Home > Smartphone comparison > Pixel 8 vs Pixel 3 XL – which one to choose?

Google Pixel 8 vs Pixel 3 XL

69 out of 100
Google Pixel 8
VS
43 out of 100
Google Pixel 3 XL
Google Pixel 8
Google Pixel 3 XL

Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.2-inch Google Pixel 8 (with Google Tensor G3) that was released on October 4, 2023, against the Google Pixel 3 XL, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and came out 5 years and 1 month before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.

Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Memory
  1. Differences
  2. Review
  3. Specs
  4. Benchmarks
  5. Battery life
  6. Camera
  7. Comments

Key differences

An overview of the main advantages of each smartphone
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 8
  • Delivers 250% higher peak brightness (1458 against 417 nits)
  • 2.5x better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (1443K versus 568K)
  • Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
  • Waterproof body (IP68 classification)
  • Comes with 1145 mAh larger battery capacity: 4575 vs 3430 mAh
  • Has 2x more RAM: 8GB versus 4GB
  • Shows 28% longer battery life (19:39 vs 15:23 hours)
  • Newer Bluetooth version (v5.3)
  • More recent OS version: Android 17 versus 12
  • More energy-efficient CPU – Tensor G3
  • Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
  • The phone is 5 years and 1 month newer
Reasons to consider the Google Pixel 3 XL
  • 22% higher pixel density (522 vs 428 PPI)

Review

Evaluation of Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 3 XL crucial features
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Scores with a red asterisk (*) are approximate and may change in the future as we gather more data.
NanoReview Score
Final comparison evaluation
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
📱 Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Should I update?
No 98% Yes
Yes, this is a clear and meaningful upgrade.
Updating from Google Pixel 3 XL to Google Pixel 8 is a clear step forward, and the improvements should be easy to notice.
Main improvements: performance, camera, and gaming.

Tests and specifications

Comparison table of technical specifications and tests
Phone:
Pixel 8
vs
Pixel 3 XL

Display

Type OLED OLED
Size 6.2 inches 6.3 inches
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels 1440 x 2960 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 18.5:9
PPI 428 ppi 522 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (60-120 Hz) No
Max rated brightness 2000 nits 400 nits
Max rated brightness in HDR 1400 nits -
HDR support Yes, HDR10+ Yes, HDR10
Screen protection Gorilla Glass Victus Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Screen-to-body ratio 87.1% 83.1%
Display features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display		 - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
Display tests
RGB color space 99.2% 100%
PWM 170 Hz 250 Hz
Response time 3 ms 15 ms
Contrast ∞ Infinity ∞ Infinity
Screen space comparison
Pixel 3 XL
6.3″ (18.5:9 ratio) = 15.6 in2
Pixel 8
6.2″ (20:9 ratio) = 14.4 in2
~8% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Pixel 8 +250%
1458 nits
Pixel 3 XL
417 nits
Sources: NotebookCheck [3], [4]

Design and build

Height 150.5 mm (5.93 inches) 158 mm (6.22 inches)
Width 70.8 mm (2.79 inches) 76.7 mm (3.02 inches)
Thickness 8.9 mm (0.35 inches) 7.9 mm (0.31 inches)
Weight 187 g (6.6 oz) 184 g (6.49 oz)
Waterproof IP68 IPX8
Rear material Glass Glass
Frame material Metal Metal
Colors Black, Gray, Rose gold White, Black, Pink
Fingerprint scanner Yes, in-display Yes, rear
Screen-to-body ratio
Pixel 8 +5%
87.1%
Pixel 3 XL
83.1%

Performance

Chipset specifications of Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 3 XL
SoC
Chipset Google Tensor G3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Max clock 3000 MHz 2500 MHz
CPU cores 9 (1 + 4 + 4) 8 (4 + 4)
Architecture - 4 cores at 1.7 GHz: Cortex-A510
- 4 cores at 2.37 GHz: Cortex-A715
- 1 core at 2.91 GHz: Cortex-X3		 - 4 cores at 1.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Silver (Cortex-A55)
- 4 cores at 2.8 GHz: Kryo 385 Gold (Cortex-A75)
L3 cache - 2 MB
Manufacturing Samsung Samsung
Lithography process 4 nanometers 10 nanometers
Neural processor (NPU) Yes Hexagon 685
GPU
Graphics Immortalis-G715s MC10 Adreno 630
GPU shading units 896 512
GPU clock 890 MHz 710 MHz
FLOPS ~1594.8 GFLOPS ~727 GFLOPS

Benchmarks

Benchmark comparison of Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 3 XL
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Pixel 8 +314%
1722
Pixel 3 XL
416
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Pixel 8 +207%
4458
Pixel 3 XL
1451
Single-core score 1722 416
Multi-core score 4458 1451
Sources: Geekbench [3], [4]
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
Pixel 8 +154%
1443431
Pixel 3 XL
568672
CPU 535125 228438
GPU 387735 67236
Memory 186665 118257
UX 333906 154741
Total score 1443431 568672
Samples [10 tests] Less than 3
3DMark Steel Nomad Light
Stability 73% -
Graphics test 7 FPS -
Graphics score 971 -
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
Stability - 90%
Graphics test - 2 FPS
Graphics score - 460
Sources: 3DMark [5], [6]
PCMark 3.0
Pixel 8
n/a
Pixel 3 XL
8984
Web score - 7184
Video editing - 6560
Photo editing - 18872
Data manipulation - 6642
Writing score - 9887
Submit your benchmark results

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Google Pixel 8
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2026-08-28 (asfiii-malik)AnTuTu 111515235
📘 2026-08-28 (asfiii-baloch)AnTuTu 111515235
📘 2026-05-04 (reazz)AnTuTu 111356451
📘 2026-04-29 -> tonymennyAnTuTu 111446448
📘 2026-03-16 (Quan)AnTuTu 111479583
Add View all (14)
Google Pixel 3 XL
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-10-08 (Bebraaaabc)AnTuTu 11568672
Add View all (1)

Memory

RAM
RAM size 8 GB 4 GB
Memory type LPDDR5X LPDDR4X
Memory clock 4200 MHz 1866 MHz
Channels 4 2
Storage
Storage size 128 GB 64 GB
Storage type UFS 3.1 UFS 2.1
Memory card No No

Software

Operating system Android 14 (Can be upgraded to Android 17) Android 9.0 (Can be upgraded to Android 12)
ROM Stock Android Stock Android
OS size 14 GB 13 GB
OS updates 7 years -
Security updates 7 years -

Battery

Capacity 4575 mAh 3430 mAh
Max charge power 27 W 18 W
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Wireless charging Yes (18 W) Yes, Qi (10 W)
Reverse charging Yes, (wireless) No
Bypass charging No -
Fast charging Yes (56% in 30 min) Yes, Quick Charge 4 (50% in 35 min)
Full charging time 1:16 hr 2:00 hr
Battery life tests
Web browsing 08:08 hr 05:46 hr
Watching video 14:06 hr 09:05 hr
Gaming 04:49 hr 04:01 hr
Standby 81 hr 78 hr
General battery life
Pixel 8 +28%
19:39 hr
Pixel 3 XL
15:23 hr
Add your battery life

Main camera

Matrix 50 megapixels 12.2 megapixels
Image resolution 8192 x 6144 4032 x 3024
Zoom Digital Digital
Flash Dual LED Dual LED
Stabilization Optical Optical
8K video recording No No
4K video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 60FPS
1080p video recording Up to 60FPS Up to 120FPS
Slow motion 240 FPS (1080p) 240 FPS (720p)
Angle of widest lens 126° -
Lenses 1) Standard: 50 MP
2) Ultrawide: 12 MP
1) Standard: 12.2 MP
Camera features - Bokeh mode - Bokeh mode
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Standard lens
Image resolution 50 MP 12.2 MP
Aperture f/1.7 f/1.8
Focal length 25 mm 28 mm
Sensor Samsung GNV Sony IMX363
Sensor size 1/1.31" (≈ 0.76 inch) 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch)
Pixel size 1.2 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus Laser autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel)
Stabilization Optical Optical
Ultra-wide lens
Image resolution 12 MP -
Aperture f/2.2 -
Sensor Sony IMX386 Exmor RS -
Sensor size 1/2.9" (≈ 0.34 inch) -
Pixel size 1.25 micron -
Stabilization Digital -

DxOMark main camera tests

Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
Bokeh 70 -
Preview 64 -
Zoom 129 -
Samples Photo samples of Google Pixel 8 from DxOMark -

Selfie camera

Megapixels 10.5 megapixels 8 megapixels
Image resolution 3648 x 2736 3264 x 2448
Aperture f/2.2 f/1.8
Focal length 21 mm 28 mm
Sensor - Sony IMX355
Sensor size 1/3.1" (≈ 0.32 inch) 1/3.2" (≈ 0.31 inch)
Pixel size 1.22 micron 1.4 micron
Autofocus No Phase autofocus
Stabilization Digital Optical
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS 1080p (Full HD) at 30 FPS
Additional lens - 8 MP, f/19
Depth sensor (TOF 3D) No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display		 - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
Bluetooth version 5.3 5
Bluetooth features LE LE, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 3.1
USB features - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG		 - Charging
- USB-Storage mode
- OTG
DisplayPort Yes -
GPS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared port No No
Network
Number of SIM* 1 1
Type of SIM card Nano Nano
Multi SIM mode - Standby
eSIM support* Yes Yes
Hybrid slot No No
LTE Cat* 20 16
5G support Yes No

Sound

Speakers Stereo Stereo
Headphone audio jack No No
FM radio No No
Dolby Atmos No No
Speakers test
Max loudness
Pixel 8 +6%
89 dB
Pixel 3 XL
84.2 dB

Other

Category Flagship Flagship
Announced October 2023 October 2018
Release date October 2023 November 2018
Launch price (MSRP) $699 $900
Successor - Google Pixel 10 - Google Pixel 4 XL
SAR (head) - 1.39 W/kg
SAR (body) - 1.4 W/kg
Sensors - Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint		 - Hall-effect sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient light sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint
Bundled charger Not included -
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.

Conclusion

After analyzing all the data, we think that the Google Pixel 8 is definitely a better buy.

Cast your vote

So, which phone would you choose?
5 (45.5%)
6 (54.5%)
Total votes: 11

Related comparisons

1. Google Pixel 8 vs Samsung Galaxy A56 5G
2. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 9a (5)
3. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 8 Pro (1)
4. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 8a
5. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 7 Pro (3)
6. Google Pixel 8 vs Samsung Galaxy A36 5G
7. Google Pixel 8 vs Google Pixel 9
8. Google Pixel 3 XL vs Google Pixel 4
9. Google Pixel 3 XL vs Google Pixel 7
Compare other phones (860+)

User opinions

You can share your opinion or ask a question in the comments below
🌐 Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
EnglishРусский