There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to these two phones, as quite a few things changed in two years. In fact, the Pixel 7 is so different design-wise, that it may not even appeal to you if you own the Pixel 5. Regardless, in this article, we’ll take a closer look, and hopefully give you a better idea of what you’re getting. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to a number of other categories.
Specs
Google Pixel 7 vs Google Pixel 5: Design
Both of these phones come with an aluminum frame, but their backplates are different, and so is the in-hand feel. The Pixel 7 has glass on the back, while the Pixel 5 has metal which is covered by bioresin, so it doesn’t feel like metal. I’ve been struggling to find an accurate description for it for quite some time, and then I spotted someone mentioning an eggshell, and that’s a pretty accurate description. In any case, it’s grippier than both glass and metal. That bioresin material covers basically the entire device except for the screen, ports, buttons, and cameras. The Pixel 5 is considerably more compact than the Pixel 7 as well. It’s a lot shorter, narrower, and even a bit thinner. On top of that, it’s a lot lighter at 151 grams, compared to 197 grams. Thanks to all that, and its grip factor, it’s a lot easier to use with one hand. The Pixel 7 has a more square-ish shape, while the Pixel 5 has rounded corners. The Google Pixel 5 has a rear-facing fingerprint scanner, while the Pixel 7 comes with an in-display one. The Pixel 7 also offers facial scanning, unlike the Pixel 5. The Pixel 5 does have uniform bezels, unlike the Pixel 7, though the Pixel 7 is not far from that point either. Both phones are IP68 certified for water and dust resistance. Both have fairly clicky buttons, and a display camera hole, though in a different position. Their back sides look completely different. The Pixel 7 includes a camera visor, quite a large one, which is protected by metal. The Pixel 5 has a camera island in the top-left corner. Both include wide and ultrawide cameras back there, but the setups are different, more on that later. All in all, these two phones basically could not be any more different design-wise. The Pixel 7 is the smaller of the two Pixel 7 series smartphones, but it’s not small. It’s not nearly as small as the Pixel 5, if that plays any factor to you. Still, if you’re looking to get a high-end phone from Google, a current-gen one, this is the smallest it gets.
Google Pixel 7 vs Google Pixel 5: Display
The displays on these two phones are also different, but far less different than the designs of the two phones. The Pixel 7 includes a 6.3-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED panel. That display is flat, and it offers a 90Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10+ content, and gets up to 1,400 nits of peak brightness, so it gets quite bright when needed. This panel is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus.
The Pixel 5, on the other hand, features a 6-inch fullHD+ (2340 x 1080) OLED display. That display is also flat, and it offers a 90Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10+ content as well, and it’s protected by the Gorilla Glass 6. Do note that this panel offers a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, compared to 20:9 on the Pixel 7. It’s also worth saying that this display gets considerably less bright outdoors, if that’s important to you. Both panels are quite responsive, and the 90Hz refresh rate will be enough for the vast majority of people. Both displays are quite vibrant, and offer good viewing angles, though that has also been improved on the Pixel 7. The blacks are deep, and the touch response is also good on both panels. Needless to say, the Pixel 7 does have a better display out of the two. The colors do seem to be more accurate, and it gets considerably brighter.
Google Pixel 7 vs Google Pixel 5: Performance
Do note that the Pixel 5 was announced as a mid-range phone, despite the fact it was technically Google’s flagship offering. That phone is fueled by the Snapdragon 765G SoC, which was Qualcomm’s mid-range chip back in 2020, and was out in the market for quite some time. The Pixel 7, on the flip side, utilizes the Google Tensor G2, Google’s second-gen processor. The Tensor G2 is a 4nm processor, while the Snapdragon 765G is a 7nm chip. The Tensor G2 is quite a bit more powerful on paper. What also goes in the Pixel 7’s favor is its RAM and storage. The phone uses LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 flash storage, compared to LPDDR4X and UFS 2.1 on the Pixel 5. Both phones do have 8GB of RAM, though, but the Pixel 7’s is newer and faster. You’ll be glad to hear that the Pixel 5 still performs really well, though. It’s not as snappy as the Pixel 7 is, not at all, but the performance is still good for most people. The Pixel 5 can play basically any game out there, but the performance will be better on the Pixel 7. That especially goes for graphically-intensive games, of course. The Pixel 7 is more snappy in regular, everyday performance. It opens apps faster, and it’s also faster when it comes to multitasking.
Google Pixel 7 vs Google Pixel 5: Battery
The Google Pixel 7 includes a 4,355mAh battery, while the Pixel 5 comes with a 4,080mAh unit. The Pixel 5 was the battery king back when it launched. It really managed to go the distance. That changed over time, though, as it seems like Android updates made the battery worse, as did its age. It’s still quite good, though, but getting 8 hours of screen-on-time is out of the question. What about the Pixel 7? Well, we didn’t get a chance to fully test it just yet, but it seems good, not great thus far. The Pixel 7 does have a smaller battery than its predecessor, though it does have a slightly smaller display as well. We won’t talk about specific numbers just yet, we’ll share more information about that in our full review, which is coming soon. At the time of writing this article, we were still in the review process. What about charging? Well, the Pixel 7 supports charging up to 21W via a wired, and up to 23W wirelessly. On top of that, wireless charging is also supported. Do note that the charging is not constant, it does slow down during the process, after 50 percent, so it will take you quite a bit of time to charge the phone. The Pixel 5 supports 18W wired charging, 12W wireless, and 5W reverse wireless charging. It is worth noting that the Pixel 7 does not include a charger, but the Pixel 5 does.
Google Pixel 7 vs Google Pixel 5: Cameras
Both of these phones have two cameras on the back, but they’re different in comparison. The Pixel 7 includes a 50-megapixel main camera, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera. The Pixel 5 has a 12.2-megapixel main unit, and a 16-megapixel ultrawide camera. Google finally changed the main camera sensor with the Pixel 6 series, and the Pixel 7 has that same sensor, but improved via software, of course.
Thanks to Google’s image processing, the Pixel 5 still performs admirably in the camera department. The images from the Pixel 7 and Pixel 5 are not too different at first glance. They have a similar style, and they both look great in all conditions. The Pixel 7 does a better job in low light, as images do turn out sharper, and if you take a closer look, it also handles images in general better. It manages to get more detail out of the shadows during the day. Both phones balance HDR images with ease, as that’s one of the strongest traits of Google’s cameras. The front-facing camera is considerably better on the Pixel 7, while the ultrawide unit also performs better, but the Pixel 5’s ultrawide camera keeps up. It also offers a slightly wider FoV. The video performance is easily better on the Pixel 7, it’s not even close.
Audio
Both of these phones have stereo speakers, technically. The thing is, the Pixel 7 actually has two separate speakers, one at the bottom, and the other one front-facing (earpiece). The Pixel 5 has a main speaker at the bottom, but the front-facing one is under the display. That second speaker is kind of muddy, due to its location, and the speakers in general are better on the Pixel 7. If you’re one to use a 3.5mm headphone jack on your phones, well, you can’t really do that on either of these. You’ll have to use the Type-C port at the bottom to connect them via a wire, as an audio jack is not available. You can always utilize Bluetooth for a wireless connection, though, of course.
