Google launches Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro in India at a starting price of ₹59,999

Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, announced on Thursday, will be available in India from October 13, marking the return of Google’s flagship Pixel devices in the Indian market. The Alphabet company had stopped launching flagship models in India after Pixel 3, launched in 2018, and only offered its stripped-down mid-segment devices such as Pixel 4a, and Pixel 6a, due to a lukewarm response from buyers in India.

The Pixel 7 will start at ₹59,999, while the Pixel 7 Pro will be available at ₹84,999 on Flipkart. 

Google’s change in strategy can be attributed to the recent growth in demand for premium smartphones in the country.

To be sure, the premium smartphone (above $500) segment in India was the fastest-growing segment in the June quarter of CY 2022, growing at 83% year-on-year (YoY). Premium smartphones accounted for 6% of the market.

Brands such as Apple, which only sells premium smartphones have also doubled revenue in India in the June quarter.

Among Android OEMs, Samsung and OnePlus are the top brands in the premium segment, according to IDC. Samsung is the only OEM in India to offer foldable devices. Its premium smartphones have seen a strong demand in both online and offline sales recently, according to industry analysts. Though OnePlus has a strong fan following, the Chinese company has upset many of its users by merging the Oxygen OS with Oppo’s Color OS.

Many of these buyers looking for an upgrade are likely to turn to Pixel 7 and 7 Pro for its stock Android experience, four years of software updates, and five years of security updates.
In addition to these, the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro offer several new features that can give some of the top premium smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone 14 and Samsung’s Galaxy S22 a run for their money.

Both Pixel smartphones run on Google’s latest Tensor G2 processor with Android 13 on top. They also offer several camera upgrades which include a 10x telephoto lens, two times faster Night Sight processing, and a new feature called Cinematic Blur similar to iPhone’s Cinematic mode. The new Pixel devices also have a feature called Face Unblur, which can make blurry photos look sharper.
Users can also record 10-bit HDR (high dynamic range) videos on the new Pixel smartphones.

Google claims its Real Tone camera algorithms have been trained on more than 10,000 face portraits and colors from image expert partners to generate more natural-looking skin tones.

Also, the Pixel devices can transcribe audio messages on Google’s Messages app using speech recognition technology.

Pixel 7 has a 6.3-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, 4,355mAh battery, and IP68 water and dust resistance, along with a 50MP primary camera and 12MP ultra-wide camera. On the other hand, the Pixel 7 Pro has a 6.7-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 5,000mAh battery, 12GB RAM, an IP68 rating, and a 48MP telephoto camera along with the 50MP and 12MP cameras.