The new Pixel 7 series is finally here after last year’s ‘relaunch’ of the Pixel line which saw the introduction of a new design aesthetic, focus on upper-tier, flagship level specs and the introduction of Google’s own Tensor processor. One year on, it seems Google has learned a lot about their custom silicon, how to push the AI capabilities of their handsets even further and hone their design approach even more, which brings us to the new Pixel 7 Pro.
This is undoubtedly the most premium, feature-packed and future-proofed Pixel device yet and we’ve been playing with it for a week now. Having moved from the Pixel 6 Pro to this new 7 Pro, some improvements and features were instantly noticeable while others took a bit longer. Are they all for the better though? Here is our review of the new Google Pixel 7 Pro.
Design & Build Quality
As I said at the start, this is definitely Google’s most premium-looking handset to date. As you can see, the Pixel 7 Pro looks very similar to its predecessor; featuring the same camera bar on the back, which was the most notable element of the Pixel 6 range’s design, as well as the same hole punch enclosure for the selfie camera on the front. But there are some differences.
Like the Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 7 Pro has a 6.7″ screen, but is now capable of 25% higher brightness in bright outdoor settings, which a peak brightness of around 1,500 nits. It’s a 120hz LTPO AMOLED panel which isn’t as curved as last year’s model so definitely a steps towards the more desirable ‘flat’ look, which can actually be found on the smaller Pixel 7.
Underneath the display is a much improved optical fingerprint sensor, which is noticeable quicker than the one found in last year’s Pixel 6 series. If that’s not enough, Google also included Face Unlock via the front facing camera which, when in adequate lighting environments, works pretty flawlessly but once it gets too dark, you’re going to have to use the fingerprint scanner.
Design-wise, gone is the multi-part, glass panel structure which housed last year’s camera array with a new all-metal strip that blends directly into the sides of the device, with 4 punch holes in the strip to house the triple camera system and flash. In the hand, it feels slightly more angular over the Pixel 6 Pro and this can be attributed to the slightly flatter curvature of the front of the device.
We’ve been reviewing the ‘Hazel’ model of the 7 Pro and, as you can see, its metal body has a shiny gold finish which definitely helps to make the device look even more premium. Looking at Google’s own online store, it looks to be the most popular colour option available too with no stock available for pre-order as of the time of writing.
The dual speaker system returns, one downward firing bottom speaker and another front facing top speaker in the speaker grille, providing loud and clear audio for videos, music, gaming and video calls. Overall, the 7 Pro is a great media-consumption device, thanks to its improved display and impressive audio output.
Software
As we all know, hardware is only one half of the equation when it comes to the performance and capabilities of all modern day smartphones, especially when dealing with flagship level devices. With the new Pixel 7 line, Google has introduced their brand new, custom-built Tensor G2 processor. With the performance capabilities of this custom chip, Google is able to pull off some very impressive software features right across the device, especially when it comes to real-time speech interpretation and general AI performance improvements.
The original Tensor processor on the Pixel 6 line was already impressive for its live transcription abilities but the Pixel 7 line can now handle even more languages and speakers via its built-in Recorder app, all while being handled directly on the device, thanks to Tensor G2. Having used the Recorder for a couple of meetings, its speed and accuracy in capturing what’s being said is second to none and it’s a fantastic tool for journalists for interviews, press conferences and any other time you need to capture audio in text form, quickly and easily.
Following on from this, you can now use these new transcription services in Google’s own Messages app also, whenever someone sends you a voice note. The app will automatically transcribe whatever is said in the voice note into a text message so you can reply without having to listen to what was said. While we didn’t use the feature that much during our testing, when we did, it worked pretty seamlessly, we just wish they added support for third party apps like WhatsApp but, for now, it’s a Google Messages exclusive.
Gaming on the Pixel 7 Pro was smooth and responsive even though, when looking at Geekbench scores online, the new Tensor chip doesn’t really sit in the top-tier of modern flagship processors. Thanks to the upgraded 12GB RAM though, we had no issues playing the likes of Genshin Impact or Marvel’s Future Revolution and they both looked great on the bright 120hz display.
Early Software Bugs
There’s no denying that last year’s Pixel 6 range wasn’t without its software issues, with its buggy notifications and questionable network connection capabilities for some users. We’ve been testing the Pixel 7 Pro on pre-release software and while the majority of our experience with the phone has been great so far, there are still a couple of issues we hope are corrected in a near-future software update.
For example, when Face Unlock is enabled and you select for it to skip past the lock screen to your home screen, our notifications and media player never showed up on our lock screen, even after making sure they were all enabled to.
Also, we’ve had a couple of issues with notifications not registering on the device at all with us manually having to go into the likes of WhatsApp to see if we’ve got any messages. Sometimes, they’d come through no problem while others, the device simply wouldn’t vibrate or make a sound. Again, hopefully this is something Google can iron out in a future update.
These minor bugs aside, overall, the capabilities of the new Tensor G2, running along side Android 13 and Material You, make the Pixel 7 Pro one of the most intuitive, approachable and helpful devices out there.
Cameras
Ever since the first Pixel device, Google has had an edge over the competition when it comes to AI powered camera technology and, with the latest Pixel 7 Pro, this is definitely their ‘smartest’ and most versatile camera system yet. Packed inside the rear camera bar is a triple camera system made up of a 50MP main f/1.85, 1.2-micron pixels, 1/1.31-inch, octa-PD autofocus lens with OIS, a 12MP ultrawide f/2.2, 1.25-micron pixels, 125.8-degree FoV sensor and finally, an upgraded 48MP 5x telephoto f/3.5, 0.7-micron pixels, PDAF periscope style lens.
As a package, this is the best Google has created yet and the Pixel 7 Pro’s cameras are capable of capturing some truly impressive content.
One of the most impressive camera features, only capable thanks to the new Tensor G2 processor, is ‘Photo Unblur’. The title is quite self-explanatory but the results are pretty impressive. Google uses its AI smarts and the new S2 chip to help unblur photos, both taken with the phone or any older blurry images you might have in Google Photos.
Below is an example of a selfie I purposefully blurred to test the feature and, I have to say, I’m impressed with how well it managed to ‘unblur’ the image. There is still a small bit of ‘ghosting’ around my eyes but overall, it’s quite an effective feature and handy to have.
Moving on to the improved zooming capabilities of the Pixel 7 Pro, which now sports a 5x optical zoom lens, up from the 4x found in the 6 Pro, along with the AI capabilities of the Tensor G2 to improve upon Google’s already impressive ‘Super Res Zoom’ feature.
Below you can see a range of images captured at each of the main focal lengths, starting with the ‘0.5x’ ultra-wide lens, moving onto the ‘1x’ main lens, then the ‘2x’ digital cropped main sensor, 5x optical zoom lens, 10x Super Res Zoom and finally, the 30x max zoom.
The upgraded Night Sight capabilities are also impressive with a much quicker capture time, along with the ability to play around with exactly how long you’d like the exposure to last, thanks to the ‘timer’ button which pops up when in low light conditions.
The new ultra-wide lens is also much more competent at capturing impressive low light scenes as well.
I was very impressed with the versatility of this new feature, and it definitely allows for much more flexibility in terms of the type of images you can capture from various distances. While you might not be printing a ’30x zoom’ image to hang on the wall, it’s definitely more than suitable for social sharing, if only to show off how impressive the feature is!
The ultra-wide lens on the is also noticeable wider than the admittedly limited one found in the 6 Pro, going from 114 degrees to 125.8 on the 7 Pro.
Below is a comparison slider of two images taken from the exact same spot with both phones with, as you’d expect, the wider field of view image taken with the new ultra-wide lens on the 7 Pro.
Here’s another sample of the ultra-wide, showcasing its impressive HDR capabilities, like last year’s 6 Pro as well.
Returning from their debut on the Pixel 6 series is the ‘Action Pan’ and ‘Long Exposure’ modes which, again, use the device’s AI smarts to capture some pretty striking shots.
Unsurprisingly, the ‘Magic Eraser’ tool also returns on the Pixel 7 series, after being lauded as one of the stand out features during the launch of the Pixel 6 series. As the name suggests, Magic Eraser is a quick way to remove elements from a photo you might not want. You can take a photo and then in the ‘Tools’ section in Google Photos, you can open it up and tidy the image.
The way it works is the Google Photos will scan the image to see if it can detect anything to remove, such as people in the background, for example. If it’s something more obscure or not that obvious, you can just manually trace your finger over the elements you want to remove. You can even pinch zoom to make those removals even more precise.
You’ll see that the crane has been removed from the above ultra-wide camera sample in the below example of Magic Eraser in action.
The ‘Camouflage’ feature, which first debuted on the Pixel 6a earlier this year, is a bit more discreet and helps reduce brightly coloured objects in photos that can necessarily be removed by the Magic Eraser tool. Below you’ll see the red cars in the car park have been ‘muted’ to a brown/grey colour.
The new ultra-wide lens is not only wider, but now also supports auto focus so Google has introduced a ‘Macro Mode’ option which automatically enables itself when you bring the camera close enough to an object, even as close as 3cm. This is a great little party trick and also a really cool way to see tiny details on objects/plants up close.
The Pixel 7 Pro also has improved video capture capabilities with 4K/60fps achievable across all 4 cameras, including the 10.8mp Selfie camera, which continues to do a fantastic job of edge detection in the dedicated ‘Portrait’ mode.
Google has also launched their own ‘Cinematic’ mode which has an artificial blur to your videos to give them that DLSR, shallow depth of feel look.
In testing, the effect actually works quite well but, unfortunately, is limited to 1080p/24fps, which is what Apple’s implementation of the featured started with on last year’s iPhone 13 handsets before being upgraded to 4K with this year’s new 14 series. Hopefully Google is able to push the Tensor G2 chip to this level in one of its future Pixel Feature Drops.
Rounding out some of the new video capturing features on the Pixel 7 series, Google added 10-bit 4K/30fps HDR video capture and have partnered up with the likes of Snapchat, TikTok and Facebook to ensure their apps support HDR video content being uploaded and shared on their platforms. HDR video playback on the Pixel 7 Pro’s own display looks vibrant and colourful but, just to be aware, it does use up significantly more storage when compared to non HDR video capture, given all the metadata that’s being captured.
Overall, I’m a really big fan of all the improvements Google has made to their camera system and the Pixel 7 Pro can now confidentially stand toe to toe with the likes of Samsung’s Ultra line and the latest iPhone 14 devices.
Battery
The Pixel 7 Pro packs the same 5000mAh battery as found in the 6 Pro from last year and also supports the same 23W ‘fast’ charging along with ‘fast’ wireless charging, to to 21W, on the 2nd Gen Google Pixel Stand. Right now, we’re averaging between 4.5-6 hours of screen-on time with medium to heavy usage (given this is during the review period and we’re testing many different features) and we’re still making it to the end of the day with about 10-20% battery.
While we’re still in the early days of really seeing the longevity of the Pixel 7 Pro’s battery and the upgraded power-efficiency of the G2 chip, battery life appears to be getting better each additional day we use it. This could be down to Pixel’s ‘Adaptive Battery’ feature which learns how you use your phone over time and tries to extend battery life as long as possible. We hope this trend continues and our battery life gets even better but, for now, it definitely gets us through a busy day.
Conclusion
The Pixel 7 Pro is definitely a marked improvement over the Pixel 6 Pro with its upgraded optics, feature-rich AI capabilities, thanks to the new Tensor G2 processor and sleeker, more premium design.
Thankfully, even with all these notable upgrades, Google has kept the pricing the same as last year also so, for €899, you really are getting one of the best flagship-level handsets available on the market today at a very competitive price.
Pixel 7 Pro Pricing & Availability
The Pixel 7 Pro is available for pre-order now from the the official Google Store and will start shipping from tomorrow.
The new Pixel 7 series will also be available through Currys in Ireland.
It’s priced at €899 for the 128GB model and €999 for the 256GB version.
It comes in three colour options, Obsidian (black with dark grey encasing) Snow (white with silver encasing) and Hazel (grey/sage green with gold encasing.)
REVIEW: Pixel 7 Pro
- Design & Build Quality
- Software
- Camera
- Battery
Summary
The Pixel 7 Pro is definitely a marked improvement over the Pixel 6 Pro with its upgraded optics, feature-rich AI capabilities, thanks to the new Tensor G2 processor and sleeker, more premium design.
