Google confirms it blocked benchmarks during Pixel 8 review embargo

I slightly edited the original title due to its length: "Exclusive: Google confirms with Notebookcheck it blocked benchmarks during Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro review embargo period".

Historically, I have witnessed a lot of odd, problematic, a downright maddening issues connected to smartphone launches and marketing. From Samsung releasing promotional videos falsely stating the material their phones are made out off [0], over Huawei and others using DSLRs for camera samples [1], to Google's consistent Tensor promises [2] and LGs marketing forgetting to mention that the V60 supported styluses during the review period, thus keeping an important feature that may be the decision maker for certain customers from even being mentioned, I am hard-pressed to find any smartphone company that hasn't made major missteps in communication. Heck, even Fairphone had quite a stumble trying to justify [3] the recent removal of the headphone jack on their devices.

I don't think any of these instances are acceptable, and I find it ridiculous that there are people who have an almost fanatical devotion to one of these major brands.

This benchmark "strategy", combined with their continued issues handling EMS calls [4], makes it even harder to understand Pixel fanatics. I get people preferring their devices, but I don't quite get defending all the clear issues, as one would suspect fans may want to see improvement the most.

[0] https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-galaxy-note-10-...

[1] https://www.dpreview.com/news/5946150727/huawei-caught-using...

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37969512

[3] https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/983618898804...

[4] https://www.androidauthority.com/psa-google-pixel-911-emerge...