PIXEL 7 PRO REVIEW

I’ve been a Google phone user since the Nexus One. Upgrading mostly every couple of years. I’ve been through the Nexus One (2010), Galaxy Nexus(2012), Nexus 5(2013), Nexus 5X(2015), Pixel 3XL(2018), Pixel 5(2020) and now, the Pixel 7 Pro.

I have a soft spot for the Nexus One. A sturdy little workhorse that started this all. Dropped many times, it was battered and never once did I have to replace the screen. The Galaxy Nexus, with its curved screen and plastic body, was also dropped numerous times and never once needed the screen replaced. The pair of Nexus 5s were a nice size and I only smashed one screen when it was in a pocket on a rollercoaster. The 3XL¹ felt great in the hand and the extra screen size² I definitely missed when moving to the Pixel 5.

I’ve spent about £3625 on hardware over 14 years, providing I upgrade in 2 years time. About £260/year. That’s pretty good value, without even including the free stuff.

For comparison, had I used an equivalent iPhone over that period, I would have spent approx £5000.

The Pixel 7 Pro is the biggest, most expensive version I’ve used. So is it worth it? Read on to find out.

Physical impressions.

Quite simply stunning. Feels, and as much as I don’t like using the word in this context, premium. Weighty without being heavy. Cool and smooth, yet warm and reassuring. But it’s slippy. Slippier than the 3XL³ and I used a case for that phone for the majority of the time I was using it. However I’d take the case off regularly just to feel the niceness. This is the same and I’ll be picking up something appropriate like these slim leather Bellroy cases. I suggest you do too, unless you’ve got very big hands. Or your name is Spiderman.

Visual impressions

My Pixel 5 was Sorta Sage so I went with the Hazel. This just felt like the right colour to get. It looks classy. The change from the two tone doesn’t remove its distinctive look, for me that is defined by the camera bar.

The screen is excellent as far as I can tell. Small, even bezels. Small camera cutout and no need to hide it with a Dynamic Island.

Aural impressions

There was much consternation about the screen firing speakers of the Pixel 5, but I prefer those regardless of quality. Going back to the hand cupping technique to get the sound to be more focused isn’t an improvement for me. The volume is plenty loud enough, louder than the Pixel 5 and laying the phone on a flat surface definitely helps with the direction of sound. No distortion at max volume either.

In general, phonecalls have been good. The software update coming later this year should make this excellent. I tend to use speakerphone quite a bit when talking to friends so I can multitask without fear of dropping the phone, so good call quality, speaker volume and microphone are essential for me. This has nailed all three. They really didn’t forget about the phone bit.

Fingerprint & Face Unlock

Give me back the optical sensor on the back of the Pixel 5. The underscreen sensor isn’t slow. But it was inconsistent to start with. Maybe it’s just me. I would press and it fails. Make a slight adjustment and it worked. I have noticed that over time I’m either getting used to getting my finger placement right, or it’s learning and unlocking consistently now. Something to bear in mind if you are a couple of days in.

Face unlock is nice. A little slow. When you have both face and fingerprint set, i’m never sure whether I need to use my fingerprint or not. It is taking a bit of getting used to from only using the fingerprint. Maybe I’ll switch off the face thing.

Camera

There are some good upgrades over the Pixel 5. There are plenty of camera comparisons about. I’m not going to go into detail. Here’s a couple of video reviews and you can see for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6abR9-4QYI&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWGBSfhxWJg

Software

There are bugs. No software is issue free. Not major ones, just some annoying ones. Saying that, these are evident in my Pixel 5 and mostly in Chrome on advert heavy sites. YouTube not displaying comments happens occasionally. And the Outlook PWA showing half a blank screen, as if the navigation bar had decided the bottom of the screen was only half way up. These all feel like Android 13 things, rather than anything hardware related.

Android Auto on the car opens much, much faster. I like that. A lot. Sometimes it’s the little things you use every day that can make a big difference.

Battery

This has been stellar. No complaints so far. I’m easily getting through a full day. This has a caveat. I haven’t installed the game that I would use regularly. This has both reduced my time spent on said game, but it is also a battery hog. I have the always on display on. But I take regular small car journeys each day with the phone plugged in and charging. I don’t think i’ve gone below 60% yet. I don’t know what YouTube does to be pretty much permanently using background battery. I’ve switched that off now.

Conclusions

This is an excellent phone at a very good price. I’m not sure there is a better value phone on the market right now, not even the Pixel 7.

It’s definitely worth it.