We spent over a week with the Google Pixel 7 Pro to get a true idea of how the phone stands up to everyday use.
Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones feature competitive prices, originally starting as low as $599 for the Pixel 7 and $899 for the Pixel 7 Pro. The Pixel 7 improved on specs and features and brought some fun new features along for the ride.
See what we think about the Google Pixel 7 and find out if it's the phone for you.
Editor's note: The Pixel 7 is no longer the newest Google Pixel device. Check out our full list of Google phones to see the newest offerings.
Is Google Pixel 7 right for you?
If you are looking for flagship smartphone features and one of the best cameraphones available at a price that beats out the likes of Apple and Samsung, the Google Pixel 7 or Google Pixel 7 Pro could be right for you.
What we love
- Low price compared to other flagships
- Cameras
- AI advances allow for a better experience
What could be improved
- Glossy aluminum and curved screen
- Overall performance
The essentials
- Performance: Google Tensor G2 (Pixel 7—8GB RAM)(Pixel 7 Pro—12GB RAM)
- Battery: 24+ hours
- Screen: 6.3" (Pixel 7), 6.8" (Pixel 7 Pro)
- Camera: Dual rear (Pixel 7), Triple rear (Pixel 7 Pro)
90/100
Why We Recommend Google Pixel 7
The Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are loaded with the kind of features you'd expect to see from top-of-the-line smartphones, like great cameras and fast performance. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider one of the new Pixels for your next mobile device.
What we like: Price
Of the flagship-level phones, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have the best starting prices. Are they the cheapest phones you can get? Of course not, but when you compare the $599 starting price of the Pixel 7 to the $799 starting price of the Apple iPhone 14, the Pixel 7 looks downright affordable.
What we like: Cameras
We'll get into more details on this later, but the cameras have always been the best features of Google's Pixel phones. The 7 series brings some nice upgrades to the cameras, like improved low-light shots, Macro Focus for extreme close-ups, better optical and digital zoom, and new features like blur correcting for photos and cinematic blur to add depth to videos.
What we like: Advanced AI
A new and more powerful chip gives the Pixel 7 series more AI juice, enabling features like voice memo transcription, so you don't have to awkwardly listen to your friends go on and on in a message when you're in the middle of a quiet crowd. You'll also have more control while in call funnels—like with customer service calls—to help you navigate through the call without having to repeat yourself a million times before the machine on the other side finally directs you to where you need to go.
What we don't like: Certain design elements
Overall, the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro look great, but after holding the Google Pixel 7 Pro, we've found some elements that could use a change. First, the waterfall curved display is more of a nuisance than it is at all practical. On more than one occasion, I found myself making accidental clicks while holding the phone due to the curved screen. The display is already very big, it doesn't need the very minimal additional space provided by the curved edge.
Second, the glossy aluminum casing of the 7 Pixel Pro is supposed to feel more sophisticated than a matte finish, but it's such a fingerprint magnet. Nothing feels very sophisticated about a bunch of fingerprints on the back of the phone.
What we don't like: Overall performance for power users
The average user is probably going to find very little wrong with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro's overall performance, and when I first got my hand on the 7 Pro, I was feeling very good about how the phone handled my demands. However, the longer I had the phone, the more I could feel that it wasn't quite as responsive and zippy as other flagship phones.
The phone's facial recognition and fingerprint reader seemed exceptionally slow. I ended up having to punch in my pin far too many times.
On the gaming front, the Pixel 7 Pro is adequate, and if you are a gamer, adequate just doesn't quite cut it. I didn't throw anything demanding at the 7 Pro, besides maybe a little too much Baseball 9 because my MLB team was nowhere to be found in this year's playoffs. The phone worked fine, though the battery did drain considerably faster. The Pixels aren't necessarily built to be the best gaming phones, but if they truly want to compete with some of the big names, they could use some improvement in this department.
Pixel 7 Features
As with seemingly most phones these days, most of the upgrades and new features for the Google Pixel 7 series revolve around the cameras. The Pixel 7 Pro unsurprisingly receives the bulk of the better features. Here are some of the highlights of Google's new devices.
Photo Unblur
Ever think you captured that perfect moment only to find out that blurriness has ruined the picture? With Google's new Photo Ublur available on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, you just might be able save that picture. The Pixel's computational capabilities will get right in there to clear away the blur and focus on the subject of the photo. You'll even be able to unblur old pictures.
I played around with Photo Unblur a little bit, but I couldn't see the huge differences. To be fair, I think that was more to do with me using the wrong images. I didn't really have the best blurry images to work with. For the most part, they were all perfectly crisp. Perhaps that says more about how good the cameras are. It's hard to take a blurry picture.
Better Night Sight
Pixel's Night Sight gets an upgrade with the 7 and 7 Pro. The phones can produce better images in the dark with less exposure, significantly cutting down on the time you need to try to remain as still as possible to avoid any noticeable blur on your photos.
Improved zoom
Watch enough major phone unveiling events, and you'll easily see that zoom is the frontier the big manufacturers are trying really hard to conquer with cameraphones. As advanced as flagship cameras are nowadays, those tiny lenses just can't really handle zoom all that well.
The new Pixels have room to grow, but their zooming capabilities are very serviceable.
The Pixel 7 phones utilize Super Res Zoom with its 50MP lens to allow for 2x zoom, converting all those megapixels down to a sharp 12MP image.
Note: If you look closely at the image above, you might spot where I used the Magic Eraser editing tool to get rid of an ugly orange sign that I thought didn't fit the rest of the nice landscape.
Meanwhile, the 7 Pro's telephoto lens can get you shots with up to 5x optical zoom. Not relying on digital tricks, the 5x zoom option gets you closer to the shot without any artificial smoothing and quality loss.
Using Super Res Zoom off of the telephoto lens, you can zoom in even further, reaching up to 30x digital zoom.
Plus, when you pinch in for extreme zooming, the Pixel's stabilization tech will help ensure that your slightest move isn't going to ruin the shot.
Big and light
The Google Pixel 7 Pro is a big phone, and that could be worrying to some. Manufacturers are throwing in as big of batteries as they can in their phones, and with the larger models, that can sometimes mean the phone is pretty heavy. However, that's not the case with the Google Pixel 7 Pro. Despite its size, it is a very light phone that is easy to carry around.
The curved edges give it an especially natural feeling in your hands, though, as stated earlier, we could go without the waterfall display.
All-day battery
Pixel 6 owners had mixed feelings about their phones' batteries, with many claiming that power depleted too fast. I did not experience this with the Google Pixel 7 Pro. What I did experience was all-day battery life. Not once was I anxious about the phone dying, and that was even true on a day when I streamed a complete NHL game and played games on the phone.
Display
The Pixel 7 Pro's 6.8" display is easy on the eyes. You'll get plenty of brightness, and pictures and videos shine through crystal clear. The Pro model has an adaptive refresh rate that ranges from 10Hz to 120Hz. Some fast scrolling through your favorite social media app will show off its ultra smoothness.
Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. iPhone 14 Pro
Now that we've spent a little time with the Google 7 Pro let's see how it measures up against the other big phone release of autumn 2022: the iPhone 14 Pro.
| Pixel 7 Pro | iPhone 14 Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Cameras | ||
| Processor | ||
| Display | ||
| RAM and storage | ||
| Software | ||
| Battery life and charging | ||
| Pricing | ||
| View details | View details |
When you dig into specs and benchmarks, the Google Pixel 7 Pro was never going to beat out the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. The Apple phones have a better display and a cream-of-the-crop processor. While the iPhone 14 Pro technically has less RAM, its optimized operating system and software don't need it. Plus, the iPhones have more storage options than the Pixels. Where the Pixel shines, like with cameras, the iPhone 14 Pros shine just as brightly.
However, the Google Pixel 7 Pro has the iPhone 14 Pro beat in one very important category. When it comes to pricing, the iPhone 14 Pro's starting price of $999 (or $1,099 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max) can't compete with the Pixel 7 Pro's starting price of $899. Saving $100 while still getting an excellent phone seems like a pretty great deal.
Recap: Is the Google Pixel 7 Right for You?
If you are an Android fan and you're the type that wants the latest tech upgrades, the Google Pixel 7 Pro could be the right phone for you. You're getting some of the best cameras available on any phone, plus a chip that, while it might not be made for the best performance, is tuned to improve your overall experience by giving you better tools to use on the phone. Plus, since it's no longer the newest Google Pixel, you can probably find it at a great price.
We don't think the Google Pixel 7 or Google Pixel 7 Pro is for anybody who is happy with their current device. These are excellent phones, but if your phone is only two years old, and it's still running well, you're probably not going to get blown away by the new devices.
But if you can't wait to upgrade, take a look at these Google Pixel 7 plans:
Google Pixel 7 128GB
| Description | |
|---|---|
| Screen Size | 6.3" |
| Available On | 75 Plans from 3 carriers |
| Available From |
|
| Priced From | $15 per month + $946 upfront |
| View Full Details |
Google's 2022 model powered by Google's newest processor, Tensor G2, featuring Android 13, a built-in VPN by Google One, and improved camera technology with photo un-blur, cinematic blur, speech enhancement, and 10-bit HDR
Methodology
To rate the Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro, we spent over one week using the 7 Pro as our primary mobile device, keeping track of how the phone performed in everyday normal use. We considered the responsiveness of the phone, its speed, and ease of use. We also took several pictures in different settings to understand and rate the phone's cameras.
After an initial review of the phone, we also compared the Pixel 7 Pro to other flagship phones from different manufacturers. We especially compared the phone closely with the iPhone 14 Pro.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have facial identification?
Yes, Google brought face identification back to the Pixel 7 phones while also keeping the under-the-screen fingerprint reader, giving you two ways to unlock your device.
Should I upgrade to Pixel 7 from Pixel 7?
The Pixel 7 phones aren't a hugely significant upgrade from the Pixel 6 series. If your current phone is working well, we don't think it's necessary to upgrade to Pixel 7.
What is the difference between Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro?
The Google Pixel 7 Pro is the more sophisticated version of the new Pixel 7 series. It has bigger upgrades, including wider cameras and a slicker design. It also has more memory and a larger display than the base Pixel 7.
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