It seems that Google has triumphed again. The new Pixel 7 offers the same cutting-edge software, camera and smart AI systems that have made its phones winners, but at a low price that significantly undercuts the competition.
At £599 ($899 / $1,299), it sits between the top-of-the-line Pixel 7 Pro at £849 and the budget £399 Pixel 6a, and competes very favorably on price and specs with rivals from Samsung, Apple and others who are usually for £700. Range -800.
The new phone looks like a smaller, streamlined version of the Pixel 7 Pro. It has a flat 6.3-inch OLED display that is bright and looks good. The screen is pretty good. It has a 90Hz refresh rate to keep things running smoothly. But it doesn’t hit a heady 120Hz peak or dynamically adjust to save battery as is common with Android rivals.
The Pixel 7 is shorter, narrower, and lighter than its larger sibling and last year’s Pixel 6, which is a good thing. This makes the Pixel 7 a good balance between screen size and device size, similar to the Apple iPhone 14.
The back of the phone features Google’s camera bar design that fits into the brushed aluminum sides. It looks and feels more premium than last year’s model.
Inside, the Pixel 7 has the same Google Tensor G2 chip as its bigger sibling, and it performs similarly, with especially fast AI systems like text-to-speech.
Battery life is similar to other Google phones, lasting around 35 hours between charges with the screen on for five hours. That’s good enough for a day of heavy use but falls short of the competition, some of which last nearly two days.
Specifications
- Screen: 6.3in 90Hz FHD+ OLED (416ppi)
- Processor: Google Tensor G2
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128 or 256GB
- Operating system: Android 13
- Camera: 50MP + 12MP ultrawide, 10.8MP selfie
- Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 6E, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, and GNSS
- Water resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)
- Dimensions: 155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7mm
- Weight: 197g
Sustainability
Google doesn’t give an expected battery life, but it should last more than 500 full charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity. The phone is repairable by Google and third-party shops with genuine replacement parts available directly from iFixit. Out-of-warranty screen repairs by Google will cost similar to its predecessor at around £140 and battery replacement around £100.
The Pixel 7 is made from 100% recycled aluminum, which accounts for about 19% of the phone’s weight. The company publishes environmental impact reports for some of its products. Google will recycle old devices for free.
Android 13
The Pixel 7 runs the same version of Android 13 as the Pixel 7 Pro and other Google smartphones, with several exclusive features, including the ability to blur faces and objects using AI in the Google Photos app.
Google will provide at least five years of software and security updates, including at least three major versions of Android. Samsung supports many of its phones for five years, while Fairphone aims for six years and Apple supports its iPhone for up to seven years.
Camera
The Pixel 7 has two cameras on the back, including a 50MP main and a 12MP ultra-wide, lacking the 5x telephoto lens of the Pixel 7 Pro.
The 12MP ultra-wide camera produces good images with very little distortion, even around the edges. But its 0.7x magnification isn’t as wide as the 0.5x of the 7 Pro or rivals, so you can’t fit as much into it. It also lacks the ability to act as a macro camera like the 7 Pro, which is no big loss.
The main 50MP camera is the same as the 7 Pro and is simply brilliant, capturing huge amounts of detail in a wide range of lighting conditions and producing 12.5MP images. It can also “zoom” to 2x optical magnification, which works surprisingly well and matches what you’d typically get from a 2x optical zoom on rivals. The digital zoom takes over from there with reasonable results at 4x but fine detail after that.
Google’s low-light night vision mode is faster and better than ever, producing great-looking and generally sharp images in near-darkness. With the phone on a tripod or propped up, you can even take amazing photos of the stars using a special extended shot.
The selfie camera captures excellent 10MP images in various lighting conditions. Video capture has been improved overall up to 4K at 60fps in HDR, catching up with its competitors.
Overall, the Pixel 7 has a really excellent camera for the money, the only thing missing is the extended zoom.
Price
The Google Pixel 7 starts at £599 ($599/A$999) with 128GB of storage.
In comparison, the Pixel 7 Pro costs £849, the Pixel 6a costs £399, the Samsung Galaxy S22 costs £769 and the iPhone 14 costs £849.
Statement
The Pixel 7 is a great Android phone at a great price.
It offers most of what makes the Pixel 7 Pro one of the best smartphones of the year, with a few corners cut below £600 at a time when technology is getting more expensive, no less.
You get a good looking, good performing device with lots of smart features and good software with at least five years of support. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a camera this good at this price. The 6.3-inch screen is a good size, if not the most advanced, and the battery life is solid, if a little short of the best.
With rivals costing north of £750, the Pixel 7’s biggest problem is that Google’s next more affordable phone, the Pixel 6a, offers 70% of the new phone’s performance for around £400.
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