My local Best Buy had the 7 and 7 Pro on display. I was able to spend some time checking them out. Here are my thoughts and things to note. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to help. For comparison I cannot comment on how they compare to the 6 and 6 Pro in terms of camera and performance, considering I only had my 4 XL on me. I was unable to test anything battery, or unlocking wise.

Design/Hardware

Both devices are nice, and feel premium. I was a tad underwhelmed though, because they seem very similar to the 6 & 6 Pro devices. The size of the 7 feels perfect, and I much prefer the flat display. The 7 Pro curved sides have been reduced from the 6 Pro last year so that's a good improvement. The Obsidian/black model was the only one on display. It picks up a lot of fingerprints, and feels like the same finish as the 6 series. I'll be curious how the Snow and Hazel colors compare. The 7 camera bar and side rails are matte, which I prefer. The 7 Pros looks nicer, but it's glossy which isn't for me.

Display

Both devices are very bright. For the limited time I spent, I couldn't notice a quick difference between the 120 hz and 90 hz screens.

Camera

The 7 Pro selfie cam gives you a wider angle than the 7. The back camera can zoom in much further. On the 6 Pro I had owned, I often had issues with low light on the selfie camera. The processing would make you look like a water color painting. I'm a tad worried that the 7 and 7 Pro is using the same selfie camera, and will have the same issue. I could only test this in the store, so I do not know forsure how selfie photos will look in bad lighting situations. But from what I was able to capture, the selfies did not seem super sharp. I'd expect in sun light they will look very good as they have in the past. For the Macro Focus mode, I was unable to figure out how to use that on the 7 Pro. There wasn't anything obvious that said Macro in the camera app. I thought by focusing on something up close with the ultrawide lens would allow me to do that, but no help there. One thing I did notice as an upgrade from the 6 Pro to the 7 Pro, was on the 6 Pro as you zoom in on a subject, you could really notice when the camera switched from the main lens to the telephoto. On the 7 Pro, the switching of the lens is a lot more smooth, and less noticeable.

Conclusion The Pixel 7 ultimately is the better value. I'm someone who really cares about the camera specs, but for the 7 Pro you're essentially paying $300 for a telephoto lens, more RAM, and a larger battery. So if those matter to you, and you don't mind the 6.7 in display, then go for the Pro.

Something I'm also realizing with Pixels, is that unless you're upgrading to a device with major hardware upgrades, you're going to have a very similar experiences, since the software is so consistent and we all get software upgrades. I'd imagine iPhone users have similar experiences. If you want something that really feels new, then I'm starting to realize you're better off switching OS's or manufacturers.

What I'll be most curious from reviews are, do the overheating issues still exist, how's the battery, how's the face unlock compared to the Pixel 4, and has the fingerprint scanner improved at all.

My phone history includes:

• ^{Droid Bionic}

• ^{Samsung Galaxy s3}

• ^{Samsung Galaxy Note 4}

• ^{Samsung Galaxy Note 7 [RIP]}

• ^{Samsung Galaxy s7 Edge}

• ^{Google Pixel 2 XL}

• ^{Google Pixel 4 XL}

• ^{Google Pixel 5a}

• ^{Google Pixel 6 Pro}

• ^{Google Pixel 4 XL [returned-the-6-pro]}