Google Pixel 7 Pro Review: The Best Android Phone Just Got Better - Esquire

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We retrieve a clip successful the not-too-distant past erstwhile picking a high-end smartphone meant you were astir apt successful 1 of 2 camps: Apple oregon Samsung (sorry BlackBerry, RIP). That’s nary longer the case. Google’s Pixel bid came retired swinging past twelvemonth with a caller fresh design, a superb camera strategy and immoderate superior bundle smarts – expertly balancing style, show and value. Now, there’s a caller flagship connected the block: the Google Pixel 7 Pro. Depending connected whether you utilized past year’s exemplary it volition either consciousness similar a revelation oregon induce a almighty consciousness of deja vu.

So, what's caller this year?

Like the iPhone 14 bid this year, it has been refined alternatively of revamped – and astatine a glance, we admit that it looks beauteous overmuch identical to its predecessor. But determination person been a fewer subtle changes, mostly nether the hood, that marque this the champion mentation of the telephone yet, particularly if you’re a first-time visitant to Pixel world. It has a amended camera system, longer artillery life, updated plan and look unlocking. We’ve been utilizing the 7 Pro handset for much than a week – paired up with the sleek caller Pixel Watch – and here’s the TLDR: it is without a uncertainty the king of the Androids if you privation the best-of-the-best erstwhile it comes to surface quality, artillery beingness and cameras, but if you person a Pixel 6 Pro successful your pouch it’s not a must-have, and you get galore of the aforesaid features successful the much affordable Pixel 7.

The OLED show is bright, responsive and tin diagnostic immoderate widgets

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Grand Designs

Naturally, the archetypal happening you’ll announcement astir the Pixel 7 Pro is that it looks, well, similar the 6 Pro. There’s nary mode astir it: the plan hasn’t changed overmuch this twelvemonth – though the somewhat much snug camera bump and sides are present made with a shiny polished aluminium (the modular Pixel 7 uses a matte metal) alternatively of glass. We similar the look but can’t shingle the fearfulness that it volition pull scratches – particularly connected the larboard if, similar us, you find yourself fumbling astir with a charging cable.

At 6.7-inches, this is simply a large telephone – astir the aforesaid size arsenic the iPhone 14 Plus and the S22 Ultra, and it looms implicit the modular iPhone 14 erstwhile sitting broadside by side. We struggled to usage the instrumentality with 1 hand, particularly erstwhile scrolling done societal media and Reddit feeds conscionable earlier furniture (yes, we cognize that’s bad), but we yet got utilized to the size and recovered it excels erstwhile we propulsion connected a random YouTube video oregon stream movies from our telephone (forgive us, Christopher Nolan). Thankfully the show is plentifulness agleam (Google claims 25% much than the 6 Pro) and we had nary complaints speechmaking websites connected the OLED sheet successful sunlight.

It’s large to spot the refresh complaint goes up to 120Hz (it’s up to 90Hz connected the modular 7 and inactive a measly 60Hz connected the iPhone 14) and swiping done our apps and menus was so precise smooth. It feels high-end. You tin alteration some the solution and the refresh complaint successful the settings – and lowering them is simply a mode of redeeming battery. It isn’t each flowers and rainbows. Here's immoderate proposal from uncle Esquire: for anyone who is considering a 7 Pro and wants to ever acceptable it down, bargain a case. Without one, the telephone whitethorn arsenic good person legs. The camera bump helps with grip, but the solid backmost and sides mean that it’s astir impressively slippy without a backmost cover.

The ample camera bump is present made with a shiny polished aluminium

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Killer Camera

If you were to database the reasons for buying a Pixel, we’d stake our favored feline that its camera strategy is towards the top. There's a bully crushed its estimation is truthful good: this is simply a setup that conscionable works, delivering large photos some time and night. You get a coagulated 50-megapixel (MP) main shooter, alongside a 12MP ultrawide that has an car macro mode for taking utmost close-ups, positive a 48MP telephoto for zooming. If you’ll beryllium indulging successful selfies oregon video calls, there’s a 10.8MP lens connected the front.

There’s thing arsenic fancy arsenic the iPhone 14’s caller Dynamic Island, but there’s nary large notch, either. Still, we recovered the results from some devices to beryllium precise awesome – though the Pixel 7 has amended zoom capabilities acknowledgment to the 120mm telephoto lens (the iPhone 14 Pro has a 77mm telephoto).

Unlike the Pixel 6 Pro, you get a 5x optical zoom and a “super res” zoom of up to 30x. Tested connected the streets of London connected a agleam time we got fantabulous results with bright, close colours. You won’t request to walk immoderate clip editing snaps earlier posting them to Instagram. Here’s a fistful of shots taken connected the cameras, and they haven’t had immoderate post-processing oregon edits.

We similar the elemental paper layout – you’ll take betwixt 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 5x zoom and six modes (night, motion, portrait, camera, video and cinematic). On the acold close paper you entree Google Lens, which is utilized to construe languages from substance connected the alert via the camera – that’ll assistance with speechmaking the barroom oregon edifice paper connected your adjacent holiday. Translating substance and voices is speedy and accurate.

Most of the dense lifting is done by the Android 13 bundle paired with the Tensor G2 chip, which you won’t find if you interruption unfastened the earlier models. The processor successful the caller phones increases ratio and show – but besides helps to powerfulness the suite of futuristic editing modes. The Photo Unblur mode is simply a caller one. It cleans up messy images if your taxable was caught moving – and it decidedly sharpens a blurry selfie, but doesn't wholly salvage the image. Still, we emotion that the diagnostic is built into Google Photos, truthful immoderate photos saved successful the assemblage tin beryllium unblurred, adjacent if they were taken connected an older telephone from your unruly assemblage nights out.

Magic Eraser mode tin beryllium utilized to region tiny unwanted details from photos, too, and it works conscionable arsenic good arsenic the erstwhile models. It’s precise bully astatine removing 1 oregon 2 radical from your snaps, but don’t expect it to enactment connected a crowd. The caller Macro mode is different adjuvant instrumentality (it automatically switches arsenic you zoom into a subject) but we admit that it’s not ever a diagnostic we would astir apt usage day-to-day. We were unimpressed with the cinematic video mode, which adds a blurry inheritance to your recordings. We could unluckily spot precise distorted edges astir immoderate objects successful the clip. This could beryllium fixed by Google magic successful a bundle update.

Super Software

On the Pixel 7 series, Android 13 runs the show. It's incredibly accelerated and cleanable – with nary bloatware oregon unwanted apps successful sight. The bundle gives you loads of power implicit app permissions and lets you adhd themed icons and resizable widgets to your main screen. We utilized 1 that displays the artillery beingness of connected devices – truthful we could ever negociate the substance successful our phone, Pixel Watch and wireless earbuds.

Making a instrumentality for the archetypal clip since the Google Pixel 4 is look unlocking. It was mysteriously absent successful caller years – and we invited it similar an aged friend. It’s fast, but inactive not connected the level of Apple’s Face ID. While you tin scan your look to rapidly unlock the surface you person to property your fingerprint for immoderate banking oregon payments. Thankfully, Google has fixed 1 of the biggest issues with the Pixel 6, making a noticeable betterment to the under-screen sensor this clip around. We didn’t person immoderate occupation with the clever biometric unlock erstwhile tapping connected our reappraisal unit.

The show was ever smooth, but we encountered immoderate overheating erstwhile the telephone was enactment nether heavier strain – specified arsenic multitasking betwixt apps astatine once, streaming oregon intensive gaming. You won’t request gloves, but you’ll consciousness it. As always, aboriginal enactment is beardown connected the Pixel bid and you’ll get Android updates until October 2015 and information updates nether the aforesaid period successful 2027. Like the erstwhile Pixels, the Google telephone comes with car clang detection (take that, Apple) but it’s a shame you’ll person to hold until adjacent twelvemonth for the autumn detection to work.

Yes, you'll privation to bargain a case

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Pixel Power

You’ll get a small implicit a time of artillery beingness retired of the Pixel 7 Pro – but with the refresh complaint and show solution maxed retired it’s apt to beryllium a small less. We got ourselves into a bully regular of charging the smartphone and ticker each nighttime and accepted that the imagination of a two-day artillery wasn’t 1 that would travel true. With regular usage of playing Spotify during the commute to and from work, periodically checking emails, speechmaking websites and watching videos, we got a day-and-a-bit. We don’t play tons of mobile games, but that volition decidedly beryllium different large drain – arsenic volition live-streaming contented from the likes of Twitch and YouTube.

We recovered that the artillery would spell from dormant to 50% afloat successful astir 30-40 minutes with a 30W partition charger (yes, similar different flagships these days there’s nary adapter successful the box, conscionable the USB-C cable). The 7 Pro besides supports 12W Qi wireless charging, and you tin widen the magnitude of substance successful the vessel importantly utilizing the Battery Saver mode. We recovered that it’s precise adjuvant if you find yourself stuck without entree to a charger. Just cognize that turning this connected severely limits entree to apps – we turned connected the utmost mode astatine 1 constituent and were swiftly restricted from browsing our Instagram.

Trouble successful Paradise

The Google Pixel 7 Pro isn’t cleanable – truthful let’s person a speedy chat astir those problems. We’ve covered however slippy it is, and that’s 1 of the large issues we encountered earlier utilizing a lawsuit that Google tactically included with our reappraisal portion (well played).

But that’s not all: there’s nary expandable storage, truthful you’re constricted to 128GB, 256GB oregon 512GB capacities erstwhile buying the handset unless you wage for other unreality space, and the ample carnal size whitethorn beryllium disconcerting for fans of smaller handsets (or anyone with smaller phalanges). While the telephone is bully worth – astatine £849, it’s £250 cheaper than the iPhone 14 Pro – it’s not what everyone would telephone affordable astatine a clip erstwhile it feels similar paying for a time of vigor costs could soon acceptable you backmost much than a play astatine Glastonbury. Lastly, autumn detection isn’t the lone diagnostic missing astatine launch: a escaped VPN that’s being bundled into Google One is inactive MIA, for now.

The plan is precise unsocial compared to astir Android phones

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Should you bargain the Pixel 7 Pro?

The Pixel 7 Pro is our favourite high-end Android telephone of the year. It’s a refinement of a reinvention – improving past year’s exemplary by adding look unlocking, a shiny caller camera bump and further enhancing immoderate of the champion portable cameras that you tin person successful your pocket. Yes, the Pixel 7 (£599) has galore of the aforesaid features for less, and it’s not an instant bargain for anyone with a Pixel 6 Pro (£719), but aesthetically the 7 Pro is 1 of the astir head-turning handsets that you tin prime up successful 2022 – and it’s returned with the benignant and assurance of a smartphone that knows it’s good.

Google Pixel 7 Pro

Google amazon.co.uk

£849.00

• Fantastic camera
• Unique design
• Now has look unlocking

• Not excessively overmuch has changed
• No expandable storage
• Some missing features

Pixel 7 Pro: The Need-to-Know

• Screen size: 6.7-inches
• Resolution: QHD+ (1440 x 3120 pixels) OLED
• Operating system: Android 13
• Processor: Google Tensor G2
• Cameras: 50MP wide, 12 MP ultra-wide, 48MP telephoto, 11MP selfie
• Battery: 5,000 mAh
• Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
• RAM: 12GB
• Weight: 212g
• Water resistance: IP68
• Micro SD paper slot: No