Pixel 7 Pro Review - Google's Best Phone Ever

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe pixel 7 Pro is the best phone that Google has ever made but it's also the least exciting here's what you need to know so Google's pixel 6 Pro when it launched last year was a superb bit of Kit I even gave it a coveted CNET editor's Choice Award and this phone was a huge overhaul from the pixel 5 before it but it was such a big overhaul that it meant that there's not a lot of change in the new model one year on but of course there doesn't really need to be Google clearly found its feat with the pixel 6 and just one year is not enough time to Warrant a complete overhaul of an already excellent phone so instead of needlessly changing everything about the pixel 6 Google has instead made lots of little refinements tweaks here and there little pokes and prods in all kinds of different ways that all add up to make the pixel 7 Pro an absolutely superb phone we get improved cameras some added new neat tricks and dare I say it an even more attractive design but it is very much Evolution over Revolution so those of you wanting something completely new from Google will be a little disappointed so with that all being said let's dive in to find out what I really like about this phone the design is familiar but refined Google has maintained that camera strip across the back that houses the three lenses but that strip is now made of recycled aluminum and it Blends seamlessly with the aluminum surround on the phone it's a small shift but I think it really adds something to the overall look and feel of the thing the back is still glass and the front still curves nicely at the edges so I just think it feels generally like a very luxurious very premium phone and it's ip68 rated so spilled drinks or taking phone calls in the rain should be often no concern however I do worry that that shiny metal strip could be a little susceptible to damage even just in the short time I've been testing it I've already noticed some very small hairline scratches on that shiny surface that over time could become a bit more pronounced whether that's actually a problem remains to be seen it is possible of course that it could age beautifully over time like solid brass instruments that develop a pattern a life of their own as they get more scratched and maybe after three years with the phone all those little scratches will just tell of the story of the time you've spent with your phone or maybe that's just wishful thinking the display measures 6.7 inches and it's got a 3120 by 1440 pixel resolution that is exactly the same as the pixel 6 Pro it's sharp and bright enough to be used outside and it's got bold Punchy colors that I found lend themselves well to vibrant YouTube videos maybe some of the ones you've seen on this channel but it still manages not to look too oversaturated or unrealistic there is no question that at 6.7 inches it is a big phone and that is great for those of you that like big screen gaming or if you watch a lot of videos on the move for those of you with smaller hands or just those of you who prefer a smaller phone might find it a little bit cumbersome to use particularly if you're trying to text with one hand okay let's talk about those cameras the cameras on the pixel 6 Pro were superb capable of taking beautiful photos that rivaled any other phone of its time so I'm glad to say that Google hasn't lost its touch here the pixel 7 Pro's 50 megapixel main camera takes beautiful photos with superb dynamic range and spot-on colors it's taken some glorious shots on my test photo walked around my home in all of its autumnal Glory with Vivid blue skies being captured perfectly and tons of detail captures it by that high resolution sensor the optical telephoto Zoom has been given a boost from four times to five times now that might not seem like a huge difference but it is just enough to give you that extra Bit Of Reach in the zoom to help you find those more interesting compositions in a scene compositions that might actually be lost to your iPhone 14 pro using friends with their three-time Zoom like the main lens for telephoto Zoom captures beautiful images with great dynamic range and accurate colors personally that five times telephoto Zoom is one of my favorite things about this camera it is a great Sweet Spot between the iPhone's three times zoom and the Galaxy s22 ultra's 10 times Zoom switching to the ultra wide lens lets you pack in much more into your scene and I'm impressed to see that there is no noticeable color shift when switching between the lenses the ultra wide new autofocus system though does bring a cool new feature though in the form of macro photography you can now Focus within a couple of inches of that lens so you can get really great close-up shots of things like bugs or flowers it works well too by automatically switching to that macro mode when it detects something close up and focuses quickly and sure having a macro camera might not exactly be a standout feature for many of you but it certainly is a fun addition particularly on those occasions when an interesting bug creeps towards you and you just want to get a close-up shot to show it off on the gram night mode images are good as well with the night sight mode being able to take six second long exposures which captures a huge amount of light even in very dark scenarios the night shots are bright and crisp but I have found some issues with flaring particularly with things like Street lamps if they're closer to the camera it's a shame that sometimes it's so strong but it does spoil the image for me Google has continued to make AI improvements to its camera software as well with updates to its real tone algorithm for better capture of Darker skin tones there's also a new guided frame feature that helps blind or partially sighted people take selfies then there's a neat new trick called photo and blur which as the name suggests unblers your photos I tried it on a handful of my older photos and the difference can be quite noticeable with some shots having a definite Improvement in Clarity after the tool has done its magic other shots didn't seem to have quite the same difference and if your photo is in incredibly blurry then really there's not a lot that any AI can do to help save your shot so it's a neat trick but you can't expect miracles the phone runs on the second generation of Google's own homemade processor called tensor G2 now it was a bold move for Google to start making its own silicon for its phones rather than using something off the shelf like one of qualcomm's chips but the reality is that in everyday use you will not know that there is anything different inside this thing as it just performs like any other Android phone and it's got more than enough power to make this thing run beautifully navigating around the interface is Swift and lag free apps open immediately switching between open tasks is incredibly quick and it can handle things like high resolution streaming and demanding games with things like Asphalt 9 Legends or gentian impact playing at Max settings without any noticeable problems in short it is packed with power but it's the behind the scenes stuff that Google says has been improved with this new chip because it's built with AI and machine learning in mind and indeed Google says that various tasks that use that have been improved in particular things like speech recognition and transcription object detection in imagery better AI to reduce background noise in your phone calls and even deeper security things which has allowed the pixel 7 Pro to have face unlock as well as a fingerprint scanner in the screen the phone is running the latest version of Android 13 which I really enjoyed using because it is clean clutter 3 and just easy to use it's got no bloatware or other nonsense pre-installed on it so it just feels very streamlined and it means that even Android novices will not find it difficult to get up to speed with a phone like this so what don't I like about the pixel 7 Pro well one of the only negatives I can really throw at it is that it's battery life could be better on my YouTube streaming battery tests I found that it didn't fare quite as well as either the old pixel 6 Pro or the pixel 6A or the pixel 7 or the iPhone 13. but the battery life isn't bad it's just not as good as it could be it'll still comfortably get through a full day of mixed use and as with pretty much any other phone you can buy right now you'll still put it on charge for a full Boost overnight so I really don't think its battery life is problematic it's just worth keeping in mind if you are the sort of person that really tries to squeeze every last drop of juice from their batteries but there is little else I can say that I don't like about this phone while it doesn't have the same Pizzazz that the 6 Pro had when it launched last year it makes enough refinements across the board to result in a phone which is absolutely stunning to use and every bit deserving of its Flagship status needless to say though if you have already got the pixel 6 Pro then this is not worth an upgrade but if you are using an older pixel phone or any older phone at all for that matter then it is absolutely worth a look what do you think to Google's pixel 7 Pro is it the flagship Android phone for you or have you got your eyes set elsewhere do of course make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below and make sure to check out the video description for a lot more information about the phonethe pixel 7 Pro is the best phone that Google has ever made but it's also the least exciting here's what you need to know so Google's pixel 6 Pro when it launched last year was a superb bit of Kit I even gave it a coveted CNET editor's Choice Award and this phone was a huge overhaul from the pixel 5 before it but it was such a big overhaul that it meant that there's not a lot of change in the new model one year on but of course there doesn't really need to be Google clearly found its feat with the pixel 6 and just one year is not enough time to Warrant a complete overhaul of an already excellent phone so instead of needlessly changing everything about the pixel 6 Google has instead made lots of little refinements tweaks here and there little pokes and prods in all kinds of different ways that all add up to make the pixel 7 Pro an absolutely superb phone we get improved cameras some added new neat tricks and dare I say it an even more attractive design but it is very much Evolution over Revolution so those of you wanting something completely new from Google will be a little disappointed so with that all being said let's dive in to find out what I really like about this phone the design is familiar but refined Google has maintained that camera strip across the back that houses the three lenses but that strip is now made of recycled aluminum and it Blends seamlessly with the aluminum surround on the phone it's a small shift but I think it really adds something to the overall look and feel of the thing the back is still glass and the front still curves nicely at the edges so I just think it feels generally like a very luxurious very premium phone and it's ip68 rated so spilled drinks or taking phone calls in the rain should be often no concern however I do worry that that shiny metal strip could be a little susceptible to damage even just in the short time I've been testing it I've already noticed some very small hairline scratches on that shiny surface that over time could become a bit more pronounced whether that's actually a problem remains to be seen it is possible of course that it could age beautifully over time like solid brass instruments that develop a pattern a life of their own as they get more scratched and maybe after three years with the phone all those little scratches will just tell of the story of the time you've spent with your phone or maybe that's just wishful thinking the display measures 6.7 inches and it's got a 3120 by 1440 pixel resolution that is exactly the same as the pixel 6 Pro it's sharp and bright enough to be used outside and it's got bold Punchy colors that I found lend themselves well to vibrant YouTube videos maybe some of the ones you've seen on this channel but it still manages not to look too oversaturated or unrealistic there is no question that at 6.7 inches it is a big phone and that is great for those of you that like big screen gaming or if you watch a lot of videos on the move for those of you with smaller hands or just those of you who prefer a smaller phone might find it a little bit cumbersome to use particularly if you're trying to text with one hand okay let's talk about those cameras the cameras on the pixel 6 Pro were superb capable of taking beautiful photos that rivaled any other phone of its time so I'm glad to say that Google hasn't lost its touch here the pixel 7 Pro's 50 megapixel main camera takes beautiful photos with superb dynamic range and spot-on colors it's taken some glorious shots on my test photo walked around my home in all of its autumnal Glory with Vivid blue skies being captured perfectly and tons of detail captures it by that high resolution sensor the optical telephoto Zoom has been given a boost from four times to five times now that might not seem like a huge difference but it is just enough to give you that extra Bit Of Reach in the zoom to help you find those more interesting compositions in a scene compositions that might actually be lost to your iPhone 14 pro using friends with their three-time Zoom like the main lens for telephoto Zoom captures beautiful images with great dynamic range and accurate colors personally that five times telephoto Zoom is one of my favorite things about this camera it is a great Sweet Spot between the iPhone's three times zoom and the Galaxy s22 ultra's 10 times Zoom switching to the ultra wide lens lets you pack in much more into your scene and I'm impressed to see that there is no noticeable color shift when switching between the lenses the ultra wide new autofocus system though does bring a cool new feature though in the form of macro photography you can now Focus within a couple of inches of that lens so you can get really great close-up shots of things like bugs or flowers it works well too by automatically switching to that macro mode when it detects something close up and focuses quickly and sure having a macro camera might not exactly be a standout feature for many of you but it certainly is a fun addition particularly on those occasions when an interesting bug creeps towards you and you just want to get a close-up shot to show it off on the gram night mode images are good as well with the night sight mode being able to take six second long exposures which captures a huge amount of light even in very dark scenarios the night shots are bright and crisp but I have found some issues with flaring particularly with things like Street lamps if they're closer to the camera it's a shame that sometimes it's so strong but it does spoil the image for me Google has continued to make AI improvements to its camera software as well with updates to its real tone algorithm for better capture of Darker skin tones there's also a new guided frame feature that helps blind or partially sighted people take selfies then there's a neat new trick called photo and blur which as the name suggests unblers your photos I tried it on a handful of my older photos and the difference can be quite noticeable with some shots having a definite Improvement in Clarity after the tool has done its magic other shots didn't seem to have quite the same difference and if your photo is in incredibly blurry then really there's not a lot that any AI can do to help save your shot so it's a neat trick but you can't expect miracles the phone runs on the second generation of Google's own homemade processor called tensor G2 now it was a bold move for Google to start making its own silicon for its phones rather than using something off the shelf like one of qualcomm's chips but the reality is that in everyday use you will not know that there is anything different inside this thing as it just performs like any other Android phone and it's got more than enough power to make this thing run beautifully navigating around the interface is Swift and lag free apps open immediately switching between open tasks is incredibly quick and it can handle things like high resolution streaming and demanding games with things like Asphalt 9 Legends or gentian impact playing at Max settings without any noticeable problems in short it is packed with power but it's the behind the scenes stuff that Google says has been improved with this new chip because it's built with AI and machine learning in mind and indeed Google says that various tasks that use that have been improved in particular things like speech recognition and transcription object detection in imagery better AI to reduce background noise in your phone calls and even deeper security things which has allowed the pixel 7 Pro to have face unlock as well as a fingerprint scanner in the screen the phone is running the latest version of Android 13 which I really enjoyed using because it is clean clutter 3 and just easy to use it's got no bloatware or other nonsense pre-installed on it so it just feels very streamlined and it means that even Android novices will not find it difficult to get up to speed with a phone like this so what don't I like about the pixel 7 Pro well one of the only negatives I can really throw at it is that it's battery life could be better on my YouTube streaming battery tests I found that it didn't fare quite as well as either the old pixel 6 Pro or the pixel 6A or the pixel 7 or the iPhone 13. but the battery life isn't bad it's just not as good as it could be it'll still comfortably get through a full day of mixed use and as with pretty much any other phone you can buy right now you'll still put it on charge for a full Boost overnight so I really don't think its battery life is problematic it's just worth keeping in mind if you are the sort of person that really tries to squeeze every last drop of juice from their batteries but there is little else I can say that I don't like about this phone while it doesn't have the same Pizzazz that the 6 Pro had when it launched last year it makes enough refinements across the board to result in a phone which is absolutely stunning to use and every bit deserving of its Flagship status needless to say though if you have already got the pixel 6 Pro then this is not worth an upgrade but if you are using an older pixel phone or any older phone at all for that matter then it is absolutely worth a look what do you think to Google's pixel 7 Pro is it the flagship Android phone for you or have you got your eyes set elsewhere do of course make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below and make sure to check out the video description for a lot more information about the phone\n"