Google has officially launched the Pixel 7 Series in many countries including India. If you look at these devices and read the specs sheets, you would be sure tempted to skip this series and wait for the next generation Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro models as the new Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 have a lot in common with the last year’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
The main camera is the same. The ultra-wide-angle camera is the same. The processor inside is almost the same. The displays as well. Why would you want to upgrade to a new phone or buy it when you can get the older generation models for a cheaper price?
Let’s analyze. What’s the number one reason people buy high-end smartphones these days? Even though you could argue a few would buy it for a high-quality display, a high-end processor performance, or just to show off the fruit logo on the back, the majority buy an expensive new flagship smartphone to get the best camera experience. The new iPhone 14 Pro models and the Google Pixel 7 Pro models are going to be bought for their cameras by the most rather than their displays or fast processors.
Let’s talk about smartphone cameras. Over the years, Smartphone cameras have come a long way. Thanks to the computational photography magic on both iPhones and Google Pixels, or just take any other phone, whether it be flagship phones from Samsung or OnePlus, you can easily create high-quality photos with these modern-day smartphone camera sensors. Let’s assume you have all these smartphones, and you take a ton of photos in the daytime, you would be surprised to see the differences in quality between these new smartphone cameras aren’t that big. You surely can see a difference if you Pixel-peep between a high-end iPhone and a low-end Android smartphone. But people don’t view photos like that. If you post these on places like Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, etc, if you didn’t mention the smartphone name, most wouldn’t be able to differentiate between a regular landscape photo taken on a Pixel and a low-budget Android phone.
There are, however some areas in which high-end Apple iPhones and Google Pixels shine. For eg, Night shots.
Google used the same main camera from Pixel 2 onwards to Pixel 6a, still every new generation produced better images ( Again, you would need to pixel peep to see these differences often ). The new Pixel 7 Pro is using the same main camera sensor as the last-gen Pixel 6 Pro. Even though not confirmed, we can expect the upcoming Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro to use the same sensor as Google has for a couple of years tuning their Google Camera app to churn out perfect photos from this sensor. If Google plans to introduce a completely new sensor in the upcoming Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8, then they will have the extra task of tuning all the algorithms to match the new sensor which would be a time-consuming task for even a giant corporation like Google.
Why do I think you should get the Google Pixel 7 Pro if you love photography?
- New Macro Mode
- 10bit HDR recording
- Unblur feature
- Better telephoto lens
- New Super res zoom algorithms
- 4K @ 30fps on all rear cameras
- Cinematic blur ( Apple had it in iPhone 13 Pro )
With the Pixel 7 Pro, Google is introducing some new features in the camera department. It has better zoom controls, new upscaling algorithms to offer better digital zoom, a macro mode, a better telephoto lens, 10bit HDR recording, 4K @ 60fps on all rear cameras, unblur feature, etc. If we look at the history of camera hardware changes landed on Pixel phones, the next-gen Pixel 8 Series is expected to carry almost identical hardware ( maybe a new Google Tensor G3 chip that supports 8K Video recording ), with improvements made with Google’s software magic. So many of the new software chances, if Google chooses, can land on the Pixel 7 Pro via Pixel feature drops.
The best camera is the one you have in your pocket they say. With the Pixel 7 Pro in your pocket, you are getting a camera with macro capabilities, an ultra-wide-angle lens, a regular lens, a 5x zoom lens with new upscaling algorithms, a camera that can record 10-bit HDR videos which can be uploaded straight to many social media platforms thanks to Google working with them, real tone that captures subject’s real skin tone, Night modes, and Astrophotography modes, Cinematic Blur in videos etc.
This smartphone is a real camera powerhouse, perfectly made for the modern social media generation. IMO Google Pixel 7 Pro is the best flagship Android Camera Smartphone you should buy today ( I have grabbed one from Flipkart already ).
Recommended Read: Google Blog – The latest and greatest: meet Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.