The Pixel 6 was a reinvention of Google’s smartphone, pushing the company firmly into “flagship” territory in a way that past devices hadn’t really aimed at. Now, we’re at the second generation of that reboot, and the Pixel 7 Pro builds on Google’s flagship and shows that, finally, the company is figuring out how to do this properly.
Our Pixel 7 Pro review was originally published on October 12, but updated on October 18 to reflect longer-term use and more details regarding the new modem packaged with the Tensor G2 processor.
Hardware & Display |
The same design, full of minor improvements
To help completely reinvent the Pixel lineup last year, Google introduced a brand new design for the Pixel 6 series that was unlike anything else on the market. For the Pixel 7, Google is sticking with that look, just refining it.
The Pixel 7 Pro has the same “visor” camera design, but now with metal covering the entire module in a seamless expansion of the device’s frame. This not only looks great, but should make the camera module a bit more durable. The smaller cutouts should also help avoid issues with skin oils and other debris sticking to the glass and resulting in blurry photos. Only time will tell how that pans out, but I’ve got a good feeling based on my almost-two weeks with the Pixel 7 Pro so far.
On the Pixel 7 Pro, all of the metal and glass is given a glossy finish rather than the matte look that most other smartphone makers have adopted in recent years. I’ve warmed up to that look and feel, but with the larger metal bar on the camera, I can’t help but think Google should have gone matte on both models. Even with just very limited comparisons between the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, the matte finish of the cheaper phone stays cleaner for longer.
Frankly, I firmly believe the smaller phone is the better-looking of the two.
But Google has sprinkled in some other improvements throughout. There’s a bit more separation on the buttons, which I’ve found to be slightly more comfortable. The frame cutout for the mmWave 5G radio is also far better hidden compared to last year’s visually distracting plastic design.
A brighter display that’s less curved
The Pixel 7 Pro has the same 6.7-inch display as last year, and it’s still a sharp QHD panel that’s a pleasure to look at. The OLED panel has vibrant colors and wonderful contrast, and also now sees a max brightness boost of 1,400 nits. In person, that culminates in a display that’s still a bit too big for my tastes, but just super nice-looking. The added brightness isn’t something you’ll really feel unless you’re in direct sunlight, but it was definitely easier to see everything when outdoors in my testing so far.
One change you might not notice is that the Pixel 7 Pro, running on Android 13 out of the box, scales down the software to 1080p. You can change this in the settings, but it doesn’t really impact the sharpness of the display, and I think it looks brilliant. In fact, you probably won’t even notice the difference. Leaving the display scaling at 1080p also has a minor impact on battery life, as countless Samsung phones with this feature have shown over the past several years.
Perhaps the biggest improvement to the display, though, comes from the glass covering it. Instead of a steep, waterfall-like curve, the Pixel 7 Pro has a tame curve on either side of the display. It’s still a noticeable curve and will still make tempered glass screen protectors far more difficult to obtain and install, but it’s a step in the right direction. If I could ask for a single improvement to next year’s Pixel, it would be to ditch the curve entirely.
Software & Performance |
Android 13 refines the platform’s revamp
The Pixel 6 Pro was a reinvention of Google’s smartphone identity, and the same was true of the Android 12 update that launched on that device. Now, a year later, Android 13 is the name of the game, and it’s an update that really focuses on fixing Android 12 and building on it more than anything else.
Android 13 stabilizes the platform – I noticed far fewer bugs on the Pixel 7 Pro than I did on the Pixel 6 Pro – while adding a handful of new features such as a revamped media player. Material You also gets some minor tweaks, including more choices for colors derived from your wallpaper. I really enjoyed this on the Pixel 7 Pro, as the “feather” wallpapers that Google uses as the default on this device lend themselves to some really vibrant green colors in the software.
But really, there’s nothing in particular that stands out on a platform level on the Pixel 7 series this year. Rather, Google improved a bit on its own software suite that’s exclusive to the Pixel.
There’s not much new to Google’s stellar software suite
There’s not a ton new in Google’s Pixel-exclusive features outside of the camera – more on that later.
Direct My Call now shows full menus for business numbers with automated systems. Google Assistant’s “Quick Phrases” can answer or decline incoming phone calls with a single word, no “Hey Google” needed. And the Google Messages app can now transcribe audio messages within the app. Pixel 7 owners also get free access to Google One’s VPN.
Neat stuff!
Related: Pixel Recorder adding playback speed and more languages, multi-speaker support coming
What ended up most useful for me, though, were improvements to Gboard’s voice typing and upgrades to the “At a Glance” widget. I love that Google’s homescreen/lockscreen widget now shows a daily forecast, and having more details on my flight home from NYC last week available at a glance really came in handy, too.
Gboard’s voice typing is also still a delight and something I miss when on other phones, and it’s even better this year with improved commands. Something I’m still trying to get into the habit of using are commands such as “send” for when you’re done transcribing a message. Google also improved recognition of commands for things like emoji insertion.
Another neat addition to the Pixel 7 Pro is support for cough and snore detection when the phone is in “bedtime mode.” This is enabled by default when you use bedtime mode (which is fully optional), and the feature will use the phone’s microphones to pick up on your snoring overnight. It’s a neat addition, but it didn’t pick up any meaningful data in the short time I’ve been using the Pixel 7 Pro – I’m pretty confident most of the snoring it’s picking up is from my two dogs. The one thing I do really like, though, is being able to see when my sleep was interrupted, and I used my phone. It’s easy to wake up in the middle of the night and be pulled to your phone, and keeping a log of that might actually result in breaking some of those bad habits.
Five years of support
Like the Pixel 6 series, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will be supported with software updates from Google for the next five years. You’ll get major Android updates for three years after launch, with security patches for two years after that. This isn’t the best update policy on the market today, but it’s a solid one nonetheless. Five years from now, you’ll have a working phone, and there’s nothing in Google’s policy that stops the company from extending major updates if it sees fit.
That said, it would be really nice if Google set the example, and pushed a full five years on both fronts. I suspect Google is hesitant to do so because we’re still in the early days of Tensor, but hopefully, this will change in time.
Tensor G2 is better, but only marginally
The second generation of Google Tensor is what powers the show on Pixel 7 Pro, and it leaves a good impression.
The 5nm processor is only a marginal improvement over its predecessor, most notably adopting slightly newer cores for its supplementary processing cores. Google claims the chip is 20% more powerful and energy efficient.
In my testing so far, it feels roughly the same as Tensor did last year, but with heat being one of the key areas of improvement. Where Google’s first Tensor chip would heat up very quickly especially in hotter summer months, Tensor G2 took a bit longer to start heating up in my use. It took two hours of almost continuous use on 5G plus an hour of light gaming for the phone to really start feeling toasty. It gets a little warm quickly, but not uncomfortably so unless you’re pushing it pretty hard.
It’s still not nearly as efficient on cooling as the latest devices from Samsung and Apple, but it’s a step in the right direction for sure.
Tensor G2 seems to improve on its predecessor’s network performance
Update: Through some extended time with the Pixel 7 Pro, one thing has become abundantly clear. Tensor G2’s new modem is a big improvement over the prior generation.
Like the original Tensor chip, Google’s new chip uses a modem from Samsung, bucking the usual trend of using a Qualcomm modem as most phones sold in the United States do. With the original Tensor chip, that was a pretty big problem over time. Deep-dives showed just how far behind that modem was in signal strength, and there were countless issues for many, especially in more rural areas that lack strong coverage.
The good news is that the Samsung Exynos 5300 modem is a fairly huge improvement.
I’ve noticed over the past week that signal strength on Google Fi, which uses T-Mobile towers, is stronger and faster. In a trip to a very rural area, I also noticed a significant improvement in the phone holding signal. The rural area had 5G coverage through T-Mobile’s network, but would cycle through 5G and LTE depending on exactly where I was. But what really stood out was that my coverage remained strong regardless.
The downside, though, seems to be with power consumption. Battery life drained much more quickly than usual in these conditions, sucking up around 35% of my battery in about 4 hours of use. We still plan some deeper testing and comparisons with Tensor G2’s modem in the coming weeks.
And while we’re talking about connectivity, let’s also touch on actual phone calls. Over Google Fi (with calls being routed through Google Voice, but done through my carrier) I found that call quality was generally quite good. The earpiece speaker sounds great, and callers had no complaints with my sound, even when I made calls outdoors.
