Google recently launched its Pixel 7 series with its latest processor, a great camera setup, and a few other upgrades.
I used the Pixel 7 Pro which takes on some of the most powerful devices in the market currently, including the iPhone 14 series. Priced at Rs 84,999, this is a flagship smartphone and I wanted to see if it lives up to the expectation. Let’s find out how it fares in this review.
Google Pixel 7 Pro: Build and Design
Google Pixel 7 Pro takes a cue from the Pixel 6 series in terms of looks and design but there are several meaningful upgrades here. Overall, the design philosophy is the same as earlier Pixel phones; it has a clean and simple look, and there are no bells and whistles but all you have is a premium phone.
Pixel 7 Pro is available in Obsidian, Snow, and Haze colour options. I had the Obsidian variant which looks beautiful without any phone cover with the camera bar at the back giving it a distinct look. The camera bar is quite chunky, though.
There is a punch-hole at the front nestling the selfie camera, we’ll talk about that later.
There is the volume rocker and power button on the right edge. I felt the buttons are quite hard to press, although they are placed at the right place as the thumb reaches easily. The only thing is unlike most of Android phones these days, the volume rocker is just below the power button it would take some time for a user to get used to it.
As much as I loved using the phone without any back cover, I feel a user would be compelled to use a good phone case as the phone is quite slippery in hand and may fall. I had to be extra careful with the phone most of the time, especially outdoors.
On the bottom are the Type-C port for charging and the speaker grille. The slot for the SIM card is on the left edge.
Google Pixel 7 Pro: Display
On the front, you see a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with up to 1,500 nits of peak brightness and negligible bezels and it looks beautiful, to say the least.
You get Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection for protection. Though it looks sturdy, it remains to be seen if the display would be able to handle any impact.
That said, it’s one of the most beautiful displays currently on a phone. I loved the overall experience which includes a lot of reading (e-book), streaming HD content on OTT platforms, and playing games.
Talking about gaming, the 120 Hz refresh rate comes in really handy.
The only issue I faced was the front screen unlock which is quite erratic. I had to ultimately rely on the pattern to unlock the phone.
Google Pixel 7 Pro: Performance
There is pretty much everything you can throw at the Pixel 7 Pro and it will handle it easily, all thanks to the Tensor G2 chip.
The phone features a Tensor processor is paired with 12GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. I feel 128GB storage is too less, considering apps and games take up too much space in the phone, on top of that, there is app data. Besides, you will be taking high-quality pictures and 4K videos on 30 or 60 fps which are quite heavy files. But most importantly, this is a pricy flagship phone and at least 256GB of storage should be given for users.
You can juggle between apps, stream content on OTT platforms, and even play heavy games such as Call of Duty and the phone is capable of handling it easily.
There are no stutters or lags anywhere on regular use, however, you may notice heat when you play games for some time.
The overall experience, however, is still fine and you do get a flagship phone experience.
The stock android experience on Pixel 7 Pro is something you will really love.
Google Pixel 7 Pro: Camera
Pixel series is popular for its camera, and the Pixel 7 Pro has pretty much everything in its arsenal - customizations, filters, several modes, and settings.
The triple-camera setup includes a 50MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 48MP telephoto camera.
The processing takes a few seconds but you can see how the pictures come out after you click something.
The Pixel 7 Pro takes great pictures, provided you know how to play with the settings but even a novice can capture good shots, all thanks to the powerful camera set-up backed by effective post-processing. And if you are still not happy with the result then you can edit as well.
The pictures are sharp and detailed, and the colours come out really well.
You can also use the 5X zoom and even go beyond that to capture things far away. I used it mostly from my terrace to click buildings far away, and the shots do come out well.
I was really interested in taking low-light images and I loved the pictures the phone takes.
I’m not a fan of selfies but I did take some and here again, the phone ticks all the boxes.
Overall, this is a versatile camera setup and you would enjoy using it.
Google Pixel 7 Pro: Battery
The 5,000mAh battery in Pixel 7 Pro lasts for 7-8 hours with moderate usage. I binge-watched a few series on Netflix and there wasn’t much impact on the battery. However, heavy games like Call of Duty do drain a lot of battery.
You get a charging cable but you will have to figure out a suitable power adapter.
The phone takes more than an hour to charge fully but what I noticed is, it heats up a lot while on charge. I changed the power adapters as well but the heat was still there.
Google Pixel 7 Pro: Verdict
You do get a true flagship experience with Google Pixel 7 Pro but you will have to shell out Rs 84,999 for that. The phone is expensive but then it brings with it a rich Android experience, a versatile camera setup, and great performance.
The Pixel 7 Pro brings a fresh experience for those looking for a performance-centric flagship Android phone.
