The detailed experience with my Google Pixel 7 Pro & Pixel Watch

[Senzelian]

Shortly after the launch of the Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro it was reported by many reviewers and news media websites that users were experiencing a large amount of issues, which were also only slowly adressed.

The most famous example of such a review was probably Marques' video titled "I Gave the Pixel Another Chance..."

 

Here is that video:

 

I personally use a Pixel 6 Pro right now and had it since launch, but never experienced any major issues. Unfortunately for Google, not really for me, it has become really hard to argue for a Google Pixel device because of these reports. Personally I shouldn't really care, because I probably should enjoy the experience that I have and shouldn't worry about the issues others might have, but I also want to be able to give any upcoming Pixel devices a fair chance and argue fairly for or against them in the future. And that is why I created this thread.

 

So now to what this thread actually is.

The plan is to update it, any time I run into some issue that is related to the Pixel 7 Pro or the Pixel Watch. I will update you on issues that come up with any kind of apps that are related to those devices, or any hardware malfunctions or simply bugs I find with Android 13 and Watch OS 3 and upcoming versions. What I won't do is to show off any features or hardware, because this is not a review. I will simply continue to use these devices as I did previously with my old ones and write down my experience. This does also mean that if you don't find any negative remarks about any of these devices, that I had a positive experience.

 

I highly recommend you to subscribe to this thread if you care about any of these devices. I have plenty of experience with the Google ecosystem and have heavily invested in it. But if you don't care and maybe think I'm yet another crazy fanboy, then that's fine too. So here we go I guess...

 

 

 

256GB, White

 

• 14.10.2022

I have received the package containing the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel Watch. Unfortunately Google's packaging skills aren't exactly all that great. There was nothing to protect the boxes from impacts.

 

Spoiler

 

The fingerprint sensor was really tricky to get working this time. I tried multiple fingers, but most of the time a message would pop up, saying that the phone was unable to create my fingerprint. On top of that this happened near the end of the process, which was quite frustrating as I had to restart again. But it turned out, that if you don't follow their instructions and simply do whatever, it will likely work more often than not. This is simply not a good experience and far worse than that of the Pixel 6 Pro.

 

 

Setting up Face Unlock did also not work as expected. There seem to be two modes. If the initial, more advanced mode won't work, it will ask you to use the simpler mode, which only takes a photo of you, instead of you having to turn your face and taking a photo from multilpe angles. After I had the phone set up, I tried again and got it to work.

 

 

• 29.10.2022

I added a TPU screen protector to the P7P. That has caused some issues with the fingerprint sensor. It works noticeably less reliable than before. This might be due to the nature of the sensor and something you simply can't avoid. Maybe with a glass screen protector it's less of an issue. I enabled the higher touch sensitivity mode within the display settings to try to counter that, but that made no difference, obviously. It is called "touch" sensitivity for a reason and has nothing to do with the fingerprint sensor. But in combination with Face Unlock and Smart Lock it's not an issue. Of course one could argue that neither Face Unlock and especially not Smart Lock are actually really safe. For those people I'd say, use a PIN. Takes 1 second to type it in.

 

 

• 16.08.2023

 

I finally had the first proper issue with the Pixel 7 Pro. The volume rocker came lose. In the second picture you can see the volume rocker after I had taken it out of the device. It seems that the two plastic tabs at the top and bottom are whats holding it in.

 

This also seems to be a widespread issue with the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, as quite a few people have reported this. Google seems to replace the devices, but it's likely this will happen again.

 

It is however important to note, that it didn't fall out by its own. I have to actively press on the lower or upper edge of the volume rocker for it to move. I don't think people will suddenly miss their volume rocker. If Google had made these tabls a little larger or also out of aluminum like the rest of the rocker, it probably wouldn't happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wi-Fi Only, Black

 

• 14.10.2022

I noticed a few connectivity issues when adding my Google accounts to the watch, aswell as payment methods through Google Wallet.

Apparently it is not possible to add PayPal to an Android smartwatch as a payment option and Google Workspace accounts do not work with the Pixel Watch.

 

 

• 20.10.2022

I wore the Pixel Watch during sleep and noticed in the morning at ~ 8am that the battery was dead. I'm not 100% sure, but I thought I went with ~ 70% battery life left to bed at ~ 23:00.

Not sure what happened.

 

 

• 29.10.2022

The watch had at one point below 20% charge left, at which point I put it into power saving mode. After a while I started charging it to 100% again and noticed afterwards that the always-on-display and the display activation gesture were both deactivated. I guess there might be a bug currently where the watch does not revert to its previous settings after power saving mode is disabled.

 

 

• 08.12.2022

Today I woke up and noticed the battery percentage was still at 100%. Didn't think much of it and went to work. After work it was still at 100%, which I noticed after it not wanting to charge. It took a hard reset for it to show the actual battery percentage of 32% and was able to be charged again. 

(To do a proper hard reset I needed to hold down the two side buttons for around 10 seconds)

[ZetZet]

I am a big fan of their pricing. Hopefully they keep going all the way to Pixel 8 and 9 when I need a new phone. 

[Lurking]

After switching to Android 13, my Pixel 6 Pro fingerprint sensor works flawlessly. Before, on android 12, i disabled it since it only worked 50% of the time. 

 

I saw MB's Pixel 7 review and he showed how the sensor doesn't wok well for him. But I noticed how he only touches it for a few milliseconds. He basically touches it and immediately retracts the finger to show how it doesn't work. I bet if he touched it for half a second with a bit of force, it would work. That is how mine works. I don't think he is just too stupid to use it, on the other hand I don't think he does it wrong on purpose to make the Pixel look bad (at least I hope he doesn't). I don't have the 7 (and won't get a new one before my P6Pro is 3 years old, so it will be a P9). So i can't confirm my suspicion. but you actually have to touch it for more than 30 ms to make it work. One would think an experienced user like MB would at least try.....  it is like you put a key in a lock and if it is a tiny bit hard to turn, you give up and claim it is the wrong key. 

[Senzelian]

8 hours ago, Lurking said:

He basically touches it and immediately retracts the finger to show how it doesn't work. I bet if he touched it for half a second with a bit of force, it would work.

He wanted to show that it is slower than the competition. He mentiones the type of sensor that is used for that reason. He knows that it works when it keeps his finger on it for longer.

 

 

[Lurking]

16 hours ago, Senzelian said:

He wanted to show that it is slower than the competition. He mentiones the type of sensor that is used for that reason. He knows that it works when it keeps his finger on it for longer.

 

 

Maybe it is 2ms slower.. but really not the problem he makes it look like. Someone who doesn't see his review will never know there is a problem because it just works every time.

 

You want to push hard enough for the whole finger being flat on the screen so there isn't an airgap. I had to do the same on my old S9. Maybe that is a bit better on the ultrasonic sensors, but really not a hindrance. 

 

Before the upgrade to Android 13 I actively advised people to not get a Pixel if they want fingerprint. Now with Android 13, it really is fine and I recommend so. I hope the P7 works like the "fixed" P6.

 

I like and appreciate his opinions. He is the only phone reviewer I subscribe to... But on this he is splitting hairs. 

 

 

[Senzelian]

10 hours ago, Lurking said:

Before the upgrade to Android 13 I actively advised people to not get a Pixel if they want fingerprint. Now with Android 13, it really is fine and I recommend so. I hope the P7 works like the "fixed" P6.

Honestly I never had any fingerprint issues in Android 12 with the P6Pro and also didn't notice any difference with Android 13.

 

10 hours ago, Lurking said:

He is the only phone reviewer I subscribe to...

Give Mr. Mobile a shot. Imo better production quality and a more in depth look with more interesting takes on many devices.

[Commodus]

11 hours ago, Lurking said:

Maybe it is 2ms slower.. but really not the problem he makes it look like. Someone who doesn't see his review will never know there is a problem because it just works every time.

 

You want to push hard enough for the whole finger being flat on the screen so there isn't an airgap. I had to do the same on my old S9. Maybe that is a bit better on the ultrasonic sensors, but really not a hindrance. 

 

Before the upgrade to Android 13 I actively advised people to not get a Pixel if they want fingerprint. Now with Android 13, it really is fine and I recommend so. I hope the P7 works like the "fixed" P6.

 

I like and appreciate his opinions. He is the only phone reviewer I subscribe to... But on this he is splitting hairs. 

 

 

Eh, I'd say Brownlee's criticism is fair. You likely unlock your phone dozens of times per day; having to press firmly and wait a little longer can be a bit tiresome when you know your friend with an S22 barely has to tap the screen. Or your iPhone-owning friend who just has to look, for that matter.

[Senzelian]

52 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Or your iPhone-owning friend who just has to look, for that matter.

The 7 Pro and 7 also feature face unlock.

 

53 minutes ago, Commodus said:

Eh, I'd say Brownlee's criticism is fair.

I don't think it's criticism. He's only pointing it out, but there isn't any real world difference between unlocking a Galaxy or Pixel device using the fingerprint.

[Lurking]

2 hours ago, Senzelian said:

Honestly I never had any fingerprint issues in Android 12 with the P6Pro and also didn't notice any difference with Android 13.

 

Give Mr. Mobile a shot. Imo better production quality and a more in depth look with more interesting takes on many devices.

I think what improved with Android 13 is that they gave more elaborate instructions on what part of the finger to put on the scanner to program the finger print. for my phone, it wasn't great before the update. now it is really good and if i wouldn't be on this forum, I would never know that it is slow  

 

The Pixel saves me more time by not getting spam calls than the 2ms longer time required for the fingerprint sensor.

 

Who knows, maybe the Pixel sensor is much more secure and the S22 sensor is more lenient in recognizing the finger. I don't know. but I know the speed isn't a big deal. 

 

There may be reasons (ecosystem etc.) to choose an S22 or iPhone, but the 2ms slower sensor isn't the reason to get a different phone. 

 

Same way that half of most of the reviews are about how the camera bump looks, or how the color looks. 99.99999% of users have a case anyway. 

 

I watched the Mr Mobile review of the P7... he really didn't say much useful about it. I found the Brownlee review much more informative. Obviously for either review, I have to use my own judgement. I realize they all are sponsored.. ....

[Commodus]

3 hours ago, Senzelian said:

The 7 Pro and 7 also feature face unlock.

 

I don't think it's criticism. He's only pointing it out, but there isn't any real world difference between unlocking a Galaxy or Pixel device using the fingerprint.

The Pixels do have face unlock, but it's not particularly secure; you could fool it with the right imagery. Apple (and Huawei, when it mattered) uses depth sensing to make sure there's a real person. Think of the Pixel 7 approach as more of a convenience than a reasonably air-tight system.

 

And I've used both the Pixel 6 and Galaxy S22+... yes, there's a difference in performance between the fingerprint sensors. Google made big strides with software updates, but it's not quite to the point where I'd call the Pixel system effortless. And it's worth pointing that out; it's important to put any shortcomings in context, but good reviewers don't go lightly on those problems, either.

[Senzelian]

13 hours ago, Commodus said:

And it's worth pointing that out; it's important to put any shortcomings in context

The fact that we're talking about ms already takes it out of any real world context.

 

13 hours ago, Commodus said:

The Pixels do have face unlock, but it's not particularly secure; you could fool it with the right imagery. Apple (and Huawei, when it mattered) uses depth sensing to make sure there's a real person. Think of the Pixel 7 approach as more of a convenience than a reasonably air-tight system.

Why do you not mention this in your previous post? I wouldn't even have quoted you, if you initial point was about security.

But either way, it might not be possible to fool the P7 into unlocking itself with a picture. It would likely need to be more of a 3D image, sort of like a sculpture, cause it takes photos from multiple angles.

 

[Senzelian]

Pixel Watch update:

 

The watch had at one point below 20% charge left, at which point I put it into power saving mode. After a while I started charging it to 100% again and noticed afterwards that the always-on-display and the display activation gesture were both deactivated. I guess there might be a bug currently where the watch does not revert to its previous settings after power saving mode is disabled.

 

 

Also some "positive" stuff about the watch:

 

The standard watch band is nice. It's too expensive for what it is, but I guess if you want to compete with Apple you've gotta pretend to be just as premium as Apple. According to some users the machanism to attache the bands is a sometimes a bit tricky to use, but I wonder how stupid someone's gotta be to not be able to do it. Can you press a button? Then you shouldn't have any issues.

 

Battery life is just as Google said: Exactly 24h. MKBHD mentioned that his only lasted 18h. Honestly I wonder what in the name of god he was doing with the poor thing to cut 6h of battery life out of it, but if you use it without staring at it for hours and pushing buttons, it does just fine. I charge mine every day. This wouldn't be possible if it only lasted 18h and just today I made sure it were actually 24h of battery life. Had it charged yesterday to 100% at 15:00 and at 14:30 I had 13% left. That is with the AOD enabled.

 

 

Pixel 7 Pro update:

 

I added a TPU screen protector to the P7P. That has caused some issues with the fingerprint sensor. It works noticeably less reliable than before. This might be due to the nature of the sensor and something you simply can't avoid. Maybe with a glass screen protector it's less of an issue. I enabled the higher touch sensitivity mode within the display settings to try to counter that, but that made no difference, obviously. It is called "touch" sensitivity for a reason and has nothing to do with the fingerprint sensor. But in combination with Face Unlock and Smart Lock it's not an issue. Of course one could argue that neither Face Unlock and especially not Smart Lock are actually really safe. For those people I'd say, use a PIN. Takes 1 second to type it in.

[IsTheLMN]

What I find really weird is that there are almost no good options for screen protectors available for the Pixel 7 Pro. I've literally looked on every website but only Amazon has a handful of TPU and glass protectors available. And if there are good ones, they are usually more on the expensive side. Went with a cheap TPU one for now, night switch to a better one later.

 

[Senzelian]

2 hours ago, IsTheLMN said:

Went with a cheap TPU one for now, night switch to a better one later.

I also went with a relatively cheap TPU one. Seems fine. I dont have any reason to replace it.

There are probably not that many out there because there are also not many pixel customers. It's a small market.

[Senzelian]

08.12.2022

Pixel Watch Update

[Commodus]

2 hours ago, Senzelian said:

08.12.2022

Pixel Watch Update

Curious as to whether or not that has a tangible impact. Not as much as the Pixel phone feature drop, I'm sure, but I'd like to see Google aggressively update the Pixel Watch to give it the polish it needs.

 

With that said, I'd say the Pixel Watch's biggest limitations are more inherent to the first-generation design. I'm hoping Pixel Watch 2 has a much newer processor, a larger case option and more health features that aren't locked behind a Fitbit subscription. The foundation is solid — it's just the execution that needs work.

[Senzelian]

15 hours ago, Commodus said:

Curious as to whether or not that has a tangible impact. Not as much as the Pixel phone feature drop, I'm sure, but I'd like to see Google aggressively update the Pixel Watch to give it the polish it needs.

 

With that said, I'd say the Pixel Watch's biggest limitations are more inherent to the first-generation design. I'm hoping Pixel Watch 2 has a much newer processor, a larger case option and more health features that aren't locked behind a Fitbit subscription. The foundation is solid — it's just the execution that needs work.

With that comment I meant to say that I updated my original post in regards to the pixel watch  

Sorry bout that 

 

 

 

But I agree with your comment. I'm hoping for updates aswell. IIRC there should be a update coming this month to the Pixel Watch. Unfortunately not what I had hoped for.

 

The fitbit subcription doesn't matter imo. It's an entirely useless subcription. I mean one of its features is to tell you which type of animal you are in correlation to your sleep patterns. lol

[Senzelian]

16.08.2023

Pixel 7 Pro Update