Google Pixel 7 Pro Pros and Cons

Hello everyone, I'm in the market for a new phone since my OnePlus 7 is at the end of its life. I've been a long-time OnePlus user, but I'm looking for alternatives given the direction the company is headed. I've heard that Samsung phones come with a lot of bloatware, and I'm interested in the Pixel 7 pro. For those of you who have the Pixel 7 pro, what issues have you experienced with the phone? Have you had any display issues, and how is the Bluetooth performance? Also, has anyone tried using the dual sim feature, and if so, how has your experience been?

Comments

  • +1

    I swapped from the S22+ to the Pixel 7 Pro.

    S22+ is a great phone but the galaxy store, general bloatware and the camera experience really let the phone down.

    I have much preferred the Pixel 7 Pro and can't say there's anything really bothering me. The home screen is less customisable than the galaxy but I can live with that.

  • +1

    I am in the same boat, currently using OnePlus 7 and swinging between S23+ and Pixel 7 pro…
    Only gripe is the presence of physical dual sims as I need physical dual sim slot (neither operator which I use have e-sim facility)

    • Let me know what you decide…

      • +1

        I upgraded from the OnePlus 7T Pro. Do it! Its similar in its UI, the photography is far, far better. I found the found to be physically bigger in all dimensions and possibly slightly heavier. But its something I'm willing to trade off.

        • Oh great, that's positive feedback. Out of curiosity do you use eSim?

    • Which provider are you with?

      • I am with Aldi and 1 one provider with an overseas sim ( and they also don't have e-sim). It's more of a want vs need :)
        But I can put the overseas sim in the old phone and inclining towards Pixel 7 Pro, just because of Vanilla android ( and I have Nova launcher Pro) and customise that.
        If I get a cracker deal for Pixel 7 Pro I will jump ship. Not in a hurry to replace OP7 as it is still going great for my usage but the battery is a bit of shambles now.

        • Got it.

          • +1

            @Shaunf: Yeah, I was monitoring that deal. Went to JB Hifi and played around with S23+, S23U and Pixel 7 pro and placed an order just now via Google Store for P7P 256GB for 1199 and will be getting $119.90 back as Google Store credit which will fund my next Google 1 subscription.
            So ideally cost me $1199 - $119.90 = $1079.1

            • +1

              @bargain crazy: You must have 2TB subscription. Good on ya! I might take the plunge today as well

  • +1

    I have the pixel 7 pro, it's a great speedy phone. I upgraded from a S9 though, so anything would be speedy after that. My only real gripe with the phone after about 3 months now is the speakers. They're horrible. You can google it to find it's a common issue, and you can get speaker balance apps and equaliser apps to help it, but compared to my old S9, the speakers are bad. I also miss having a case which interacts with the phone and auto locks when shut like Samsung's have, but that's a minor issue.

    Many people online complain about the fingerprint scanner being bad, I didn't have that issue, I only had issues with it once I put a screen protector on it, even with the sensitivity turned up I sometimes have issues with it not sensing my finger, but usually wiping the screen fixes it.

    Other than that, no other issues, very happy with the phone.

    • Thanks for your feedback, yeah S9 to this would have been a big jump

    • +1

      Haven't had this problem with my speakers at all. In what way are the speakers bad? Loudness?

  • Seems all oneplus users are thinking the same. I have the nord and wife has the 8. Both looking to move to Pixel 7 when the time comes. These older one plus though keep on banging on.

    • +1

      They do, my problems started after upgrading to oxygen 12. Random 4g dropouts and Bluetooth dropouts and I can't seem to find a fix. OnePlus were such a bang for buck and have created such a void now.

    • +1

      Agree, with the android 12 update, there are so many bugs and I didn't like color os which rules out Oppo phones. But yeah the older OP phones want to keep on going. Shame that OP was delivering such good hardware and has gone downhill.

  • Pixel 7 Pro is one of the best phones I've owned. originally bought the 13 pro max and sold it for the pixel. So far, no issues with the pixel 7

    • Why did you sell 13 pro max if I may ask?

      • +1

        I had iPhones from the 3 to the pixel 4 xl. After that, I seriously dislike the apple operating system and just general use (camera etc). Also, I use google/Gmail etc. for my business, so it works great together.

  • If you are moving from a OnePlus 7 you will inevitably face the biggest issue facing modern Android phones - delayed notifications. Just search delayed notifications <insert phone model here> on Reddit. Other than that it is a perfectly fine phone. None of the bloat of Samsung phones, great camera.

    • Gmail notifications are worse in OP on android version 12. I don't even get the Gmail notifications until I open the Gmail app. Only fix is restarting the phone which fixes it for some time.

      • Yup. But that is purely because from Google's point of view, emails are not important notifications and hence doesn't get tagged as priority when the notification arrives over FCM. You can switch to a different email client to get notifications in real time. This is of course assuming that the other email client is not affected by the doze issue.

      • +2

        I should have clarified - this issue probably doesn't exist on OP7 purely because of the version of Android it is running similar to say, if you had a Samsung S9. I am not sure what the latest update available for OP7 is.

      • This is a systemic issue to Android/Gmail as a whole, I've had androids since the nexus days and its ridiculous that even now it hasn't been addressed.

        This combined with the fragmented approach in how different manufacturer's approach background app / power management makes it a overall horrible experience.

        Is it too much to ask for notifications to come in on-time?

  • +1

    On another note (and sorry for hijacking), what case or screen protector are you all using for P7P?

    • I have a P6P, but my answer is still the same: Spigen Ultra Hybrid

  • +1

    Since Nexus 3, I have had all Nexus and all Pixels. In between I have used random iPhones (to test if I have missed out on any of the iOS fun), Huawei, Samsung S, A and flips, Vivo flagship (amazing underrated camera), Oppo and HMG Nokia. I am mostly able to switch phones every few months thanks to Ozbargain I don't lose more than a few hundred dollars selling them online after I am done with them - sometimes even make a profit.

    I have below to say about the Pixel 7 pro I have had since launch:

    • Fingerprint sensor is improved than 6 pro however it still is nowhere close to Samsung (ultrasonic). I still have issues 3/10 times because of finger placement or sweating. It can also blind you when trying to unlock the phone in the dark because it needs to sign a light on your finger to read it. Worst part is if it fails after a few attempts, it doesn't automatically give you an option to try again in 30 seconds. It straight away locks the scanner and you have to use the password to get back in. Face unlock only works when there's plenty of light on your face and no anti-light
    • Main Camera is very good for the value of the phone. 5x optical zoom is handy if you use it. One things that is never discussed is - if you take lots of portraits with some kind of beauty effect (that smooths the skin and adds a bit of studio lighting - I am not talking about overly beauty mode here that was popular 5 years ago) - there are better phones that do better portraits. The photos come out very natural with every single flaw perfectly visible. Samsung, Vivo phones have much better portrait mode with a bit of beauty effect for amazing portraits out of the box.
    • Software wise its very clean and smooth overall. Latest Android first (mostly). But the bugs and Google's lack of fixing them as a priority makes this phone look like an amateur. I also love the fact that it has multi-user support (that Samsung strips off its phones). Offline voice to text processing is a game changer. Call screening gets you no where as people hang up before listening to the prompt.
    • Random bugs. eg. cannot go to recent apps from the recent apps menu (not a RAM issue, says "app isn't available" but when the same app is opened directly it opens flawlessly from the RAM) - restart fixes the issue but it comes back almost everyday (has been happening for a few weeks now). Cannot randomly swipe up to go home - just doesn't recognize the swiping gesture - have to restart. Camera crashing randomly eg. when taking burst shots. Had a calling issue for a month where you make a call and it cuts off within 2 seconds - this seems to have gone away.
    • Its fairly big too so if you are not into big phones, this is not for you as it offers no other advantages of other big phones eg. Charging speed is slow. Battery life is mediocre. I feel like its only slightly better than my Flip 3. Never use reverse charging.
    • Man thanks for your detailed review. I agree using gcam portraits were always a problem. To the point that I never wanted to use.

    • Just curious, having used so many phones. Which is ur personal favourite?

      • Funny enough, the "rushed" Pixel 5 is my favourite of all - small, best battery life, stable. S23 base model with 256 GB storage (because funny again it has diff. specs to 128 GB) will probably replace my Pixel 5 as a fall back phone. In the current market for value phones, I'd definitely put Pixel 7 or 7 pro on the top. S23 was good deal from education store until yesterday combined with all the discounts. Random mad issues with Asus phones. LG is out of the picture. Sony is almost non-existent. That just leaves a bunch of Chinese brands and not a lot of others to choose from.

      • May be Nothing phone will continue to grow? Haven't tried one yet but we'll see.

        • I am curious as well. Nothing design already looks solid. Throw some more better cameras and I am sold.

  • In thinking of moving to Samsung because of the fingerprint scanner.

    Have to login everytime in want to use my bank apps.

    • Did you have fingerprint issues from the beginning?

  • +1

    I have ordered as well. Thank you for all the replies.

    Question: best wall and car charger that can deliver best juice. I am reading pixel needs PD/PPS to have the fastest charge.

    • +1

      all the best. I use a Samsung 45w charger that they no longer sell. Look for Anker for value chargers, Zyron Gan chargers posted here frequently seem pretty good value too. I use a Heymix 100w myself that has been flawless for me even though many here have reported that they have exploded on them

  • +1

    Got the phone today.1st time charging and its does gets hot… Bit again it is doing the data copying and installing apps, so kinda expected…

    • Yes it does, noticed that OnePlus charger n cable doesn't charge well at all. Using my Mac charger. Let me know what charger you buy (wall and car)

      • I already have heymix 20w usb charger and was using that for OP7. While charging it does display fast charging on P7P and pretty happy with the speed.
        Note : people here had some qc issues with heymix chargers, but been fine for me

  • +2

    Might be too late to jump in this thread. However, I've owned Pixel 7 pro since the day its released, but have switched to S23 ultra recently. The main strength is the camera which superb in ~$1000 range(def not worth buying at RRP just like any other android phones), for the price it has similar quality with other phones which doubled in price. It simple, easy to use, and gives beautiful shots most of the time. Also P7 have magic eraser which I really loved. Screen also on par with my S23 ultra, so that's a good thing.

    Now for the cons that I have(which isn't much):
    - Sometimes the touchscreen is not responsive, this is mildly annoying problem but happen on day to day basis. You'd need to repeatedly touch the screen before it works.
    - Tensor chip is bad for gaming, it would heat up easily which cause frame rate drop and you'll also got notification that your device is overheated

    Also battery life I found it to be average. Nothing to complaint, but for the size I would expect better battery life. If you're coming from newer gen of iPhone OR Samsung S series, then you won't find the battery as good. It still gets me through the day nevertheless.

    I'd say P7pro is perfect who need a good camera phone but doesn't do heavy gaming.

    • Hey thanks for your review. It's never too late to help people like me who are on the fence of buying this phone.

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