Tested: Pixel 7 and 7 Pro | In the Google lab

Now in its ninth year, the Google-designed line of Pixel phones seems to have found its niche. Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are better looking than ever, with a better screen, a new version of the in-house processor and packed with amazing features. But not all are developed and the power is not there.

Karim Benessaieh
The Press

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The very sober design of the first Pixels is a long way off. The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have a slick glass back, and now incorporate what’s become distinctive over the past two years, a wide aluminum strip on the back that includes the cameras. Few improvements here compared to last year’s Pixel 6: we still count on a 50 MP wide-angle and a 12 MP ultra-wide-angle.

The more expensive Pixel 7 Pro has an additional argument here: it is entitled to a 48 MP telephoto lens, with x5 optical zoom. Google makes a big deal of the photographic capabilities of its phones, so we multiplied the comparisons with another star, the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple’s phone seemed superior to us for the richness of colors and the ability to render contrasts, for example between very sunny and shaded areas.

The Pixel 7 and its big brother 7 Pro have other good qualities, however. Details were better rendered, colors are more natural and they are unbeatable for very low light photos. The Pixel 7s actually reduced the exposure time in these situations to less than 2 seconds, yielding significantly more satisfying results.

Difficult to determine a winner between Apple and Google here, as it depends on the taste of the user. These are obviously very good cameras in all three cases.

The Pixel 7s have an array of image processing features from Google, sometimes impressive, sometimes experimental. The magic eraser allows you to erase an inopportune element in a photo, a retouching that is practically undetectable if this element is on a plain background. Otherwise, we have an uninteresting result. The “anti-blur” feature can improve a blurry photo, but it doesn’t work miracles, as in the example below courtesy of a colleague.

The Pixel 7 screens are particularly successful. The smallest model, at 6.3in, has a refresh rate of up to 90Hz, a resolution of 416ppi and a peak brightness of 1400nits. The 7 Pro, at 6.7in, can go all the way up to 120Hz, with 512 ppi definition and a peak brightness of 1500 nits.

Both are IP68 rated, withstanding water and dust without being considered waterproof. The battery, 4355 mAh and 5000 mAh, is more than enough to give 24 hours of activity. There is also magnetic charging and fast wired charging, capable of filling the battery to 50% in less than 30 minutes.

For unlocking the phone, we finally added facial recognition to the fingerprint reader under the screen.

Finally, as expected of Pixels, Google commits to five years of security updates, which these phones are usually the first to receive.

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Calibration tests don’t tell the whole story and should be used with other criteria, either. But for our classic comparisons with Geekbench 5 software, our two Pixel 7s with their in-house Tensor G2 processor were no match for the competition. And we obviously don’t include iPhones, far ahead.

Unlocking with fingerprints is capricious: you often have to try it a second time.

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Google may dominate the industry with its Android operating system, but it remains a marginal player with its own phones, the Pixels, which held 3% market share in North America last March. But these phones generally get good reviews, and they have a core of die-hard enthusiasts who won’t be disappointed with the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. They have notable improvements over last year, and the quality of the photos and the availability of useful functions are among the arguments in their favour.

The purchase is particularly recommendable for the Pixel 7, offered at a reasonable price despite features worthy of high-end phones.