At its I/O 2022 event, Google gave a glimpse of its next flagship phones – the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro. The company didn’t go into detail about their innards or the upgrades they bring to the table but did offer a detailed look at the refined design and a market release window to keep fans excited. The biggest revelation is that the Pixel 7 phones will come equipped with the next-generation Tensor chip, but the company didn’t say anything about the performance boost it will offer.
Both of the phones will run Android 13, which is not too surprising as the stable version will be rolled out around the same time as the promised “fall” launch window for the Pixel 7 series. In an act of audacious tech teasing, Google also unveiled the best look at the two phones via official renders and video teasers, stealing the thunder from any leaks that were supposed to arrive down the road.
The design of the Pixel 7 and its Pro variant borrows heavily from the Pixel 6 series, retaining the signature camera island bar on the back and the two-tone design with a splash of colors. However, a few additional aesthetic tweaks are in the pipeline. To start, the camera bar is made of aluminum, and it now meets seamlessly with the surrounding metal frame.
Refined design, faster chip, and new software
The look of uniformity follows in the footsteps of what Samsung did with the Galaxy S22 and its metallic camera bump. On the Pixel 6 series, the camera island was made of glass. Another difference is that the lenses are encased in a pill-shaped cutout. On the Pixel 7, there’s a single black pill-shaped outline housing the two camera lenses, while the Pixel 7 Pro adds a black circle beside the pill that likely plays home to the telephoto camera.
Interestingly, the black color option of the Pixel 7 and its Pro variant appears to ditch the two-tone design. Talking about color options, the vanilla Pixel 7 will be sold in Obsidian, Snow, and a stunning Lemongrass shade. The Pixel 7 Pro, on the other hand, will be sold in Obsidian, Snow, and a new Hazel color. Google is apparently done with the “kinda” adverb in the color naming scheme of its phone, and there’s no sand pink or orange shade in its upcoming portfolio of phones.
Google hasn’t shown the front face of the two phones, but if a recent leak from a fairly reputable source is anything to go by, the centered pinch-hole design on the screen is here to stay on another generation of Pixel phones. It is unclear if the potent camera hardware from the Pixel 6 series will be upgraded for the Pixel 7 series, and whether a generation-over-generation upgrade tax will also greet eager Pixel 7 buyers.
