Pixel 7 Review: Well refined

It feels like Google’s Pixel line finally got a boring, iterative update — an ‘S’ year, if you will — and it may be the best thing to happen to Google’s smartphone line in a long time.

The ‘S’ year term comes from Apple’s old pattern of launching a big iPhone update followed by a minor, iterative update denoted with an S (iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, etc.). That naming scheme has gone away, and the pattern has changed, but the general cycle of big updates followed by iterative updates remains.

The Pixel 7 is most definitely an ‘S’ update, boasting almost exactly the same design as the Pixel 6, but with a few minor tweaks and improvements (plus a few new features mostly enabled by an improved Tensor chip and software). Some might be inclined to criticize Google for pulling an Apple and rolling out an iterative update, but I think it’s exactly what the Pixel line needs.

Here’s the thing: the Pixel line hasn’t had a truly recognizable identity. Most people can identify an iPhone when they see one. To a lesser extent, Samsung’s Galaxy S phones have a consistent, recognizable design. Aside from the two-tone back panel, each Pixel phone has looked fairly unique

Like it or not, Google has chosen the Pixel 6 design with its recognizable camera visor and decided to stick with it. And by avoiding the effort of redesigning the phone this year, it’s allowed Google to refine the Pixel 6 design into something better on the Pixel 7, as well as bring quality improvements to other areas of the phone.

If you want to learn more about the Pixel 7 Pro, check out the full review here. You can also read the Pixel Watch review here.

Specs

Cut from the same cloth

The Pixel 6 and 7 are so similar, it’s hard to argue anyone should make the upgrade from the 6 to the 7. Looking at the two phones specifically could help someone choose between the newer Pixel 7 or save some money with the Pixel 6 (if they can find it on sale elsewhere since it’s no longer available from Google). Plus, understanding what’s different between the Pixel 6 and 7 helps focus on what’s improved on the latter.

First, there’s the design. As I mentioned, these phones look incredibly similar, with a glass front and back (made with Gorilla Glass Victus this time) and a camera visor sporting two cameras — a primary 50-megapixel shooter and a 12-megapixel ultrawide. The Pixel 7 sports a matte aluminum frame just like the Pixel 6, although this time around, the frame sports different colours matching the phone’s back panel. The Pixel 6 had a matte black frame regardless of the phone’s colour.

Moreover, the frame wraps around and covers the camera visor this year, adding a more unified look. Aside from looking better, I think the aluminum camera bar adds a level of protection compared to the glass visor on the Pixel 6.

Just as slippery

The Pixel 7 didn’t carry on the tradition of a two-tone back with a different colour above the camera bar (arguably, the visor itself now acts as the second colour tone). The smartphone remains just as slippery as the Pixel 6, although the slightly smaller size makes it a little easier to grip for the small-handed folks like myself.

The Pixel 7 is a little lighter, smaller, and narrower too, which helps in that regard. That’s in part because the screen is slightly smaller (6.3-inch vs 6.4 on the Pixel 6).

Still, you’ll want to invest in a good case. Google has not brought back the matte glass textures that made previous Pixels so wonderfully grippy, and that remains one of my biggest gripes with the Pixel 7.

As an example of how slippery the Pixel 7 is, it slid off my counter with no provocation and tumbled a few feet onto tile floor. Despite ending my multi-year streak of not dropping review phones before the review went live, the Pixel 7 didn’t break (although the tile did put a sizable scratch in the aluminum frame). Another reason to get a case: the frame is durable, but scratches easily.

Better display, but still 90Hz

Despite being a nearly identical display on paper, the Pixel 7’s screen seems to be more high-quality than the Pixel 6. The 6.3-inch FHD+ 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution OLED screen is the same resolution as the Pixel 6, but with a slightly higher pixel density.

However, where it really stands out is brightness, both low and high. The Pixel 7 boasts up to 1,000 nits brightness for HDR and 1,400 nits peak brightness. I found the display to be very viewable outdoors in my brief time with it. On the low end, I also noted that the Pixel 7 doesn’t exhibit the discolouration issues the Pixel 6 did.

If you haven’t noticed this for yourself, the Pixel 6 screen (and many of the 90Hz panels featured in past Pixel phones) often showed discolouration at low brightness, especially with grey tones like the ones commonly used throughout Android’s dark mode. The most common seemed to be a slight green tint to grey shades, but I’ve noticed purple tints too. Regardless, the OLED panel in the Pixel 7 appears to be higher quality and more consistent than the Pixel 6 display.

As someone who prefers the smaller Pixel phones, it’s a nice change of pace not to be disappointed (and actually to be happy) with the display in the smaller Pixel model this year.

Not a battery champ, but it gets the job done

Like the exterior design, the inside of the Pixel 7 didn’t see many significant changes. Like the Pixel 6, the Pixel 7 sports 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of storage. However, Google did bump up the processor with its new Tensor G2 chip.

The search giant claims Tensor G2 has lower power consumption than Tensor while also boosting performance. For the power consumption claim, well, it really comes down to how you use the phone. I do think there’s something to the lower power consumption as the battery seems to be doing about as well as, if not better than, my Pixel 6 on average despite being smaller (4,355mAh vs. 4,600mAh in the Pixel 6).

Despite having a smaller battery, the Pixel 7 surprised me with battery life that matched or beat the Pixel 6. Unfortunately, it’s tough to make a good assessment in just five days, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on it going forward, but initial impressions are good.

I made it to the end of most days with about 40 percent left in the tank and about four hours on average of screen-on time. Heavy users could likely drain the battery quicker, but it’s been good for me so far.

Fly like a G2

On the performance side, Tensor G2 benchmarked better than the Tensor chip, with my Pixel 7 clocking 1,023 single-core and 3,004 multi-core scores in Geekbench. The Pixel 7 Pro my colleague Dean Daley reviewed scored slightly better.

Interestingly, the single-core score was about on par with the Pixel 6, 6a and 6 Pro, which all landed around the 1,020 mark, while the Tensor G2 was about 200 points better with multi-core.

Widening the lens to look at other devices sporting chips from Qualcomm and Apple, Tensor G2 remains on the lower end in terms of performance. That’s not a huge surprise, though, given that Google’s focus with Tensor G2 is to boost the Pixel’s on-device machine learning (ML) capabilities.

Those capabilities are central to core Pixel features like Google Assistant, voice typing, translation, and various camera functions – most of which Google improved in some way with Tensor G2.

Before we move on, it’s also important to keep in mind that benchmarks seldom tell the whole story. Even though the Pixel 7 loses on the performance front, it always felt snappy. Moreover, it handled my daily use with ease, which includes messaging friends and family, taking pictures and videos of my daughter, work tasks like email and Slack, watching the occasional YouTube video, browsing social media, listening to music or podcasts, and even playing some games like MTG: Arena.

Small improvements to an already excellent camera

One area that saw a lot of benefits from Tensor G2 was the Pixel 7 camera. The handset once again has a 50-megapixel primary sensor and a 12-megapixel secondary sensor, both of which perform very well.

In most side-by-side comparisons, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 6 produce very similar results from the rear cameras. However, not all is equal.

For example, Google introduced a new zoom technique in the Pixel 7 which uses sensor cropping to produce a “zoomed” image. For most pictures, the Pixel 7 (and 7 Pro) use pixel binning techniques to create a 12-megapixel image from the 50-megapixel sensor, effectively turning every four pixels on the sensor into roughly one pixel in the image.

With 2x zoom images, however, the Pixel 7 captures an image using just part of the sensor. This sensor crop can make the subject of a photo look closer than it actually is by effectively shrinking the sensor. It’s not truly ‘zoom,’ but then neither is typically smartphone zoom. Regardless, zoom shots from the Pixel 7 provided more clarity than the Pixel 6 thanks to this technique. Moreover, the Pixel 7 Pro does this with the 58-megapixel telephoto shooter to hit 10x zoom, but you’ll need to check out Daley’s 7 Pro review to learn more.

Another area that benefited from Tensor G2 was Night Sight, which now processes twice as fast. Trying Pixel 6 and 7 side-by-side, the Pixel 7 is noticeably faster. Interestingly, the Pixel 7 camera app also has a slightly different Night Sight UI that lets you select how long it captures.

In my test, it captured in three seconds, but I also did another test at the maximum five seconds. The five-second Night Sight was closer in quality to what the Pixel 6 produced, although it still felt slightly faster (but not as fast as the three-second Night Sight).

The Pixel 7 also boasts a better 10.8-megapixel selfie camera, the same as what’s in the Pixel 7 Pro. However, in side-by-side comparisons, the Pixel 7 and 6 selfie camera results were nearly identical. The Pixel 7 selfie camera does have an ultrawide option, which is helpful for taking group selfies.

 

Google says it improved Real Tone on the Pixel 7 as well, expanding the data set with over 10,000 new images to improve how the camera captures various skin tones.

There are several improvements on the video side as well, including 10-bit HDR, 4K 60fps recording support, Active Stabilization, Cinematic Blur and more. You can learn more about some of these in the Pixel 7 Pro review. I haven’t had enough time to play with these but look for a more in-depth look at the video features to come.

5G and other things

Beyond the camera features, the Pixel 7 offers improvements in other areas. The Recorder app can now automatically add speaker labels to make it easier to identify who said what when reviewing transcriptions.

Similarly, the Pixel 7 features faster ‘Direct My Call,’ which improves the experience of navigating option menus when calling a business. There are also ML enhancements to calls, which Google dubs ‘Clear Calling.’ Unfortunately, I haven’t tested this as much as I’d like in the last five days, but the calls I received sounded clear, and the person on the other end could hear me well too. (Update 2022/10/18: Clear Calling hasn't actually arrived yet, so my limited calling tests don't account for any improvement from Clear Calling.)

Pixel 7’s face unlock doesn’t do much to change the experience with the phone. Since it just relies on the camera and doesn’t use extra hardware (like the iPhone or the Pixel 4) to increase security, the Pixel 7 face unlock only works for unlocking the screen. The fingerprint scanner is still required for more secure features, like authenticating payments or unlocking secure apps (banks, password managers, etc.).

The only real benefit is that the face unlock often works faster than the fingerprint scanner, which means unlocking the Pixel 7 is surprisingly fast. Moreover, kudos to Google for setting up the system so that tapping the area where you scan your fingerprint also opens the phone once it’s been unlocked with your face – most of the time I try to unlock the phone with my thumb and face unlock beats the fingerprint scanner to it, but the phone still unlocks seamlessly.

A common issue people had with the Pixel 6 was with its signal; at least so far, it seems like the Pixel 7 has improved that too. Over the Thanksgiving long weekend, I visited family in the Brechin, Ontario area and noted I had more bars and better service on the Pixel 7 than I had on previous trips with the Pixel.

Moreover, running Ookla Speedtests on Bell 5G at my apartment in Whitby, Ontario, yielded slightly better results on the Pixel 7, with an average download speed of about 130Mbps and an upload of about 6Mbps, compared to about 100Mbps and 4Mbps, respectively on the Pixel 6. That said, I had noticed previously on my Pixel 6a, which also sports a first-gen Tensor chip, that I had better speeds in Toronto than in Whitby. I haven’t had a chance to compare the Pixel 7 in Toronto yet.

Still, it seems like Tensor G2 at least somewhat improves signal issues, but as I’ve said before, 5G in Canada remains underwhelming.