Ignore this year’s flagships – I prefer these bargains on last year’s smartphones
Our favourite Android phones from last year are massively discounted for Prime Day – here’s why I’m recommending them over this year’s deals
The yearly smartphone release cycle can quickly establish a feeling that you always need to be getting the latest model. Yet, the truth is that there are many excellent smartphones from previous generations that are still very much worth your time – and it’s these that you should be looking out for during sales events like Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days.
Case in point, while Google’s latest flagships have launched with yet another consecutive price increase, last year’s models have dropped to record-low prices in the Prime Day sale. Both the Google Pixel 8 and the Google Pixel 8 Pro are still fantastic Android phones, with software support and cameras that can go toe-to-toe with this year’s best. So before you consider dropping four figures on your next phone, here’s why I think that you should go just a little more retro.
Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro: What are the deals?
As mentioned, both the Google Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro have dropped to their lowest prices yet on Amazon. Since launching for £699, the Pixel 8 has averaged £613 in price but this deal brings it all the way down to just £455. That’s for the 128GB model but the 256GB is also at its rock-bottom price of £530.
The 128GB Pixel 8 Pro started life at £999 and averaged around £784 before crashing down to its record-low price of £616. The 256GB is down to just £689, also its best price yet and a massive drop from its average of £932.
View Google Pixel 8 deal at Amazon
Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro: What’s so good about them?
As with all Google phones, the biggest selling point of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro is the cameras. Both phones are fitted with the same 50MP (f/1.68) main camera and the images produced are nothing short of spectacular, with bold colours, broad dynamic range and exceptional levels of detail, even in poor lighting conditions.
The 48MP (f/1.95) ultrawide camera is also identical on both and while it’s not as good as the main lens, there’s still a lot to like about it, with plentiful detail and minimal distortion in those tricky corner areas.
The Pixel 8 Pro gets an additional camera for the extra money, slotting in a 48MP (f/2.8) telephoto lens alongside the other two. This shooter captures crisp and vibrant 5x optical zoom images while also offering the ability to hybrid zoom up to 30x – though the quality starts to dip after 20x magnification.
You also get a robust suite of camera features that further enhance the photography experience. Best Take debuted with this generation, allowing you to swap out people’s faces from similar group shots, compositing together the perfect picture that everyone is happy with. It’s a little weird but works remarkably well in practice. Audio Magic Eraser also joins the team, scrubbing unwanted sounds from your videos in much the same way that the standard Magic Eraser can remove background objects and photobombers.
Both phones use the Google Tensor G3 chipset which, for their original prices, didn’t keep pace with rivals. At these deals prices, however, the lower performance scores are easier to stomach and the phones are still plenty fast in general use. Both Pixels are solid gaming machines too, with the Pixel 8 managing a solid 73fps in the onscreen portion of our GPU stress test and the Pixel 8 Pro inching a little higher to 79fps.
The displays are both beautiful OLED panels, with excellent peak brightness and some of the best colour accuracy that we’ve seen on any phone. The Pixel 8 Pro’s display also incorporates LTPO technology, which allows for dynamic adjustment of the refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz, which should conserve battery life. The Pixel 8 can only be manually toggled between 60Hz and 120Hz but it’s at least wonderfully smooth to scroll with either way.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro is that both are set to receive a massive seven years of software support, just like the newer Pixel 9 series. As the latter also launched with Android 14, it’s unclear whether they will get that final jump to Android 22 but regardless, the peace of mind that your phone will stay up to date with the latest features until 2030 is a huge bonus.
View Google Pixel 8 Pro deal at Amazon
Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro: Any drawbacks?
The main downside to shopping in last year’s selection is that you’re forgoing all of the standard generational improvements like better performance, tweaked camera systems and longer battery life. The Pixel 8 doesn’t really suffer – it’s result of 25hrs 16mins is still very good – but the 8 Pro is on the weaker side of things, lasting 19hrs 33mins in our looping video test, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro hit 27hrs 39mins and the Pixel 9 Pro XL was even better at 29hrs 33mins.
The new Pixels also get a couple of extra AI features like the Pixel Studio image generator, the compositing Add Me feature, which allows you to add in the photo taker to group shots, and Gemini Live, which enables more natural free-flowing conversation with the AI assistant – though this requires a Gemini Advanced subscription that costs £19/mth.
And that’s basically it for our list of nitpicks. The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are hard to find fault with, and even more so at this price. You can get more functionality and better speeds from the latest generation but you’ll have to pay more for the privilege.
View Google Pixel 8 deal at Amazon
Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro: Should you buy one?
Unless you’re taken with the additional AI features, I think that there’s a particularly strong argument to nab the Google Pixel 8 over the Pixel 9. The cameras are still excellent, battery life is almost as good and the display is just as beautiful and colour accurate. It doesn’t get as bright but, realistically, it still gets bright enough for even the sunniest of days. Add in the fact that it’s available for as little as £455 and I think that the Pixel 8 is a terrific bargain.
The Pixel 8 Pro is a little trickier as both of this year’s Pro models offer substantially better battery life. If this is a sacrifice that you’re willing to make, however, you’d be hard-pushed to find a better option at this price. The cameras are exceptional, with the 5x telephoto lens easily keeping up with this year’s models, the display is flawless and you even get the same seven years of software support. It’s a shame about the battery life but even with that in play, this Google Pixel 8 Pro deal is extremely tempting.
