At a glance, Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro might seem like minor upgrades from the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But I got a chance to spend some time with the phones at Google’s launch event in Brooklyn, and while they look similar, several under-the-hood improvements should help differentiate them from their predecessors in at least a few key ways.
Appearance: Mostly the Same
When held side by side, the new Pixels hardly look different from the old Pixels. These phones are tall and slim glass sandwiches, with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and back, and recycled aluminum in between. The glass features rather steep curves along both the back and front edges. While this smoothes over the feel of the phones when holding them, it erodes the screen real estate a little bit.
The Pixels feel strong and nicely made. They don’t meet any sort of rugged specifications, but they are rated IP68 for protection from dust and water (as all flagship phones should be).
The color palette is a little different this year. The smaller Pixel 7 is available in Lemongrass, Obsidian, or Snow, while the larger 7 Pro is available in Hazel, Obsidian, or Snow. Snow and Obsidian might as well be called white and black, while Lemongrass is a pale yellow and Hazel is a deep, nutty, brownish gray. All of the shades feature a glossy finish rather than matte, which some may like and others may not. The phones are certainly a bit slippery and heavy.
One of the most distinctive visual features of the phones is the Camera Bar that rides across the rear panel. The Camera Bar was a raised glass ledge on the Pixel 6 family. This year, Google replaces the glass with an aluminum strap that should be less breakable. That said, I liked the glass and am not sold on the aluminum look yet.
The screens are excellent. The Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch screen with 2,400 by 1,080 pixels and a 90Hz refresh rate. That’s a little smaller than last year’s, but just as quick with the refreshing. The 7 Pro’s display is larger at 6.7 inches and more pixel-rich with 3,210 by 1,440 pixels. It’s also faster, with an LTPO OLED that cycles from 1Hz up to 120Hz to balance power use and smooth experiences. They both look luscious in person, with bright color and plenty of brightness (1,400 and 1,500 nits for the 7 and 7 Pro, respectively). Google keeps the bezels in check, though there’s a slight chin on both phones. The selfie camera is visible in a small punch hole at the top.
Buttons are kept to a minimum. There’s just a power key and volume toggle on the right edge, the same as last year’s phones. The action of the keys is very good, though the buttons have a rather flat profile that might make them harder to locate in a hurry. You won’t find a headphone jack, but there’s a speedy USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port on the bottom. A physical SIM tray is tucked into the left side of the phone, and the Pixels also support eSIM.
Engines of Creation
The new Google Tensor G2 system-on-a-chip is what makes the Pixel family go. Google explained all the upgrades in its custom chip this year, though they are not as extravagant as they could be. This octa-core chip has two performance cores, two midrange cores, and four efficiency cores to balance out tasks and battery life. Surprisingly, Google is sticking with the Cortex X1 for its high-performance cores rather than the newer X2. The company also keeps clock speed improvements to a minimum. The Tensor G2 also gets an improved Titan M2 security coprocessor, a second-generation Tensor Processing Unit, and other nips and tucks—all of which are meant to help with features that rely on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
It’s hard to glean just how improved the performance is after only a few moments, but we tested some of the new camera features and came away impressed. For example, Photo Unblur can take old, out-of-focus photos, apply machine learning algorithms, and sharpen them up in a way you might not think was possible. The camera now also supports Cinematic Blur when shooting video, which allows the camera to focus sharply on the subject and softly blur the background. While the iPhone and other Android phones have offered this feature for a while, it’s nice to see it come to the Pixel line.
Other under-the-hood goodies include upgraded 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth radios, and expanded GPS support. We can’t wait to explore these features in detail as we spend more time with the phones.
The Pixels ship with Android 13, of course, which is further enhanced by the stock software experience available to Google’s own devices.
The phones are available for preorder now and reach store shelves on October 15. The Pixel 7 starts at $599 and the Pixel 7 Pro starts at $899. We look forward to testing them, so make sure to check back soon for our full reviews. Until then, head over to our hands on with the Pixel Watch, Google’s first smartwatch, to see how it stacks up to offerings from Apple and Samsung.
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