Google Pixel 7 & Pixel 7 Pro Review | One Month Later...

Reviewing Google's Pixel 7 Pro and regular Pixel 7 one month later, to see if the camera tech, battery life, gaming performance and other Android 13 bits are still among the best. The Pixel 7 is my personal favourite phone thanks to its compact finish, although the telephoto camera of the Pro is a big miss (as it's one of the best of any smartphone in 2022).

Thankfully that's the only bit of slashed optics, and Google's affordable flagship can capture sharp, detailed photos and great looking video almost any time of day. If you thought Samsung's Galaxy S22 Ultra or the iPhone 14 Pro Max were good, the Pixel 7 series are a step beyond.

Gaming on either phone is relatively smooth these days, even if you boost those Genshin Impact settings right up. The Pixel 7 Pro and standard phone both use Google's Tensor G2, as crafted with Samsung. It's not the beefiest smartphone chipset out there, but it's absolutely fine for everyday activities. Although the Pixel 7 handsets do get rather warm at times.

So that's what I think of these blowers after using them as my full-time phones for a month. Let me know your own thoughts below!

Google Pixel 7 & 7 Pro Review Chapters:
0:00 - Get on with it!
0:40 - Design
3:18 - Android 13 & features
5:21 - Display & audio
6:34 - Performance & gaming
8:17 - Battery life
9:31 - Cameras
14:40 - Verdict

[calensansom]

7 Pro since release... best phone I've ever owned, and I definitely put it through its paces. Was running warm with lesser battery life in the first week or so, until the battery optimization figured out how I use the device. Cool as a cucumber now with full day battery life. Couldn't be happier.

[preprethew]

I've had the 7 since day one and the experience has been perfect... The camera is so good it's hard to explain, it's not just the final quality of the pictures but also the carelessness with which you can take the shots

[tonyb]

I bought the standard 7 in snow to replace my 4a. Brilliant phone so far - no complaints at all. I think these phones have a lot more to give though, so hopefully Android 14 and up will add more value.

[Bry.]

Would be lovely if Google would appreciate us who love a small handset, and give us a smaller screen with pro camera features.

[AtomicBleach]

Seriously, if Google would just launch a pixel 7 sized phone with zoom lens, and have it cost mid way between the 7 and 7 pro, we would have the perfect Android phone on our hands. Since I have the 6, I'm going to hold off on upgrading this year, don't really see where it's worth it. My work phone is about the same size as the pixel 7 pro and I absolutely hate the size of it. I always tend to get palm taps while I'm scrolling through content.

[davidyates]

Fucking love this guy and his real world reviews

[mashedtomatoes]

Been using the base Pixel 7, and I have been loving it quite a lot!

Was an apple guy for quite a while (4S, 6, and 8 Plus) and always opted for apple as I was in the apple ecosystem, and just wanted a phone that worked. But as of late, with their pricing going higher and higher and the anti-repair behavior they have, I decided if I can't easily replace components, might as well find something cheaper, and something that allowed me to sideload applications as I chose. Also, I didn't particularly like Apple Watches (battery life sucked so I switched to a Garmin Instinct Solar), and while the earpods pro have great sound, I preferred wired earphones for the same audio quality at a much cheaper price (Moondrop Starfield). Furthermore, I didn't have many other Apple devices (laptop, home, ect.), so there wasn't much hardware-wise tying me to that ecosystem.

My first dip into the Android ecosystem earlier this year was buying a used Samsung s10e (initially just for retro emulation), and after 2 weeks of frustration trying to unlearn the apple way of doing things, I had a phone that worked, was nice and small, and certainly cheaper. However, with the end of security updates coming up soon for that model, I wanted to find something that would have a long support life as I don't like switching out phones very often.

The Pixel 7 has blown me away. There are some strange glitches and freezes in apps here and there, but overall the battery life is fantastic (there are some instances that if I know the following day won't have heavy usage, I won't bother charging my phone at night when at 40-50%). The camera is really good (although I haven't been able to put the astro-photography through its paces yet, so we'll see), and I'm able to play my emulation software really easily and conveniently on the device.

I will also say that it didn't have the frustrating/confusing setup that the Samsung s10e had. I tried setting up autofill passwords on the Samsung and there was the Knox system and then saving passwords via your google account, and it wasn't as fluid an experience as on iOS. The bixby button I also found a little dumb on the Samsung, and the left-swipe screen (whatever it was) was annoying to accidently swipe into and didn't do anything for me.

The Pixel 7, I feel, would be a phone I would be comfortable recommending to longtime users of iOS looking for a compact experience that's easy to make a switch to...however, what is still a pain is getting Apple bought media (music, tv shows, ect.) onto my phone, and is annoying since I love listening to my music and all of that is in the Apple ecosystem. But it makes sense, if I was apple, I'd do the same way to discourage people from jumping between the two. Also makes sense why the Pixel is so user-friendly compared to Samsung, google makes both the hardware and software in this case (much like on the apple side), so of course it would be user-friendly.

Hopefully I don't have to jump from Google in 10 years, as I'm not sure what a phone experience with Linux would be like. :|

[ThGrk]

Went with 7 for my dinky hands. I do wish Google would do the same camera setup for both... Or make it an optional middle option for us who like smaller phones with all the features... Having said that, I don't regret going for the regular 7 as I've never had a phone with a great telephoto so I don't know what I'm missing really.

[stefankozovski]

I got the 7 standard a month ago. Couldn't be happier! A telephoto would've been great but 6.7 inches is a no-go for me. The cameras are great and the level of smoothness is too damn high. Excellent experience overall.

[MrFowl]

The motion blur settings are amazing for creeks and waterfalls. Really good for getting car pics too, makes taking "roller" shots a breeze.

[fightnight]

I stepped down from a 7 pro to 7. I like the features of the pro but the size of the 7 is more friendly to my average hands and I rarely use 5x telephoto even though its cool to have, I can live without it.

[ValentynNFT]

I ended up returning mine because they couldn’t send me the trade in kit sooner but when I was using it my one major complaint about it was how tinny the speakers sound they don’t really get bass and the sound like you’re playing audio from a soda can amplifier thing. Overall though great phone.

[AaronAnita]

I went from the OnePlus 7 pro to the Pixel 7pro, and couldn't be happier. Photo quality is amazing, and just everything about he phone is so much better. This is so much of an upgrade and I'm not regretting my decision at all. This is the best phone I've ever owned.

[GuessWhat]

Pixel 7 for me because of smaller size. Smaller the better in phones.

[jodij]

My brother and I both have had our Pixel 7's for about a week and we love them. SO many more features than our old Motorolas. Neither of us take telephoto pictures so that's not even a issue.

[ZAZusmc]

I came over from the pixel 5. I was skeptical that the new 7 pro would be able to hold up against the new iphones as far as cameras go. I went on a road trip last weekend with a few friends. We visited the St. Louis zoo and attended a concert the same night. My pics and videos from the zoo and concert blew their phones away. A LOT of my photos were pushing the digital zoom passed the 5x zoom. They were fantastic. The video I took at the zoo and the concert were crystal clear, and surprisingly, the video taken at the concert was crystal clear for audio as well. I'm really happy with the 7 pro.

[jackc]

Traded in the pixel 6 for the 7. So much better. Not massive improvements anywhere, but the many small improvements just make it a much better package.

[theobower]

I have the pixel 7. I was the same with the battery life until the adaptive battery kicked in which made it much better. Overall, I'm very happy with the phone

[jbandlt]

Loving the Pixel 7 pro so far. Need to test out the camera a bit more but noticed a big difference to the Xperia 5 ii Ive come from as I don't need to use pro mode now which can take too much effort to get a good shot. Noticed some apps using too much battery. I had to restrict the EE app as its draining too much battery in background. All in all top phone so far

[earthling_parth]

You certainly do one of the best real life use case reviews ♥️