During Made By Google this morning, the search giant unveiled its new flagship Pixel phones, giving us the rundown of what you can get when you mix Google software with Google hardware. The camera system on the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro phones don’t appear to be too different from their predecessors, but when you zoom in, you see the new Google Tensor G2 chip working its magic.
As is always the case with Google, one super cool feature has piqued our interest in particular around the Pixel camera, and with the 7 Pro, it’s Photo Unblur.
The Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro come packed with Google’s Tensor G2 chip, which powers all of the smarts behind the scenes. Such smarts include Face Unblur and now, Photo Unblur.
With the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro phones, Google introduced Face Unblur, which, as it says on the tin, brought the capability to unblur a person’s face in a photo after it was captured. Expanding on that tech this year, Google is using a new type of machine learning model to unblur more photos.
This has been added to Google Photos so you can unblur photos that have been taken in the past – they don’t even need to have been captured on a Google/Android device.
This runs on-device through a special optimisation on Google Tensor.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for those of you who are seeking a reason to upgrade to the Pixel 7 Pro), Photo Unblur is only available on the new phones. Google told Gizmodo Australia this is because it’s fully optimised and supported with the Tensor G2 and those are the only two devices with the chip.
Today at #MadeByGoogle, we showed you how to get your photos #FixedOnPixel!
Blurry? We got you¹
Photobomber? Poof! Bye bye¹
Fix your photo on Pixel, regardless of what phone it was taken on.#MadeByGoogle
¹See video for info pic.twitter.com/h8MXaQKgyh
— Made by Google (@madebygoogle) October 6, 2022
Expanding on Face Unblur capabilities, the Tensor G2 also powers Cinematic Blur, which brings the anti-blurring capabilities to 4K video. This allows you to keep the subject in focus and blur the background for a dramatic effect.
The camera has a tonne more features, thanks to the combo (in the Pixel 7 Pro) of a triple rear camera system and the G2. With the Google Pixel 7 Pro, you’ll get a 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide and 48MP telephoto (along with a 10.8MP selfie cam). On the Pixel 7, you’ll get the 50MP wide and 12MP ultrawide, as well as the 10.8MP selfie cam, but you’ll miss out on the 48MP telephoto.
Back to the features, and another standout is Super Res Zoom, which promises crisp details from far away – Google allows you to zoom in 30x, and the pics they’ve used to show this off are phenomenal.
Macro Focus also allows you to get right down to 3cms away from the subject to capture an image in crisp, clear detail (also just the Pixel 7 Pro). Google also promises better inclusivity with Real Tone representing more skin tones beautifully, authentically and more accurately, even in low-light photography.
Google has also this year improved Night Sight, reducing capture time, reducing blur and improving overall image quality. It does this by combining exposure info from before and after the shot has been taken.
Pixel 7 and 7 Pro Australian pricing and availability
Currently, Optus doesn’t have any deals on the Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro, and it seems across the board, Vodafone is offering the cheapest price for each handset, with the Pixel 7 (128GB) starting at $81.62/month over 24 months, with a monthly data allowance of 40GB.
Cheapest 24-month Pixel 7 (128GB) plans
Cheapest 24-month Pixel 7 (256GB) plans
Cheapest 24-month Pixel 7 Pro(128GB) plans
Cheapest 24-month Pixel 7 Pro (256GB) plans
Cheapest 24-month Pixel 7 Pro (512GB) plans
If you’re someone who prefers to buy their new phones outright, or you want to compare the full retail price to the minimum cost of the above plans, here’s the price for each Pixel 7/7 Pro model:
- Pixel 7 (128GB): $999
- Pixel 7 (256GB): $1,129
- Pixel 7 Pro (128GB): $1,299
- Pixel 7 Pro (256GB): $1,449
- Pixel 7 Pro (512GB): $1,599
Every version of the Google Pixel 7 will be available from Thursday, 13 October.
At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you’ll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the above tables.
This article has been updated since it was first published.