Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
The Pixel 7 Pro ($899) jumps into the flagship fray with a long feature list and a lower price than much of the top-tier competition. It goes head to head with the Samsung Galaxy S22+ ($999) and the Apple iPhone 14 Pro ($999) by offering excellent hardware, solid cameras, fine performance, and solid battery life. Benefits of the Pixel 7 Pro include stock software from Google, exclusive app experiences, and industry-leading machine learning and artificial intelligence tools. While it earns high marks from us for stellar photography powers and best-in-class software, the Galaxy S22+ retains our Editors' Choice for flagship Android phones based on its leading wireless performance.
It's More Than a Bigger Pixel 7
The main selling point of the Pixel 7 Pro for most people will be the display—and what a display it is. The 6.7-inch OLED is 0.4 inches bigger across the diagonal than the Pixel 7, and has a higher resolution with 3,210 by 1,440 pixels, for a density of 512ppi (compared with the Pixel 7's 2,400 by 1,080 and 416ppi). It features an adaptive refresh rate that oscillates between 60Hz and 120Hz to balance efficiency and smooth performance, which is a boost over the 90Hz rate of the Pixel 7. It's also nominally brighter, with 1,500 nits peak brightness compared with the Pixel 7's 1,400 nits. The trade-off for all these pixels and speed is battery life, which we'll get into below.
Other notable display features include support for 24-bit color, HDR, and a one-million-to-one contrast ratio. The Samsung Galaxy S22+, for comparison, has a contrast ratio of three million to one, which means it can hit deep black levels that the Pixel 7 Pro can't. Even so, to the naked eye, the increase in resolution and refresh rate are real; the Pixel 7 Pro's screen is clearly superior to its smaller stablemate.
The design is nearly bezel-less, though there's a slight chin at the bottom. You'll also note a punch-hole selfie camera at the top of the screen. The glass is curved fairly steeply along the side edges, which contrasts with the flat edge panel you'll find on iPhones.
Similar Products
Samsung Galaxy S22+
Google Pixel 6 Pro
Google Pixel 6a
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
Motorola Moto G Power (2022)
Motorola Moto G Pure
OnePlus 10T
OnePlus Nord N20
Samsung Galaxy S22
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
A larger screen of course leads to a larger phone. The Pixel 7 Pro measures 6.41 by 3.02 by 0.35 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.48 ounces, compared with the Pixel 7's 6.13 by 2.88 by 0.34 inches and 6.9 ounces. The 7 Pro is also a little larger and heavier than the Galaxy S22+ (6.20 by 2.98 by 0.30 inches, 6.9 ounces).
The Pixel 7 Pro design should be familiar to Pixel 6 Pro owners. It retains the chunky horizontal camera bar on the back panel and trades the glass finish of the Pixel 6 camera bar for polished aluminum. Google offers the Pixel 7 Pro in three different colors. You can choose from Hazel (gray), Obsidian (black), or Snow (white). We received a Snow test unit, and it's an attractive shade of white.
Around the edges of the phone you'll find a volume rocker and a power button on the right side, the SIM card slot on the left (unlike Apple, Google still supports both physical SIM and eSIM cards), and a USB-C port and speaker on the bottom.
In terms of durability, Google offers an IP68 rating for protection against dust and water, and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus both front and back. These features are expected of a phone at this price, though it's probably still worth putting it in a case to be safe.
Google offers two forms of biometrics to unlock the device: You can use your finger or your face. The former works through an in-display fingerprint reader and we found it to be accurate. We never once had to scan a finger more than once to unlock the phone. The face identification feature worked most of the time, but would sometimes reject the entry, forcing us to have another go at it or enter the PIN to get the phone open. When we came at it prepared with better face visibility, the feature worked as advertised. It's nice to be able to choose between the two unlock options when many smartphone companies go with one or the other. Still, Apple's Face ID is more consistent, particularly with changes to your face, such as glasses, hats, hair, and so on.
Tensor G2 Marks Small Gains
The Pixel 7 Pro shares its engine with the Pixel 7, so performance results and experiences between the two are equivalent. Google's flagship relies on the Tensor G2 system-on-a-chip made with a 5nm process. On paper, the G2 is hardly an improvement over the original Tensor at all. It features the same two Cortex X1 performance cores and the same four Cortex A55 efficiency cores, albeit at slightly faster clock speeds. Google did update the two midrange cores from the Cortex A76 to the A78. The biggest question is why Google didn't upgrade the X1 cores to the Cortex X2, and the company hasn't said. Other tweaks include a second-generation Tensor Processing Unit and an upgraded ARM Mali G710 MP07 GPU, as well as a DSP, ISP, Context Hub, and Titan M2 security chip. The M2 is where Google stores biometric details to keep them under lock and key.
The Pro bumps the RAM from 8GB to 12GB, which helps it with multitasking a little, but the difference isn't noticeable in day-to-day usage as the additional RAM is likely eaten up managing the higher-resolution display. The 7 Pro is available in 128GB, 256GB, and, unique to the Pro, 512GB UFS 3.1 storage variants. There’s no microSD card slot, but these three options should cover most needs, though it's worth noting Apple offers 1TB models at the high end.
Despite the seemingly modest updates to the Tensor G2 SoC, performance is solid no matter what the benchmarks actually say. The scores are lower than competing smartphones, as Google chooses to prioritize machine learning and artificial intelligence calculations rather than pure muscle.
Starting with the PC Mark Work 3.0 test, which evaluates how the phone handles various day-to-day tasks like spreadsheets, web browsing, photo editing, and so on, the Pixel 7 Pro scored 11,369. That's clearly lower than the Galaxy S22+, which scored 13,974 on the same test, and only a smidgen higher than the Pixel 7, which got 10,571.
We use Geekbench 5 to test raw processing power. As it did against the base Pixel 7, Samsung's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered S22+ outpaced the Pixel 7 Pro with a score of 1,216 and 3,448 for the single- and multi-core tests, respectively, compared with Google's 1,050 and 3,190. These numbers aren't terribly far apart, and unless you're pushing the devices to their absolute limit, you probably won't notice any speed differences during everyday activities.
For gaming, the Pixel 7 Pro performs well and we didn't spot any real differences between it and the Pixel 7. On the GFXBench Aztec offscreen 1440p test, which pushes a phone's graphical capabilities pretty hard, both phones averaged 25fps. The Galaxy S22+ averaged 29fps, a difference of just four frames.
We also ran Genshin Impact at medium settings and 60fps, and didn't see any noticeable hiccups or frame drops, which is a good sign for the Pixel 7 Pro as a gaming phone.
Benchmarks aside, the Pixel 7 Pro feels absolutely smooth to use. Everything is fast and fluid, whether you're editing photos or playing games. The Tensor G2 is perfectly tuned to take advantage of the Android operating system.
In terms of audio performance, the Pixel 7 Pro sounds about as good as any other high-end smartphone in 2022. We tested it with The Knife’s “Silent Shout” to gauge bass response and it wasn’t bad, though it doesn't have the same punch you'd get from an actual Bluetooth speaker. We also played “Stranded” by Gojira, which has some intense high-register passages, and the Pixel 7 Pro excelled there too. We didn’t encounter any distortion even at high volumes, which is welcome.
The Pixel 7 has a 4,355mAh battery and the Pixel 7 Pro has a 5,000mAh battery. Despite being 13% larger, the P7 Pro's battery actually runs down faster, likely due to the higher-resolution, faster display, which requires more processor power to manage.
In our battery drain test, which sees us playing a YouTube video at maximum brightness over Wi-Fi until the phone dies, the Pixel 7 Pro lasted for 10 hours and 50 minutes, while the Pixel 7 lasted 12 hours and 10 minutes. For comparison, the Galaxy S22+ lasted 10 hours and 30 minutes, which is right around the range of the Pixel 7 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Pro Max destroys the competition with 19 hours of runtime.
The Pixel 7 Pro supports 30W fast charging, but doesn't come with a charger in the box. It does take slightly longer to power up than the Pixel 7; you'll get a full charge in 1 hour and 51 minutes (compared with 1 hour and 35 minutes for the Pixel 7), which is downright slow compared with some flagships; certain OnePlus phones can recharge in as little as half an hour. If wireless charging is your thing, you can get up to 15W charging via Qi chargers. There's also Battery Share, which lets you use the power stored in your Pixel 7 Pro to charge your other devices, such as the new Pixel Watch or a pair of earbuds.
Coming Up Slightly Short on Connectivity
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are evenly matched when it comes to wireless performance, though they don't necessarily rise to the level of the competition in some instances.
In our cellular test, the Pixel 7 Pro performed unevenly compared with the Samsung Galaxy S22+. On a strong T-Mobile 5G connection, the Pixel 7 Pro achieved download speeds of 722Mbps compared with the S22+'s 662Mbps, giving the Pixel 7 Pro a slight edge there.
However, in a congested area (but still with a strong signal), the Galaxy S22+ performed better, reaching download speeds exceeding 100Mbps consistently, while the Pixel 7 Pro struggled to beat 50Mbps.
More importantly, when we moved to an area with weak signal, the S22+ pulled ahead. Both phones performed poorly, but the Pixel 7 Pro couldn't run the speed test at all more often, while the Galaxy S22+ was able to maintain a connection reliable enough to still run the test. This is likely due to the cellular modems. We know that the Galaxy S22+ has the Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 modem, but we don't know what component Google uses for cellular connectivity.
Wi-Fi performance is great, with the Pixel 7 Pro supporting the latest Wi-Fi 6E standard. Speeds over our Wi-Fi 6 test network were similar to the Galaxy S22+, with the Pixel 7 Pro being slightly faster. When in the same room as the access point, the Pixel 7 Pro achieved an average speed of 803Mbps compared with the Galaxy S22+'s 662Mbps. At the far side of our testing space where the signal was weaker, the Pixel 7 Pro hit download speeds of 385Mbps and the S22+ had 364Mbps. Both are solid results.
Other radios include Bluetooth 5.2, NFC for mobile payments, and GPS for navigation. These all worked as expected throughout the duration of the test period.
As for its performance on phone calls, clarity was nearly perfect every single time. Google's new calling features, such as Direct My Call, worked well to save time sifting through a lengthy call menu. The earpiece and speaker are about average for volume, at 79.8dB and 92.7dB, respectively.
Smartphone Photography Taken Up a Notch
Google's Pixel phones are known to be among the best for mobile photography, and that remains true with the Pixel 7 family. The two phones share most of the same onboard camera hardware and all of the software processing chops.
The Pixel 7 Pro's main camera has a 50MP sensor at f/1.85 with an 82-degree field of view. This is joined by a 12MP ultra-wide camera at f/2.2 with a 125.8-degree field of view. The 7 Pro's advantage over the Pixel 7 is the 48MP f/3.5 telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom and up to 30x Super Res Zoom, which helps capture images at concerts, sporting events, and other areas where you can't get close to your subject. For people who value the ultimate in photographic flexibility, this third lens adds a lot of appeal.
The selfie camera includes a 10.8MP sensor at f/2.2 with a 92.8-degree field of view and fixed focus. This shoots wider shots better in lower light than the Pixel 6 series selfie camera, and is the same as the one on the Pixel 7.
As good as the hardware may be, it's really all about the software. Google's computational photography—powered by the Tensor G2—is what really makes the magic happen. Google offers a list of camera features so long it can make your head spin. The main features from last year's phones make their way to the new devices, including Night Sight, Motion Mode, True Tone, Face Unblur, Top Shot, and more.
New for the Pixel 7, you get Photo Unblur and Google's improved Super Res Zoom (up to 30x on the Pro). The former is really neat because, together with Google Photos, the Pixel 7 Pro can unblur (or sharpen) photos taken not only with the Pixel 7 Pro, but older photos taken with other phones. And it actually works. The latter combines the optical power of the 5x telephoto lens with digital cropping and creates hybrid zoomed images up to 30x. They aren't perfect, but Google's algorithms are able to do a lot of cleanup work and deliver surprisingly good results given the limitations of the Pixel 7 Pro's hardware.
Google has also added a feature called Guided Frame that's designed to help those with visual impairments take selfies by using audio queues to guide them into the shot. As an accessibility tool, this is a big deal. It worked really well in testing; once you've enabled all of the associated accessibility settings like TalkBack, you launch the camera and the phone will tell you how many faces it detects and whether it's a good time for a selfie. Once it is, a three-second countdown begins and takes the photo. Inclusivity matters.
How are the photos? They are sharp, colorful, and exposed properly across the board. You'll see plenty of detail and little noise whether you use the ultra-wide, main, or telephoto cameras.
The selfie camera does solid work, taking good photos in just about any lighting condition. That's in part thanks to Google's software, which helps make sure that selfies taken in dark environments turn out well. Google has also improved True Tone's powers in order to take better photos of darker skin in low light.
The biggest question with the Pro's camera is whether that extra zoom lens makes the upgrade worthwhile. For many, the 8x Super Res Zoom offered by the Pixel 7 will be enough. Top-tier phone buyers, however, often crave more features and more reach. In other words, your lifestyle will be the real indicator of whether you need this extra lens. Thankfully, photos taken with this lens look excellent.
Google doesn't neglect video with the Pixel 7 Pro. It has 4K video recording at 30 and 60fps, and 240fps slow-motion capture. There's are Cinematic Blur and Cinematic Pan features that will help you create more movie-like videos, similar to the feature added on recent iPhone models. Like the Pixel 7, there's optical and electronic image stabilization that works tremendously well for keeping even shaky hands looking still.
Android In All Its Glory
The Android 13 experience on the Pixel 7 Pro is the cleanest and most pleasant you'll get from any Android device. Many Android phone makers layer their own user interface over the base Android code, though some leave it fairly clean. Samsung's One UI is perhaps the most well-known due to the company's prominence around the world. But there’s just something to be said for the pure version that comes on Google's Pixel phones. Notably, Pixel devices generally receive feature and system updates directly from Google ahead of competing phones.
Specifically, Google promises five years of security upgrades and three years of Android version upgrades. That means the Pixel 7 Pro will receive Android 14, 15, and 16. Samsung, however, offers five years of security updates and four years of Android system upgrades. While Samsung comes out ahead on long-term support, you shouldn’t let this be the deciding factor.
Google has added a handful of useful features that are specific to the Pixel 7 Pro. For instance, when someone sends you a voice message, Google will transcribe it so you can read it instead of listening to it. There's also a new feature in the Recorder app that lets you create labels for different speakers, effectively annotating recordings for easier searching.
Finally, Assistant Voice Typing is another Pixel-exclusive feature that makes writing messages with your voice quicker. You can send and edit messages with Google Assistant. This feature is convenient for everyone, though it's a boon to those who may have difficulty physically typing on their phones.
The Ultimate Android Flagship?
Competition in the flagship smartphone market is fierce. Google's line of Pixel phones have an enthusiast following from photography buffs and those who prefer the native Android code and Pixel-exclusive features from Google. The Pixel 7 Pro is a solid entry that offers some of the most powerful photo tools available from a modern smartphone, but its wireless performance, raw processing power, and battery life lag slightly behind the Editors' Choice-winning Galaxy S22+. If you're interested in high-end performance but are shopping on a strict budget, meanwhile, the standard Pixel 7 is our Editors' Choice for affordable Android flagships.
Google's Pixel 7 offers similar flagship performance to competing high-end Android phones at a slightly lower price.
Like What You're Reading?
Sign up for Fully Mobilized newsletter to get our top mobile tech stories delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters
