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Google Pixel 7 Review 2024: The Great Flagship Screen Size

Pixel 7 may be the best smartphone you’ve ever used. Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 look the same. Not only are they the same price, but how can a phone launched in 2021 and one launched in 2022 be the same, even though the Pixel 7 has major hardware upgrades?

Pixel 7 builds on Google’s computational professional photography expertise to capture sharp images while offering new features like Photo Unblur to rescue blurry shots. There is also a new cinematic blur feature for videos. Powered by the Tensor G2 chip as the processor, it offers other new experiences and capabilities for the Pixel 7 line.

Pros

Cons

Compact and friendly design
Bright display
Excellent $599 starting price
Overall good image quality with the signature Pixel look
Good battery life

The ultra-wide camera is still not wide enough
Some camera quirks and shutter lag
Not very inspiring performance-wise

Google Pixel 7 Release Date And Price

Google Pixel 7 was officially announced on October 6, 2022, at the annual Made by Google event and was released in the United States on October 13.

The price of the device starts from USA $599 / UK £449, as Google correctly mentioned. The iPhone 14 starts at $699 in the US. So if you choose Google, you can get a comparable flagship at a lower price of $100. The older Galaxy S20 is still available from Samsung at $699, but it’s $100 more than Google’s phone. The Pixel 7 has additional configurations, with the 256GB model starting at $699 in the United States.

Google Pixel 7 Specifications:

Body: 155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7 mm, 197gm, Aluminum frames, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, IP68 dust/water resistant
Display: 6.3-inches OLED panel, 90Hz refresh rate, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Other Properties: Up to 1,000 nits brightness (HDR), Up to 1,400 nits (peak)
Color Options: Obsidian (Black), Snow (Silver), Lemongrass (Light Green)
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 416 PPI, 20:9 aspect ratio
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Single Nano + eSIM), WiFi 6E a/b/g/n/ac/ax (Dual-band), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS / AGPS / Galileo / Glonass / QZSS, USB-C port, NFC, 4G LTE (VoLTE), 5G
Memory: 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
Software & UI: Android 13
Rear Camera: Dual (with dual LED flash);
– Wide: 50 MP, f/1.9, 25mm (wide), 1/1.31″, 1.2µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, Laser AF, OIS
– Ultrawide: 12MP, f/2.2, 114° FoV
– Spectral and flicker sensor
Front Camera: 10.8MP, f/2.2 sensor, 92.8° FoV
Audio: Built-in stereo speakers, 3 microphones, Noise suppression, No 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: In-display fingerprint sensor (optical)
Chipset: Google Tensor G2 5G (5nm mobile platform),
CPU: Octa-core:
– 2x Cortex-X1 (2.85 GHz)
– 2x Cortex-A78 (2.35 GHz)
– 4x Cortex-A55 (1.80 GHz)
GPU: Arm Mali-G710 MP7
Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient light, Barometer, Gyrometer, Magnetometer, Proximity
Battery: 4355mAh with up to 20W fast charging (no power adapter provided)

Google Pixel 7 Design & Colors

When I first saw these phones, I thought to myself, “Google, what are you doing?” The two-tone colors we had earlier were more attractive than the flat color options we have now.

And there was something quite cool and mysterious about how the last phones had this whole continuous band that was filled with unspecified Google Camera magic, whereas now it’s a little more standard, like, well, this bit here is a camera lens. This bit is, well, space. But since then, the Pixel 7 has grown on me a lot.

I’m starting to appreciate the slightly more rounded corners, the clickier power button, how the sides now seamlessly connect to the rear camera visor, as opposed to feeling like it’s a separate piece, and how the back is now made of more scratch-resistant plaster than last time. More than anything, I’m glad they kept this visor at all. This is a good design choice.

This gives your fingers a natural place to rest, which other cameras don’t have. Even in landscape mode, when you play games on this phone, you’ll find it useful as an extra way to hold the phone. And indeed, the benefit of having a matte finish this time makes that action feel a little less icky.

Not to mention that because the visor even covers the entire back, it makes the phone lie flat when resting on a table.

Speaking of colors, the Pixel 7 colors have been revealed as black, white, and an attractive new lemongrass color. All the great-looking Pixel 7 has Corning’s tough and very scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass Victus on both the front and back, and it’s also equipped with a fingerprint-resistant coating, which helps it retain its pristine appearance as long as you play with it. Why not?

Google Pixel 7 Display

The 6.3-inch AMOLED display on the Pixel 7 and the 6.4-inch AMOLED display on the Pixel 6 have a 0.1-inch difference. But the aspect where I genuinely think the Pixel 7 could have done better is in the display department.

But more importantly, it only refreshes at 90Hz. And because of this, I did not find the Pixel 7 to be as smooth as I had hoped.
So yeah, Google should have given a 120Hz refresh rate here, just like the Pro model for that added fluidity. The overall quality of the display is good though, if not flagship level good. The peak brightness is now at 1400 nits, so it’s plenty bright.

HDR10 Plus works really well on all streaming platforms, and the color accuracy is also appreciable. I am also enjoying typing on this thing, which is partly because of how good the haptic feedback is.

Google Pixel 7 Camera

The Pixel 7 has two cameras: a 50-megapixel main one and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. And I think you could make a pretty strong argument that there is no better camera system available for less than $600.

Step one of that is photo processing. When you take a photo on the Pixel 7 and open it up, you’ll always notice that it spends a second or two processing that image. Every phone does this to some extent, but there is no phone that improves the result as much as this can.

It’s gotten to the stage now where the processing is so good that I’ve just come to trust the Pixel 7. I trust that even though things may not necessarily look the best in the camera preview when I click that shutter button, the phone will figure it out.

The fact that this phone has no zoom camera and yet can still take photos this sharp at eight times magnification, thanks to the same AI, is frankly absurd. Not to mention that in low light, while this isn’t a giant leap over last year’s Pixel, the fact that it captures those night shots in less time, leading to fewer blurry photos, combined with better dynamic range than the iPhone 14 Pro that controls the bright spots, keeps it very much on par with the best phones out there.

iPhone 14 Pro vs. Pixel 7 Pro Cameras Tested

The only caveats are a slightly exaggerated color palette, which I don’t hate, to be honest, and a slightly weaker ultrawide camera, which becomes apparent when you look at the sky in this shot. But here’s even more important news: Google has significantly improved the video.

It’s not as good as the photos, but they have taken it from one of the weakest Android flagships for video to one of the strongest. It’s still not quite at the iPhone’s level of clarity, especially on that selfie camera.

But this is still not to be laughed at. It picks up voices clearly, thanks to something Google calls speech enhancement, which gets rid of background noise. The autofocus is now surprisingly precise. You can pick out really fine objects and still nail the focus. And then if you want to focus on something moving, you have the best-tracked focus available on a smartphone.

The new cinematic mode also benefits from this impeccable focus tracking, but the fact that it’s capped at 1080p versus the iPhone, which can now do 4K, makes me not really want to use it.

Google Pixel 7 Performance

The Pixel 7 comes with the Google Tensor G2 chipset, while the Pixel 6 is powered by the first-generation Google Tensor.

I have the new second-gen Tensor chip co-developed with Samsung called Tensor G2, but its performance leap is not that significant. Sadly, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 and even the last-gen A15 Bionic are still faster and will yield better performance, say, in two to three years.

I found the Pixel 7 does a better job than the Pixel 6. You can now play games at higher graphics settings and achieve better-sustained stability as well. Still, Tensor has a long way to go to match the raw performance of Apple or Qualcomm chips.

If you’re a serious mobile gamer, then you’ll still get better performance on a proper gaming phone. But at the same time, it is a massive relief that we finally got enough power that it doesn’t feel compromised. You can still pull up even the most heavyweight games Android has to offer like Apex Legends and Genshin Impact, and pretty much max out the settings.

But this Tensor G2 chip is not just about gaming. I don’t think Google mentioned gaming in their entire presentation. The key things that they focused on are how it benefits the day-to-day software experience and how it benefits the camera. And these are no joke, the two best things about the Pixel 7s. For one, the improved AI core added to it can make your phone better able to understand your voice.

Google Pixel 7 OS / Android version / Software

When it comes to the software and performance of the Google Pixel 7, there’s good news—it’s a standout. The phone runs on the same G2 Tensor chipset found in the Pixel 7 Pro, and both devices share identical performance specs for their base models. As a result, the Pixel 7 delivers an experience that’s nearly indistinguishable from its Pro counterpart.

When comparing the base models, the specs are virtually identical, translating to similar real-world performance. This refinement has made the Pixel 7 far more reliable and less prone to issues, unlike the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro at their launch last year. Android 13, while more of an iterative update over Android 12, has addressed many of the earlier pain points and delivers a much smoother experience.

there’s one observation I want to highlight. Using Nova Launcher on the Pixel 7 Pro felt effortless and enjoyable. While using Nova Launcher on the Pixel 7 Pro was a seamless experience, the slightly less fluid 90Hz display on the Pixel 7 diminishes that smoothness. It’s a small difference, but enough to make me pause. If this were my daily driver, I’d consider unlocking root access and using Pixel Launcher Mods to tweak the stock launcher. This way, I could retain the inherent software fluidity while adding the personalization I crave.

the software on the Pixel 7 is where Google redeems itself. It may not feel as buttery smooth as the Pro when paired with third-party launchers, but it’s still a reliable, capable device. For most users, it’s a phone that gets the basics right—and that’s what matters.

Google Pixel 7 Battery life and charging

When it comes to battery life, the Pixel 7 surprises—though not always in the way you’d hope. The phone packs a 4,355mAh battery, which is smaller than the 4,614mAh in the Pixel 6. On top of that, it offers 20W fast charging and 20W wireless charging, which is nice for topping up quickly.

Here’s the good news: when I tested it with three to four hours of 3D gaming and plenty of browsing, the Pixel 7 only dropped about 15% of its charge. Under typical use, it can easily last one to one and a half days. If you’re a light user, you might even stretch it to two days, and if you’re a heavy user, a full day will still be well within reach. It’s more than capable for most people, and it actually performs better than the Galaxy S22 and iPhone 14 in this regard. So if you’re worried about running out of juice mid-day, you likely won’t have to.

However, here’s where things get a little tricky. Despite this solid performance, I found that on heavier usage days, the battery life was noticeably shorter than what I’d hoped for. The absence of an LTPO display, which the Pixel 7 Pro has, means the phone can’t dynamically adjust its refresh rate to save power, and that might be contributing to the slightly shorter endurance. More often than I’d like, I found myself needing to plug it in by 8 p.m., though it wasn’t the end of the world.

So, while the Pixel 7 is far from being a battery disaster, it’s clear that if you’re after the longest-lasting experience, the Pixel 7 Pro would be the better pick. Still, if you’re an average user, you’ll likely get through the day just fine, without too many worries about charging.

Verdict

Depending on where you live in the world, for the most part, you’re looking at about $200-300 extra dollars for the larger 7 Pro than the regular 7. And for my money, that extra $200-300 is money well spent, especially if this is going to be the phone you use for the next 2-3 years into the future. The regular 7 is still an incredibly good-value phone, but Google has stretched the differences between it and its big brother so much that it’s hard to say no to the Pixel 7 Pro. So use that information as you wish

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Tahir Alvi

I am Tahir Alvi, a technology enthusiast with a keen interest in smartphones and gadgets. I provide suggestions to help you avoid problems while buying and using your phone. Outside of work, I enjoy exploring innovative apps and tackling everyday technological challenges.