The Google Pixel 7 has been round for some time now, but when something, that speaks to the sheer energy of this superb compact Android flagship.
Why? Properly not solely does it proceed to be among the finest choices out there, because of its clear, easy UI, zippy Tensor G2 chipset, and that immensely spectacular digicam system, however it’s even higher worth for cash.
With nicely over $200/£100 off, Google is placing your entire flagship market on blast. Proper now, you may choose up the Pixel 7 for simply $449 from Amazon (U.S.) (opens in new tab) and £460 from Amazon (U.Ok.) (opens in new tab).
So, whereas we’re at concerning the midway mark to the inevitable Google Pixel 8 announcement, I’m going to inform you why you shouldn’t wait. As a result of with the 7, you’re getting the perfect of Google.
Google Pixel 7 worth and configurations
So, whereas I may go on concerning the retail worth being set at $599/£599, the fact is that Google is all the time discounting the Pixel 7.
The bottom spec with 128GB storage and 8GB of RAM is at present $449 from Amazon (U.S.) (opens in new tab) and £460 from Amazon (U.Ok.) (opens in new tab). Comparatively, it utterly trounces the Samsung Galaxy S23 when it comes to worth (at present $250 extra (opens in new tab)), the Xiaomi 13 (at present practically £400 extra (opens in new tab)), and the iPhone 14 ($350 extra (opens in new tab)).
Google Pixel 7 design
In case you received your eyes and fingers on the Google Pixel 6, then you definately’re going to be very conversant in this manner issue. It’s the identical glass slab interrupted by that assertion piece of a digicam bar, which I do know has divided opinions, however I’m fairly a fan of — primarily as a result of the cellphone doesn’t wobble when positioned on a desk.
Nonetheless, this time Google has made some small, however welcome refinements. First, you’ll discover that the two-tone end beneath and above the digicam bump is now gone. The one colour makes it look much less toy-like to me, and offers it a extra upmarket aesthetic. And second, the digicam bar itself is now a matte aluminum that feels extra luxurious to the contact.
For a pair years, the compact Xiaomi flagships have felt very acquainted. That is the 12 months the corporate took an enormous step up within the premium appear and feel as a result of the 13 is an actual stunner. From the flat show with completely symmetrical bezels to the aluminum bumper and subtly curved glass again, each a part of this feels effortlessly luxurious-yet-accessible.
Breaking down the specifics, at 6.13 x 2.88 x 0.34 inches and a weight of 6.95 ounces, this isn’t probably the most compact cellphone you will get. The Xiaomi 13 (6.01 x 2.81 x 0.3 inches, 6.5 ounces) and iPhone 14 (5.78 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches, 6.1 ounces) are each smaller and lighter, and the S23 is taller however extra slender (6.76 x 2.79 x 0.3 inches, 5.9 ounces).
However when it comes to really feel within the hand and presence in your skinny jean pockets, the upmarket development is impressively compact — mixed with a assured sturdiness and IP68 water and dirt resistance.
Google Pixel 7 show
Hit the facility button, and the Pixel 7’s 6.3-inch, AMOLED show involves life — exhibiting off the crisp 1080 x 2400-pixel decision, 90Hz refresh charge, HDR10+ and a formidable brightness.
In private expertise, it’s vibrant, vivid, and welcoming of all content material. Firing up the newest season of Drive to Survive on Netflix reveals colours that simply pop off the show, alongside the deeper tones exhibiting off a great distinction ratio and HDR depth.
Breaking down the specifics with some lab testing, we’re seeing the Pixel 7 do admirably nicely. Unsurprisingly, the color-rich magic and brightness of the Galaxy S23 pulls out forward, however the iPhone does have a tough battle with the Pixel in some key areas like viewing open air — even with out the Pixel’s adaptive colour turned on.
| Show benchmark | Google Pixel 7 | iPhone 14 | Samsung Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brightness (with adaptive brightness on) | 926 nits | 757 nits | 1002 nits |
| DCI-P3 colour gamut | 77.4% (pure colour) | 83.10% | 91.1% (pure colour) |
| Delta-E colour accuracy | 0.28 | 0.25 | 0.24 |
And with a 90Hz refresh charge, it slots simply in between the 120Hz of the Galaxy S23, and the 60Hz of the iPhone. Placing the Pixel side-by-side with the latter reveals simply how a lot of a distinction that small enhance does to display screen fluidity.
Google Pixel 7 audio
The Pixel 7 packs stereo audio system and no 3.5mm headphone jack. By this level, the latter is no surprise in any respect, however will all the time be a bit of disappointing. You’ll be able to resolve that drawback with a pair of the finest wi-fi headphones.
As for the audio system, you’re getting what’s to be anticipated of any good flagship — a scarcity of bass (they’re tiny tweeters in spite of everything), however robust definition with no distortion. The guttural screens of Follow Your Weapons’ “No one” are nicely balanced alongside the beating energy chords and blitzkrieg of drums.
Google Pixel 7 efficiency
That is the place issues get a bit of fascinating. As we already know, the Tensor chipset isn’t essentially focussed on uncooked energy, however fairly making the vary of duties you do together with your cellphone less complicated. For instance, Google has prioritized machine-learning workloads that do a terrific job in additional precisely translating languages in real-time and taking higher photos.
However let’s not ignore the elephant that took some time to get within the room. When wanting on the pure efficiency of the Tensor G2 chip within the Pixel 7, it’s a little bit of a slouch when evaluating it to the A15 Bionic and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2s of the world.
| Efficiency benchmark | Google Pixel 7 | iPhone 14 | Samsung Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 5 single-core | 1054 | 1727 | 1522 |
| Geekbench 5 multicore | 3021 | 4553 | 4876 |
| Adobe Premiere Rush video export | 0:47.6 | 0:28.3 | 00:39 |
Not solely that, however the huge gulf in {hardware} functionality widens even additional once you have a look at graphical efficiency — making this a tough cellphone to advocate in case your coronary heart is ready on performing some gaming.
| Gaming benchmark | Google Pixel 7 | iPhone 14 | Samsung Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Wild Life | 6574 | Maxed out! | Maxed out! |
| 3DMark Wild Life Limitless (stress take a look at) | 6727 | 11531 | 14588 |
| 3DMark Wild Life Excessive | 1847 | 2939 | 3849 |
Nonetheless, very like the Nothing cellphone (1), that statistical drop didn’t translate right into a gradual expertise. In truth, throughout nearly all of apps I used, display screen responsiveness is lightning quick always, and even below strenuous multitasking stress, the cellphone is buttery clean.
So what’s happening right here? As I mentioned, the Tensor chip is purpose-built by Google to prioritize frequent makes use of of a smartphone and make them smarter. This may be felt when utilizing social media apps, within the attractive pictures you may seize and throughout Google’s suite of apps.
In case you enterprise additional out into the likes of Genshin Affect and Actual Racing 3, you can begin to see some slowdown. So in the event you do need the perfect gaming expertise, the Pixel 7 ain’t it. However for virtually every little thing else, you’re not going to see any issues right here.
Google Pixel 7 battery Life & charging
The Pixel 7’s battery capability takes a dive when in comparison with the Pixel 6: 4,355mAh in comparison with 4,500mAh. And whereas the Tensor G2 and Android 13 do a great job with energy administration, software program optimization is not any match for extra juice.
| Battery benchmark | Google Pixel 7 | Google Pixel 6 | iPhone 14 | Samsung Galaxy S23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery rundown take a look at (no adaptive smoothness) | 07:30:30 | 07:56:41 | 09:28:00 | 11:20:59 |
| Cost % after half-hour of charging | 41% | 29% | 54% | 55% |
As you may see, it falls far behind the Pixel 6, iPhone 14 and Samsung Galaxy S23 when it comes to pure stamina, and this correlates into actual world use. In my regular day’s use together with a number of hours of net searching, listening to podcasts and Spotify all day, loads of social media use, pictures, gaming, and watching YouTube movies within the night), the Pixel 7 went flat after roughly seven hours.
This meant I wanted to have some type of charging prepared if I used to be spending a complete day away from my desk (or pray for a wi-fi charger within the desk at my native cafe). The 20W charging can enhance it again as much as 41% in half-hour, and in my expertise, again as much as full in simply over an hour.
All-in-all, you’re gonna have to ensure you have one among our finest energy banks with you always — in case you’re caught in a clutch second.
Google Pixel 7 cameras
I mentioned it earlier than when confessing to be an iPhone stan, and I’ll say it once more — the Google Pixel 7 has the perfect digicam system I’ve ever used in relation to producing clear, expressive pictures with the best of ease in just about all lighting circumstances.
Very like the Pixel 6, you’re getting a 50MP most important digicam with an f/1.9 aperture, and a 12MP ultrawide with f/2.2. Comparatively normal specs once you take into consideration the various 100MP (and even 200MP) monsters you see on the market. However Google’s magic is available in not simply the seize high quality, however in its software program too.
The readability captured by the primary shooter is implausible, because of the pixel-binning doing a number of work in sustaining loads of element. Colours are barely cooler than what you’d anticipate from the vividity of the Samsung Galaxy S23 — leaning a bit of nearer to the iPhone’s colour science (which I’m an enormous fan of).
Picture 1 of 5
However the large win right here for Pixel is its dealing with of distinction. You see, as an alternative of leaning too onerous on HDR pictures to stability the lighting throughout every little thing, this digicam permits the lights to light up a scene and the darkish sections to be darker, which makes for an altogether extra dramatic shot.
Not solely that, however it performs very nicely in low gentle too, as night time time bar photographs are not any drawback in anyway. Due to the mixture of that sensor and Google’s AI smarts, this can be a superior digicam to something I’ve used on a cellphone up to now.
Surprisingly, this kind of extends to the ultrawide too. Positive, at 12MP, you’re not getting the element you’ll see in increased decision choices in different telephones, however that very same crispiness and depth comes via on this 110-degree lens to make this a very enjoyable digicam to make use of.
Flipping spherical to the entrance, the 8MP selfie digicam can also be admirable at offering a pleasant balanced colour profile to your face, together with nice low gentle efficiency and sharp focus to get these group selfies on the bar.
For video, the Pixel 7 has taken a step up with some warmly welcome options. After all, the lens has OIS, which does a great job of maintaining issues comparatively shake free in 4K. However identical to pictures, the magic comes with software program. Cinematic Blur intelligently pulls out the topic of a shot and provides a pleasant bokeh to every little thing else.
Don’t get me incorrect, in relation to video you’d wish to do work with, the iPhone continues to reign supreme. However Google simply took a step forward of the Android pack when it comes to video seize high quality.
Google Pixel 7 Android 13
No frills and no bloatware. Simply Android 13 with some good Google integrations.
The UI is a clear, intuitive interpretation of Android — a rarity amongst many different OEMs. Plus, via assistance from machine studying (because of the Tensor G2 chipset), Google pulls off some large comfort options. These embrace dialog transcription, the ‘Now Enjoying’ perform that’s all the time listening out for background music, and my private favourite: Name Screening.
Within the latter, Google’s voice assistant can mainly take over any calls and can help you reply to them just by typing responses. For somebody as socially awkward as me, that may be a true blessing.
As for future proofing, Google has dedicated to 3 main Android updates and 5 years of safety tweaks. That provides respectable longevity, however is one 12 months lower than the Galaxy S23 and falls wanting the roughly 5 main iOS updates and 6+ years of safety updatesiPhone 14.
Backside Line
So, let’s put all of this again into the context of the place the Google Pixel 7 is now. We’re six months down the street from its launch — the halfway level of its cycle earlier than we inevitably see a Google Pixel 8.
And whereas I’m certain that cellphone will repair a number of the problems with the Pixel 7, resembling placing a much bigger battery in it, the fact is that at this discounted worth, you’re not going to discover a higher cellphone. The pictures is a number of the finest you’ll ever see, the Tensor efficiency is speedy throughout the apps that matter, and that Google UI expertise is unmatched when it comes to intelligence and comfort.
If you wish to wait, do it. However you’d be simply as proud of a Pixel 7 now.
