PSA: The Google Pixel 8 series doesn’t have ray tracing

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Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority
  • The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro lack hardware-enabled ray tracing.
  • This feature allows for more realistic lighting and reflections, but few games support it.
  • Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung, and Apple chips all support ray tracing, though.

Google launched the Pixel 8 series last week, and the phones are powered by a Tensor G3 chipset that’s a big upgrade on paper over last year’s silicon. Unfortunately, the Pixel 8 phones don’t support one emerging graphical technology.

Google confirmed to Android Authority that the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro don’t support hardware-based ray tracing. This is a technology used to produce more realistic lighting, reflections, and shadows in games and other applications.

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