Are you excited for Google’s upcoming Pixel 8a mid-ranger and Pixel 9 Pro flagship now that you know how the two unannounced stock Android-running phones will look? Unfortunately (and unsurprisingly), those next-gen handsets aren’t exactly right around the corner, unlike a new version of the “old” Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
We’re talking about those “Minty Fresh” models officially teased last week and in the meantime confirmed for a January 25 commercial release at 9 am Eastern. Even though Big G already made pretty clear what we’re dealing with here, essentially revealing the exact shade of “minty” green its best phones at the moment are set to be coated in starting tomorrow, it’s definitely nice to see the Pixel 8 Pro actually sporting that hue in a high-quality render (slightly) ahead of time.
The press-friendly image comes from none other than Evan Blass (aka @evleaks) over on X (aka Twitter), looking pretty much as swanky as you expected. In the humble opinion of this writer, Google’s green-colored Pixel 8 Pro is significantly more eye-catching than Samsung’s “Jade Green” Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus and even the “Titanium Green” Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so you’ll all have to decide for yourselves if you prefer this version of the Pixel 8 Pro (and the unpictured Pixel 8) over the competition, as well as the other existing colorways of Google‘s latest high-end handsets.
Those include Obsidian, Hazel, and Rose as far as the smaller 6.2-inch device is concerned and Obsidian, Porcelain, and Bay for the 6.7-inch Pro. Naturally, we don’t expect this hot new coat of paint to bring any internal changes to the Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro, which also means no pricing differences are in store.
But one important thing that will be different is availability, with “Minty Fresh” sales apparently restricted to the official Google Store and the search giant’s Google Fi mobile network operator. Unfortunately, the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are no longer sold at substantial discounts by their manufacturers in the US in any color option, although we fully expect the top deals of the last few months to return relatively soon and cover the new hues as well.
