Google is getting into the habit of teasing products well ahead of their release. It did that with the Pixel 6 series last year, and we're now getting a first look at the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.
Google showed off renders of both devices during the I/O keynote, giving us an early look at the design on offer. Right off the bat, the camera bar at the back looks nearly identical to the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, but with a few tweaks — Google has extended the aluminum finish to cover the entire width of the bar. Google's SVP of Devices and Services Rick Osterloh mentioned that the housing is made out of a single block of recycled aluminum.
The new design for the camera housing doesn't look as busy as the Pixel 6 series, and while Google didn't go into details on the camera hardware itself, it's easy enough to see that the Pixel 7 Pro has three cameras at the back while the standard Pixel 7 gets two modules.
It's entirely likely that the Pixel 7 Pro will get the same arrangement of modules as its predecessor, including a primary lens, wide-angle, and 4x zoom lenses — but we'll have to wait for more details over the coming weeks.
Continuing with the design, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have a glass back with a matte finish, and Google is offering a two-tone design this time as well, albeit not as exaggerated as what we got last year.
As for what's on the inside, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are designed to deliver the "most helpful, most personal experience" you can get on a smartphone, and that's facilitated by Google's next-gen Tensor platform.
Google didn't share much in the way of details around core configuration or the fabrication node, but Osterloh pointed out that the new Tensor design would bring AI breakthroughs and new experiences across speech, imaging, video, and security.
The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will make their debut in the fall, so we're looking at the usual October time-frame for an official unveil. Both devices will run Android 13 out of the box, and Google is likely to maintain its usual cadence of three platform updates and five years of security patches. We should hear more on that front as well as more hardware details as we head closer to launch.
The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are among the best Android phones you can buy at the moment, and it will be very interesting to see if Google can continue that upward trajectory with the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.
