Google Pixel 7 Review – Great Cameras But What Else?

The Google Pixel 7 arrives in India with style and subtleness. It follows the same trend as the Google Pixel 6, being the best camera phone in the Android ecosystem. However, the highlight this time is not the camera but the new Tensor chipset.

The new chip means better performance, hopefully, and much more capability. On top of that, Android 13 offers a seamless UI experience with nice features, which we’ll talk about later.

For now, let’s get started with the Google Pixel 7 review and find out if it’s worth the premium price tag or not.

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The Google Pixel 7 is available in only one variant in India. It costs Rs. 59,999 for 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage.

There are three different colour options to pick from: Lemongrass, Obsidian and Snow. You can buy the phone online from Flipkart.

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The Google Pixel 7 packs the following items inside th box:

• Handset
• Type-C to Type-C Cable
• Quick Start Guide
• Quick Switch Adaptor
• Sim Ejector Tool

Before we talk in detail about the Google Pixel 7, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.3 inches AMOLED
• Chipset: Google Tensor G2
• RAM & ROM: 8GB RAM 128GB Storage
• Software: Android v13
• Rear camera: 50MP + 12MP
• Selfie camera: 10.8 MP
• Battery: 4355 mAh
• Weight: 197 grams
• Dimensions: 155.6 x 73.1 x 8.7 mm

Starting off with the design, the Google Pixel 7 brings a fresh design at the back while the front side remains, more or less, the same. There’s a new camera bar on the back which stretches to the edges. It gives a seamless look to the phone and makes it stand out.

It’s nothing revolutionary or a major change but more of a refinement over the predecessor. I have the Snow colour option, which gives out premium vibes. There are two other colour options – Obsidian and Lemongrass. However, the two-tone finish is gone from all of these.

You’ll see a single colour running on the back, except for the camera bump. Talking about the back, it comes with a glossy finish which makes it a big fingerprint magnet, along with a Google logo in the middle. The phone feels solid and sturdy in the hands, thanks to the aluminium build.

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The edges are rounded with cured corners providing a good grip. Although I like flat edges more, the rounded edges weren’t so bad. Not to forget, it’s slimmers and smaller than last year, making it lighter and easier to carry around.

Talking about the ports and button placements, the right side has the power button along with volume rockers. Whereas the bottom side houses the type-C port and the speaker grille. Moreover, the Pixel 7 comes with an IP68 rating which protects it from water and dust to some extent.

We all know that Pixel devices have one of the best cameras on smartphones. The same can be seen here as well. The Google Pixel 7 comes with a dual camera setup on the back. This includes a 50MP primary camera along with a 12MP ultrawide. The front side has a 10.8MP camera for taking selfies.

Talking about the image quality, there is not much change between Pixel 7 and Pixel 6. The main improvement is the image capturing and processing speed. Apart from that, the shots captured in the daylight with the main were detailed and clear. They had good dynamic range and the colours were pretty natural.

But we know that Pixel is more about software and optimisation. There’s a new Photo Unblur feature that highlights the software side of the Pixel 7. It can sharpen and reduce the blurriness of any image, even the one which is not taken on Pixel 7. And trust me, it works absolutely fantastic.

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The night mode is now better and faster than the Pixel 6, capturing a brighter and clean image in less time. You can also choose between three modes – Standard, Max and No night mode. The portrait shots captured were also good. There was right amount of details in them and the edge detection was on point.

Moving to the front side, we see an actual improvement in selfies, thanks to the new 10.8MP camera. The selfies turned out to be solid and packed with details. The skin tones looked natural to me, even in low light. The portrait selfies were good as well, with a nice blur effect.

Talking about videos, the Pixel 7 can record 4K videos at 60fps using both rear and front cameras. The video quality is superb, no doubt in that. You also get a Cinematic blur mode which is similar to Apple’s Cinematic mode, which blurs the background while focusing on the subject with amazing stability.

The ​​Google Pixel 7 packs a 4,355mAh battery which is even lesser than last year’s Pixel 6 at 4614mAh. This makes sense cuz the new Pixel is slimmer than last year. Even though it’s not a sizable battery pack like the other phones offer, the new Tensor G2 chip offers better battery optimisation.

Talking about battery performance, the phone lasted me a day at max. I was left with about 10-15 per cent battery by the end of each day. My usage involved making some calls, texting, and watching videos on YouTube.

Now, if you a light or casual user like me, you’ll be fine with the Pixel 7. However, if you are a heavy user who sticks to the phone all day long, you would need to charge the phone by the evening itself.

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Well, not to worry, charging is not a big problem. Google has not really improved the charging speed but offered the same as the last year. The Pixel 7 supports 21W fast charging, which is way slower than what the competition offers. Although the company claims it can fast charge at 30W using Google’s own charger (sold separately), which is still slow.

The 30W charger takes about an hour and a half to fully juice the battery from 0 to 100 per cent. Google claims that it can reach 50 per cent in just 30 minutes, which was very close in my testing. You also get support for wireless charging.

The Google Pixel 7 features an FHD+ 6.3-inch AMOLED display which is slightly smaller than the Pixel 6 (6.4-inch). But you can’t tell that until you hold them both in your hands. Nonetheless, it’s a beautiful display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 1400 nits.

It’s 25 per cent brighter compared to the Pixel 6 and I could tell that by using the phone outdoors. The sunlight legibility was great and I could read the texts and use the phone without any issues.

Let me tell you again, it’s a stunning panel and the display quality is just great. The colours on the screen look vibrant and punchy and the content looks very detailed. I watched a couple of videos on YouTube and my experience was really good.

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The bezels on the right and left sides have reduced while the top and bottom bezels remain the same, strangely. This does not impact the viewing experience greatly. Still, I don’t like it much, considering I’m paying a premium for this phone.

But the overall display experience is amazing for the most part. The quality is good and it’s pretty smooth and responsive.

Let’s get to performance now, the real highlight of the phone. The Google Pixel 7 comes with an all-new Tensor G2 chipset which is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. To be honest, it’s not much of an improvement when it comes to solely on performance. The performance is just slightly better than the Pixel 6.

It doesn’t reach as high on the benchmark sheets as other flagships. So, what’s the improvement? Google has decided to refine the chip rather than filling it with power. The new chip is better in many ways, like it’s more efficient and packs AI features to help the users.

Now, this doesn’t mean that the Pixel 7 is not powerful in any way. The phone can breeze through my daily tasks and the apps I use. It could handle multitasking as well, with apps staying where I left them in the background.

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Apps opened up quickie and switching between them was smooth. Talking about gaming, I tried a couple of titles and the performance was still impressive. Call of Duty Mobile and Apex Legends Mobile could run at high graphic settings and trust me, the gameplay was buttery smooth.

I did not notice any kinds of lags or major frame drops during my long gaming sessions. One thing to note is that the phone does get warm during gaming and other resource-intensive tasks but not to a level where it feels uncomfortable to hold.

It’s not the best gaming phone out there on the market but I can assure you that it won’t disappoint you as a casual gamer.

The Google Pixel 7 runs on Android 13 out of the box, the latest Android OS. It goes without saying that the pure android skin from Google is the best skin. It is just smoother and cleaner than any other skins in the market.

The UI is very simple and easy to navigate. Not to forget the biggest plus – No Ads and bloatware. Yes, you might find more features and customisation options on MIUI or OneUI, but Google offers a way better UI experience.

The Pixel 7 brings standard features like AoD and Material You as well as some new features with the Android 13. Material You lets the OS aesthetics match with your wallpaper by intelligently changing the colours of the icons, giving out a more pleasing look to the UI.

Another exclusive feature is the voice message transcribing. This feature automatically transcribes the message for you in case you are in a place where you can’t play the audio.

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Another Pixel-only feature, Assistant Voice Typing, streamlines and simplifies the process of messaging with your voice. Not only can it send texts, but it can also modify them using Google Assistant. You also get safety and security features like Crash Detection and Emergency sharing.

The new chipset also helps in bringing new features like cough and snore detection. Once enabled, it will track your sleep during the night and detect any interruptions like snore and coughing. Although it can’t be compared to a fitness band or sleep tracker, it still gives a nice and clean overview of the stats.

Pixel 7 is the phone for you if you want the real Android experience. Moreover, Google has promised 3 years of major software updates and 5 years of security patches.

The Google Pixel 7 comes with a stereo speaker setup, one located at the bottom while the other on the top. I have to say that the speakers sound amazing and the audio quality is really good. They get pretty loud without any distortion at high volume levels.

The phone comes with 5G connectivity and it supports 22 5G bands. It includes n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n28, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n66, n71, n75, n76, n77, and n78. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS and NFC.

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Talking about biometrics, the Pixel 7 comes with an in-display fingerprint scanner. I can confirm that it’s a bit faster and more reliable than last year. Moreover, you can also use face unlock, which works equally well.