Google Pixel 7 Series Goes on Sale in India; How it Competes Against Rivals

| Updated: Friday, October 14, 2022, 11:13 [IST]

The Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are up for grabs in India via an open sale on Flipkart. These phones have received an overwhelming response from buyers and have already gone out of stock for select pin codes within a few hours of their sale. A restock of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro is expected from the company. That said, these new Google flagships look good on the brochure and can compete against other Android biggies and iPhones. But do these on-paper specs reflect in the real-world scenario is something that everyone wants to know.

The Pixel 7 is priced at Rs. 59,999 whereas, the Pixel 7 Pro will be selling at a more premium cost of Rs. 84,999. As a part of the launch offers, there is a flat discount of Rs. 8,000 on using an SBI credit card to buy the Pixel 7 and a whopping flat discount of Rs. 15,000 on using the same payment mode to buy the Pixel 7 Pro. Let's dive into the details

Google Pixel 7 Series Uses Older 5nm Node

Google's latest flagships draw power from the in-house Tensor G2 processor, which was co-developed by Samsung. While the Samsung Exynos 2200 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets are based on the 4nm node, a tried and tested manufacturing process, the Google Tensor G2 is fabbed using a 5nm process.

Confirming the use of the older 5nm node for the Tensor G2, a Google spokesperson said that the process helped them meet real-world use cases without compromising power efficiency and performance. Notably, the Tensor G2 features an octa-core CPU design with 2x Cortex-X1, 2x Cortex-A78, and 4x Cortex-A55 cores, and the improved Mali-G710 MC10 GPU. It also delivers a higher clock speed and improves both single-core and multi-core performance as compared to its predecessor.

Tensor G2-Powered Pixel 7 Series Might Lose At Performance Front

While Google is offering upgraded graphics with the Tensor G2, this is the same GPU that the Dimensity 9000 series uses as well, although it uses fewer shader cores. The good thing is the upgraded Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) is capable of delivering faster camera tasks as opposed to its predecessor.

In terms of CPU performance, the Tensor G2 does not fare well against rival SoCs that power the 2022 flagship smartphones, including the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 on the OnePlus 10T and Asus ROG Phone 6, Exynos 2200/Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the OnePlus 10 Pro with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. While that's about the Android flagship comparison, the Apple iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro using the A15 Bionic and A16 Bionic, respectively, are way out of Tensor G2's league in terms of CPU performance.

To summarize, though the Tensor G2 comes with improvements over its predecessor used in the Pixel 6 series, it is not a major leap forward when it comes to sheer CPU performance. The use of Cortex-A78 cores is a good move, but Apple and Qualcomm are leading ahead with more powerful CPU tech.

Should You Buy Google Pixel 7 Series?

Given that the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro might not be great performers against Apple and Samsung flagships, the company is known for its camera capabilities. If you are focused on the camera, then you can consider buying the Pixel 7 series.

Notably, the Google Pixel 7 features a dual-camera setup, comprising a 50MP primary sensor and a 12MP ultra-wide lens, whereas the Pixel 7 Pro bestows a triple-camera setup with an additional 48MP telephoto lens with support for 5x optical zoom and 30x digital zoom. Besides, the phones offer camera features such as Photo unblur, Cinematic Blur for portrait videos, and 10-bit HDR video recording that works with YouTube and other platforms.