy-to-handle cellphone. However these are nonetheless each 6.7-inch handsets, and in consequence are nonetheless each fairly massive.
One different vital distinction is that there is a flat show on Pixel, which is probably going higher for almost all of customers. The Galaxy S23 has a subtly curved display which appears to be like and feels nice, however shouldn’t be one thing everybody likes due to curved shows’ elevated threat of mis-taps.
Winner: Google Pixel 8 Professional
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Show
The Google Pixel 8 Professional’s 6.7-inch display is branded Tremendous Actua, and the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s barely bigger 6.8-inch panel is AMOLED, however each are at their coronary heart OLED shows with 1 – 120Hz adaptive refresh charges.
Primarily based on our testing, the Pixel 8 Professional’s panel is superb, nevertheless it trails the Galaxy S23 Extremely in just a few areas. The Galaxy S23 Extremely’s display delivers the next brightness stage of 1,526 when exhibiting HDR content material, in comparison with 1,444 nits for Google’s cellphone. However each numbers are excellent.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Pixel 8 Professional (default Adaptive show shade setting) | Galaxy S23 Extremely (default Vivid show shade setting) |
| Max brightness (nits) | 1,444 | 1,526 |
| DCI-P3 shade gamut protection (p.c) | 78.4% (Pure) / (Adaptive) 90.4% | 78.8% (Pure) / 136.7% (Vivid) |
| Delta-E shade accuracy rating (decrease is healthier) | 0.37 | 0.25 |
By way of shade gamut protection, the Galaxy S23 Extremely wins once more no matter display mode, though it is shut in Pure mode. Lastly, the Galaxy S23 Extremely additionally delivered a greater Delta-E shade accuracy rating of 0.25 vs 0.37 for the Pixel 8 Professional. On this take a look at 0 is ideal so a decrease rating is healthier.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Cameras
To your images wants, Google outfitted the Pixel with a 50MP important digicam, 48MP ultrawide digicam and 48MP 5x telephoto digicam combo on the again, and a ten.5MP selfie digicam on the entrance.
The Galaxy S23 Extremely on paper does higher, with a 200MP important digicam, 12MP ultrawide digicam, and two 10MP telephoto cameras that permit the S23 Extremely to cowl each 3x and 10x magnification with devoted optical lenses. There is a 12MP entrance digicam, too.
Beginning with the primary digicam, now we have a picture of an enormous plug (a chunk of public artwork in Paddington Basin). The metallic appears to be like just a little hotter by the Pixel 8 Professional’s lens, whereas the colours are extra saturated within the Samsung picture. Stronger colours is usually a detriment to the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s images typically, nevertheless it works properly right here.
In night time/low-light mode, this chopping board and set of cheese knives look brighter and extra pure from the Pixel 8 Professional, though the nice and cozy colours within the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s picture continues to be interesting.
Shifting to the ultrawide digicam, Sussex Gardens appears to be like extra pure within the Pixel 8 Professional shot, and extra vivid within the Samsung’s. The HDR of the Pixel appears to be much better although, giving us a far clearer view of the backyard’s central plant mattress than the Samsung manages.
Now now we have a trio of telephoto comparisons, so we are able to see how the 2 telephones handle at completely different zoom ranges. At 3x, the Galaxy is the winner, providing a far brighter and sharper picture of the outdated GWR constructing over on the opposite facet of Paddington Station.
At 5x, the Pixel’s native magnification, we see a reversal, with the Galaxy’s picture beginning to look fuzzy and drab as a substitute.
Lastly at 10x, the Galaxy S23 Extremely will get to make use of its second telephoto digicam, giving us one other clear shot. The Pixel 8 Professional will get to flex the hybrid zoom skills of its telephoto digicam, providing a surprisingly good picture regardless of needing to crop in digitally.
Lastly, we come to a selfie portrait comparability. The Pixel’s managed the sunshine higher, and offered richer colours, however the portrait impact hasn’t lower my glasses out correctly. The Samsung managed to grasp my glasses body must be a part of the foreground, and nonetheless appears to be like pretty good even with its uneven lighting.
For me, the Pixel 8 Professional takes images the best way I need them to be extra of the time. However having the flexibility of the additional telephoto digicam on the Galaxy S23 Extremely has proved useful a number of instances, and its tendency to saturate pictures can produce placing images below the suitable circumstances. So total, this a part of the competition is just too shut for me to declare a winner.
Winner: Draw
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Efficiency
The Pixel 8 Professional’s Tensor G3 chipset is targeted on AI relatively than energy, that means that it understandably underperforms within the benchmarks we used to check the telephones.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Pixel 8 Professional | Galaxy S23 Extremely |
| Geekbench 5 (single-core / multi-core rating) | 1,163 / 2,745 | 1,578 / 5,081 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive Limitless (rating / fps) | 2,250 / 13 fps | 3,788 / 22 fps |
| Adobe Premiere transcoding take a look at (minutes:secs) | 0:46 | 0:39 |
The custom-made Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip discovered inside the Galaxy S23 Extremely wins on all three of the assessments we run, which cowl CPU and GPU energy. The S23 Extremely has a significant benefit in multi-core efficiency on Geekbench, and It is truly one of the vital highly effective telephones available on the market immediately.
Trying past energy, the Galaxy S23 Extremely additionally will get factors for having the next default storage of 256GB, in comparison with the Pixel 8 Professional’s 128GB. However the Pixel 8 Professional does provide 12GB of RAM by default, relatively than 8GB as the fundamental S23 Extremely does.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Battery and charging
Battery life on the Pixel 8 Professional is way improved from earlier Pixels, however it may possibly’t fairly match the Galaxy S23 Extremely. After we examined the telephones on their default 120Hz refresh fee settings, the Pixel 8 Professional averaged 8 hours and 33 minutes and the Samsung endured for a for much longer 12:22.
After we converted to 60Hz show mode, the Pixel 8 Professional averaged 9:46 vs 13:09 for the Galaxy S23 Extremely. So Samsung wins on battery life for certain.
On paper, the Galaxy S23 Extremely beats the Pixel 8 Professional with regards to charging speeds. There is a most of 45W wired charging on the S23 Extremely, whereas the Pixel is proscribed to 30W. Nevertheless, in our testing the Pixel 8 Professional charged barely sooner at 59% in half-hour in comparison with 57% in the identical period of time for Samsung.
You do get barely sooner wi-fi charging on the Pixel 8 Professional although, with 23W accessible to Pixel Stand customers. The Samsung gives a typical Qi wi-fi charging pace of 15W.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Software program and particular options
On the time of writing, the Galaxy S23 Extremely runs on Android 13, whereas the Pixel 8 Professional comes pre-installed with Android 14. Samsung needs to be updating the S23 Extremely to Android 14 quickly, however for now it is a software program era behind the Pixel.
Google has poured lots of AI magic within the Pixel 8 Professional, that means that you simply get lots of enjoyable issues to play with past simply the extra options of Android 14. That features picture and video enhancing, like Finest Take, Magic Editor and Magic Eraser for images and video audio, in addition to extra productivity-focused ones like name screening and the Summarize operate for condensing lengthy textual content passages into an automatic TL:DR.
There’s additionally a temperature sensor on the again of the Pixel 8 Professional that can be utilized to gauge how scorching or maintain varied objects are. It is gimmicky, nevertheless it’s one thing you would be hard-pressed to seek out on one other new cellphone.
Samsung’s One UI model of Android comes with its personal distinctive options, like stacks for residence display widgets, text-to-voice for answering cellphone calls quietly and a few related AI picture enhancing skills to Google. However when it comes to the Galaxy S23 Extremely itself, its largest benefit is the included S Pen stylus.
Stylus assist for telephones is uncommon sufficient, however the Bluetooth-powered S Pen is on one other stage. It is extraordinarily responsive when drawing or making notes, and will also be used as a distant management or various management technique for a number of apps.
It is also value contemplating what number of years of software program assist are promised for these telephones. The Galaxy S23 Extremely will get 4 years of updates, together with the incoming Android 14 replace. Google is providing seven years of updates on the Pixel 8 Professional, which is at present unmatched amongst Android telephones. So shopping for a brand new Pixel might imply you are sorted for a cellphone till the top of the last decade if you happen to actually wish to stretch out the hole between cellphone purchases.
Winner: Google Pixel 8 Professional
Google Pixel 8 Professional vs. Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely: Verdict
Including up the general rounds, we see that the Google Pixel 8 Professional and Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely are very shut in total high quality. However there is a clear winner once you complete up the factors.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Pixel 8 Professional | Galaxy S23 Extremely |
| Value (15 factors) | 14 | 11 |
| Design (10 factors) | 9 | 8 |
| Show (10 factors) | 8 | 9 |
| Cameras (25 factors) | 23 | 23 |
| Efficiency (15 factors) | 9 | 13 |
| Battery and charging (15 factors) | 10 | 14 |
| Software program and particular options (10 factors) | 9 | 7 |
| Whole | 82 | 85 |
The Galaxy S23 Extremely is the victor on this face-off, incomes this through its stronger show, efficiency and battery life. Nevertheless, its increased worth could also be all you might want to push you in direction of the Pixel 8 Professional as a substitute.
There are nonetheless robust causes to go for the Pixel as a substitute of the Galaxy past simply the pricing. Its cameras are simply pretty much as good, and maybe are even higher in order for you a straightforward method to edit your images. And also you get for much longer software program assist. So you possibly can’t lose with both flagship.