Google Pixel 7 Pro review: the premium phone of the year

In the slim package of this smartphone we find a USB-C / USB-C cable and a USB-A / USB-C adapter. On the other hand, neither power supply nor cover are included, both to be purchased separately.

Pixel 7 Pro it is in all respects the same as its predecessor. At least we’re talking about design language. Those who do not follow the world of technology could simply think of a new color. There are some details, however, that differentiate it such as the metal camera bar, which blends perfectly with the side frame. The cameras are instead inserted in black “pills” inside this bar. Although the design is very particular and may not please everyone, we must however recognize that the uniqueness of this solution makes it unique and undoubtedly the new colors have improved the pleasing to the eye. The smartphone is then protected by a glass Gorilla Glass Victus and is guaranteed against water and dust according to IP68 standard.

The Pixel 7 Pro hardware is that of a top of the range premium to all effects. We have the second generation of Google Tensor (G2), Google octa core 5 nanometer processor and with Mali G710 MC10 GPU. This smartphone arrives on the market with 12 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 internal memory. Memory is not expandable. You can use your smartphone in dual SIM mode thanks to the support for eSIM. The rest of the connectivity is also very good: 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 and USB-C 3.2 output. Finally, there is no lack of support forultrawideband, which, however, on Android has not yet found its way. Good stereo sound and very good haptic feedback system for vibration.

The performance of the Google CPU is very good, even if we have noticed a certain tendency to increase the temperatures after a prolonged intense use and to the “collapse” of the performance between 50 and 65% after about five minutes.

These are information that are often found only with benchmarks, since in daily use there are no tangible drops in performance.

Google Pixel 7 Pro comes with a set of three main and one front cameras. We have a main from 50 megapixel ƒ / 1.9 with optical stabilization, a 48 megapixel ƒ / 3.5 5x zoom and a 12 megapixel wide-angle ƒ / 2.2 with a larger sensor from the previous year and autofocus for macros. It is a very flexible photographic set because it is also possible to take photos with a 2x zoom by cropping the central part of the main sensor and replicate the same concept with the 10x zoom from the 48 megapixel sensor, when the ambient light allows it. It is then possible to take portrait mode photos with two zoom levels and, as mentioned, to take high resolution macro photos. It’s a nice feature, but in many cases you will prefer to shoot with the main sensor due to the shallower depth of field.

The photos are from Pixel. Translated: excellent. The focus is lightning fast, very precise and can track moving objects. The colors are perfectly balanced and even the white point is always correct. Where a little too much sharpness seems to come into play is in some photos in portrait mode or 2x “hybrid” zoom. Also good are the wide-angle shots, even if you notice the difference in terms of quality in the night photos, where the main camera “detaches” the others by some measures. The “magic” of the Pixel’s virtual extended exposure allows you to take very bright and detailed shots even in very little light. You will also have control over how long to shoot, thus overcoming the automatism. The difference with the photos where the night mode is deactivated is merciless. Among other things, the mode has also been speeded up astrophotography (which, however, we have not been able to try at the moment).

Among the other found by Google we still find the photos in motion mode, the panning effect, the portrait light and the magic eraser. The novelty of this smartphone is the functionality of unblur which allows you to make shots that were not in focus. It can do real magic only in a few cases, but in many it can still significantly increase the quality of the photo. The front camera from 10.8 megapixels ƒ / 2.2. Too bad, however, the resolution has not increased, not up to the competitors.

Great videos. The movies in 4K to 60fps are among the best ever in the smartphone landscape. What is surprising, in addition to stabilization, is also the softness with which you can switch between the various zoom levels. Also from the front camera then you can make good videos at the same resolution. Among the novelties the possibility of making videos in HDR and the new cinema mode which allows you to make videos with effect bokeh in Full HD.

Too bad for the low resolution, but above all for various focusing problems that we encountered. When it works, the effect is convincing, but it often doesn’t last long. Being an almost entirely software system, an update could significantly improve it.

Google Pixel 7 Pro it still has a 6.7-inch diagonal display with a resolution of 1220 x 3120 pixels, which can be lowered to FullHD + via software to save some battery. The screen is kind LTPO AMOLED and supports 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. We have full support forHDR10 + and a maximum peak brightness of 1,500 nits, improved from last year. A great display, slightly less curved on the edges than the previous model. It supports the always-on display and is protected by a Gorilla Glass Victus.

Impossible to talk about Pixel without talking about software. This smartphone obviously arrives on the market with Android 13 (updated with October 2022 patches). Everything is customized with the Pixel experience, but overall it’s hard to tell the stock system from Google’s customization at first glance.

Among the most interesting functions we find the Android themes, the possibility of transcribing messages and calls in real time (and also responding via text in this case), as well as adding subtitles already translated to the videos being played. The transcription of the text inside the voice recorder is not yet available. Among other features we point out the presence of the system now playing which recognizes the songs being listened to in the environment with the phone locked and the game optimizer (which however only works automatically and not on all titles).

The system as a whole runs very smoothly and it is impossible not to give weight to the fact that the Pixels are among the smartphones that update faster and longer.

Google Pixel comes with a 5,000 mAh. This smartphone offers overall a good autonomy, even if not the best in its panorama.

However, it is difficult to run out of power before the end of the day, especially if you set the screen to FullHD and do not do prolonged operations for a long period of time. Charging is fast at 30W, fast enough but also here definitely below current standards. There 23W wireless charging instead it is all in all quite fast.

Google Pixel 7 Pro is priced at € 899 in the 128GB size, while it takes € 100 more for the one with double the internal memory. These are prices that today we associate with top-of-the-range smartphones, while Pixel 7 Pro is in effect a smartphone premium, together with devices that in almost all cases well exceed 1000 €. In a world where prices are skyrocketing, Pixel 7 Pro costs the same as the previous year. Amazing. You can buy it also on Amazon.