Speaker 1: After teasing the Pixel seven in May, Google's new flagship phone is finally here, but don't expect it to be as dramatic of an upgrade as the pixel six. The Pixel seven builds on what Google started with the Pixel six last year. It has a slightly updated design with a new metal camera bar, Google's new tensor G2 processor, a slightly smaller screen, a built in VPN and a camera with some internal changes that should improve Zoom quality. But most importantly, [00:00:30] Google is keeping the same $600 price for the Pixel seven, despite inflation that makes it cheaper than the iPhone 14 and the Galaxy S 22, both of which cost $800 at regular price. That might sound like a lot of changes on paper, but if you have a Pixel six, there's no reason to upgrade just yet. Google gave the pixel lineup a makeover last year and that's carried over to the Pixel seven.
Speaker 1: Once again, the camera bar is the star of the show. It now has a metal design, which makes it [00:01:00] even more prominent than on the pixel six. On the pixel seven, there's more separation between the camera strip itself and the lenses, which kind of blend into the camera bar on the pixel six, but Google has done away with the two tone color pattern found on last year's phones. Instead, the pixel seven is all one color on the back. Aside from the camera bar, color options for the pixel seven include snow, white obsidian and lemon grass. I've been using the lemon grass color, which is the most interesting one of the bunch. When it comes to the competition, [00:01:30] I'm torn on whether I like this design better than the Galaxy S 22. I love that the camera bar stands out even when you put a case on the Pixel seven, but I also really like the Galaxy S 20 twos finish and color options.
Speaker 1: The Pixel seven has a slightly smaller screen at 6.3 inches compared to the pixel sixes 6.4 inch display, but the bezels framing the screen are also slimmer, which gives in a more attractive look. Overall, this makes it easier to use the phone in one hand while also providing more screen space than [00:02:00] you'd get with the Galaxy S 22 or the cheaper pixel six A. The Pixel seven still has a 50 megapixel main camera and 12 megapixel ultra wide camera like the Pixel six, but Google says it's made some internal changes that improve Zoom quality among other aspects of the camera. When zooming at two x, the Pixel sevens 50 megapixel main sensor now crops into 12.5 megapixels in the middle, which the company claims should deliver a big boost in image quality to see how much of a difference this makes. [00:02:30] I compared photos taken at two X zoom on the pixel seven.
Speaker 1: Alongside those taken on the Pixel six and most of the photos I've taken so far, the difference is only really noticeable when you zoom in on the image in this photo of an art exhibit at a local park. You'll notice there's more noise in the Pixel six s photo when you zoom in a couple of times, but you really have to look for it in other photos like this picture of a skyline on the East River. I couldn't really notice a difference at all even when I zoomed in, but I have have to admit this [00:03:00] photo taken at the Pixel Sevens maximum zoom of eight x looks impressively sharp compared to the pixel sixes, which is zoomed in up to its maximum level of seven x. If you're really into Zoom photography, you'll wanna check out the $900 Pixel seven Pro instead, which has a dedicated 48 megapixel telephoto camera.
Speaker 1: You can check out that review to learn more about whether that camera lives up to Google's claims. But the Pixel seven is getting another camera trick that's also fueled by Google's new tensor G2 processor. Photo one blur sharpens old photos just [00:03:30] as the name implies, it builds on the face on blur feature that Google announced with the Pixel six last year. But the idea is that instead of just sharpening new photos, you can go back and improve old photos that you may have taken on an older camera. This worked pretty well in most scenarios, but if the photo is too grainy, there just isn't much Google can do to salvage it. Photo and Blur works especially well on photos that are out of focus rather than noisy. Look at this photo of me from 2013 and see how Google is able to make it so much crisper. This photo is [00:04:00] from nearly 10 years ago, but it almost looks new. Google has also added a new feature that should make it easier for people who are blind or low vision to take selfies. Guided Frame helps you line up the front camera with audio cues as long as you have the talk back screen reader enabled. Move
Speaker 2: Your phone slightly right enough
Speaker 1: To see how well wellness worked. I attempted to take a selfie of me and my husband sitting on the couch with my eyes closed,
Speaker 2: Two faces, one prompt,
Speaker 1: Two face guided frame, told me to move my phone to the left or right and [00:04:30] up or down until both of our faces were in the frame. Ready
Speaker 2: For selfie. 3, 2, 1. Photo taken
Speaker 1: Photography isn't the only camera upgrade. Google is also introducing a new video feature too. Cinematic Blur is coming to the Pixel seven and seven Pro and it's essentially portrait mode for video. This might sound really familiar because the iPhone also has a very similar feature called Cinematic Mode, which came out last year. I tested Google's version alongside Apples and I think Apple's looks [00:05:00] a bit more natural.
Speaker 1: You can get a closer look at the Pixel Sevens camera and how it compares to Samsung and Apple's cameras in our full written review. The Pixel seven runs on Google's new tensor G2 processor and I'm happy to report that I haven't noticed any bugs or hiccups like some Pixel six users did last year. The iScreen fingerprint reader also seems to be more reliable than the Pixel six s, which is a nice improvement, but Google also added another way to unlock your phone. You can now use Face Unlock, [00:05:30] which was noticeably absent from the Pixel six. However, don't expect it to be anything like Apple's face id, which projects thousands of invisible dots all over your face. To create a depth map on the Pixel seven and seven Pro, Google is just using the front face and camera and some algorithms to extract depth information. That's why Google only recommends it as a secondary means of unlocking your phone rather than for managing sensitive data like authenticating purchases.
Speaker 1: The good news is that face unlock works pretty fast on the Pixel seven, but again, this isn't [00:06:00] anything new for the smartphone industry and it's pretty standard on most phones. Battery life on the Pixel seven is enough to get through a full day, but you might wanna have a charger handy if it's going to be a particularly busy day. I got around 15 and a half hours out of the pixel, six on a day that involved commuting to the office, taking some photos and sending a lot of texts. I also had the screen brightness turned up high so that I could see it more easily outdoors. Some other features that typically drain battery faster were also enabled like the always on display high refresh rate [00:06:30] and now playing, which recognizes nearby songs the next day. I turned off those features and set the display to Adaptive Brightness, which adjusts the brightness as needed.
Speaker 1: I also spent about an hour reading the news during commute, made a 20 minute phone call and took a lot of photos on that second day, turning those features off extended battery life by a little more than an hour. But I was also using my phone more often compared to the day before. It's important to remember that battery life varies a lot depending on how you use your phone, so your experience might not match mine. On the flip side, [00:07:00] on a day when I spent the majority of my time at home, I still had about 44% of my battery left by bedtime. Google also has an extreme battery saver mode that should prolong battery life for up to 72 hours, but I haven't had the chance to try it just yet. As for software, the Pixel seven runs on Android 13 and we'll get three years of Android OS updates and five years of security updates.
Speaker 1: That's not bad, but Samsung promises up to four generations of Android updates. You'll also get some exclusive pixel features, the most noticeable of which is the addition [00:07:30] of a built in VPN for free. You usually have to sign up for Google's premium, Google one plan, which costs $10 per month to get that feature. The Pixel seven is a modest upgrade over the Pixel six that brings a more refined design, some extra photography features and face unlock to Google's smartphone. It's not a radical change, but it doesn't need to be since Google just revamped the Pixel last year. Don't buy it if you have a Pixel six, but if you have an older phone like the Pixel four earlier, the pixel seven should feel like a noteworthy [00:08:00] upgrade. Check out our full written review for a closer look at the Pixel seven, and don't forget to subscribe to get more Pixel and Android coverage. So what do you think of the Pixel seven? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.
