Unlike other manufacturers, Google isn’t saturating the market with constant releases – the newly announced Pixel 7 Duo brings the total number of new phones for 2022 to just three (the other being the 6a). Those smaller phones are even smaller than Apple’s.
Like last year, there are two models – a small vanilla phone and a large Pro, and they serve the same roles as last year. The smaller one is cheaper ($600) and, well, smaller, the Pro has the better display and camera (given telephoto), but you pay more for it ($900). It looks like there might be a Plus model between the two, but not this year. Let’s take a closer look at the phones we found.
Google Pixel 7 Pro
The Pixel 7 Pro is the best phone from Google for the next 12 months or so, and it has true flagship features: a sharp, high-refresh-rate display, a large camera sensor, a wide/ultra-wide/tele lens combo, unique looks, security features, and long software support promises. .
Google Pixel 7 Pro
That said, there aren’t many differences from last year’s Pro. It all rides on the new Tensor G2 chipset and an improved telephoto camera. Let’s look at the chipset first.
It’s built on Samsung’s 4nm process, which isn’t as popular but is still an improvement over the 5nm node used for the original chip. The CPU is the same – 2x Cortex-X1 + 2x A76 and 4x A55, albeit with a slight bump in clock speed. More interesting is the GPU, the Mali-G710 MC10, which promises an increase in graphics performance and efficiency over the G78 but a 35% increase for machine learning tasks (which the Pixel Camera app uses the most). There’s also a new Tensor core and a new modem.
The next-gen Tensor Processing Unit can perform machine learning tasks 60% faster and 20% more efficiently. It’s responsible for features unique to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, like Photo Unblur – it uses Google’s advanced AI to remove blur and noise from old photos taken years ago on any old phone. It works to improve its own Pixel 7 cameras, of course, more on that in a second.
Just like last year, the phone comes with 12GB of RAM and you can choose from 128GB, 256GB and 512GB of storage. There’s no microSD slot, what you really get is a nano SIM slot and an eSIM for a second line.
Next, let’s look at the cameras. The main module still uses a 50MP 1/1.31-inch sensor (1.2µm) with a 4-in-1 binning option. The f/1.85 lens has an 82° field of view. If you want to capture more of the scene, there’s a 12MP ultra wide camera (1.25µm) with 125.8° FoV. An update this year is that the ultra-wide lens has autofocus, allowing it to take macro shots.
The main camera has optical image stabilization (OIS) as well as electronic stabilization, capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps and 60fps. The “Speech Enhancement” feature can now also be enabled in 4K/60fps mode. The phone can record 10-bit HDR video, and Google has partnered with developers of apps like Snapchat and TikTok to enable high-quality videos for them as well. The Camera app uses the machine learning capabilities of the Tensor G2 chipset to create cinematic blur or further stabilize handheld images.
Next, the phone camera. It now has a long lens with 5x optical zoom, up from 4x. The extra reach comes at the cost of a slightly smaller sensor (0.7µm pixels vs. 0.8µm), but it still has 48MP resolution, which allows for even more digital zoom through some special pixel magic. There’s a selfie camera to talk about, but we’ll leave that to the Pixel 7 review below.
The 6.71-inch AMOLED display on the Pixel 7 Pro puts it right next to its vanilla sibling. Not just in size, but because it’s a QHD+ LTPO panel, it has a variable refresh rate of 10-120Hz. The sides of the display aren’t as curved as last year’s, though they’re still expected with Gorilla Glass.
There’s also a fast and secure in-display fingerprint reader. Alternatively, you can use the more convenient front opening.
There are a few extras to mention, like the 5,000mAh battery – the same as last year. It supports fast charging (quick in pixel terms), wireless and vice versa wireless charging.
The phone has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It’s a millimeter shorter, but almost a millimeter shorter than last year’s model (we guess that’s the price to pay for a flat display). The phone’s metal chassis is made from 100% recycled aluminum.
For pricing and pre-order discounts, see below. Before that we will cover the small model.
Google Pixel 7 Pro in Obsidian, Hazel and Snow
Google Pixel 7
The Pixel 7 is a good deal cheaper and surprisingly smaller than the Pro model. It’s not as small as the cheaper 6a, but it’s as small as you get with premium Pixels. Like the Pro, a lot is riding on the Tensor G2 chipset (the 6a uses the original Tensor chip).
Google keeps the RAM at 8GB and you get a choice between 128GB and 256GB of storage. Like previous models, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are guaranteed to receive 3 major OS updates (up to v16) and 5 years of security patches.
Google Pixel 7
The 7 is slightly smaller than the 6 thanks to its 6.3-inch display (down from 6.4 inches). The phone’s physical dimensions are 155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7mm and 197g, compared to 158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9mm and 207g for its predecessor. The Galaxy S22 and iPhone 14 are smaller, so let’s call this one mid-sized.
The display is still a flat AMOLED panel with FHD+ resolution, but it has 25% higher peak brightness than the Pixel 6 display. This new panel still only has a 90Hz refresh rate, however. We’d love to see 120Hz this year, even without LTPO, but for what it’s worth, this phone is cheaper than the Galaxy S22 and iPhone 14 (if it has a 60Hz display).
That means the Pixel 7 has a slimmer 4,355mAh battery (down from 4,614mAh). However, more efficient hardware means that extreme battery saver mode can last 72 hours (up from 48 hours). Without it, you’re looking at 31 hours or more of regular service.
Like the Pro, the Pixel 7 uses a 50MP main camera (1/1.31”, 1.2µm before scaling). It’s paired with a 12MP ultra-wide camera and that’s it. For zoom, the phone relies on a relatively high-resolution main sensor and Google’s Super Res Zoom image processing (which has been improved, thanks to the extra processing power on the G2 chipset).
As promised, let’s talk about the selfie camera. A high-resolution sensor of 10.8MP (up from last year’s 8MP) and a wider field of view – 92.8° (up from 84°). Although the lens still has fixed focus. The same is true for a prom that uses the same camera module.
Google Pixel 7 in Obsidian, Lemongrass and Snow
Prices and discounts
The Google Pixel 7 starts at $600/€650/£600 for the 128GB unit, while the Pixel 7 Pro will set you back $900/€900/£850 (again with 128GB of storage). Pre-orders start today, with open sales starting a week later on the 13th. There are some pre-order perks too – the 7 Pro is bundled with a free Pixel Watch (the LTE version no less), while pre-ordering the Pixel 7 gets you a free pair of Pixel Buds Pro.
Check out this post for more info on pricing and availability for the new Pixel 7 phones (and some pre-order perks, too).