Google Pixel 7 – Unlocked Android 5G Smartphone with wide-angle lens and 24-hour battery – 256GB – Obsidian

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Really, my only complaint about gaming comes down to sound, as the Pixel 7's stereo speakers are too easy to cover up when you game in horizontal mode. Add to the fact that there's not much gradation as you adjust the sound — the Pixel 7's audio range seems to jump from "too quiet" to "much too loud" with little space in between — and it's hard to immerse yourself in games, no matter how sharp the graphics look. Pixel 6a: For '24-hour': Estimated battery life based on testing using a median Pixel user battery usage profile across a mix of talk, data, standby and the use of other features. Average battery life during testing was approximately 29 hours. Battery testing conducted using sub-6 GHz non-standalone 5G (ENDC) connectivity. For 'Up to 72 hours': Estimated battery life based on testing using a median Pixel user battery usage profile across a mix of talk, data, standby and use of limited other features that are default in Extreme Battery Saver mode (which disables various features including 5G connectivity). Battery testing conducted on a major operator network. For both claims: Battery testing conducted in California in early 2022 on pre-production hardware and software using default settings, except that for the 'up to 72 hours' claim only, Extreme Battery Saver mode was enabled. Battery life depends upon many factors and usage of certain features will decrease battery life. Actual battery life may be lower. The Pixel 7 runs on a Tensor G2 chip. This is the sequel to the Tensor, which was Google’s first-ever own-brand mobile processor and debuted on the Pixel 6, though the Tensor G3 of the newer Pixel 8 has since usurped it.

Google isn't the only one to focus on night photography, as it's also an area Samsung has been touting for the Galaxy S23. In this shot of a mural at night captured by all three leading camera phones, you can really see the S23's improvements on display. Yes, the shot struggles with some of the ambient street light, but there's not the fuzziness and noise you sometimes see in night photos — which is very much in evidence in the Pixel 7 photo. Neither the S23 nor the Pixel 7 has the best photo here — that honor goes to the iPhone 14 — but I think Google's phone is clearly the worst of the bunch. Google says the ultrawide pictures on the selfie camera are “improved” but doesn’t really go into much detail about what that means and in my tests the 10.8MP images looked the same as they did last year.OLED display - 2400 x 1080 pixels - 6.3" - 416 ppi - (90 Hz) - 20:9 - OLED - HDR - fingerprint-resistant coating, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus (scratch resistant glass) Add to that the Tensor-powered features and a bright, colorful display, and the case for the Pixel 7 becomes even more compelling. It doesn't hurt that the Pixel 7 is the least expensive phone in its class.

Pixel Fold: Estimated battery life based on testing using a median Pixel user battery usage profile across a mix of talk, data, standby and the use of other features. Average battery life during testing was approximately 33 hours. Battery testing conducted on a major operator network. Battery testing based on mix of inner and outer screen use and conducted in California in early 2023 on pre-production hardware and software using default settings. Battery life depends upon many factors and usage of certain features will decrease battery life. Actual battery life may be lower. Yet, I'd be a bit more enthusiastic in my recommendation if battery life were better or if Google boosted software support to match other Android phone makers. At least the arrival of additional Tensor features increases the value of the Pixel 7. Still, I think the S22 did a better job with skin tone — my face is nowhere near as red as it is in the Pixel 7 photo. At least the Pixel 7 did a better job with the low lighting in this night-time selfie, as the S22 shot is a bit too dark. In our review of the Pixel 6, we noted that the chip didn’t pull up trees in terms of its CPU and GPU benchmarks, but that it did, however, still perform very well when it came to image processing and intelligent features. This seems to hold true for the Tensor G2’s performance as well, and if you were wondering, we found it to be the case with the newer Tensor G3 too.

The Pixel 7 display is super sharp, with rich, vivid colors. And it’s fast and responsive for smoother gaming, scrolling, and moving between apps. With Live Translate, you can interpret face-to-face conversations in 48 languages, chat in real time, and translate menus with your camera. A little more fuzziness creeps in when we move to a 5x zoom, though the Pixel 7's shot is still perfectly passable. The words on the Tribune Tower are just as legible in the Pixel's shot as they are in the Galaxy S22's photo. Both zoom photos are clearly better on the Galaxy S22, but the Pixel 7 is at least able to hold its own thanks to the revamped Super Res Zoom feature. Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro: For '24-hour': Estimated battery life based on testing using a median Pixel user battery usage profile across a mix of talk, data, standby and the use of other features. Average battery life during testing was approximately 31 hours. Battery testing conducted on a major operator network. For 'up to 72 hours': Estimated battery life based on testing using a median Pixel user battery usage profile across a mix of talk, data, standby and use of limited other features that are default in Extreme Battery Saver mode (which disables various features including 5G connectivity). Battery testing conducted on a major operator network. For both claims: Battery testing conducted in California in mid 2023 on pre-production hardware and software using default settings, except that, for the 'up to 72-hour' claim only, Extreme Battery Saver mode was enabled. Battery life depends upon many factors and usage of certain features will decrease battery life. Actual battery life may be lower. The company did mention that all cameras can now record at up to 4K resolution at 60fps, and this makes a huge difference to video quality, especially if you often record using the selfie camera. A new feature called Dual allows you to record video on both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, too.