Google Pixel 7 Pro could offer one key display upgrade over the Pixel 6 Pro
Ramping up the brightness
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We know that theGoogle Pixel 7andGooglePixel 7 Pro are real and on the way later this year, but we don’t have too much in the way of official information about them. Now newly uncovered details reveal a little bit more about what to expect from these phones.
You may remember that aprevious leaksuggested that the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro would use the sameSamsung-made displays as their predecessors – but the latest analysis of tweaked Android source code suggests that’s not quite right.
As flagged byMishaal Rahman(viaSamMobile), the Pixel 7 Pro may be using a slightly different Samsung display panel: one with the same 3120 x 1440 pixel resolution, but a higher maximum brightness level.
All bright now
If we’re interpreting the Android code correctly – which is being updated in preparation for the Pixel 7 phones – the Pixel 7 Pro will be able to hit 600 nits of brightness in manual mode (up from a maximum of 500 nits on theGoogle Pixel 6 Pro).
In high brightness mode, we’d be looking at a maximum of 1,000 nits of brightness for the Pixel 7 Pro, beating the 800 nits that the Pixel 6 Pro tops out at. The 2021 flagship phone from Google had a bright display, but the 2022 version could well beat it.
There’s a long list of details that Google hasn’t revealed about the Pixel 7 handsets, including when we might actually get to see them. Based on previous form though, they should be going on sale and launching fully around October time.
Analysis: building on Pixel momentum
The Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro felt like something of a watershed moment for Google: for the first time with the Pixel series, the company actually seemed serious about competing withAppleand Samsung at the premium end of the market, and they had a pair of phones capable of doing that.
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Now Google will need to build on the momentum that it’s generated with the Pixel series – don’t forget theGoogle Pixel 6aeither, going on sale next month – and make sure that the Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro are among the best phones of 2022.
We know that theiPhone 14is going to be out before the end of the year, and that theGalaxy S23will launch early in 2023, so there’s plenty of strong competition out there that the 2022 Pixel handsets are going to have to go head-to-head with.
The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 need to be more of the same: a powerful chipset, excellent cameras, premium build quality, and a software experience that shows Android at its best (the new phones should come withAndroid 13on board). If Google manages to hit an even more competitive price point, so much the better.
Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.
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