🙋‍♂️ Hey there! I spent some time playing tech support for relatives yesterday, and all I can say is that I wish Google One had a proper tier of family plans. I’ve also been eyeing those lifetime cloud storage services, because I’m still iffy on everything becoming subscription-based.

Our Pixel 7 review

We posted our Pixel 7 Pro review a week ago, and we thought that it was the “most powerful, most refined” experience that Google has to offer. But what if you didn’t want to spend $899 on a flagship Pixel experience? Well, we’ve just published our Pixel 7 review.

What’s good about it?

• Starting with the camera experience, AA colleague Rob Triggs felt that exposure, color, and detail were accurate across many scenarios.
• Rob also noted that the hybrid zoom holds up until 3x, which is still pretty good for a phone without a tele lens.
• Another reason to get a Pixel is for the software with Pixel-only features, and our reviewer reckons that it’s indeed “clean, intuitive, and useful.”
• Rob said he could make it through a day and a half of lighter usage, with a heavy day still giving him 15% juice come bedtime.
• Google has thankfully addressed the slow fingerprint scanner, while wireless connectivity seems much-improved too.
• These two factors were two key complaints about the Pixel 6 series.
• Our reviewer also noted that the Tensor G2 wasn’t going to threaten rival SoCs, but that it still offered good sustained performance.

Where it stumbles

• The Pixel 7 isn’t perfect though, and Rob took umbrage with the slow charging times of over 100 minutes.
• He also felt that the Tensor G2 can run hot, and raised questions about its ability to run the most demanding games down the line.
• Rob also noted that the speakers were lacking compared to the Pro model. 
• Finally, he felt that it was a “minimal” upgrade overall compared to the Pixel 6.

Worth a buy?

• Our reviewer said that the Pixel 7 was the “best value phone on the market” at just $599.
• That’s a ringing endorsement when you consider rivals like the Galaxy S21 FE, iPhone 14, and OnePlus 10T.
• The addition of long-term software support and feature drops also means the phone will get better over time.
• Perhaps the only reasons to stay away are if you want a high-end Pro/Ultra experience or if you already have the Pixel 6.

Roundup

⚖️ First EU, now India fines Google for abusing Android dominance: India’s competition watchdog also said Google must allow users to choose their default search engine upon initial setup (Android Authority).

🖥️ Android 13 is coming to Windows 11 via WSA: No word on a release date just yet, but it’s kinda crazy that Microsoft will likely beat some major phone brands to the punch (Android Authority).

📱 Specs arrive for the unofficial Essential Phone sequel, but is it worth $1,000? (Android Authority)

📞 The rugged Galaxy XCover 6 Pro is now available through Verizon: Probably your best option if you’re in the rugged phone market (XDA-Developers).

🍿 The best new streaming movies this week on Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, and more (Android Authority).

🎬 Adobe plays catch-up with Project Blink, an AI-powered video editor: The web-app follows similar editors by offering text-based editing, object/people/audio recognition and more (Ars Technica).

💰 YouTube Premium family plan getting a 23% price increase next month (Android Authority).

📷 Ring cameras are being used to control and surveil overworked delivery workers: A new report identifies a trend of ‘boss behavior’ among customers, enabled by Ring camera surveillance, that sees customers effectively manage delivery workers. The authors say Amazon has “managed to transform what was once a labor cost (i.e., supervising work and asset protection) into a revenue stream” via Ring camera sales. (Motherboard).

⌚ Google Pixel Watch review: Our Pixel Watch review is live too, and AA colleague Kaitlyn Cimino thought it was a good Wear OS watch but not a truly great one (Android Authority).

🦈 Itchy fish use sharks as swimming scratching posts: A new study has discovered that some large fish swim up against shark skin to relieve itches, no doubt due to the predator’s rough skin (Popular Science).

Friday Fun

One of the biggest political news stories broke yesterday as Liz Truss announced she would be resigning as UK Prime Minister. And it turns out that she couldn’t outlast lettuce. Yes, UK’s Daily Star tabloid kicked off a livestream on YouTube earlier this month, simply showing a lettuce. 

As The Register notes, the stream came after an October 11 column in The Economist. The column asserted that Truss had actual political power for a shorter period of time than the shelf life of lettuce. Of course, the PM was technically in power for a total of 44 days.

Needless to say, the lettuce shown in the livestream wasn’t exactly fresh by the time Truss announced her resignation, but it wasn’t exactly in horrible shape either. And the Daily Star is milking the lettuce for all its worth (as weird as that sounds), even opening a Cameo account so people can pay for video messages from it.

Have a great day!

Hadlee Simons, Editor.