Google launches Pixel 8 series, Watch 2: India prices, introductory offers

Google on October 4 announced the Pixel 8 series smartphones and Pixel Watch 2 at its Made by Google event. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, and the Watch 2 are now available for pre-order with introductory offers, exclusively on e-commerce platform Flipkart. The Pixel 8 is offered in 8GB RAM + 128GB on-board storage at Rs 75,999, whereas the Pro model is offered in 12GB RAM + 128GB on-board storage at Rs 106,999. The Pixel Watch 2 is priced at Rs 39,900. All the devices will be available for purchase starting October 12.

Introductory offers

Pixel 8: Google is offering up to Rs 8,000 in bank offer and Rs 3,000 exchange bonus on trade-in deal.

Pixel 8 Pro: Google is offering up to Rs 9,000 in bank offer and Rs 4,000 exchange bonus on trade-in deal.

In addition, Google is offering bundle deal on both the smartphones in which it is offering the Pixel Watch 2 at a discounted priced of Rs 19,999 or the Pixel Buds Pro at a discounted price of Rs 8,999.

The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro boasts 100 per cent recycled aluminum housing. The Pixel 8 has a 6.2-inch Actua display, which Google said is 42 per cent brighter (at 2,000 nits) than the Pixel 7’s display. The Pixel 8 features satin metal finishes, a polished glass back and comes in Rose, Hazel and Obsidian colours.

Both phones boast 50-megapixel main camera sensors. In addition, the Pixel 8 gets a 12MP ultra-wide-angle sensor with autofucs that enables Macro Focus for close-up shots. On the Pro model, the ultra-wide-angle camera features a 48MP sensor. In addition, it has a dedicated telephoto lens of 48MP with optical zoom range of up to 5x. The front-facing camera on the Pro model has autofocus.

Besides the sensor upgrades, Google has loaded the Pixel 8 Pro camera interface with Pro Controls that opens access to settings like shutter speed and ISO. You can also get high-resolution 50MP images from across the zoom range, in both JPEG and RAW.

Also Read : Adobe teases a new ‘revolutionary’ AI photo editing tool

Coming to software-based features, Google introduced Best Take that will allow users create a blended image from a series of photos to get everyone’s best look. Besides, Google announced generative AI-based Magic Editor feature in Google Photos that will allow users reposition and resize subjects in the frame post capture. In addition, Google announced Audio Magic Eraser feature for videos. It will allow users to reduce distracting sounds in video, like winds or noisy crowds in the background. Google said this is a first-of-its-kind computational audio capability, which uses advanced machine learning models to sort sounds into distinct layers so you can control their levels.

Later this year, the Pixel 8 Pro will get Video Boost, which it said pairs Tensor G3 with its powerful data centers to apply cutting-edge processing to your videos. It adjusts colour, lighting, stabilisation and graininess. Video Boost would enable Night Sight Video on Pixel for better low-light smartphone video quality, said Google.

Lastly, Google announced it would provide seven years of software support for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro — including OS upgrades, security updates and regular Feature Drops.

Google Pixel Watch 2: What is new

The Pixel Watch 2 has three new sensors. Its heart rate sensor is said to feature 25 times more LEDs than Pixel Watch. Besides, Google has enabled Fitbit’s Body Response feature on the Pixel Watch 2, powered by a continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor. According to Google, this new sensor can point to possible signs of stress using a machine learning algorithm that incorporates heart rate, heart rate variability and skin temperature. Google said its skin temperature sensor on the Watch 2 tracks at night to reveal insights into sleep and monitors for changes in overall wellness.

The Pixel Watch 2 boasts an on-wrist auto exercise detection for seven workout types. Other features on the Pixel Watch 2 include Daily Readiness Score, Sleep Profile, Sleep Score, Active Zone Minutes and 40 workout modes.

The Pixel Watch 2 is based on Wear OS 4 platform with Google apps built-in, including a two new additions – Gmail and Calendar. Besides, Google has improved the existing set of apps such as YouTube Music and Maps. Google has also added more apps to download on Google Play for Wear OS.