If you’re in the market for a flagship, top-tier smartphone the Google Pixel 7 Pro is one of the best modern smartphones we’ve been able to use and review. The Google Pixel 7 Pro is the latest Pixel smartphone from Google, and it’s a worthy successor to the Pixel 6 Pro. It has a sleek and stylish design, a powerful Google Tensor G2 processor, a versatile triple-lens camera system, and a stunning 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED display with HDR support. Whether the phone is used for work productivity, photography, or gaming there wasn’t anything that the Pixel 7 Pro left us disappointed on.
Pixel 7 Pro Design: Sleek form, scant color options
The Google Pixel 7 Pro boasts a sleek and modern design that exudes sophistication. The device features a glass back panel with a matte finish, providing a premium look and feel. The slim profile and rounded edges make it comfortable to hold, and the placement of buttons and ports is intuitive. The device also offers an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, ensuring durability. Overall, the Pixel 7 Pro’s design is a perfect blend of elegance and functionality.
The phone is available in three colors: Obsidian (black), Hazel, and Snow (white). If there’s anything we could’ve wanted more of in terms of design, it would’ve been more colors to choose from. Black, white, and hazel are pretty bland.
Performance and Security
The Pixel 7 Pro is powered by the Google Tensor G2 processor, which is a custom-designed chip that’s optimized for AI and machine learning tasks. It is said to be up to 20% faster than the original Tensor chip. The phone is also backed by 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The Pixel 7 Pro is one of the fastest and most responsive smartphones on the market, and it can handle even the most demanding tasks with ease.
The Pixel 7 Pro also features the Titan M2 processor also doubles as a security “system on a chip” hardware architecture approach. The M2 processor has achieved Common Criteria hardware security certifications, the same certifications that SIM cards and bank card chips go through.
The user benefit of the M2 processor is increased hardware and firmware monitoring and assurance, so malware targeting malicious firmware changes can be detected and blocked. Device backups to the cloud are also encrypted end-to-end using the Titan M2 processor present on the device.
For added privacy, Google is now offering free first-party VPN access to every Google One subscriber. This makes it easier for widespread VPN use across consumers, without having to research and choose a third-party VPN provider.
Google has also committed five years of security software updates for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
Pixel 7 Pro Camera: triple-lens has arrived
The Pixel 7 Pro has a versatile triple-lens camera system that’s capable of taking stunning photos and videos in any lighting condition. The main lens has a 50MP sensor, the ultrawide lens has a 12MP sensor, and the telephoto lens has a 48MP sensor. The camera system also includes a number of advanced features, such as Magic Eraser, which can automatically remove unwanted objects from your photos, and Face Unblur, which can sharpen faces in blurry photos.
The camera setup produces stunning images with excellent detail, accurate colors, and impressive dynamic range. The Night Sight mode ensures exceptional low-light photography, capturing bright and clear images even in challenging lighting conditions. The device also excels in portrait photography, thanks to its advanced computational photography capabilities. Additionally, the front-facing camera delivers sharp and detailed selfies, making it a delight for selfie enthusiasts.
Up to 30x Super Res Zoom on the Pixel 7 Pro is very impressive. The results speak for themselves, as seemingly normal photos of city skylines or iconic bridges or points of interest can be dramatically enhanced. If you’re an amateur photographer or rely on your smartphone for most of your photography, this feature (on top of the other camera capabilities) practically sells the phone itself.
Pixel 7 Pro Display: Durable, Beautiful with HDR support
The Pixel 7 Pro has a stunning 6.7-inch QHD+ (1440 x 3120 pixels) OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. HDR support is also included, which makes video and images pop when supported. The display is bright, colorful, and sharp, and it’s perfect for watching videos, playing games, or browsing the web.
The wide color gamut and high contrast ratio really shine when watching movies or playing video games. Where other displays may suffer in color and contrast, the Pixel 7 Pro is like having a reference-grade display in your pocket.
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus cover glass is used for durability, making screen scratches a thing of the past. Corning boasts that Gorilla Glass Victus survives drops onto hard, rough surfaces from up to 2 meters. This gives regular consumers some level of crack-resistant durability, but of course if you repeatedly drop your phone or onto the wrong type of hard surface, it certainly could get damaged. The need for screen protectors is getting less with each new premium smartphone release as the underlying display technology and durability improves.
Battery life: Adaptive Battery and Extreme Battery Saver Mode
The Pixel 7 Pro has a large 5000mAh battery that can easily last a full day on a single charge. The phone also supports fast charging and wireless charging. Wireless charging is appreciated for cordless charging, and also can be used to wirelessly charge other devices.
For optimal battery life, the Pixel 7 Pro supports Adaptive Battery tech, which means Android OS learns what apps you use most and when on your phone, and aligns the battery accordingly.
Where the battery really outperforms the competition is with Battery Saver and Extreme Battery Saver Modes. When you find yourself without access to a charger for an extended period of time, battery saver and extreme battery saver modes will squeeze every last drop out of the battery life.
Essential apps such as Maps, Messages, and others you can select in the case of an emergency will still function, but battery-hungry apps and services like notifications, WiFi, and Bluetooth will be disabled. Google claims that the Pixel 7 Pro will last up to 72 hours on a single charge with extreme battery saver mode enabled, or up to 24 hours with regular Pixel use.
Normal power use of the Pixel 7 Pro delivered almost 10 hours of continuous battery use for video streaming, nearly 14 hours for web browsing, and slightly over 4 hours for gaming.
While this review is specific to the Pixel 7 Pro, the Pixel 7 has a slightly smaller battery (4,355mAh) than the Pixel 6 and the battery performance lags behind accordingly.
Is the Google Pixel 7 Pro worth it?
The Google Pixel 7 Pro impresses on multiple fronts. Its sleek design, powerful hardware, stunning display, long-lasting battery, and exceptional camera performance make it a standout device in the flagship smartphone market. Whether you’re a photography enthusiast, a power user, or someone who appreciates a well-designed smartphone, the Pixel 7 Pro ticks all the boxes. Google has once again demonstrated its commitment to delivering an exceptional user experience, solidifying the Pixel 7 Pro as one of the top contenders in the smartphone arena.
