Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro land Oct 13 in Singapore, start from $999

All the tech giants have had their shot at showing off their shiny ungraded devices, and now it's Google's turn to join the fray.

Less than a year after the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro arrived in Singapore, the Google Pixel 7 family is making its way to local shores at the same time that it launches in the other major markets.

It's a welcome shift from the previous events, where Singapore would get the phones a few months after the worldwide release. This time, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will be hitting store shelves on Oct 13, as they usher in several new features at a starting price of $999.

Building on its predecessors, both models are now armed with the Google Tensor G2, which makes its debut as the next-gen upgrade of the company's very own Tensor chip. This added boost brings increased speed, security and performance to the lineup, but also improves camera capabilities.

The new siblings will offer Pixel's best photo and video quality to date, alongside enhanced features like next-gen Super Res Zoom, up to two times faster Night Sight processing and sharper images with Face Unblur.

The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have retained the same rear camera layout and specs as the previous iteration, sticking to a 50MP main camera and a 12MP ultra-wide camera, with an additional 5x telephoto lens for the latter. Around the front, though, the pair are identically built, sporting an 11MP selfie camera with 4K video support.

The photography feature slate has been upgraded as well. Existing ones like Real Tone and Photo Unblur can now pick up accurate skin tones in low-light conditions and improve blurry visuals respectively, while the all-new Cinematic Blur makes it more accessible for users to create and piece together professional-looking videos.

Design wise, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro boast a smooth glass back, an aluminium frame and the Camera Bar. However, there are some fundamental differences. 

The former rocks a matte aluminium finish, in contrast to the Pixel 7 Pro's polished aluminium build. It also features a 6.3-inch display, which is smaller than its sibling's 6.7-inch alternative that can intelligently adjust the refresh rate up to 120Hz.

The smartphones have been further refined for real-use application as well. At a Glance, for instance, displays useful information at the right time, such as baggage claim details at the airport, while voice message transcription converts audio messages to texts.

Other notable features include Face Unlock, Fingerprint Unlock, a 24-hour Adaptive Battery lifespan and a Google ecosystem that makes it easy to connect to any Pixel device and switch between them.

Both the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are available in the Snow, Lemongrass and Obsidian iterations, and can be pre-ordered now on Google Store, Amazon SG and Shopee.

The former will retail for $999 (128GB) and $1,129 (256GB), while the Pixel 7 Pro is priced at $1,299 (128GB) and $1,449 (256GB). Any purchase of either phones will come with a coupon for $250 off your next purchase on the Google Store.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.