At its Made by Google conference, which took place today in Paris, Google officially presented its new smartphones, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. No big revolution on the program, but well-felt developments and above all a quality / price ratio that seems, again, well controlled.
They caused a lot of ink to flow, those two. After several months of teasing, unofficial rumors, prototypes released in the wild and leaks, they are finally here. This Thursday, October 6, Google lifted the veil on its new long, wide and transverse flagships. If the “wow” effect was logically not present, this presentation nevertheless confirmed a fact. After a clearly successful generation of Pixel 6, Google is refining its ambitions by demonstrating consistency and continuity.
A refined design at the margin
Unsurprisingly, Google is not upsetting the aesthetic inaugurated by the Pixel 6 family last year. The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro also adopt a photo module in the form of a side strip. Still as successful as ever, this original design is adorned with a new coquetry. Now, this photo block is made of a 100% recycled piece of aluminum, while the two main rear sensors, the wide-angle and the ultra-wide-angle, are dressed in a bubble.
As for last year’s little colorimetric fantasy, a color below the photo block and a gradient above, it is not renewed. The Pixel 7 and 7 offer a completely plain back in a single color. The Pixel 7 comes in lime green, white, and black, and the 7 Pro comes in sage green, black, and white.
In terms of dimensions, they are still as svelte: 156.6 x 73.2 x 8.7 mm for 197 grams for the little brother and 162.9 x 76.6 x 8.9 mm for 212 grams for the big one. Finally, be aware that both phones are IP68 certified.
The Tensor G2 chip, the real big novelty
As expected, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have 6.3 and 6.7 inch panels. The first is content with Full HD + at 90 Hz, while the second beefs up its display with QHD at 120 Hz. One of the big changes is under the hood. Indeed, these new smartphones inaugurate Google’s Tensor G2. To accompany this little news, the 7 Pro benefits from 12 GB of RAM, and the 7 from 8 GB.
A chip that we can’t wait to test, for its pure performance, but also to find out if in terms of heat dissipation, it does better than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. In terms of storage, the two models are in the same boat with a 128 GB version and another at 256 GB.
In order to go the distance, the Pixel 7 is powered by a 4,355 mAh battery and the 7 Pro by a 5,000 mAh battery. To regain strength, they rely on a 30 W charger. Finally, note that both models are compatible with wireless charging.
On the photo side, Google does not overturn the table
Again, the Mountain View firm does not upset its plans. The Pixel 7 consists of a main sensor of 50 megapixels (ƒ/1.85) and an ultra wide-angle of 12 megapixels (ƒ/2.2). For its part, the Pixel 7 Pro takes up this configuration identically by adding a 48 megapixel (ƒ / 3.5) telephoto lens with an x5 optical zoom. Up front, however, Google is beefing up its game.
Compared to last year, the front sensor is increased from 8 to 10.8 megapixels and the latter again supports Google’s Face Unlock facial recognition.
At the video level, the two smartphones are capable of filming in 4K and 1080p each time in 30 and 60 FPS. As for the features, Google is trying to align itself with the competition since its new flagships inaugurate, among other things, a “Motion Blur” mode which seems to be the counterpart of the Cinematic mode of the iPhone. The Pixel 7 Pro even has the right to a “Macro Focus” mode to film, as specified, in macro thanks to the telephoto lens.
Although there are not many new features, we will carefully study the algorithmic processing of Google’s new chip during our tests.
Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel Watch: prices and availability
Available for pre-order today, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will be available from October 12. The two smartphones will be launched, as said before, in two versions:
- The Pixel 7 with 128 GB of storage at 649 euros;
- The Pixel 7 with 256 GB of storage at 749 euros;
- The Pixel 7 Pro with 128 GB of storage at 899 euros;
- And the Pixel 7 Pro with 256 GB of storage at 999 euros.
Exclusive offers accompany pre-orders:
- a free three-month subscription to Google One;
- a three-month subscription to YouTube Premium;
- Pixel Buds Pro are offered with the purchase of a pre-order Pixel 7;
- and a Pixel Watch (Wi-Fi) is offered with the purchase of a pre-order Pixel 7 Pro.
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