Google announces the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro (again)

Back in May, Google broke with traditional product launch protocol by pre-announcing the Pixel 7, 7 Pro, Pixel Watch months in advance; the Pixel Tablet was also revealed, but that’s not launching until 2023. Fast forward to today, and there are no more secrets on the Pixel 7 phones and Pixel Watch. You can also preorder these new devices before the holidays.

Google’s new flagship phones — The follow-up to last year’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, polish up their designs (camera bar and all), boost performance with Google’s second-generation Tensor G2 chip, and bump up the specs across the board.

But as always, the real appeal of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro is the machine learning that Google is sprinkling on top of the hardware and software. Features like “Photo Unblur” that fuses images from two camera lenses to fix blurry photos, and “Clear Calling” to make phone calls more audible, genuinely seem useful.

Pixel 7 tech specs:

• Display: 6.3 inches (2,400 x 1,080) 90Hz OLED @ 1,400 nits
• Battery: 4,355 mAh
• Chipset: Tensor G2
• RAM: 8GB LPDDR5
• Storage: 128GB / 256GB
• Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.85 main + 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide + 10-megapixel f/2.2 selfie
• Software: Android 13
• Colors: Lemongrass, Snow, Obsidian

Pixel 7 Pro tech specs:

• Display: 6.7 inches (3,120 x 1440) 120Hz OLED @ 1,500 nits
• Battery: 5,000 mAh
• Chipset: Tensor G2
• RAM: 12GB LPDDR5
• Storage: 128GB / 256GB
• Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.85 main + 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide + 48-megapixel f/3.5 telephoto + 10-megapixel f/2.2 selfie
• Software: Android 13
• Colors: Hazel, Snow, Obsidian

More machine learning — The tech specs tell half the story. As I said, Pixels are attractive for their marrying of machine learning with hardware and software, and for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro there a several notable features including the aforementioned Photo Unblur and Clear Calling.

There’s a new face unlock feature, a way to dictate emoji with shocking accuracy, and transcriptions for audio messages. For the camera, there’s a “Cinematic Blur” mode that looks similar to the Cinematic mode on iPhone 13s an 14s, 10-bit HDR video recording, better video stabilization, enhancements to Super Res Zoom that enable crisper zoomed-in photos at various focal lengths (2x, 5x, 10x, and 30x), and a “Macro Focus” mode that takes close-ups at up to 3cm.

Google also talked about ways to improve inclusivity and accessibility on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. The company says it’s added over 10,000 images to its computational photography database to improve darker skin tones in low-light photography. Additionally, there’s a “Guided Frame” that can assist sightless users with framing selfies with voice instructions.

Google’s big Pixel moment? — The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were two of the best Android phones released in 2021. Google sweetened things further with the more affordable Pixel 6a. Unless there’s something horribly wrong with the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, they’re likely to top lists for best Android phones for this year.

I’m hoping the cameras are even better; the second-gen Tensor G2 chip can play the most demanding 3D mobile games without any hiccups, and Android 13 can really set the stage for other Android device makers to get with it.

But the real question is whether or not the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will move the needle for Google in any meaningful way. Up until last year, Pixel sales have made almost no dent in global iPhone or Samsung Galaxy sales. And in more device-diverse regions like Asia, Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei cater to markets at seemingly every price point.

The new machine learning features are nice, but will they really sell Pixel phones in the tens or hundreds of millions? Will they get people to leave their iPhones or Galaxy phones? That seems unlikely considering how it took Apple and Samsung a decade to reach those same heights. At the very least, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will remain the blueprint for what good, modern Android phones should resemble. The cameras especially keep the iPhone on its toes.

Price, release date, and preorder — The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will launch at the same prices as their predecessors: starting at $599 for the Pixel 7 and $899 for the Pixel 7 Pro. Both Android phones will be available for preorder today and release “next week.”

Google’s selling the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro in more countries than before:

• U.S.
• Singapore
• Japan
• Denmark
• Italy
• Taiwan
• Germany
• Australia
• Sweden
• India
• U.K.
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Spain
• Ireland
• France

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