Do you have to look ahead to the Pixel 8 Professional or purchase the Galaxy S23 Extremely now?

In case you walked right into a retailer and requested for the greatest Android telephone, you’d possible be pointed to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. Samsung’s massive and unapologetic flagship ticks all the appropriate containers for individuals who don’t thoughts spending the massive bucks. Within the land of the Apple and Samsung duopoly, maybe the one different Android telephone that may add a garnish of competitors is the Google Pixel 8 Professional. In case you’re on the cusp of creating a telephone buy, do you have to look ahead to the Pixel 8 Professional, or do you have to go forward and purchase the Galaxy S23 Extremely? We try to clear up your conundrum on this article.

Editor’s notice: Google has but to announce the Pixel 8 collection, and any details about it’s based mostly on rumors or hypothesis. As renders and pictures are usually not accessible for the Pixel 8 Professional, the Pixel 7 Professional is used as a reference. Hold that in thoughts as we transfer ahead with this text.

Let’s tackle the largest elephant within the room: in case you’re contemplating both the Galaxy S23 Extremely or the Pixel 8 Professional, you higher have some massive arms. In search of one thing slightly extra affordable? We’ve additionally checked out whether or not it’s best to seize the Galaxy S23 or look ahead to the Pixel 8.

In case you’re nonetheless right here I take you’re within the larger is best camp. Nicely, you’re in luck; the Galaxy S23 Extremely is among the greatest Android telephones you should buy that doesn’t deliberately fold in half. With dimensions admeasuring 163.4 x 78.1 x 8.9mm, it’s not going to be an easy advice for anybody who needs a one-handed telephone. All that bodily footprint is put to good use in the direction of the versatile digital camera, the big battery, and the S Pen that’s housed inside the physique. At 234g of weight, your arms can even really feel the heft of the telephone whenever you seize it.

All of that weight and measurement on the S23 Extremely leads us to a phenomenal 6.8-inch 3,088 x 1,440 AMOLED show, which is considered one of the best within the enterprise. The show is curved on the perimeters, albeit not as a lot because the S22 Extremely.

We don’t have the precise dimensions of the Pixel 8 Professional at this stage. Nonetheless, leaks and rumors recommend that Google will probably be sticking to the identical measurement as with the Pixel 7 Professional. There could also be some minor deviations within the actual dimensions, however the Pixel 7 Professional’s 162.9 x 76.6 x 8.9 mm dimensions are ballpark for the Pixel 8 Professional’s footprint. We’re additionally anticipating the Pixel 8 Professional to stay near the Pixel 7 Professional’s 6.7-inch show measurement.

You’d discover that the Pixel 7 Professional’s (and by extension, Pixel 8 Professional’s) dimensions are a number of millimeters smaller than that of the Galaxy S23 Extremely. These millimeters solely develop into obvious whenever you evaluate each telephones side-by-side. In actuality, each telephones are massive. So don’t anticipate the Pixel 8 Professional to be any simpler to deal with for its “smaller” measurement. The Pixel 8 Professional’s measurement might develop into a bit tough to digest whenever you notice that it doesn’t home any S Pen performance both, so it’s only a massive telephone with out as a lot obvious {hardware} profit because the Galaxy S23 Extremely.

The Galaxy S23 Extremely is virtually an identical to its predecessor, the S22 Extremely. The one actual variations are the marginally bigger digital camera holes and the display screen curve radius. And all of this can be a good factor as a result of the S Extremely lineup boasts some exceptionally well-built telephones. There’s a strong aluminum body right here with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the back and front. All of it provides as much as and chunky smartphone. You might battle to confidently grip it with one hand due to the dimensions and the 234g of weight, however you’d by no means get the sensation of “low cost” on this telephone. It’s premium via and thru.

We don’t have particulars in regards to the Pixel 8 Professional’s design and construct high quality as of but. If we needed to take a guess, Google might proceed to construct up on the distinctive design language that it has rigorously created with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 collection. The extensive digital camera visor on the again of those gadgets provides them an identification that stands out within the sea of similar-looking Android gadgets, and we might like to see the identical constructed up on the Pixel 8 Professional. We additional have no idea if the visor will probably be fabricated from glass or aluminum.

Regardless that the again materials stays unconfirmed, our cash could be on it being glass. So a mix of the aluminum mid-frame and good high quality glass on the back and front would permit the Pixel 8 Professional to really feel simply as premium because the S23 Extremely.

We might have some excellent news on the load entrance. The Pixel 7 Professional weighs 212g. So until Google makes some drastic divergences, the Pixel 8 Professional must also be inside 10g of this quantity.

All in all, until Google actually messes issues up, the Pixel 8 Professional ought to proceed to retain the Pixel identification, of which there are a lot of followers. We’ll allow you to select which telephone appears to be like higher when we’ve got advertising renders.

The Galaxy S23 Extremely has one card up its sleeve that the remainder of the competitors merely doesn’t: the S Pen. The S Pen is a stylus that’s housed inside the physique of the S23 Extremely, tracing its roots again to the legendary Galaxy Word collection. With the S Pen, you unlock a complete host of exact scribbling and drawing performance. The stylus will also be used for system navigation and management.

Whereas Google has not explicitly denied the presence of a stylus on the Pixel 8 Professional, not one of the earlier Pixels have supported an energetic stylus or have come included with one. And we don’t anticipate that to alter with the Pixel 8 Professional both.

The Galaxy S23 collection comes with the brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in a particular “for Galaxy” avatar. This collaboration between Samsung and Qualcomm provides us a chip that has a better clock velocity on the prime core in addition to a touch increased clock velocity on the GPU in comparison with the vanilla model of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. So what you get is great efficiency because of the 1+(2+2)+3 core setup and total improved thermal effectivity year-on-year.

That is additionally the primary time everybody around the globe will get the identical Qualcomm processor, as Samsung has benched its Exynos variants for this era. For RAM, the Galaxy S23 Extremely will get 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and for storage, you get choices of 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage. There isn’t any microSD card slot on the Galaxy S23, very similar to the way it has at all times been the case for the Pixels.

Forecasting for the Pixel 8, leaks recommend it’s going to include the brand new Tensor G3 processor. We don’t know the efficiency and effectivity capabilities of this processor, so all observations are via its predecessor, the Tensor G2. We all know that the Tensor G2 performs properly as a flagship SoC for normal utilization however falls behind Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8-series choices in GPU and sustained efficiency. Evaluating the Tensor G2 to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the Snapdragon has lead, particularly to be used instances like gaming. So it stays to be seen if Google can meet up with the Tensor G3.

In case you name your self a gamer, going with the Galaxy S23 Extremely instantly makes quite a lot of sense. We’re not writing off the Tensor G3, however based mostly on previous traits on the unique Tensor and Tensor G2, gaming hasn’t been a big focus for Google. There’s nothing to point that is altering in 2023. However the Galaxy S23 Extremely already performs properly in gaming, so you possibly can safely choose the Samsung telephone on your every day Fortnite wants.

In case you depend on AI-related duties, like capabilities across the Google Assistant, there’s an argument to be made on how the following Tensor might be well worth the wait, realizing Google’s eager deal with AI efficiency.

For different bits of efficiency, the Pixel 8 Professional is anticipated to return with 12GB of RAM. We should not have info on the storage numbers, nor do we’ve got information on the technical specification beneath.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely comes with an insanely versatile set of cameras that additionally excel in setting a excessive bar for the remainder of the smartphone market. There are 4 cameras on the again of the system, and all 4 serve their functions very properly.

The first digital camera is a 200MP ISOCELL HP2 1/1.3-inch sensor with an f/1.7 aperture, which provides you with glorious outcomes, day or evening. Aside from slight complaints of shutter lag and consequent movement blur, there actually isn’t a lot to complain in regards to the S23 Extremely’s main sensor, and that claims one thing. Take a look at a number of the samples from the first sensor beneath:

The S23 Extremely opts for the 12MP Sony IMX564 sensor for the ultrawide shooter, with a 1/2.55-inch sensor, f/2.2 aperture, and 120-degree FoV. Whereas there are nonetheless some variations in high quality between the first and ultrawide sensors, it’s the narrowest margin within the S-series historical past, a sworn statement to the years of evolution of Samsung’s processing algorithm.

Telephoto zoom duties are dealt with by the 10MP ISOCELL S5K3K1 sensor that may do 3x optical zoom and has an f/2.4 aperture. The fourth digital camera is the 10MP 1/3.52″ sensor that has an f/4.9 aperture and is answerable for 10x optical zoom. That is the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s celebration trick, as it could deal with each 3x and 10x zooms optically. Distances between 1x, 3x, and 10x milestones are finished via a digital crop from the upper zoom sensor.

What the Galaxy S23 Extremely additionally manages to do properly is 30x and 100x digital zoom, a characteristic unmatched by another telephone bought within the US. 30x zoom images have additionally been pretty usable now, and whereas it gained’t be wallpaper materials, it’s nonetheless helpful to seize info at a distance that was merely not potential earlier than.

The entrance digital camera is a 12MP ISOCELL S5K3LU that can be seen on the Galaxy S23 and S23 Plus. It’s technically a {hardware} downgrade from the 40MP sensor on the Galaxy S22 Extremely, however most common customers are unlikely to note a distinction.

The ultimate takeaway from the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s digital camera setup is that it’s arguably one of the best smartphone digital camera you should buy within the US. The iPhone 14 Professional Max maintains a slight lead in video, however oh so barely. The Google Pixels have glorious post-processing, however Samsung has develop into the king of versatility with the S23 Extremely. Regardless of the taking pictures situation, you’ll at all times be well-equipped to take shot with the Galaxy S23 Extremely. The one actual grievance, as talked about, could be the shutter lag and the accompanying movement blur, which might be a problem in case your main topics are excited pets and youngsters.

The Pixel 8 Professional’s digital camera continues to be a good thriller. Early leaks recommend that Google might be upgrading from the 50MP ISOCELL GN1 sensor to the GN2 sensor, bringing alongside assist for options like staggered HDR. If this seems to be the case, then you possibly can anticipate to see faster HDR pictures with higher particulars and richer colours.

The Professional Pixel is the place Google experiments a bit with the auxiliary digital camera {hardware}. We don’t have good info on any experiments but on the Pixel 8 Professional, however it’s nonetheless protected to presume that we are going to see a minimum of three digital camera sensors, with the first and ultra-wide being guess. The third digital camera will possible stay a telephoto with optical zoom, however admittedly, issues might change by the point the product formally releases.

No matter whether or not we see {hardware} adjustments or not, there’s one factor we are able to safely assure for the Pixel 8 Professional: Google’s computational pictures magic. Google leans very closely into letting post-processing do the heavy lifting somewhat than simply the pure {hardware}. In consequence, Pixel cameras have at all times punched manner above their weight than their boring spec sheet numbers. It’s even exhausting to recall when a Pixel’s digital camera was dangerous, ever. So we stay very optimistic about what Google can do with the Pixel 8 Professional.

It’s very tough even to touch upon which might be a greater digital camera telephone: the Galaxy S23 Extremely in its present avatar, or the Pixel 8 Professional in its late 2023 avatar. The Galaxy S23 Extremely is among the greatest digital camera smartphones you should buy instantly, however Google has the potential to actually increase the bar with the Pixel 8 Professional.

Software program will stay a divisive level of distinction between Samsung Galaxy and a Google Pixel telephones. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely comes with One UI 5.1 based mostly on Android 13, providing the acquainted Samsung expertise and all of the Galaxy ecosystem play together with it. One UI has its personal followers, and lots of recognize the plethora of options that Samsung provides to get one of the best out of the accessible {hardware}.

Google hasn’t explicitly talked about something in regards to the Pixel 8 Professional’s software program scenario but, so we are going to use the Pixel 7 Professional because the baseline. We’re anticipating the Pixel 8 Professional to proceed to ship with inventory Android as the bottom and Google’s Pixel-specific additions on prime. Everybody acquainted with inventory Android will recognize the no-frills method, and all of Google’s Pixel UI additions are centered on enhancing your telephone expertise with smaller High quality-of-Life adjustments. The Android base can be possible going to be Android 14, as Google makes use of the Pixel launch as the chance for the general public launch of the following model of Android.

Whether or not the Pixel 8 Professional’s Android 14 plus Pixel UI expertise will probably be higher than Galaxy S23 Extremely’s One UI 5.1 expertise is totally a subjective opinion. There are followers of each person experiences — some individuals like One UI’s characteristic abundance, whereas others method the extra thoughtfully-minimalistic method of Pixel UI. We additionally don’t know what new software program options Google will add to the Pixel 8 Professional, so we’ve got to remain tuned for that.

For software program updates, you might be getting best-in-class replace insurance policies with Samsung. The Galaxy S23 Extremely will get 4 Android platform updates and 5 years of safety updates, that means it’s going to stand up to Android 17 and safety patches as much as 2028. This makes it the telephone with essentially the most replace potential.

The Google Pixel 8 Professional might or might not be higher than Samsung, however we’re assured it’s going to a minimum of come very shut. Google guarantees as much as three Android platform updates and as much as 5 years of safety patch updates. Confidently presuming the Google Pixel 8 Professional launches with Android 14 in 2023, it’s going to stand up to Android 17 and safety patches as much as 2028 as properly. So whereas Google’s platform replace promise is technically decrease than Samsung’s by one era, it will get equalized by the truth that the Pixel launch can be the launch car for the newest model of Android. There’s additionally a really small probability that Google manages to additional improve its software program replace promise — we’re preserving our fingers crossed.

The variety of updates is one argument, however the velocity of supply for these updates is one other. Pixel telephones get all platform updates on day one. There could also be small delays due to bugs, however Google has largely delivered on this promise. Alternatively, Samsung will lag behind by a month or three for platform updates as One UI platform replace can even be delivered alongside the Android platform replace. This lag additionally will increase because the system will get older, which isn’t normally the case with Google.

The story is surprisingly flipped for safety updates. Samsung steadily pushes safety updates to its gadgets earlier than the safety bulletin is even launched for the month! Google at all times follows with an replace after the bulletin is launched.

All in all, each the Galaxy S23 Extremely and the Pixel 8 Professional are nearly as good because it will get for the software program scenario total. Which system you select will find yourself being based mostly in your private desire in the direction of the UI: do you want One UI, or do you want Pixel UI?

The Professional Max iPhone is broadly considered the king of battery life on smartphones. However in 2023, Samsung truly managed to one-up even the iPhone 14 Professional Max with the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s battery life.

The bodily battery on the Galaxy S23 Extremely has remained the identical at 5,000mAh, as seen on the Galaxy S22 Extremely. What has modified is a swap over to LTPO 3.0 for refresh price efficiencies, and a brand new and environment friendly Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. These have been sufficient to push the Galaxy S23 Extremely from being a one-day telephone like its predecessor to being a strong two-day telephone which can provide you 6-8 hours of display screen time. That’s very spectacular, contemplating the truth that this can be a very highly effective, succesful, and versatile smartphone.

For the Pixel 8 Professional, as soon as once more, leaks haven’t pointed to its battery spec but. We’re hoping to see the system retain its 5,000mAh battery from the Pixel 7 Professional, which must be sufficient to ship a full day’s value of battery life to most customers.

Samsung is doing higher than Google with regards to charging speeds, albeit solely marginally. The Galaxy S23 Extremely boasts of 45W quick charging via a USB PD PPS charger. You may anticipate to take below an hour for a full cost, which is first rate for the dimensions of the battery on the system.

There’s no info on what the Google Pixel 8 Professional will deliver to the desk. If the Pixel 7 Professional is any reference, we aren’t anticipating a charging revolution both. The Pixel 7 Professional supported solely 23W charging, taking round one and a half hours for a full cost of the 5,000mAh battery. Regardless of how you chop it, that’s somewhat gradual. Google actually must catch as much as the remainder of the market right here, and we hope they do with the Pixel 8 Professional.

In case you’re out there for a telephone buy instantly, and also you have been leaning in the direction of choosing up the Google Pixel 8 Professional, we’ve got some dangerous information for you: you’re going to have to attend some time. The Google Pixel 7 collection was simply launched in October 2022, so it’s only a few months outdated. We’re nonetheless eight to 9 months away from the primary gross sales of the Google Pixel 8 Professional. It could even take Google a number of months till Google I/O 2023 in Might to formally reveal any additional teasers in regards to the system.

So for the following few months, all that you’ll possible hear in regards to the Pixel 8 Professional will probably be leaks and rumors. With historical past as our reference level, anticipate some Pixel 8 Professional teasers in Might throughout Google I/O, after which an official launch and first gross sales round October 2023.

Alternatively, the time is ripe to select up the Galaxy S23 Extremely. The telephone was simply launched a number of weeks in the past, and Samsung is being pretty beneficiant with its trade-in offers and reductions. Because the telephone could be very new and early in its launch cycle, you’re going to get quite a lot of utility out of your buy within the type of common bug fixes and updates. Take pleasure in all the eye for nearly a yr till the following S collection launches in 2024.

Whereas we don’t know the worth of the Pixel 8 collection and sure gained’t understand it till the telephone truly launches, we do know the final development. Google doesn’t shrink back from pricing its Professional flagship within the increased ranges. If you need a extra value-oriented product, there’s the vanilla Pixel and even the Pixel A collection.

The Pixel 7 Professional launched at $899 for the 8GB/128GB variant. We assume the Pixel 8 Professional will keep the identical worth stage, so anticipate to pay prime greenback if you wish to choose the Pixel 8 Professional on launch day. If you’re effective with ready, we’ve seen the Pixel 7 Professional get as a lot as a $150 low cost in vacation gross sales, so you could possibly take a threat on the Pixel 8 Professional taking place in worth for the vacations too.

The Galaxy S23 Extremely, however, is even much less shy from strutting its excessive price ticket. Beginning at $1,199 for the 8GB/256GB variant, the Galaxy S23 Extremely is considerably dearer than the Pixel 7 Professional. And we additionally anticipate it to remain dearer than the Pixel 8 Professional based mostly on present trajectories. Samsung can be somewhat stingy with providing reductions on the Extremely collection publish the pre-order interval, so until you intend to select a pre-owned or refurbished unit, we wouldn’t advise holding your breath on a decent low cost.

The reply to this query rests closely on how urgently you want a brand new telephone, and what your finances could be. The largest hurdle in advising individuals to attend for the Pixel 8 Professional is the truth that you gained’t have the ability to purchase the telephone earlier than October 2023. If you’re in want of a telephone proper now, ready these many months is just not a possible answer. Thus, it makes higher sense to select up the Galaxy S23 Extremely instantly.

The one two explanation why somebody ought to wait until late 2023 for the Pixel 8 Professional is that if they’re an enormous fan of Google’s computational pictures method, and wish to get a camera-centric top-tier flagship below $1,000. We admittedly have no idea the pricing of the Pixel 8 Professional, but it surely’s a protected guess to presume a sub-$1,000 flagship. We’re additionally massive followers of Google’s digital camera method on the Pixels, the place the hardware-software mixture punches above its weight on paper. It is smart on this scenario to see what Google will probably be doing earlier than committing to a telephone that you’ll use for a few years sooner or later.

In case you do need a telephone instantly however nonetheless need to stick with a Google Pixel, the Pixel 7 Professional is definitely a reasonably good smartphone, even in 2023. The telephone was launched in late 2022, so it’s nonetheless pretty early in its launch cycle. And Google steadily provides shock reductions, letting you get the telephone for as little as $750 earlier than trade-in. That price ticket provides the Pixel 7 Professional some nice worth, particularly whenever you evaluate it to the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s $1,199 price ticket. One caveat value mentioning is that the Pixel 7 Professional is just not a really helpful telephone for avid gamers, because the sustained efficiency and gaming efficiency of the Tensor G2 chip is lackluster, and also you’d get a considerably higher expertise from a Samsung flagship with a Qualcomm processor. You may learn extra about how these two gadgets evaluate in our Pixel 7 Professional vs Galaxy S23 Extremely comparability.

In case you aren’t notably eager on Google’s particular taste of computational pictures, the Galaxy S23 Extremely simply makes a lot sense. It does every little thing that the Google Pixel 7 Professional does (and by extension, what the Pixel 8 Professional might do), after which some. It has a superb show, glorious construct, distinctive and versatile digital camera, glorious efficiency, glorious battery life, and even an S Pen to spherical issues up. Nonetheless, all of this comes at a worth.

If you need one thing a bit extra pocket-friendly, each by way of worth and ergonomics, then check out the Galaxy S23 Plus too. It options quite a lot of what makes the Galaxy S23 Extremely so nice, at a worth that makes it extra palatable to a wider viewers. The $999 price ticket continues to be increased than the Pixel 7 Professional, although, so you’ll have to individually assess whether or not the Galaxy S23 Plus ticks all of the containers for you or not.