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Tig Bitties

macrumors 603
Sep 6, 2012
5,338
5,448
Tensor 2 is rumored to be a very minor upgrade over the first Tensor chip, like Tensor 1.25.

I think we've reached a point with smartphones, that a new release every 12 months is kind of silly. The technology has almost plateaued.

Look at the iPhone 14 Pro, take away the Dynamic Island avd New pill shaped notch, and there's really no reason to get it over the already great iPhone 13 Pro.

Smartphones should follow video card releases, which are every 2 years.
 

Aneres11

macrumors 601
Oct 2, 2011
4,165
8,846
Tensor 2 is rumored to be a very minor upgrade over the first Tensor chip, like Tensor 1.25.

Yeah, I read this too.
I don't think they really need to do much more to improve the 6 (as it is now) than just make sure it doesn't come out of the box with bugs. We see it too often with Google. I didn't have as many issues as some, but definitely had my fair share with my 6 Pro.

I'm really intrigued to see what, if anything, Google has done with the 7's to make people want to upgrade. It's not like they have Apple's power, who release the same phone year on year that people lap up so I am hoping there are some 7 specific features that make it a worthwhile purchase.

Even if they changed the fingerprint scanner I wouldn't be as bothered as this time 6-7 months ago when it was garbage. They've improved it beyond recognition. Hopefully it is ultrasonic this time, though.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Original poster
Aug 7, 2011
15,849
18,423
US
I agree with everyone else about smartphones reaching a plateau as far that wow factor. IMHO the difference from here out will be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. I see this in the 14 PM as well.
But for me the Pixel 7 needs to be flat screen and either face unlock like the Pixel 4XL or a FPS like the S22 Ultra or both! But so far I haven't seen anything that would make me get the Pixel 7 to be honest.
 

Sweatypalms557

Suspended
Sep 18, 2022
71
135
Based off the underwhelming leaked Tensor 2 benchmarks the Pixel 7/7 Pro is not upgrade worthy.

My Pixel 6 photos take a long time to process after I try to view them after snapping a shot. They need 2-3x more processing power to catch up to what Apple experience is like.
 
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Awesomesince86

macrumors 68020
Sep 18, 2016
2,472
3,287
Google doesnā€™t have any intention on catching Apple or Samsung flagship devices. Thereā€™s enough Pixel history to show what they want to do which is, get away with as little as possible from a hardware standpoint and lean heavy on software and cameras. Sounds like more of the same for the Pixel 7.
 
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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,558
3,256
Google doesnā€™t have any intention on catching Apple or Samsung flagship devices. Thereā€™s enough Pixel history to show what they want to do which is, get away with as little as possible from a hardware standpoint and lean heavy on software and cameras. Sounds like more of the same for the Pixel 7.
Google's hardware history suggest that's true across their product line. They are an Ad generating machine and the hardware just gives them more free advertisement. Their hardware has come a long way from the Nexus and early Pixel phones but still lack the polish of Apple's hardware. Where Google shines is in their software. Speech to text transcription is probably unrivaled as well as their Live Translate software.

The camera they use is made 5x better by their AI software. Google is heavy into AI and they have done a great job taking advantage of their hardware.
 

vhl71

macrumors 6502
Oct 8, 2009
473
222
Currently using pixel 6 and bought the iPhone 14 pro couple of days ago. Itā€™s a nice phone but I still prefer pixel camera for still pictures. So I may return it and wait for pixel 7..

I may not buy iPhones again just for the camera !!
 

Ludatyk

macrumors 603
May 27, 2012
5,529
4,545
Texas
Currently using pixel 6 and bought the iPhone 14 pro couple of days ago. Itā€™s a nice phone but I still prefer pixel camera for still pictures. So I may return it and wait for pixel 7..

I may not buy iPhones again just for the camera !!
Iā€™ve never been the type to put ā€œpicture takingā€ as a end all be all position since nowadays it can be subjective unless Iā€™m photographer or someone who take great interest in photos... I do want a decent quality photo, but I tend to look at the entire package and go from there.
 
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vhl71

macrumors 6502
Oct 8, 2009
473
222
Iā€™ve never been the type to put ā€œpicture takingā€ as a end all be all position since nowadays it can be subjective unless Iā€™m photographer or someone who take great interest in photos... I do want a decent quality photo, but I tend to look at the entire package and go from there.

Iā€™m the exact opposite
I used to have iPhones for a long time and I like iOS and the hardware. Those days android wasnā€™t as refined as it is now. I do take a lot of pictures on my phone

While all phone cameras as pretty good nowadays it comes down to my personal preference on the picture quality. I like pixel photos for some reason better than iPhones
 

Dominican

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2013
686
368
Currently using pixel 6 and bought the iPhone 14 pro couple of days ago. Itā€™s a nice phone but I still prefer pixel camera for still pictures. So I may return it and wait for pixel 7..

I may not buy iPhones again just for the camera !!
video iphone better and photo but still like pixel really clean...
 
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Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,558
3,256
Would anyone here buy a 7/7 Pro if Google gives you a nice discount on the new Google Watch or the Pixel Buds Pro? That might get me to consider this year's phone.

Re: The Pixel Buds Pro's, it appears Google is readying a 5 band equalizer along with separate volume controls in a future update.
 

Aneres11

macrumors 601
Oct 2, 2011
4,165
8,846
Would anyone here buy a 7/7 Pro if Google gives you a nice discount on the new Google Watch or the Pixel Buds Pro? That might get me to consider this year's phone.

Re: The Pixel Buds Pro's, it appears Google is readying a 5 band equalizer along with separate volume controls in a future update.
Iā€™ll likely be buying one regardless, but a nice bonus of headphones or watch discount would sweeten the deal definitely šŸ‘
 

Sweatypalms557

Suspended
Sep 18, 2022
71
135
I have a Pixel 6 and 14 Pro. While the Pixel 6 is fine, I personally donā€™t think itā€™s on the level of the 14 Pro.

I donā€™t think Google is using the full potential of the Pixel 6ā€™s large 50MP sensor. The 14 Pro low light performance is just better and I noticed the auto focus being better too.

Both have similar sensor sizes but somehow the natural bokeh on 14 Pro just looks more DSLR like.
 
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Sweatypalms557

Suspended
Sep 18, 2022
71
135
What Iā€™m saying is I hope Google uses the hardware better for Pixel 7.

Here is an example of what I mean:

Without night mode/night sight, the iPhone is collecting more light and you can see something. Pixel 6 canā€™t pick up anything even though both sensors are similar size.

With night mode/night sight on, I only needed one attempt with iPhone 14 Pro to get a shot. The focus was quite good. The Pixel 6 I attempted 6 shots and the one I posted was the clearest one I could get. Exposure time was a lot longer on Pixel 6 too.
 

Heat_Fan89

macrumors 68030
Feb 23, 2016
2,558
3,256

Expos of 1969

Contributor
Aug 25, 2013
4,741
9,257
Apple can afford to raise prices because of brand awareness. Google OTOH is trying to grow its business.
Google is certainly not acting like a company that is trying to grow its phone business. We are up to version 7 of the phone and it is still only sold in a handful of countries. Ridiculous approach.
 
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The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,400
19,634
UK
Google doesnā€™t have any intention on catching Apple or Samsung flagship devices. Thereā€™s enough Pixel history to show what they want to do which is, get away with as little as possible from a hardware standpoint and lean heavy on software and cameras. Sounds like more of the same for the Pixel 7.
yeah software is a massive part and them optimising their chip for the 50mp sensor is likely their plan so I imagine we will see improvements more on software.

pixel market and strength is their software and their pull will be that their camera is the best out there over other more expensive flagships.
 

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,400
19,634
UK
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zakarhino

Contributor
Sep 13, 2014
2,508
6,778
Iā€™ve decided this year Iā€™m going to buy a Pixel 7 exclusively for taking pictures, maybe Iā€™ll use it for more stuff depending on how much I like modern android.

Iā€™ve been using my 14 Pro Max for a week but the camera is a very disappointing vs the Pixel range. Notice how I didnā€™t say Pixel 6, I said the Pixel range in general because even Pixels from several years ago do a better job than iPhone in many key areas for still photography. The iPhone sub forum tries to gaslight themselves into thinking the iPhone 14 Pro is better than last years Pixel 6 so I asked them to compare photos from each phone that I sourced via the Toms Guide review. They ALL preferred the iPhoneā€¦ except I intentionally mislabeled the photos! Every single person that thought they were voting iPhone actually voted for the Pixel without knowing. For me this proves Iā€™m not actually crazy: Pixel CLEARS iPhone in 95% of point and shoot scenarios and most people saying otherwise are not being honest with themselves. I refuse to believe otherwise because the quality gap is so obvious to my eyes.

Colors, dynamic range, contrast, and detail are all better on pixel. Overall when I look at a pixel photo I feel like I want to be there. When I look at an iPhone photo all I see is the color grey, it screams ā€œmobile phone photoā€ with a limited color range. All the photo comparisons Iā€™m coming across could easily pass as a ā€œiPhone 6 vs iPhone 14 Proā€ comparison because of the massive disparities. If I still had my 13 Pro Max I would keep it and return the 14 Pro Max.

Iā€™m very excited to see what Pixel have up their sleeves this year for their image processing.
 
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