Stephen Radochia / Android AuthorityTL;DR A North Korean Pixel 8 Pro clone mimics Google’s flagship while packing 16GB RAM, 256GB storage, a 120Hz display, and an unlocked bootloader.
The clone even outperforms the real Pixel in a few niche areas, including telephoto macro shots.
It borrows Google’s design, but it also packs 16GB of RAM and a few unexpected tricks that even the real Pixel 8 Pro can’t match.
Unless you knew exactly what to look for, you’d probably assume it was Google’s phone sitting on a table.
Google’s phone still offers a faster chip, far better AI features, superior computational photography, and years of reliable software updates.
Stephen Radochia / Android Authority
TL;DR A North Korean Pixel 8 Pro clone mimics Google’s flagship while packing 16GB RAM, 256GB storage, a 120Hz display, and an unlocked bootloader.
The phone uses a weaker MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chip, but runs noticeably cooler than the Pixel 8 Pro under sustained workloads.
The clone even outperforms the real Pixel in a few niche areas, including telephoto macro shots.
Clone phones are usually good for one thing: looking like the real deal until you switch them on. However, this North Korean Pixel 8 Pro copy is quite unusual. It borrows Google’s design, but it also packs 16GB of RAM and a few unexpected tricks that even the real Pixel 8 Pro can’t match.
The phone recently appeared in a hands-on video from YouTuber fenibook (via NotebookCheck), who nicknamed it the “People’s Pixel.” The reviewer also notes that the handset originally bore a North Korean logo on the back, which was covered in the video.
Visually, it’s hard to fault the imitation. From the full-width camera bar to the frosted rear panel, the design is clearly inspired by the Pixel 8 Pro. Unless you knew exactly what to look for, you’d probably assume it was Google’s phone sitting on a table.
Things start to change once you look inside. Instead of Google’s Tensor G3 chip, this phone relies on MediaTek’s Dimensity 7050. It’s not in the same league as the Tensor G3, especially if you care about on-device AI, but the reviewer noticed an interesting trade-off. During longer gaming sessions and other demanding tasks, the clone stayed much cooler than the real Pixel 8 Pro, which isn’t exactly known for running cold.
While many flagship phones still top out at 12GB of RAM, this clone ships with 16GB of RAM alongside 256GB of storage. This is an unexpected specification to find on a knockoff device.
The surprises keep coming. It features a 120Hz display, along with a camera setup that includes a 50MP primary sensor, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, and a 32MP selfie shooter. Even more surprisingly, the reviewer claims the telephoto camera can capture macro-style shots from much closer than the Pixel 8 Pro’s own zoom lens, giving the clone an unexpected advantage in that specific scenario.
And if the hardware wasn’t unusual enough, the software story is even stranger. According to the review, the bootloader is unlocked out of the box, allowing you to install the stock Pixel software and use Google services without the restrictions typically associated with clone phones.
To be clear, none of this suddenly dethrones the Pixel 8 Pro. Google’s phone still offers a faster chip, far better AI features, superior computational photography, and years of reliable software updates. But it’s hard not to be amused by a clone that doesn’t just copy the original, but occasionally manages to embarrass it. That’s not something you can say about most knockoff smartphones.
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