Pixel 7/Pro and Watch Impressions!

Summary

Google unveils the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro with updated specs, new camera features like Cinematic mode and Unblur, and a Tensor G2 chip for enhanced performance and efficiency. Also introduced are the Pixel Watch with Fitbit integration and a tablet that transforms into a Nest Hub Max when docked.

Takeaways

• 📱 Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are the latest smartphones from Google, with features such as face unlock and cinematic video mode.
• 🔒 Face unlock is powered by advanced machine learning models in the front camera, similar to Apple's Face ID.
• 📹 The Pixel 7 Pro introduces new camera features like auto-focus ultrawide and a 5x telephoto camera with 48 megapixels.
• 🔍 Super Res Zoom uses high-resolution mode to provide a 12.5-megapixel image from the main 50-megapixel camera.
• 🎥 Cinematic mode in Pixel mimics Apple's feature, offering subject tracking and background blurring.
• 📲 Transcribed audio messages are a new feature in the Google Messages app, allowing text reading of voice memos.
• 🌌 Night Sight in Pixel has been improved to be twice as fast, enhancing low-light photography.
• 🖼️ Unblur is a new feature that uses AI to fix slightly blurry photos by sharpening subjects and details.
• 💡 The Pixel 7 has a flat display while the Pixel 7 Pro has a less pronounced curved display compared to its predecessor.
• ⌚ The Google Pixel Watch has been unveiled, featuring a full circle design, lightweight build, and integration with Fitbit for fitness tracking.
• 💰 The pricing for Pixel 7 is $599 and for Pixel 7 Pro is $899, with the Pro model offering more advanced camera capabilities and a larger battery.

Q & A

What is the significance of Pixel's always-on display and At a Glance feature?

The always-on display and At a Glance feature were introduced with Pixel 2. They are significant as they showcase Pixel's leadership in smartphone innovation and have been followed by other companies in the industry.

What new camera features did Pixel 3 introduce?

Pixel 3 introduced Night Sight for low-light photography and astrophotography, demonstrating Pixel's continuous innovation in camera technology.

How does the face unlock feature on Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro work?

The face unlock feature on Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro uses advanced machine learning models for face recognition, powered by the front camera, to securely unlock the device.

What is Cinematic Blur in the context of Pixel cameras?

Cinematic Blur is a new feature introduced to the Pixel camera that allows for a depth effect in photos, similar to Apple's Cinematic mode, by artificially blurring the background while keeping the subject in focus.

What is Super Res Zoom and how does it enhance photography on Pixel 7 Pro?

Super Res Zoom is a feature that uses a high-resolution mode on Pixel 7 Pro's main 50-megapixel camera to crop and provide a 12.5-megapixel image, enhancing zoom quality without significant loss of detail.

What design changes were made to the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro compared to the previous models?

The design changes include the use of metal for the visor instead of glass, a continuous piece of metal with no seam, and different finishes for the visor on Pixel 7 (matte) and Pixel 7 Pro (glossy). The power buttons no longer have accented colors.

What is the new feature called 'Unblur' and how does it work?

Unblur is a feature that allows users to fix slightly blurry photos using AI. The Tensor chip recognizes subjects, sharpens images, and enhances the overall clarity of the photo, making it a valuable tool for improving image quality retrospectively.

What are the differences between the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro in terms of camera capabilities?

The Pixel 7 Pro has a new ultrawide with auto focus, a new 5x telephoto camera with 48 megapixels, and additional zoom capabilities with software enhancements. The regular Pixel 7 does not have these advanced camera features.

What are the main features of the Google Pixel Watch?

The Google Pixel Watch runs on Wear OS with integrated Fitbit fitness features, offers notifications, custom watch faces, Google Pay, Google Maps directions, and Google Assistant support. It has a full circle display, is lightweight, and comes in three colors.

How does the Google Pixel Watch differ from other smartwatches in terms of health and fitness tracking?

The Pixel Watch uses the Fitbit app for health and fitness tracking, including workouts, mindfulness content, health metrics, sleep tracking, and high-frequency heart rate monitoring. This is a departure from using Google Fit and positions the watch as a Fitbit smartwatch.

What is the unique feature of the new Pixel Tablet mentioned in the script?

The unique feature of the new Pixel Tablet is its ability to dock to a magnetic speaker dock, transforming it into a Nest Hub Max, which is essentially a smart display with advanced home control features.

Outlines

00:00

📱 Pixel 7 Series and Tech Innovations

The script discusses Google's Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro smartphones, highlighting their innovative features such as face unlock, Cinematic Blur in the camera, and Super Res Zoom. It also touches on the subtle competition and feature sharing among tech companies. The presenter shares first impressions of the new devices, noting design changes like the metal visor and the shift from a glass one. The script also mentions the new Pixel Watch and a preview of the Pixel Tablet, emphasizing Google's event as a platform for showcasing these products with advanced machine learning models and Tensor G2 chip capabilities.

05:00

📹 Enhanced Camera Features and Pixel Watch Design

This paragraph delves into the camera enhancements of the Pixel 7 Pro, including an ultrawide lens with auto-focus and a high-resolution 5x telephoto camera. It discusses the user interface improvements for zoom functionality and the addition of haptic stops. The presenter raises questions about the pricing strategy of the Pixel 7 series, comparing the value proposition of the standard and Pro models. The Google Pixel Watch is introduced, with a focus on its design, functionality, and integration with Fitbit for health and fitness tracking. Concerns about the watch's battery life are also expressed, along with its positioning in the smartwatch market relative to competitors.

10:01

🛍️ Google Pixel Watch Pricing and Tablet Preview

The final paragraph addresses the pricing of the Google Pixel Watch, which is noted to be more expensive than competitors like the Apple Watch SE and Samsung Galaxy Watch5. It also provides a brief preview of a new tablet feature that allows it to dock into a magnetic speaker dock, transforming it into a Nest Hub Max. The presenter speculates on the tablet's target market and price point, suggesting it's designed for home use rather than high-end productivity or media consumption, and ends with an anticipation for future reviews and the spirit of 'Techtober'.

Keywords

💡Pixel

Pixel refers to Google's line of smartphones, which are known for their innovative features and design. In the video script, Pixel is mentioned in the context of their advancements in smartphone technology, such as the always-on display, Night Sight, and astrophotography. The script discusses the new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro models, highlighting their design, camera features, and internal specifications.

💡Face ID

Face ID is a facial recognition technology used by Apple in their iPhone X and later models. It allows users to unlock their devices by simply looking at them. In the script, Face ID is mentioned in comparison to Google's face unlock feature, which uses advanced machine learning models for face recognition, illustrating the competitive landscape in smartphone security features.

💡Cinematic mode

Cinematic mode is a camera feature that allows for the creation of videos with a blurred background, mimicking the depth of field effect seen in professional filmmaking. The script mentions both Google's and Apple's cinematic modes, showing how this feature has become a point of competition between tech companies in enhancing camera capabilities.

💡Super Res Zoom

Super Res Zoom is a technology used in smartphone cameras to enhance zoom capabilities by using high-resolution modes to provide clearer images. The script refers to this feature in the context of the Pixel 7 Pro's camera, indicating that it can crop into the middle 12 megapixels of the main camera for a cleaner zoom, demonstrating the focus on improving photographic capabilities in smartphones.

💡Tensor G2 chip

The Tensor G2 chip is the second-generation system on a chip (SoC) developed by Google, used in their Pixel smartphones. The script discusses the chip's role in enabling new features like cinematic video mode, transcribed audio messages, and improved Night Sight, highlighting its importance in driving the performance and capabilities of the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro.

💡Unblur

Unblur is a feature introduced in the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro that uses AI to fix slightly blurry photos by recognizing subjects and sharpening them. The script describes this as a potentially game-changing feature for photography, allowing users to salvage images that might otherwise be discarded, showcasing Google's commitment to enhancing user experience through AI.

💡Pixel Watch

Pixel Watch is Google's entry into the smartwatch market, mentioned in the script as a device with a design that aims to be inconspicuous and lightweight. The watch is described as having a full circle display and being powered by Wear OS with Fitbit integration for fitness tracking, indicating Google's strategy to combine aesthetics with functionality in their wearable technology.

💡Fitbit

Fitbit is a company known for its fitness tracking devices and apps. In the script, Fitbit is mentioned in relation to the Pixel Watch, which integrates Fitbit's fitness tracking features, such as workouts, mindfulness content, and health metrics. This collaboration shows Google's approach to leveraging established fitness brands to enhance their wearable devices.

💡Nest Hub Max

Nest Hub Max is a smart display device by Google that functions as a home hub for controlling smart home devices and providing information. The script mentions a feature of the new Pixel Tablet where it can dock to a magnetic speaker dock and become a Nest Hub Max, illustrating Google's strategy to create interconnected devices that serve multiple functions in a home environment.

💡Techtober

Techtober is a term used to describe the month of October, which is typically filled with major tech product launches and announcements. The script ends with a reference to 'Happy Techtober,' indicating the excitement and anticipation surrounding the release of new tech products, including the Pixel devices and other Google announcements.

💡Smartphone innovation

Smartphone innovation refers to the continuous development and introduction of new technologies and features in smartphones. The script opens with a discussion of Google's leadership in this area, mentioning features like the always-on display, Night Sight, and astrophotography, emphasizing the competitive nature of the smartphone industry and the importance of innovation.

Highlights

Pixel has been a leader in smartphone innovation, with features like always-on display and Night Sight being industry trendsetters.

Introduction of car crash detection three years ago as a safety feature in Pixel smartphones.

Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro's front camera uses advanced machine learning models for face recognition and face unlock.

Comparison of tech companies' subtle jabs at each other while introducing similar features, such as Cinematic mode in both Pixel and iPhone.

Pixel 7 Pro's main camera uses Super Res Zoom to provide a 12.5-megapixel image from a 50-megapixel sensor.

The new ultrawide 11-megapixel selfie camera shared by both Pixel 7 models.

The Pixel 7 display is flat again, with a subtle curve on the Pixel 7 Pro display.

Next-generation Tensor G2 chip in Pixel 7 series promises 20% lower power consumption and improved performance.

New cinematic video mode in Pixel 7 series that tracks subjects and blurs backgrounds.

Transcribed audio messages feature in the Google Messages app for easier accessibility.

Night Sight made twice as fast with the new Tensor G2 chip.

Unblur feature in Pixel 7 series that uses AI to fix and sharpen slightly blurry photos.

New ultrawide autofocus camera with 21% wider field of view on Pixel 7 Pro.

Introduction of a new 5x telephoto camera with 48 megapixels on Pixel 7 Pro.

Haptic stops and zoom preview in the camera UI for easier framing at extreme zoom levels.

Pricing strategy of Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, with a $300 gap between the two models.

Google Pixel Watch's design and features, including its seamless look and lightweight feel.

Pixel Watch's fitness functionality powered by Fitbit, with high-frequency heart rate monitoring.

Concerns about the Pixel Watch's battery life and the impact of its compact size.

Preview of the new Pixel Tablet with a unique feature to dock into a magnetic speaker dock, transforming it into a Nest Hub Max.

Speculation on the Pixel Tablet's target market and potential pricing strategy.

Transcripts

- Pixel has always been a leader in smartphone innovation,

and we take it as a compliment

when others in the industry follow our lead,

like the always-on display and At a Glance

introduced with Pixel 2,

and there's Night Sight, which launched with Pixel 3,

and astrophotography,

and we introduced car crash detection three years ago.

(car windshield shattering)

Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro's front camera

uses our advanced machine learning models

for face recognition to power face unlock.

- iPhone X, your iPhone is locked until you look at it

and it recognizes you.

We call this Face ID.

- We're introducing Cinematic Blur to the Pixel camera.

- And iPhone 13 brings a brand-new feature, Cinematic mode.

- Starting at 2x, Super Res Zoom crops

Pixel 7 Pro's main 50-megapixel camera

using a high-resolution mode

to provide a 12.5-megapixel image.

- [Presenter] 12 megapixels of the new sensor

to deliver a full resolution photo and 4K video

with optical quality.

- Yeah, I kind of just love how tech companies

just throw subtle shots at each other on stage,

even though we all know at this point

they're just copying each other in a giant circle

till we have the same features across everything.

Anyway, today was Google's event

and we got our first look and impressions

and our hands-on time

with the Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro

and the Pixel Watch, which is really interesting.

And we also got a preview

of a really interesting look at the new Pixel Tablet.

So this video's everything you need to know

about all that stuff.

So the phones, there's a big phone and a small phone again.

The Pixel 7 and the Pixel 7 Pro.

They very much look like the Pixel 6

now that it's an established, recognizable visor identity,

but this time the visor is metal instead of glass,

and I don't love it but I also don't hate it.

Like, I guess I was one of the few people

that really got to liking the glass visor.

But I will say,

this time it is one continuous piece of metal

all the way around with no seam

and that is better than before.

And it just feels really well built.

But you can also see the Pixel 7 visor is matte

while the Pixel 7 Pro visor is glossy,

which I can already tell

I'm gonna get this 7 Pro covered in fingerprints.

Also, I'm just gonna say

I miss accented color power buttons.

Just throwing that out there.

Anyway, no other real design surprises here.

But then on the inside, there is an updated set of specs.

So there they are.

You can pause this if you need to,

but, basically, the bigger phone has a telephoto lens,

more RAM and a bigger battery

and a bigger, higher res LTPO display.

That's the deal.

But here's something I noticed

that wasn't really mentioned

even out loud during the keynote,

which is the Pixel 7 display is flat again

and you can see the cutout at the top

for the new ultrawide 11-megapixel selfie camera

that they both share.

It's pretty sweet.

But the Pixel 7 Pro display curves over the edges

a bit less than before.

It's just a subtle curve now.

I'm really happy to see that.

But then as I mentioned in the last video,

which was about the iPhone 14 Plus and benchmarks

and how the big general benchmark improvements

are probably going to be pretty slight,

I was more interested just to see features,

just new interesting features

that they enable on these new phones, right?

And we got some

and they range from kind of cool, seen that already,

all the way to possibly incredible.

So yeah, I'm gonna keep my eye out

on the overall performance

of this next-generation Tensor G2 chip,

efficiency, smoothness, all that.

But it also enables a few things.

A new cinematic video mode,

which basically appears to be doing the same thing

Apple's new Cinematic mode does,

which is track subjects and artificially blur backgrounds.

It also enables transcribed audio messages

right in the Google Messages app.

So if someone sends you a voice memo,

you don't have to find a place to listen to it.

You can just read it in text form.

And it makes Night Sight twice as fast.

It enables face unlock from just the new selfie camera.

And it should be able to do all of this

with 20% lower power consumption than the first Tensor chip.

But the coolest feature to me easily

is Unblur is what it's called.

So say you have a picture that's slightly blurry,

you know, maybe your hands were kind of shaky

or it was slightly out of focus

or you just had a slow shutter speed

or something happened, it's blurry, it's soft.

Normally you'd throw the photo out,

but you don't have any other pictures of that moment

and it was just too perfect

and you kind of just wanna save it or fix it.

So you can open that picture on the Pixel 7 or 7 Pro

and you hit that button

and the Tensor chip goes to work

and it basically fixes the picture.

It uses AI,

it recognizes subjects and sharpens things up,

and it does a really good job.

You can see a before and after here

of some of the preloaded photos I was trying at the event

and they are genuinely impressive.

And the cherry on top is,

so you have to have a Pixel 7 or 7 Pro to do this for now,

but you can do this with any picture

in your entire Google Photos library,

any photo you've ever taken

or even any photo you just save or have on your phone.

Anything.

I can see people, like, remastering old Polaroids

or, like, 30-year-old yearbook photos,

just whatever else is in your library

that you wanna save.

Seems pretty cool.

I'm gonna be testing it for the full review

to see how well it actually works

with non-pre-supplied photos.

But I was impressed.

But then really most of the other changes

that were interesting about these phones

came in the camera department on the Pro phone.

So there's a new ultrawide with auto focus

just on the Pro phone

that is 21% wider

and should be able to take

some pretty decent macro photos now with these focus pixels.

And there's a new 5x telephoto camera that's also huge,

48 megapixels again.

And then they've worked a lot of software magic

with making the in-between marks much more usable.

So for example, the 2x button here

will crop in to the middle 12 megapixels of the main camera

for a nice clean zoom.

Sound familiar?

But then the 10x does the same thing.

So the 10x zoom is really just cropping in

to the middle 12 megapixels of the 5x telephoto camera.

So again, hopefully a nice clean zoom.

And then a lot of Super Res Zoom software magic

and hopefully sharpening the photos

of in between those numbers.

But there's also haptic stops in the camera UI

to make it easy

to hopefully hit those nice clean magic numbers.

And they also added a zoom preview thing

for the furthest extremes of zoom like Samsung did.

So now when you're taking those super creeper shots

at like 30x,

it'll be nice and stable and easy to frame.

My biggest question is did they price these correctly?

Because they went with the same prices as last year,

which is 599 for the small phone

and 899 for the big one,

which, okay, it's the same...

(sighs) I have a feeling $300

is gonna feel like a big gap again.

Like, this is what we were saying last year.

For 300 extra dollars over the small phone,

you're getting bigger screen, nicer battery,

and a telephoto camera,

and that's kind of it.

This year, it feels like a tiny bit more.

It's screen, battery,

and then like a whole pro camera system

with a better ultrawide

and a better telephoto with lots of zoom stuff.

But is that enough?

$300?

I don't know. We'll see.

I have a feeling that the 7 will feel like a good deal

and then the 7 Pro will feel like a tougher sell again.

But then we also finally got to see the Google Pixel Watch.

This is the thing that's been kind of hyped a lot.

I got to spend a little less time with it,

but I'm very interested in reviewing this particular watch.

So this might be a hot take

but I think they did a B+ job on the design.

I think it's really nice.

The full circle is great.

It's just one size, which is pretty small,

and very lightweight.

There's three colors: black, silver, and gold.

And it definitely doesn't look like a computer on your wrist

like some others can.

It can be a super inconspicuous

little puck of a smartwatch.

There's just two buttons:

the crown, which can also scroll,

and then a button right above it.

And the way the watch bands connect to the watch

is pretty neat.

It's a little bit finicky to me at first

but I suspect that just takes some getting used to.

And the result is just this super seamless look

with no lugs where it looks like the band

just kind of pops out the top and the bottom of the circle.

Now, here's why I say B+ and not A+:

bezels and battery.

So they curved the glass right over all the edges

and kept the UI mostly black,

which is really thoughtful

because most of the time,

especially in lower lighting,

it looks like it's basically a seamless display

on your wrist.

Most of the backgrounds are black.

Most of the UI elements look

like they're designed around sort of fading in

and not overlapping the edges too much.

And even when they do overlap,

they have this nice little gradient.

Even the flashlight app has a fade all the way around.

So you don't really think too hard about the bezel.

It's smart.

But if you catch the light just right

or maybe you're outside a lot,

then, yeah, you can see the bezel,

which is clearly not the smallest thing in the world.

Okay, fine.

But I'm actually a little bit more worried

about battery life.

So they said on stage up to 24 hours of battery,

which, you know, knowing these companies

is probably generous.

Like, that's probably maybe best-case scenario

without the always-on display, maybe one workout.

And, I mean, this watch is truly tiny.

It's very compact and light.

Like, there's just no way it can have a huge battery in it.

But I think it's a good idea to subscribe

to be among the first to see the full review

when it goes live

and I get a chance to really test it.

Functionality-wise, though,

it is very much a Fitbit smartwatch.

Like, I think it might be more of a Fitbit

than a lot of people were expecting.

But, you know, smartwatch-wise,

it does all the normal stuff.

Notifications, custom watch faces,

Google Pay with Wallet, Google Maps directions,

Google Assistant to set timers, play some music, et cetera.

It's Wear OS.

But then it's Fitbit for all the fitness stuff,

which there's plenty of.

So if you've used a Fitbit,

you already know about the workouts

and mindfulness content and health metrics

and sleep tracking and a sleep score

and it has some really high-frequency heart rate monitoring,

one reading every single second.

But other than specifically the heart rate monitoring stuff,

it uses the Fitbit app for all of that stuff.

So not Google Fit.

What happens to Google fit?

Unclear, actually.

But the watch comes

with six months of Fitbit Premium for free

and you just interact with all this data

just like it's a Fitbit.

So yeah, it's a Fitbit smartwatch,

or it's a smartwatch with Fitbit on top

for all the fitness stuff.

So it's 349 for the Wi-Fi only

and $400 for cellular.

So that means it's more expensive than the Apple Watch SE.

It's more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Watch5.

It's interesting.

Let me know which one of those smartwatches

you would consider for that money.

But lastly, we did get a preview of the tablet, another one.

But this time,

it was basically just one, one really cool feature,

which is that it docks to a magnetic speaker dock

and becomes basically a Nest Hub Max.

And I think this is brilliant.

Most tablets are just, like, around the house

most of the time,

and Google knows this,

so they just built the ultimate house tablet, I guess.

I do think, though, that this is a bit of a clue

that this isn't going to be a super high-end,

like iPad Pro, Galaxy Tab Pro,

super crazy premium tablet.

This is definitely not competing with those.

Like, this thing will have a 10-inch screen,

single camera, white bezels.

It's like this thing is designed for the 80% of tablets

that just sit around the house and don't do too much.

Like, not the top few percent

that are doing peak performance

and productivity and media stuff.

I'm guessing, and this is pure speculation,

and you can quote this,

I'm gonna guess that this will be a 499 tablet.

Like, that's how I see this.

And then you'll buy the dock extra.

But we'll come back to this clip and see if I was right.

But yeah, stay tuned for the reviews.

Happy Techtober.

Thanks for watching this one,

and I'll catch you guys later.

Peace.

(bright electronic music)