We put the Google Pixel 8 through our rigorous SBMARK Display test suite to measure its performance across four criteria. In this summary of test results, we’ll break down how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key Display Specifications:
- 6.2 inch OLED
- Dimensions: 150.5 x 70.8 x 8.9 mm (5.93 x 2.79 x 0.35 inches)
- Resolution: 1080 x 2400 pixels (~428 ppi density)
- Aspect ratio: 20:9
- Refresh rate: 120Hz
Pros
- Colors are well rendered in most conditions tested.
- The device is readable under all tested conditions.
- Brightness and contrast are suitable for watching HDR10 content.
- The device feels smooth and responsive when scrolling.
Against
- A pinkish tint may be evident in a bright environment, depending on the direction of the light source.
- You may experience unwanted palm touches on the edges of the device when holding it with one hand.
The Google Pixel 8 showed excellent performance in all attributes, but especially when it comes to color, where it achieved a maximum score, and touch. With improved specifications and strong tuning, this versatile smartphone offers a near-flagship experience in all lighting conditions and in almost all use cases.
Like the Pro version, the Pixel 8 is readable outdoors and in direct sunlight, with a slightly lower peak brightness than the Pixel 8 Pro. We measured its peak brightness when viewing typical photo content at 1600 nit in real outdoor conditions.
The Pixel 8 is slightly dimmer than the iPhone 15 when viewing photos, but when it comes to viewing a web page, the Pixel 8 gets brighter than the iPhone. The iPhone 15 showed a 50% drop in brightness at 900 nits versus a 7% drop at 1500 for the Pixel 8. As with previous generations of Google smartphones, the Pixel 8 also achieved a solid performance in terms of readability angular and uniformity.
The Pixel 8’s flicker level was similar to that of Apple and Samsung smartphones.
In terms of color performance, the Pixel 8 delivered very pleasant colors and particularly good skin tone rendition. Colors in natural mode were accurate under all tested conditions. The Pixel 8 showed a slight pink cast outdoors when there was a strong light source coming from the top corner; otherwise, it showed a more pronounced corner color shift compared to the Pro version.
Showcasing HDR10 video playback performance, the Google Pixel 8 (along with the 8 Pro) offered video rendering that closely matched that of the Sony reference screen in our lab. The Pixel 8 had a great brightness level in a dark viewing environment and pleasant color rendition. Maximum brightness during HDR10 viewing was well-matched in both low-light and indoor conditions, but just as with the Pixel 8 Pro, overall brightness was slightly low when watching HDR10 video indoors.
The tone curve was adjusted for midtones when viewing HDR10 video in low-light conditions and indoors, and dark details were occasionally difficult to see when viewing indoors.
The Pixel 8 showed no frame drops during testing.
The Google Pixel 8 got great marks for touch, with great touch response time and very smooth web browsing (thanks to its 120Hz screen). Additionally, unwanted touches occasionally occurred when holding the device with one hand.
Test summary
About SBMARK display tests: For scoring and analysis, a device is subjected to a series of objective and perceptual tests under controlled laboratory and real-life conditions. The SBMARK Display Score takes into account the overall user experience provided by the screen, considering hardware capability and software optimization. Only factory-installed video and photo apps are used during testing. More in-depth details on how SBMARK tests displays can be found in the article “A Closer Look at SBMARK Display Testing.”
The following section focuses on the key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Comprehensive reports with detailed performance evaluations are available upon request. To order a copy, contact us.
How the display readability score is composed
Readability evaluates the user’s ease and comfort in viewing stationary content, such as photos or a web page, on the display under different lighting conditions. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Skin tone rendering in an indoor environment (1000 lux).
From left to right: Google Pixel 8, Samsung Galaxy S23, Honor Magic5 Pro, Apple iPhone 15
(Photos are illustrative only)
Readability in a sunny environment (>90,000 lux).
From left to right: Google Pixel 8, Samsung Galaxy S23, Honor Magic5 Pro, Apple iPhone 15
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
Readability of a web page in an environment exposed to sunlight (>90 000 lux).
From left to right: Google Pixel 8, Apple iPhone 15
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
SCI stands for Specular Component Included, which measures both diffuse reflection and specular reflection. The reflectance of a simple glass plate is around 4%, while it reaches around 6% for a plastic plate. Although the first surface of smartphones is glass, their total reflectance (uncoated) is usually around 5% due to the multiple reflections created by the complex optical stack.
The average reflectance is calculated based on the spectral reflectance in the visible spectrum range (see graph below) and human spectral sensitivity.
Uniformity
This graph shows the luminance distribution across the entire display panel. Uniformity is measured with a 20% gray pattern, with bright green indicating ideal luminance. An evenly distributed bright green color across the screen indicates that the display brightness is uniform. Other colors indicate a loss of uniformity.
Displays flicker for 2 main reasons: refresh rate and pulse width modulation. Pulse width modulation is a modulation technique that generates pulses of variable width to represent the amplitude of an analog input signal. This measurement is important for comfort because low-frequency flickering can be perceived by some individuals and, in more extreme cases, can induce seizures. Some experiments show that discomfort can occur more frequently. A high PWM frequency (>1500 Hz) tends to disturb users less.
How the display color score is composed
Color evaluations are performed under different lighting conditions to see how well the device handles color with its surroundings. The devices are tested with sRGB and Display-P3 image models. Both faithful mode and default mode are used for our evaluation. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Circadian action factor is a metric that defines the impact of light on the human sleep cycle. It is the ratio between the light energy that contributes to sleep disturbances (centered around 450 nm, representing blue light) and the light energy that contributes to our perception (covering 400 nm to 700 nm and centered at 550 nm, which is green light). A high circadian action factor means that the ambient light contains strong blue light energy and is likely to affect the body’s sleep cycle, while a low circadian action factor means that the light has weak blue light energy and is less likely to affect sleep patterns.
How the Display Video score is composed
The video attribute evaluates the handling of Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) and High Dynamic Range (HDR10) video in indoor and low-light conditions. Our measurements performed in laboratories are complemented by perceptual tests and analyses.
Video rendering in a low light environment (0 lux).
Clockwise from top left: Google Pixel 8, Samsung Galaxy S23, Honor Magic5 Pro, Apple iPhone 15
(Photos are illustrative only)
Clockwise from top left: Google Pixel 8, Samsung Galaxy S23, Honor Magic5 Pro, Apple iPhone 15
(Photo for illustrative purposes only)
These indicators present the percentage of frame irregularity in a 30-second video. These irregularities are not necessarily perceived by users (unless they are all with the same timestamp) but are an indicator of performance.
How the Display Touch score is composed
We evaluate touch attributes in many types of content where touch is critical and requires different behaviors such as gaming (fast touch and response times), web (smooth page scrolling), and images (accurate and smooth navigation from image to image). other ).
Start a new Thread