While Google has already revealed some details about the Pixel 7, there are still many details that have yet to be confirmed – the camera specs being one of them. However, thanks to code in a new version of the Google Camera app, we now have a clearer idea of what the Pixel 7’s front-facing camera can do.
9to5 Google went to dig into the recently released Google Camera 8.5 and found the code for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. This code shows that both models should be able to record 4K video with the front-facing camera. This is really just an upgrade over the Google Pixel 7, though, as the Google Pixel 6 Pro already has this feature and the Pixel 6 doesn’t.
While this would be a handy upgrade, it could point to a bigger change, as it could mean the Pixel 7 has the same sensor as the Pixel 7 Pro. We’re not sure what sensor that will be, but it’s likely to be the 11.1MP sensor on the Pixel 6 Pro — it’s significantly better than the Pixel 6’s 8MP sensor.
However, this is just speculation at the moment, as the camera code doesn’t reveal which sensor is used. But anyway, it’s likely to be a different sensor than the Pixel 6, as 4K recording usually requires slightly more megapixels.
Taken together, we would be skeptical of these findings. Their presence in Google‘s camera code suggests this may be accurate, but Google may just be experimenting with the feature, and the Pixel 7 may end up not supporting 4K recording.
Analysis: Not the most essential upgrade
While it looks like the Google Pixel 7 could get a big selfie camera upgrade, that’s not the aspect of the camera hardware that needs improvement the most.
In our Pixel 6 review, we were pretty pleased with the front-facing camera’s photo performance—though it didn’t quite match the performance of the Pixel 6 Pro, which also benefits from a wider field of view. A 4K upscaling of video would be nice, but many users probably won’t find it too important.
What we’d really like to see is the addition of a telephoto lens on the back, since the Google Pixel 6 only has wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle cameras. The lack of a telephoto camera certainly helps keep costs down and provides an additional selling point for the Pixel 6 Pro, since the phone does have one.
But even the standard Pixel 6 is expensive enough to be a feature we’d like to see, so hopefully the Pixel 7 will add a feature that will help it rank among the best camera phones.
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