Google Pixel 7 Pro vs Pixel 7

Intro

Why? Well, just because it marks such an important paradigm shift for Google, which finally settles on proper flagships after an experimental hiatus with the Google Pixel 5. The Pixel 7-series aims to reiterate that Google is back and is willing to find its own niche in the flagship market, from which it could comfortably deliver well-timed punches to Samsung and Apple.  

Design and Display Quality

Shared DNA

The main difference between the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 is their overall size, which stems a few important differences from itself. First up, the Pixel 7 Pro is the larger one here, with a 6.7-inch display and a larger 5,000mAh battery in comparison with the 6.3-inch entry-level Pixel 7, which also has the smaller battery. 

From a pure design standpoint, both phones look pretty similar, though the Pixel 7 Pro is most likely getting a stainless steel frame unlike the Pixel 7, which is coming with an aluminum frame. Otherwise, both phones feature rather similar design, almost identical to last year’s Pixel 6-series. Unlike the 2021 Google flagships, the newest Pixel come with colorful camera strips at the rear, a move away from the understated black bars that graced the Pixel 6-series. This makes the camera lenses at the back clearly visible, which is a bold design statement and immediately makes the Pixel 7 lineup more discernible. 

Google Pixel 7 Pro color options

Google Pixel 7 colors options

Both devices retain the under-screen fingerprint scanners that were also the biometric of choice on the Pixel 6-series, and while we’ve been hearing rumors about a possible 3D face unlock option, it might skip this particular Pixel generation. 

Display-wise, the mainstay difference from the Pixel 6 family will be carrying on. The Pixel 7 Pro comes with a large, 6.7-inch QHD+ OLED display with a 1-120Hz refresh rate, with an ever-so-slight curve near the edges, while the Pixel 7 arrives with a 6.3-inch FHD+ OLED display with a 60/90Hz refresh rate. The latter is completely flat, similar to the one on the Pixel 6. We expect the quality properties of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro to be better or at least similar to the very good Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, with decent color reproduction, brightness, and good viewing angles. Stay tuned for our full comparison!

Performance and Software

Tensor G2 runs the show

Both the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are powered by the second-gen Tensor G2 chipset, which builds upon the Tensor G1 in a meaningful way. Well, it’s not that much of a dramatic powerhouse, and it will still lag in terms of raw performance in comparison with its closest Qualcomm and Apple rivals, but the Tensor G2 is said to be scoring a 10% performance increase over the Pixel 6-series. 

That’s not where the chipset’s strength lies, though. See, the deal with the custom-made Google Tensor is that it relies rather heavily on artificial intelligence and machine-learning, a different approach in comparison with, say, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 or the Apple A16 Bionic, which are more of raw performance ordeals. Thanks to its AI and ML capabilities, the Tensor allows for some intriguing camera features to be available on the Pixel 7.

Memory and storage-wise, we get 12GB of RAM on the Pixel 7 Pro and 8GB of RAM on the Pixel 7. Those figures are pretty standard and should be more than sufficient for just about any Pixel user. 

Camera

To telephoto or not to telephoto?

The big difference here will be the 5X telephoto camera available on the Pixel 7 Pro. This one will clock in at 48MP and offer 5X optical zoom, which is kind of a big deal if you’re lusting over the most adept Pixel camera, and allow for a 30X hybrid zoom, whereas the regular Pixel 7 will only allow for up to 8X digital zoom. Here’s a complete rundown of the expected Pixel 7 camera specs:

Only the Pixel 7 Pro will have capabilities like Macro Focus, but both phones will have a new Movie Motion Blur feature that will blur the backdrop of films similarly to the iPhone’s Cinematic Mode. Who knows what other software features will remain exclusive to the Pixel 7 Pro. 

Battery Life and Charging

While it may seem that the larger battery of the Pixel 7 Pro would give it much better battery life in comparison with the Pixel 7 (5,000mAh vs 4,270mAh), we wouldn’t be too quick to draw such conclusions. 

After all, the Pixel 7 has a smaller display with a lower resolution, which could definitely help with evening out the battery capacity disparity with the larger Pixel 7 Pro, which has a large QHD+ display. 

Officially, Google says that both the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro should both have “beyond 24-hour battery life”, though it also admits in the footnotes that the two devices actually achieved a median battery life of 31 hours during the company’s tests. While Google doesn’t go into too much detail as to what those tests are, it says that these battery life estimates were achieved using a “median Pixel user battery usage profile across a mix of talk, data, standby, and use of other features”. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?

Specs Comparison

How does the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 stack up against one another? Let’s check in our dedicated Pixel 7 vs Pixel 7 Pro specs comparison:

Summary and Final Verdict

Overall, we remain quite optimistic about the Pixel 7 Pro and the Pixel 7. Both devices seem to be reiterating Google’s desire to carve a niche for its flagship wares, with the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro improving most of the key aspects that made the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro such noteworthy devices.

Which one should you choose? Surely, if you’re looking for a larger and sharper display, bigger battery, and that sweet, sweet 30X Super Res Zoom, as well as the complete flagship experience, it makes perfect sense to go for the Google Pixel 7 Pro.

On the other hand, if compact Android phones are your Achilles’ heel and you don’t really care about zooming, then the smaller size (and price tag) of the Google Pixel 7 could definitely tip the scales in its favor. Surely, it shares the majority of new features that the Pixel 7 Pro also boasts, sans the exclusive camera ones. And overall, it looks like a pretty capable compact device.