Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphone review – quality, value and a brilliant camera

85%

• VERDICT

Google has done it again with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro and produced a value product that offers excellent performance and includes one of the best cameras you’ll find on a smartphone.

The new Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones live up to their expectations as flagship devices with impressive performance and a camera that not only takes great pictures but will improve the ones you’ve already taken.

The new Google Pixel phones have had a slight design refresh with the Pixel 7 Pro (6.7-inch display) sporting a polished aluminium frame and camera bar.

The Pixel 7 (6.3-inch display) has an anodized aluminium frame and camera bar and echoes the same design as the Pixel 7 Pro but just slightly smaller.

The Pixel 7 Pro, apart from a larger screen and more premium design, has an extra lens to make up its three-camera system.

Design-wise, we liked the new distinctive style with some bold new colours including the hazel for the Pixel 7 Pro which we received for our review.

One thing that’s still part of the design is that signature large camera bar which juts out a few millimetres from the rear panel.

This is Google’s version of a camera bump, and you can’t miss it. You can smooth it out by putting a case on the device to make the rear panel all the same level.

Both the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 are powered by the latest Google Tensor G2 processor which offers smooth and slick performance.

Google hasn’t mentioned what sort of performance improvement the new chip provides and, to be honest, we couldn’t pick any obvious speed improvements.

But we do know the Tensor G2 processor does the heavy lifting when it comes to the computational demands and AI that’s required to make the raft of features possible including Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and Audio Message Transcription.

The Google Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 are both running the Android 13 operating system which allows you to personalise your device so it looks how you want and you receive the notifications you want.

We liked the clean and minimal look to the software which provided a fast and smart performance.

Users able to select their wallpaper and style and choose from basic colour collections so that your home and lockscreen are personalised to your taste and preference.

The displays are sharp and clear and offer adaptive brightness which adjusts the screen to suit the ambient lighting conditions.

We also found it interesting that the Pixel 7 Pro screen resolution had been set to full high definition by default despite the screens capability of 1440p QHD+.

Google says this full resolution uses more of your battery, but we didn’t notice too much of an impact.

One feature we love on the Pixel smartphones is the Recorder app that allows you to not only record someone but also receive a full transcription of the audio.

Audio Message Transcription is also on board and allows you to read the transcription of an audio message in those situations where you are unable to listen to the message directly.

Google Assistant also lends a hand with voice typing so you can speak rather than typing and add emojis just by asking for them as well.

On the security side, the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have any screen fingerprint reader as well as face unlock.

The fingerprint reader worked almost instantly most of the time while face unlock managed to recognise us to unlock the device.

Interestingly, face unlock cannot be used for things like signing into apps or making payments which suggests to us it isn’t the strongest security for your device.

But let’s get real – the absolute standout feature of the new Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro is without a doubt the camera.

And they do not disappoint. in fact, we go so far as to say they’re not far off the dizzy heights and standards set by Apple and Samsung with their devices.

And it’s not just the quality of the photos and videos that you can capture, but also how you can improve them with one of the many built-in features.

The Pixel Pro 7 has a triple rear camera system made up of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens, a 50-megapixel wide lens and a 48-megapixel telephoto lens.

Aboard the Pixel 7 is a dual camera system with a 50-megapixel wide and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide.

Both new Pixel phones also have a 10.8-megapixel fixed focus ultrawide front facing camera.

And there are plenty of new camera features including Super Res zoom – up to 8x on Pixel 7 and up to 30x on Pixel 7 Pro.

The Super Res zoom, especially at 30X on the Pixel 7 Pro, is remarkable.

Not only are you able to zoom right in on a subject but you’re able to position it in the frame thanks to the guide window which shows what part of the image you are zoomed in on.

We tested this with a couple of pigeons on our roof and couldn’t believe the detail in the 30x zoomed image.

And there are no worries for capturing images in low light conditions thanks to Night Sight.

This is a feature Google has been famous for with its Pixel phones and this time out you’ll be amazed how much light the camera can find in near dark situations.

Magic Eraser is back and allows users to eliminate unwanted objects in the background.

And it’s pretty easy – you just circle the object or person you want to eliminate, and the phone gets to work.

Now not all results are smooth as you’d expect but, on most occasions, and with less complicated backgrounds, it did work very well.

Photo Unblur can also come to the rescue if your images, including older images you already have on your camera roll, are not quite as sharp as you would like.

We had mixed results with this – on some occasions it cleared the image noticeably and other times it didn’t do much at all.

The Pixel 7 Pro also has a macro camera so you can get right up close and photograph things like raindrops and flowers and other smaller objects from as close as 3cm.

On the video side, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are capable of shooting 4K at up to 60 frames per second.

Pixel 7 Pro users can also capture incredible colours with 10-bit HDR (high dynamic range).

We were pleased with the battery life of the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro which easily got us through an entire day and with plenty left in the tank.

There are settings to help you get even more out of your battery including extreme battery saver which helps uses extend your battery life when you’re running low.

When this is engaged it does things like turn off wi-fi and other network connections along with background operations.

The Pixel 7 starts at $999 and the Pixel 7 Pro from $1,299.

They are available now from the Google Store, JB Hi-Fi, Telstra, Vodafone, Officeworks and Harvey Norman and coming soon to Optus.

VERDICT

Google has done it again with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro and produced a value product that offers excellent performance and includes one of the best cameras you’ll find on a smartphone.