Google’s Pixel 8 Pro has been given the full teardown treatment ahead of its wider availability later this week. So far, a select group of reviewers and YouTubers have been able to get their hands on the device, giving users an early look at the handset and its performance. While the camera samples are impressive – not surprising given Google’s track record with computer photography and the upgraded camera hardware – concerns have been raised about the performance, efficiency and stability of the Tensor G3 SoC. Given that the chip is manufactured by Samsung Foundry, this is not surprising as previous chips manufactured on Samsung’s 4nm nodes have been plagued by similar issues.
This has focused attention on the cooling mechanisms Google has used in the Pixel 8 Pro to keep things in check thermally, with all eyes on whether Google has added a vapour chamber to keep things cooler after complaints of overheating were raised by owners of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series. YouTube channel PBK Reviews has provided a full teardown of the Pixel 8 Pro, but unfortunately Google has once again omitted vapor chamber cooling. It has, however, used unusually thick layers of graphite over the battery and over the RAM/CPU, while it has also used a particularly thick piece of copper tape over the RAM that sits on top of the CPU – this is also covered with additional graphite tape to dissipate the heat back to the chassis and the larger graphite pad that sits above it.
While vapour chambers are an effective way to dissipate heat – a liquid inside the chamber changes state to a gas vapour and back again – they add cost, complexity and thickness to a machine’s design. However, as Samsung’s own Galaxy S22 Ultra has shown, even when equipped with vapour chamber cooling, they cannot overcome other shortcomings of devices with chips such as Samsung’s Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, which get hot due to too fundamental problems with inefficiency. Vapour chamber cooling can help with sustained performance, but it won’t make up for a lack of overall performance or efficiency.
The Google Pixel 8 Pro won’t hit store shelves until later this week, after a short pre-order period. On the plus side, the device offers a wealth of clever software-based AI features and new and improved camera features that are sure to please fans of the Pixel series. Stay tuned for our full review soon.
