Google’s Pixel line of phones has always been a great option for people who value photographic prowess and software talent over pure performance, even if they don’t sell as many units as the competition from Apple and Samsung. This pattern continues with the Pixel 7 Pro. The situation is similar with the Pixel 7 Pro and its cheaper and smaller sibling Pixel 7. The new features are hidden here, so you must search carefully. Luckily, the Pixel 6 Pro, already a fantastic gadget, is still among the best Android phones. Here’s why.
Design And Screen
With the Pixel 6 series, Google took a drastic step away from the very bland designs of previous series and replaced them with something much more exciting and entertaining. The hardware now matched the smooth feel of the software, and the swap worked well with Android 12’s Material You updates.
The Pixel 7 Pro is more a tweaking of that recipe than a significant step forward after a major redesign last year. It’s a very curved phone, and despite being larger than an iPhone 14 Pro Max, it’s lovely and comfortable to hand. The three camera sensors on the back are covered by the camera visor, or camera bar as Google calls it, which extends from side to side.
This now contrasts with the extremely glossy black rear of the phone, which contrasts with the dazzling silver visor on my Obsidian review sample. It looks good, and the deeper black shade is much nicer than the Pixel 6 series choice, which looked more gray. The camera bar is a shelf for dirt and junk, as my colleague Peter Phelps pointed out in his review of the Pixel 7. So much debris accumulates there throughout the day that it might be difficult to keep it clean. However, most people will forget about such a situation
In addition to Obsidian, there are two other colors: silver and hazelnut. Hazel is my favorite of the lot, with her golden accents and grayish back. Google added that around 19% of the materials used to make the 7 Pro were recycled. The Pixel 7 Pro has an in-display fingerprint sensor that works like the Pixel 6 Pro, an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, and a USB-C connector at the bottom for charging.
A good feature for even faster unlocks is Google’s addition of Face Unlock, which is still software-based and lacks the capabilities of Face ID on the iPhone.The increased screen brightness peak is a significant improvement. When playing HDR footage and in direct sunlight, the 6.7-inch panel looks brighter. I watched a few HDR videos on Netflix, and while it looks amazing, it could be better with the iPhone 14 Pro.
Apple’s high-end device still captures extra brightness in certain situations and presents a more realistic image. Of course, HDR reproduction isn’t the only reason people buy a phone, but the Pixel 7 Pro does a commendable job. The rest of the screen looks like the Pixel 6 Pro, which is okay. Similar to Apple’s ProMotion, Google’s Smooth Display allows the display to adaptively change its refresh rate depending on what you’re doing.
It can go up to 120Hz for intense gaming or smooth scrolling and go down to 10Hz for easier work. For its always-on display, a feature you’ll find on the iPhone, it can’t go down to 1Hz. The edges of the 6.7-inch 1440p OLED panel are very slightly curved but not distractingly so. Especially at these larger sizes, the subtle curves make the phone easier to hold than the iPhone 14. I’m glad Google chose the flatter panel for the smaller Pixel 7.
Camera
Since its launch, the Pixel line has given us some of my favorite smartphone cameras. It has sometimes been the best, but I like image processing and Google’s emphasis on sharp, high-contrast photos with excellent color reproduction. When deciding which camera phone is better, it’s hard to choose between the Pixel 7 Pro, iPhone 14, and Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra because each takes great photos.
With just a few minor hardware changes, the Pixel 7 Pro retains the same configuration as the Pixel 6 Pro. A 48-megapixel telephoto camera at 120mm (up from 104mm previously), a 12-megapixel ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view, and a 50-megapixel wide camera with an f/1.9 lens are the three rear cameras. Also, there is a 10-megapixel front camera that produces quality selfies.
After a week of shooting with the Pixel 7 Pro and hundreds of shots, my admiration for the aesthetics of Pixel images hasn’t changed. Shots feature a wide dynamic range, rich colors, and high contrast. The reds and greens of daylight photos pop on a laptop LCD and a phone screen, and exposure levels are consistently good.
The iPhone 14 Pro will produce superior results if you want to edit your images in Lightroom or VSCO endlessly. While I frequently thought Google’s clever processing was enough to make the Pixel 7 Pro’s images look good enough. The Pixel 6 Pro’s ability to faithfully reproduce skin tones was one of its real strengths, and the Pixel 7 Pro continues to be the best phone on the market in this regard.
Undoubtedly, Google’s Real Tone feature helps by more accurately representing a wide range of skin tones and colors. The Pixel 7 Pro still performs admirably in low light, even if it’s not always top-of-the-line. Google kicked off the contemporary trend of night photography with its Night Sight feature. While I’ve frequently enjoyed the iPhone 14 Pro results, the Pixel is more reliable if you need more time to prep your shots.
It is much faster to take beautiful night shots. The shot is bright, thanks to Night Sight. This photo was taken in a much darker space than it looks. In addition, the details are preserved. Both the Zoom and Ultrawide cameras take quality photos. The ultrawide is slightly wider, allowing for more shooting space and a higher quality, more recognizable final image. The telephoto lens combines optical zoom with AI-infused software tricks to get you closer to an object.
Photos are good up to 5x magnification, but there’s a noticeable difference when software processing takes over; beyond that, the quality suffers. The results are well above those of the iPhone 14 Pro but are at a different level than those of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. The other camera features, which aren’t accessible, with the same quality elsewhere, make the Pixel camera wonderful, not just the photos.
Unblur, which does exactly what it says on the tin – makes blurry photos usable – is one of my favorite new features. This is not limited to images taken with the Pixel; I also used it to enhance some older images I had previously scanned into my Google Photos library from actual photographs. Even if it doesn’t always work, the ability to improve a dull photo of my dog or one of my grandparents will always be a useful tool.
Just as Magic Eraser has improved and become smarter over the past 12 months, I can only imagine this feature will do the same. Like Unblur, Magic Eraser lets you erase photobombs and bad stuff from photos and, in many cases, does a terrific job. The feature is smart enough to detect and remove any obvious background objects, such as people. Some things work differently.
The new Macro mode, which is only available on the Pro model, is inferior to other modes of a similar nature. Switching to this mode and getting closer to an object can capture more detail, but the results are frequently worse than those of specialist macro cameras. Video capture is different from the Pixel 7 Pro’s forte, too. The video I captured had a fair selection of stabilization choices and was quite passable, but it didn’t have the same gorgeous colors as the footage.
Performance
Along with significantly improving the design and camera setups of the Pixel 6 line, Google was also the first to use a chip it created. Tensor has never been the fastest semiconductor available; in benchmark tests, Apple and Samsung easily surpassed it. However, it has improved the phone’s AI capabilities in terms of on-device learning components and processing images generated by the camera.
It’s the same story with the Pixel 7 Pro. The Tensor G2 is intended to improve the capabilities of Google’s AI functions rather than directly competing with the performance of the A16 Bionic or 8 Plus Gen 1. I prefer these advantages to a few extra points obtained in a fictional test program like Geekbench. These benefits range from Real Tone and Face Unblur camera capabilities to unparalleled voice translation and transcription capabilities.
Whenever I don’t have a Pixel phone, I miss having the recording app. The best voice recording and transcription software I’ve ever used converts audio conversations into new text without an internet connection. Automatic captioning on the Pixel is also good, despite sometimes needing to catch up with faster-moving videos. Other features of Tensor-powered AI are plentiful. In some areas, the phone can answer obnoxious robocalls or convert them to text messages, so you don’t have to wait to find out if you pressed 1, 2, or 3.
Outside of AI, the Pixel 7 Pro’s software continues to feature several distinguishing features. For example, the Now Playing feature saves all music playing nearby and silently shows it to you on the lock screen. It’s comparable to Shazam, except you don’t even have to think about launching an app. Although Android 12 has emphasized widgets, the selection must be better than iOS. Except for those created by Google, the widgets in the apps I use frequently look like they were created five years ago and still need to be updated.
Even though performance isn’t the primary focus, the Pixel 7 Pro is fast and smooth in ways I’ve frequently felt Pixel phones lack. In my tests, games behaved exactly as they do on Qualcomm-equipped smartphones, and even a grueling game like Genshin Impact ran smoothly. The Tensor G2 processor is paired with 128 or 256 GB of storage and 12 GB of RAM (compared to 8 GB on the Pixel 7). There’s no additional storage as usual, so choose wisely if you don’t want to use the cloud.
The Pixel 7 Pro supports the faster 6E wifi standard, unlike the iPhone 14 series, which makes sense given that Google recently unveiled a Nest wifi Pro system that supports the 6E standard. Unlike many other devices, the Pixel 7 Pro remembers that it’s a phone. In addition to the automated features I’ve already highlighted, phone calls here sound amazing and filter out background noise effectively.
When pressing a key or receiving a notification, the haptic response is also excellent; you get sweet little pops back. It’s these little details that make using Pixel phones so enjoyable. Regarding software updates, Google guarantees at least five years of security updates and four years of properly numbered Android updates. Given that Samsung has something comparable and Google has full control over every aspect of this phone, a few more years would have been ideal.
Battery Life
The Pixel 7 Pro’s battery life and endurance aren’t particularly noteworthy. Unless you drastically restrict the smartphone’s capabilities with the new Extreme Power Saver, this phone will likely need to be charged every night. The tradeoffs aren’t usually worth it, but this mode can be useful for a festival or camping trip when you need that multi-day battery life. The Pixel 7 Pro’s battery life is usually between 10% and 15% at the end of the day, comparable to the figures obtained with the iPhone 14 Pro but significantly lower than the Pro Max’s.
And this is with the default setting of the screen, namely FHD +, selected, and Smooth Display activated. You can change the resolution to QHD+ (1440p) for a sharper image, but this will increase daily usage by around 3-5%. Even Google’s fast charging technology has yet to advance much. Although a full charge took me 80-90 minutes, and there is no charger in the box, chargers are compatible with up to 30w. This charges much slower than many of the best Android phones, with the OnePlus 10T charging from 0% to 100% in less than 20 minutes.
Our Final Verdict
Google has upgraded the Pixel 7 Pro similarly to how Apple made the right changes to the iPhone 14. It’s a better-designed Pixel 6 Pro, with a more comfortable design and a healthier chipset. Powerful. If you’re happy with your Pixel 6 Pro, there’s little reason to upgrade. The Pixel 7 Pro, however, is one of the phones I’ve enjoyed using the most this year if you’re upgrading from an older device, whether an Android or iOS device. The camera captures attractive and contrast-rich images in various lighting situations, and the app is loaded with smart AI features. The software experience is excellent, and the performance is excellent, if not the best.
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