Here's your first high-res look at Google's Pixel 7 Pro flagship
It was only a few days ago that the Pixel 7 leaking games "officially" began with a fairly unexciting but highly trustworthy report on Google's next-gen in-house SoC and its accompanying Exynos cellular modem, and lo and behold, two different batches of renders are already out.
Like them or not, curved screens are here to stay, at least as far as ultra-high-end handsets are concerned. Measuring anywhere between 6.7 and 6.8 inches in diagonal, this particular OLED beaut is pretty much guaranteed to retain its predecessor's 120Hz refresh rate support and other top-shelf specs, presumably focusing on refining an already great viewing experience.
While the first, purporting to reveal the revised design of Big G's future non-Pro high-ender, looks decidedly sketchy (both literally and figuratively), the second may have just completely blown the Pixel 7 Pro's cover in press-friendly quality.
No radical redesign this time around
Assuming Steve Hemmerstoffer, aka @OnLeaks, will prove reliable in his latest Smartprix reveal, as so many times in the past, the name of the game seems to be evolution rather than revolution this year for Google's premium iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S-series rival.
These sharp and very convincing-looking factory CAD-based renders appear to showcase a familiar overall design with a centered hole punch, reasonably thin screen bezels, and a distinctive rear camera module that's however better integrated into the Pixel 7 Pro's frame than that of last year's 6 Pro.
One could go as far as saying this bad boy looks inspired by the Galaxy S21 series in the way that it deals with said camera unit, which is somewhat ironic given that Samsung went in a different direction with the hot new S22 Ultra. That still leaves the Pixel 7 Pro sending similar vibes as the S22, S22+, and of course, the (accidentally foldable) OnePlus 10 Pro.
The same might prove to be true for the vanilla Pixel 7, with the biggest rear distinction between the two models likely to remain a third shooter equipped with periscope telephoto capabilities on the Pro variant. As you can imagine, it's a little early to know or even speculate about imaging specifications, but the primary snapper will almost certainly be accompanied by a dedicated ultra-wide-angle lens on the back of both the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.
Meanwhile, the 7 Pro's rumored overall 163 x 76.6 x 8.7mm measurements are unsurprisingly nearly identical to the 6 Pro's dimensions, strongly suggesting the screen size and battery capacity will go largely unchanged. That 8.7mm profile, which is ever so slightly thinner than the 8.9mm waist of the Pixel 6 Pro, will obviously grow quite a bit (specifically, to 11.2mm) when also taking the camera bump into consideration. That's not a totally unacceptable number, of course, but it is something to keep in mind... in the fall, when the Pixel 7 duo is expected to come out.
A curved OLED display with a "high" refresh rate and many unanswered questions
The Pixel 7 Pro may not look very different from the 6 Pro (pictured here).
In addition to evolution, refinement is the other big word likely to be associated with the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, which may not bring a lot of substantial upgrades to the table compared to the very well-reviewed but also inherently flawed Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
It remains to be seen exactly how fast the second-gen Tensor SoC will turn out in comparison with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 powerhouse and Apple's upcoming A16 Bionic beast. Another make-or-break detail for the Pixel 7 duo will undoubtedly be Google's software, which definitely needs work as far as both stability and long-term support are concerned.
In terms of specs and features, we're curious if Big G has any plans to engage in the newly ignited megapixel wars against the likes of Motorola in its never-ending pursuit of camera perfection. That's highly unlikely, of course, and especially now, so is this year's adoption of an under-display selfie shooter.
Things that are NOT allowed: