We put the Google Pixel 8 through our rigorous SBMARK Audio test suite to measure its performance in both recording sound using the built-in microphones and playing audio through its speakers.
In this review, we’ll break down how it performed in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
Overview
Key audio specifications include:
- Two speakers (top center, bottom right)
- No Jack audio output
Playback
Pros
- Clear tonal balance, particularly intelligible vocal content
- Good dynamic performance
- Good spatial performance
Against
- The tonal balance lacks low-midrange and low-end extension
- Timbre and dynamics (especially punch) strongly compromised by distortion at maximum volume
- The minimum volume step is tuned too low
Registration
Pros
- Very natural and pleasant tone
- Good spatial performance
- Unwanted audio artifacts well under control
Against
- Lack of highs and low mids in tonal balance
- Average volume performance
- Mono recordings with the Memo app
- Disappointing audio zoom functionality
With a SBMARK Audio score of 140, the Google Pixel 8 delivered excellent performance in our tests and represents a notable improvement over its predecessor, the Pixel 7, from last year, especially in terms of audio playback. The audio quality is also almost at the same level as the flagship Pixel 8 Pro.
Sound performance was good when playing at nominal volume, but our testers observed some compression and distortion at maximum volume. The minimum and maximum volume levels could also have been adjusted better. Overall playback performance was better when gaming, but was almost at the same high level when listening to music or watching videos.
The recording quality was good overall, even when recording loud concerts, with pleasant timbre and good width of the recorded soundstage. However, the effectiveness of the audio zoom function was limited. In our tests, the best results were achieved with the front camera, but recordings from the main camera were very close. Due to mono recording in the recorder app, performance degraded slightly when using Reminders and Office.
Test summary
About SBMARK audio tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone audio reviews, SBMARK engineers perform a series of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluation under controlled laboratory conditions.
(For more details on our playback protocol, click here; for more details on our recording protocol, click here.)
The following section brings together key elements of our comprehensive testing and analysis performed in SBMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations in the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.
How the audio playback score is composed
SBMARK engineers test playback through smartphone speakers, whose performance is evaluated in our labs and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
In our playback tests, the Pixel 8 delivered fairly good tonal performance. Tonal balance was pleasant, with clear treble and an emphasis on the lower treble. Our testers found the midrange lacked warmth and fullness, but bass performance was decent, with a clear focus on the upper section. However, we observed a significant lack of low-end extension and depth. Dynamics were good, thanks to a firm and precise attack, good bass precision and good punch at nominal volume. That said, both attack and power were compromised by compression at maximum volume.
The built-in speakers created an adequate but not particularly impressive soundstage. It was easy to locate individual sound sources within the scene, and distance rendering was accurate. The balance was well centered and a good depth rendering allowed the perception of distinct planes in the sound stage. Our experts found that the minimum volume setting is too low to listen to highly dynamic content, such as classical music. However, the maximum volume was quite high and the volume steps were evenly distributed. In terms of unwanted audio artefacts, there was excessive compression at maximum volume and both timbre and dynamics were heavily compromised by distortion. On the plus side, our testers didn’t accidentally occlude the speakers with their hands while gaming, thanks to the placement of the speakers on the device.
Listen to the playback performance of the tested smartphone in this comparison with some of its competitors:
Recordings of smartphones playing some of our music tracks at 60 LAeq in an anechoic environment using 2 microphones in AB configuration, at 30 cm
Here’s how the Google Pixel 8 fares in playback use cases compared to its competitors:
Playing use case scores
The Timbre score represents the quality with which a phone reproduces sound across the entire audible tonal range and takes into account bass, midrange, treble, tonal balance and volume dependence. It is the most important attribute for reproduction.
Frequency response of music playback
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency output by the smartphone when playing a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a bass note or the sound of a drum impact is reproduced.
Secondary attributes of spatial tests include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude.
The volume score represents the overall volume of a smartphone and how smoothly the volume increases and decreases based on user input.
Here are some sound pressure levels (SPLs) measured when playing our sample recordings of hip-hop and classical music at maximum volume:
| Hip Hop | Classic | |
| GooglePixel8 | 74.8 dBA | 70.1 dBA |
| Apple iPhone 15 | 74.6 dBA | 72 dBA |
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon) | 74.8 dBA | 71.8 dBA |
The following graph shows the gradual changes in volume going from minimum to maximum. We expect these changes to be consistent across the range, so that all volume increases match user expectations:
Music volume consistency
This line graph shows the relative volume of playback versus the user-selected volume increment, measured at different volume increments with correlated pink noise in an anechoic box recorded on-axis at 0.20 meters.
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which the sound is affected by various types of distortion. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the speakers.
Total harmonic distortion during playback (maximum volume)
This graph shows total harmonic distortion and noise in the audible frequency range.
It represents the distortion and noise of the device playing our test signal (0 dB Fs, Sweep Sine in an anechoic box at 40 cm) at the device’s maximum volume.
How the score of the audio recording is composed
SBMARK engineers test recording by evaluating recorded files on reference audio equipment. These recordings are made in our laboratories and in real-life conditions, using apps and default settings.
The timbre of the recording came through with a natural and pleasant tonal balance that was consistent across all test use cases. Treble performance was natural but lacked brightness. The midrange had good clarity but lacked punch and body in the bottom section, which was most noticeable in male vocals. The bass performance was satisfactory overall, but lacked some strength and especially low-end extension. The Pixel 8 performed well in terms of dynamics, with accurate and realistic envelope rendering. However, the attack lacked clarity, particularly with recordings of vocal content where plosives sounded a bit flat. The signal-to-noise ratio was good in all use cases.
The microphones captured a sound scene with good amplitude and good localizability of individual sound sources. The distance performance was satisfactory, although some voices could seem a little too distant. However, when using the recorder app, both amplitude and localizability were limited by mono recordings. During perceptual tests, our experts found that the recordings could have been louder, despite objective measurements showing good results. The microphones were able to capture high SPL sources with only moderate compression, and unwanted artifacts were well under control. Microphone occlusion and finger noise were no issues in our testing, and background performance was good, free of artifacts and with an overall pleasant timbre.
Here’s how the Google Pixel 8 fares in recording use cases compared to its competitors:
Recording use case scores
The Timbre score represents how well a phone captures sounds across the audible tonal range and takes into account bass, mids, treble and tonal balance. It is the most important attribute for registration.
Video frequency response of life
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, measuring the loudness of each frequency captured by the smartphone while recording a pure sine wave in an anechoic environment.
The Dynamics score measures the accuracy of changes in the energy level of sound sources, such as how accurately a voice’s plosives (p, tek, for example) are reproduced. The score also considers the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as how loud the main voice is compared to the background noise.
Secondary attributes for spatial testing include identifying the location of a specific sound, its positional balance, distance, and amplitude on recorded audio files.
Directivity of registration
Graph of smartphone directivity while recording test signals using the camera app, with the main camera. It represents the acoustic energy (in dB) compared to the angle of incidence of the sound source. (Normalized to the 0° angle, in front of the device.)
The loudness score represents how well the audio on recorded files is normalized and how well the device handles noisy environments, such as electronic concerts, during recording.
Here are the sound levels recorded in the audio and video files, measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale); For reference, we expect volume levels to be above -24 LUFS for recorded content:
| Encounter | Videos about life | Selfie videos | Memorandum | |
| GooglePixel8 | -26.1 LUFS | -20.8 LUFS | -18.9 LUFS | -19.9 LUFS |
| Apple iPhone 15 | -24.6 LUFS | -22.4 LUFS | -20.3 LUFS | -19.2 LUFS |
| Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon) | -26.5 LUFS | -21.8 LUFS | -22.4 LUFS | -21.6 LUFS |
The Artifacts score measures the extent to which recorded sounds are affected by various types of distortions. The higher the score, the less noticeable the sound disturbances will be. Distortions may occur due to the sound processing in the device and the quality of the microphones, as well as user handling, such as how the phone is held.
In this audio comparison you can hear how this smartphone handles wind noise compared to its competitors:
matrix(3) {
[“Google Pixel 8”]=> string(64) “resources/Google/Pixel8V2.2/GooglePixel8_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Apple iPhone 15”]=> string(65) “resources/Google/Pixel8V2.2/AppleiPhone15_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a”
[“Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra”]=> string(73) “resources/Google/Pixel8V2.2/SamsungGalaxyS23Ultra_MicrophoneArtifacts.m4a” }
Recordings of a speech sample with light background noise, exposed to a turbulent wind of 5 m/s
Background evaluates how naturally the various sounds around a voice blend together in the video recording file. For example, when recording a speech at an event, the background should not interfere with the main voice, but should provide context to the surrounding environment.
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