Google I/O surprised us all with a first official look at the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, and now we’re getting more thanks to an early prototype of the Pixel 7 showing up on eBay.
An eBay listing popped up today for someone selling what is claimed to be a prototype of the Pixel 7. Shortly after publishing this article, around 1:30pm ET, the listing had been taken down.
The device is shown in its black “Obsidian” model, complete with a glossy glass back and the new metal camera bar that Google previously showed off. The device also has a logo that’s consistent, but updated, from past Google prototypes.
Since Google already showed off the design of the Pixel 7 officially, this eBay listing doesn’t tell us too much extra, though it does confirm that the Pixel 7 will lose the matte black frame of the Pixel 6 (which we loved) in exchange for a textured metal frame. We can also see the mmWave antenna window that previously appeared in CAD leaks.
Somewhat hilariously, we can also see the Pixel 7 Pro in the reflection, with its distinctive camera bar taking the pictures of this phone.
The listing went on to mention that the phone was already running Android 13 and “pixel apps in development stage.”
The only other tidbit from this leak is a quick look at the storage; we can see that the Pixel 7 will have 128GB of storage, as was the prediction.
Google has already confirmed that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will be releasing this fall. Pixel 7 specs will include a second-generation Tensor chipset. This updated design will come in the “Obsidian” color we’re seeing here as well as being sold in “Lemongrass” and “Snow.”
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Google has already teased the upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro back at its I/O developer conference earlier this month, showing us both of their backs and thus confirming that it’s keeping the camera visor design.
If you’re interested on the other side of this fall’s Pixels, a new report today is here to deliver, with purported details about their displays. Let’s get through the specs first and then we’ll tell you how they were uncovered.
So, the Pixel 7 will have a panel with 1080×2400 resolution and 90 Hz refresh rate, while the Pixel 7 Pro’s screen gets 1440×3120 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. If you’re wondering why those numbers sound familiar – it’s because they’re identical to what the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro launched with last year.
This information comes from the Android Open Source Project, where the enterprising folks at 9to5Google found that Google created two new display drivers, one tagged C10 and the other P10. The Pixel 7’s codename is Cheetah (hence, “C”), while the Pixel 7 Pro’s is Panther (hence, “P”). The digging into the code also reveals that the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro will in fact have the exact same Samsung-made display panels as their predecessors, with model numbers S6E3FC3 and S6E3HC3, respectively.
However, Google has also been working to support a S6E3HC4, which might be a newer generation version of the Pixel 6 Pro’s panel which could end up in the Pixel 7 Pro. Since resolution and refresh rate are staying the same anyway, the only improvements can come in quality, brightness, power consumption, or any combination of these.
The Pixel 7 is going to be a tad smaller than the Pixel 6, and thus the display panel has shrunk accordingly, being 1mm narrower and 2mm shorter. On the other hand, the Pixel 7 Pro’s size is identical to the Pixel 6 Pro’s, and the same goes for its screen.
An interesting other tidbit is that the Pixel 7 Pro’s display will have a native 1080p mode, which should improve battery saving in Low Power Mode. First, the similar design. Now, the similar display specs. It seems like the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro might just be iterative upgrades compared to their predecessors, and not much more. But we’re still many months away from their launch, so things could change of course.
Smartphones and cases go hand-in-hand. After all, these pocket computers we carry with us everywhere are expensive and fragile; it only makes sense to protect them. Smartphone manufacturers like Google know this, and make their own cases to sell to you alongside one of their devices. However, when Google asks if you want one of their cases when picking up a new Pixel phone, say no.
As reported by The Verge, there are dozens of complaints on both Reddit and Amazon surrounding Google’s official Pixel 6 cases, surrounding three main issues that seem to be recurring with these cases: the material is yellowing; the cases don’t fit the phones; and, if they do fit the phones, the case itself is warping, so the material juts out around the buttons. Some even accuse the cases of scratching their phones, which is, of course, what you buy a case to prevent.
One post from Redditor A_Giant_Baguette that inclued photos caught the attention of the crowd in r/googlepixel. You can see from this image the way the case warps around the Pixel’s volume buttons, while this photo shows off how badly the case has yellowed. These issues reportedly cropped up over the course of seven months, which is way too fast for a $30 smartphone case, especially one made by the same company as the phone itself.
Even worse, seven months is a long time compared to the experiences of some other customers, who reported their cases started to deteriorate after two or three weeks. Whether your case looks new for two weeks or seven months, you have a right to be frustrated with a clearly defective product.
That’s not to say everyone who buys a Google case for their Pixel experiences these issues. If you scan the review pages for them, you’ll find plenty of positive assessments in addition to the complaints. However, the complaints are hard to ignore. Some users who bought through Google’s store Amazon can’t even get their money back; A_Giant_Baguette, who id just that, reports that when they asked for a refund from Amazon, they were sent to Google, who, in turn, sent them back to Amazon.
When they finally got in touch with someone at Google, they were told the company doesn’t provide warranties on products purchased through third-parties—even though that “third-party” was the official Google Store on Amazon. (Take that as another lesson here: don’t buy anything Google-made from anyone other than Google if you want Google to cover it.)
For now, your best course of action is to look elsewhere for your Pixel case. Hopefully, Google figures out the issue and does better with the next case it makes. The company’s fabric cases were a hit, so maybe we’ll see those return for the Pixel 7, if not one of Google’s other upcoming devices.
Google’s legacy in earbuds is… complicated. There’s been a lot to love with the Pixel Buds series, but also some serious mistakes. Now, we’re preparing for the launch of the Pixel Buds Pro, and they have to learn from Google’s mistakes and problems to date.
Google’s Pixel Buds problems
To date, Google has released three pairs of earbuds under the “Pixel Buds” brand.
In 2017, the company released the first pair of Pixel Buds alongside the Pixel 2 series, to pretty much wide criticism. The wireless, but not fully wireless earbuds has a clunky case, a wire connecting the two earbuds, and a price tag that didn’t really make them competitive with Apple’s AirPods which had set the standard a year prior.
They did, however, introduce smart features and deep Google Assistant integration that really set the stage for what was to come.
The original Pixel Buds
In 2019, Google announced the first truly wireless Pixel Buds, which were fully released in early 2020 – that feels like a decade ago, for some reason.
The Pixel Buds (2020) were launched to much praise. Our own review said they were “so good, we can forget the originals existed.” The earbuds had stellar smart features, a comfortable design, compact case, and clever ideas. While they were pricey at $179, they were ultimately a favorite for many. To this day, I still appreciate the stellar gesture controls and pressure-relieving vent of the Pixel Buds, and it keeps them as a pair of earbuds I regularly use.
But then, problems started setting in for the Pixel Buds.
It quickly became apparent after an initial wave of impressions from reviews that the Pixel Buds struggled with Bluetooth connections in certain conditions, such as in crowded areas. Part of the reason that was initially missed can be chalked up to the launch timing, right in the height of COVID-19 lockdowns across many parts of the globe. But still, these issues were never fully fixed. Google rolled out a few software updates to attempt to address connection dropouts, and while they helped for some users, it was clear the problem was at a hardware level.
Another issue that some users found annoying was a “buzzing” sound when no audio was actively playing – it’s not something I personally ever noticed in a meaningful capacity, but it’s something that needed a fix regardless. Further, some found the “wing” tip on the Pixel Buds to be a bit uncomfortable, which was a problem for the simple fact that the appendage couldn’t be removed.
Despite its problems, Google kept selling the Pixel Buds (2020) for over a year before ultimately discontinuing the earbuds in favor of its newest model. In mid-2021, Google announced the Pixel Buds A-Series, a trimmed-down version of the company’s earbuds that cost just $99. For that price, they had many of the same features, and lacked connection issues.
However, the Pixel Buds A-Series weren’t completely free of problems. The $99 buds lacked some of the gesture controls that made the standard model so good, and despite Google’s efforts, the wing tips and “buzzing” persisted as user complaints.
Will the Pixel Buds Pro actually deliver?
With the Pixel Buds Pro, Google is putting a lot more resources into succeeding where it previously failed, and we have to hope it means we’ll get some meaningful improvements. And there are certainly some things we can see that already point in that direction.
Firstly, there’s the package Pixel Buds Pro are bringing to the table. Active noise cancellation. Wireless charging. Full gesture controls. 11-hour battery life. A custom audio processor. It’s a lot, and it’s a lot of good. Google has also been building out one heck of a team to back up these efforts, with several acquisitions over the past year or two.
Second, there are the improvements we saw in Pixel Buds A-Series. Surely, now that Google has already solved its connection issues once, we won’t take any steps backwards. Right?
And finally, we can just look at the stakes. Truly wireless earbuds are incredibly popular, with the market as a whole worth billions of dollars. Really, they’re also a tentpole of creating an “ecosystem” for smartphone owners, something Google has expressed a strong interest in. With the Pixel Watch, Pixel 7, and Pixel Tablet on the way, the earbuds that connect to all of them need to hit the market. There’s just too much at stake.
Funnily enough, it really feels like Google is taking a similar route to what has happened with the standard Pixel phones. The first few Pixel smartphones were minor hits, well-received but sometimes plagued with problems. But eventually, Google pulled out all of the stops with the Pixel 6 series, and had a release that really made a difference.
Hopefully, that’s where the Pixel Buds Pro will end up – a great release that we can all love, just hopefully with fewer quirks than the Pixel 6 series has seen to date.
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As you may know, the Pixel Watch is coming. Long a figment of tech enthusiasts’ imaginations, this year it’s actually real – Google itself confirmed as much, seemingly unable to keep it a secret even though the launch is only happening “this fall”, which probably translates into October.
So, we have a few months of Pixel Watch leaks ahead of us, and the latest one from about a week ago told us that the wearable would use Samsung’s Exynos 9110 chipset. That’s a bit concerning since that SoC came out in 2018 and is built on a 10nm process.
Today a new source seemingly corroborates the above intel, adding a twist: apparently the Pixel Watch will indeed use the Exynos 9110, but it will also have a co-processor on board. This reminds us of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 4100+ SoC which has a main CPU as well as a secondary ultra low power co-processor that powers the always-on display and some sensors.
This achieves better battery life since the main CPU is only used when you’re actively engaged with your device, and it also offloads some lighter workflows from said main CPU so that it performs a tad better when you need it to. Will the same apply to the Pixel Watch? There’s no way to tell just by the mere mention of a co-processor, we’d need more details, but we’ll surely be getting those in the following weeks and months, don’t worry.
Moving on, the Pixel Watch is also said to “slightly surpass” the Galaxy Watch4’s 1.5GB of RAM, whatever that means. 1.55GB? 2GB? Your guess is as good as ours, but it seems pretty clear that the Pixel Watch won’t be left wanting for memory. What’s more, it will get 32GB of storage, which is twice as much as any other Wear OS device available right now.
The sensors on the back of the wearable are visibly identical to the sensor array used in the Fitbit Luxe and Fitbit Charge 5. The hardware in question supports heart rate monitoring, SpO2 (blood oxygen), and ECG, and as Google owns Fitbit reusing sensors like this makes perfect sense.
The watch could allegedly have a secondary CPU, similar to the Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus.
Elsewhere, it could have 32GB of storage and more than 1.5GB of RAM.
However, today we have a drop of multiple leaks related to Google Pixel Watch specs. While giving away quite a few alleged details of the watch, the leak also clarifies what’s going on with that processor.
First, a second source has told 9to5Google that the Pixel Watch could have the Exynos 9110 under the hood. However, this new source also suggests there could be a secondary processor on board. Theoretically, this smaller, less-powerful processor could perform remedial tasks to save the main processor from hogging the battery.
This would be similar to how the Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus operates. However, that is all speculation. If the Exynos 9110 does have a secondary processor, only Google knows what it would be used for.
Other leaked Google Pixel Watch specs
Outside of the CPU, the new 9to5Google leak has some more information. Allegedly, the Pixel Watch could have 32GB of internal storage. For a smartwatch, that’s a lot. The only reason we can think of having that much storage would be for downloading music files. This might mean sideloading music or downloading it from Spotify, YouTube Music, etc.
Elsewhere, this new source suggests a very interesting bit of Google Pixel Watch specs. Apparently, the wearable could have more RAM than we’ve ever seen on a Wear OS watch. The Galaxy Watch 4 has 1.5GB of RAM, so it’s possible the Pixel Watch could have 2GB or more. If this ends up being true it would be good news, as it would help keep Wear OS snappy.
Finally, the source suggests the Pixel Watch has the same sensors on the bottom as we see on the Fitbit Charge 5. Theoretically, this could mean the Pixel Watch might have all the health-tracking features of the Charge 5. However, the source would only contend that heart rate tracking, SpO2 tracking, and ECG readings could be included.
There’s been a lot of talk about new Pixel phones lately, with last week’s Google I/O showing off not just a new Pixel 6A but a brief glimpse of the upcoming Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. But Woot is showing love for some slightly older Pixels with a sale event that’ll end later today. Somehow, Woot got its hands on phones that are all still new in the box with full one-year warranties.
This includes the soon-to-be-replaced Pixel 5A for $429.99, 2020’s Pixel 5 for $449.99, and 2019’s Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL for $329.99 and $349.99, respectively. Now, yes, the Pixel 5A is not that old and it’s still available for sale from Google. But who would expect that in 2022 there would still be Pixel 4 available new-in-box?
Now, if you are tempted by that Pixel 4, be warned that it’s not guaranteed to receive security updates after October 2022. So, while you may be tempted to pick that up to tinker with Google’s one-off foray into face unlock and hand gestures with its Soli radar chip, the best value here is the Pixel 5.
Google Pixel 5 (unlocked)
Google’s 2020 flagship phone comes in one size, with a six-inch OLED screen and 128GB of storage.
Despite being the best of the bunch, the Pixel 5 is an oddity. Google scaled it back from being a full-tilt flagship phone like in years past to more of a midrange-plus device. It has a modestly powerful Snapdragon 765G processor, along with some nice features like a six-inch OLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate and wireless charging. It also came in the best color — sage green — which Woot has today for $449.99. That’s $250 off the original selling price, and it should still receive security updates until October 2023. Perhaps waiting two months for the Pixel 6A may be the better move for some people, but this is certainly not a bad value. Read our review.
Google Pixel 5A
The Pixel 5A may not pack a display with a high refresh rate or tons of bells and whistles, but the midrange phone does the basics very well. It also comes with IP67 water resistance, a great camera, and timely software updates.
The Pixel 5A is, in many ways, a reskin of the Pixel 5 rehoused in a bigger form factor (with a few features lopped off to keep the price lower). It has a slightly larger 6.34-inch OLED screen, but only a 60Hz refresh rate and no wireless charging. It has the same Snapdragon CPU as the Pixel 5 and the same dual-camera system that supplements the standard lens with an ultra-wide lens. Also, that bigger size helps with better battery life. Woot has the 5A in its one color — a greenish-black— for $429.99. That’s only about $20 off the regular price, so it’s not a tremendous deal.
Compared to the Pixel 5, opting for a Pixel 5A instead gets you a headphone jack and security updates until August 2024. But again, waiting for the $449 Pixel 6A to release in July will get you a phone with the faster Google Tensor CPU and a promise of five years of security updates (not to be confused with feature updates). Decisions, decisions. Read our review.
Google Pixel 4
Google’s 2019 Pixel 4 features the Snapdragon 855, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, IP68 protection, and Google’s interesting Soli radar chip — eschewing a fingerprint sensor for face unlock.
The Pixel 4 was a charming device (it was even offered in orange) at the time of its release, but its lackluster battery life makes it the least appealing phone in today’s sale. Woot is selling the Pixel 4 for just $329.99 and the 4 XL for $349.99. Those are good prices, but keep in mind that these phones are only promised to get five more months of security updates. Google will cut them both off in October 2022, so we only recommend it if you have a really specific use case for it, like matching your phone to your Dutch national team jersey for the World Cup (yes, we mean that specific). Read our review from 2019.
There were lots of light-hearted jokes to be had after Google announced the Pixel Watch at I/O last week, mostly because rumors of such a watch’s existence have carried on for years. We actually laughed a bit when it was official, because we almost weren’t sure it was really official. It is official, by the way.
Soon after the jokes, we couldn’t help but find excitement in the unveiling. Google had finally done it – they were preparing to give us a Pixel Watch, the one Wear OS watch we feel has been missing from the ecosystem from the beginning. The design is on point. Google is tying-in Fitbit for health tracking. It looks like the perfect size. It’ll even run some new version of Wear OS that sounds like it has major improvements. Everything lined up out of the gate, even if we didn’t know the little details like specs or price.
And then just before the weekend hit, the first rumor surrounding the real Pixel Watch showed up to kill all the vibes. The crew at 9to5Google heard from sources who suggested the 2022 Pixel Watch will run a 2018 chipset from Samsung. Bro, what? Noooo.
According to this report, Google is using the Exynos 9110, a dual-core chipset first used by Samsung in the Galaxy Watch that debuted in 2018. The chip was big enough in the Samsung world that it also found its way into the Galaxy Watch Active 2 a year later and then the Galaxy Watch 3 another year after that.
The Exynos 9110 was a more than capable chip, that’s for sure. It’s a 10nm chip that powered Tizen and provided one of the better smartwatch experiences on the market. For the Galaxy Watch 3, likely thanks to the bump in RAM from Samsung, I noted in my review that the watch ran quite well and smoothly handled all of the tasks I threw at it. So what’s the problem?
It’s a chip from 2018, man. The biggest problem in the Wear OS world for most of the past 6 years has been that all devices ran ancient technology from Qualcomm and couldn’t keep up with the times, competitors, and advancements in tech. We thought we were finally moving on from that storyline with the launch of Samsung’s W920 chip in the Galaxy Watch 4 line last year and yet, here we are.
Google is reportedly using this chip because the Pixel Watch has been in-the-works for some time and there’s a chance that trying to switch to a newer chip would have further set it behind. Or maybe Samsung isn’t even willing to let anyone else use the 5nm W920 yet. Since it’s become clear that Google isn’t a fan of Qualcomm chips for devices any longer, the 12nm Wear 4100+ was likely out of the question.
The hope, at least for now, is that Google has spent a significant amount of time (like multiple years) finding out ways to get everything and then some out of this chip. Since I don’t recall seeing a Wear OS watch run the 9110, maybe we’ll all be in for a surprise. Google is pretty good at optimizing its devices with chipsets that aren’t always top tier (think Pixel 5…Pixel 6 too), so we could see that again in the Pixel Watch.
I am worried about general performance, though. Google has already said that Wear OS 3 brings big changes and issued warnings about older watches being able to run it, even those with Qualcomm’s Wear 4100 and 4100+ chips. Google explained that the upgrade from Wear OS 2 to Wear OS 3 on devices running that chip could leave the experience impacted. The Exynos 9110 is technically a more efficient chip than those.
My other worry, at least in terms of perception or the Pixel Watch’s storyline, is that it won’t matter how good Google makes it if they use the Exynos 9110. Google using a 4 year-old chipset is the type of item that writes its own headlines, and not in a good way. We’re already seeing them and the Pixel Watch is 5 months from launch.
Well, color us surprised: the Google Pixel 7 is official. Sort-of. At Google IO 2022, the company gave us a prolonged look at the upcoming Android phone, and now we know lots about it.
We weren’t expecting this at all, because the expected launch window for Google’s next main-series phone is around October 2022. We also saw the Google Pixel 6a, which is what we actually were expecting.
Even though the Pixel 7 launch is still months away, we now know quite a bit about the phone – so here are some of the biggest facts we just learnt.
There are still two members of the family
Like with the Google Pixel 6 range, there is going to be a Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.
Clearly the double-phone approach from last year worked – and this also suggests that the XL name, which Google used for a few years for its ‘Pro-like’ phones, is gone.
The picture you see at the top of this article is the Pixel 7 Pro.
We know what they look like
(Image credit: Google)
We know there are two Pixel 7 phones because Google showed us both of them.
The handsets don’t look too different to their Pixel 6 predecessors, with the big camera bar remaining the eye-catching design feature.
According to Google, a change now is that is camera bump is now the same continuous piece as the frame – these are made of recycled aluminum.
We also know about the colors: both the phones come in white and black, while there’s a yellow Pixel 7 and a green Pixel 7 Pro.
We know how many cameras they’ll have
There are no changes on the camera count from the Pixel 6 series: expect two in the Pixel 7 and three in the Pixel 7 Pro.
The layout of these on the back has been re-arranged a bit, and we could see newer sensors at play, but the number themselves is the same. We can also tell that the Pixel 7 Pro will use a telephoto, not periscope, zoom lens.
They’ll use a new Google chipset
While the Pixel 6 series used Google’s Tensor chipset, the next phones will get the second-gen version of this home-made chipset.
We don’t know what changes the new version will bring, but it’ll hopefully be a tiny bit faster than the original one in the Pixel 7 phones. It could support some cool new AI camera modes too.
(Image credit: Future)
They’ll run Android 13
Something we really could have guessed, the Google Pixel 7 phones will come with Android 13.
In fact, these will likely be the first phones to come with the software built-in, based on precedent. Google didn’t say as much, but it’s what’s happened most years so far.
They’re getting a whole tease cycle
Something that Google did new for the Pixel 6 series, is that it starting teasing the phones really early, so we knew quite a bit about them by the time they properly launched.
Apparently that’s happening this year too, as the Google IO announcement no doubt made clear. But more: Google is opening a new hardware store in New York in mid-2022, and apparently the upcoming handsets will be available to view there.
So Google is seemingly planning a whole tease cycle for these next devices.
(Image credit: Google)
They’ll come alongside the Pixel Watch
The Google Pixel Watch was also shown off at Google IO, and we got a little more information on it than we did the Pixel 7. It’ll have some Fitbit modes, as well as an NFC chip.
Apparently, this smartwatch will have a proper launch when the Pixel 7 does, and we’ll likely see some great pre-order bundles that combine the new phone and watch too.
The long-awaited Google Pixel Watch was finally unveiled at this year’s Google I/O, though the company was particularly cagey about its specifications. We didn’t actually get to hear a whole lot, aside from the fact that it was also going to be launching alongside the Pixel 7 series. Now, though, a new report from 9to5Google suggests that it’s going to pack the Exynos 9110, a chipset that launched four years ago.
While obviously it’s frustrating that Google isn’t packing the latest Exynos W920 chipset in its first smartwatch, there are likely reasons as to why. The most likely reason is that the Pixel Watch has been in development for a long, long, time. The company has been planning it since the very first Google Pixel smartphone, and rumors again picked up steam in 2018 ahead of the Pixel 3 series launch.
Given all of that, it’s very possible that this is being developed on older hardware because it’s technically an older device. As 9to5Google reports, the Pixel Watch began development on Android 9 Pie. If Google eventually switched to the Exynos W920, it could have delayed development even further.
It’s not all bad, though. The Exynos 9110 is built on a 10nm process, packing two Cortex-A53 cores. That means it’s more efficient than Qualcomm’s latest offering, and will hopefully pair nicely with the reported 300 mAh battery. For reference, Qualcomm’s latest wearable chip is the Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus, produced on a 12nm process and packing four Cortex-A53 cores.
Really, the only issue in the case of the Pixel Watch is that it likely won’t be able to compete with the best of Samsung, with a Galaxy Watch 5 series expected to launch sometime before the Pixel Watch will. The Galaxy Watch 5 will likely pack, at minimum, an Exynos W920 which means that it’ll still beat the Exynos 9110, though probably not by a huge amount in real-world usage.
While it would be nice to have the latest and greatest chipset in Google’s first premier smartwatch outing, processors aren’t everything. We learned as much with the Google Pixel 6 series and how Google Tensor remained competitive against the current generation of chipsets thanks to Google’s optimisations, despite being based on a theoretically weaker Exynos chipset. We’ll be waiting to see if the rumors are true, and if so, what Google can pull off with an older chip.
