Google Pixel 7 has the ability to dethrone Samsung and iPhone, but will it?  

Google Pixel 7 series is the next smartphone lineup from Google this year. This will be competing with Apple as well as Samsung in the flagship arena. Google Pixel phones usually are rolled out around October, however minute details of the devices have started coming around much earlier. That’s exactly what can be talked about after a new leak has shed some details about the upcoming Pixel smartphones. 

The next Pixel flagship phone could be equipped with the next-gen Tensor chipset from Google according to the leak. Other details that have been picked up from the code are that the Pixel 7 series is likely to receive a Samsung modem for connectivity.  

The codenames of the to-be-released Pixel phones are said to be ‘Cheetah’ and ‘Panther’ according to the leaked source.   

The renders show that Google has retained the current structure of the Pixel 6 for the upcoming Pixel 7 smartphones as the devices will still maintain a camera strip. 

As per the renders leaked online, the Pixel 7 Pro’s rear camera design is likely to blend into the body, like the Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphone.  

On the front, the display, which will either be a 6.7-inch AMOLED screen or a 6.8-inch, flaunting the quintessential Android punch-hole design. Whereas the Pixel 7 will reportedly sport a 6.2 or 6.-inch AMOLED display.  

On the bottom, there will be two grilles for the speaker, the SIM card slot will be on the left side. While the power, as well as the volume buttons, will be on the right side of the smartphone.  

One more potential rumor is that Google may add an under-display selfie camera to the next-gen Pixel. That is based on a patent filed by Google which takes the basic under-display selfie camera technology, presently found on select phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3/the ZTE Axon 30, then improves it by using a mirror system to show either the camera, or a portion of the display as required.  

A new rumor suggests that Google will not be changing the Pixel 7’s cameras from those found on the Pixel 6. This somewhat makes sense given the Pixel 6 changed pretty much everything from the Pixel 5 and asking to do the same for the 7 feels like an overreach, however, we do hope that we will still see some updates as well as improvements all the same.  

Google’s journey with the Pixel smartphones has been a mixed bag, though the company wanted to challenge in the flagship segment, its initial stint was riddled with issues as well as bugs. At times the display was found faulty, sometimes the device itself was not up to the mark.   

However, we as users want to see a few features in the upcoming Pixel 7.  

A more reliable fingerprint reader  

The under-display fingerprint scanner on the Pixel 6 as well as the Pixel 6 Pro is something that has been complained about in the reviews. Yes, we understand that this was Google’s first attempt at putting the fingerprint scanner beneath the screen, as the company previously mounted a fingerprint reader on the back of its phones. However, that does not excuse how unreliable the scanner is.   

Better and brighter displays for all models  

Brightness is one of the ways Google could improve the displays of the Pixel 7 series. The Pixel 6, as well as the Pixel 6 Pro, had surprisingly dim displays, even when set at maximum brightness under direct sunlight. The area of improvement would be the specs of the standard Pixel 7 model’s screen. The Pixel 6 Pro does offer 120Hz, whereas the standard Pixel 6 only offers a 90Hz refresh rate. That is better than the 60Hz that used to be all you’d get from a smartphone, however, even phones cheaper than the Pixel 6 are offering 120Hz, take the Redmi Note 10 Pro as an example, so asking the same for the Pixel 7 is valid.   

Another camera on the base Pixel 6  

Google has arguably sold the Pixel 6 short by only giving it two rear cameras. It’s disappointing given some premium phones are now offering up to four cameras along with a depth sensor (for example the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra). The obvious choice for a third camera on the base Pixel 7 would be a telephoto lens. Provide it even if its magnification would not match the 4x optical zoom of the Pro model. 

Longer battery life  

Despite having the largest batteries ever in a Pixel phone, the Google Pixel 6, as well as the Pixel 6 Pro, proved to have disappointing longevity when connecting to the internet over 5G. That is not going to suffice and would end up becoming an increasingly big deal as 5G networks roll out nationwide in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere. The batteries aren’t too small, instead, Google probably needs to focus on using the power it has available efficiently.  

Faster charging  

After years of using the miserably slow 18W charging, the Pixel 6 as well as the Pixel 6 Pro gained the ability to charge at up to 30W wired and 23W wireless. However, despite the increase in charging wattage, in testing the Pixel 6 only managed to reach 29% full after half an hour of charging on a third-party 30W charger. (Why a third-party charger you ask because the Pixel 6 doesn’t ship with one in the box). It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that that’s not that fast, especially when you factor in phones like the OnePlus 9 series which charges to almost full in half an hour.  

An alert slider  

For iPhone users (and to a lesser extent OnePlus users), the alert slider is a critical feature of their phones. It is an effective way to quickly enable or disable notification sounds without having to unlock the phone. Or, even turning on the screen.  

Will Google provide us with all of the features we want, mostly not, some of them maybe but certainly not all. What if Google does provide all the features, we want on top of the upgrades it’s providing, will it be able to dethrone Samsung and the iPhone? The answer is unknown, as it doesn’t just depend on the upgrades Google provides, it also depends on the moves of Apple and Samsung as well.   

All we can do is wait and see, while you are doing that you might want to read this.   

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