Google Pixel vs Galaxy S7 specs comparison

It's Samsung vs Google in the ultimate Android face-off

Galaxy Note 7 woes aside, Samsung has been on a roll in 2016 with a refreshed Galaxy S7 line-up.

Google, meanwhile, hopes to put the squeeze on one of the year's top sellers with the upcoming Pixel phone, so we've pitted the two devices against each other on paper to see which comes out on top.

Design
Google Pixel: 143.4x70x8.6mm, 143g, USB Type-C
Galaxy S7: 142x70x7.9mm, 152g, IP68 certification, microUSB port

The two phones aren't markedly different in dimensions bar the Pixel's extra girth. The feel in the hand is comparable, and the Pixel has a curved metal chassis while Samsung's Galaxy has a metal and glass finish. The Galaxy is the more desirable of the two. The Pixel comes off as a little plain, save for the mirrored coating that houses the camera and fingerprint sensor.

The Galaxy S7 wins in the toughness stakes too. IP68 certification means it's protected from dust and long periods of immersion under pressure.

Both have fingerprint sensors for security and digital payments, located on the rear of the Pixel and in place of the Home button on the Galaxy S7.

Google has future-proofed the Pixel by including a USB-C connection as opposed to the S7's microUSB.

Display
Google Pixel: 5in, 1,920x1,080 resolution at 441 ppi
Galaxy S7: 5.1in 2,560x1,440 resolution at 577ppi

The Galaxy S7 blitzes Google's Pixel in the screen stakes. It has a superior Super AMOLED panel and increases the resolution to QHD. We can't fathom why Google decided to limit the Pixel to Full HD, and if there's a good reason we'd like to hear it.

The Pixel does have one benefit in that it's certified Daydream Ready, meaning that it supports Google's new VR platform.

Both phones offer protection by way of Gorilla Glass 4.

Operating system
Google Pixel: Android 7.1 Nougat
Galaxy S7: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, TouchWiz

If there's one thing in the Pixel's favour, it's the software. You're guaranteed a purer Android experience on the Google phone along with instant OS upgrades. It's also currently the only handset with Google Assistant (think of it like a super-powered Siri) and the Pixel Launcher Home screen.

Alongside the AI-powered Allo and Duo services, Pixel runs the very latest version of Android Nougat (7.1) which debuts split-screen functionality, enhanced notifications, plus security and battery improvements.

The Galaxy S7 will benefit from Nougat eventually, but for the time being it's Marshmallow with Samsung's TouchWiz overlay.

Hardware
Google Pixel: Snapdragon 821, quad-core 2x 2.15GHz and 2x 1.6GHz, 4GB of RAM
Galaxy S7: Samsung Exynos 8890, 4x 2.3GHz cores, 4x 1.6GHz cores, 4GB of RAM

The Galaxy uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 chipset in some territories. The Pixel improves on this slightly with the 821, which reportedly offers speed increases of up to 10 per cent. We'll need to subject the Pixel to our usual benchmark tests to see if this is true.

The Galaxy S7 is powered by Samsung's Exynos 8890 chip outside the US. The Exynos takes advantage of big.LITTLE heterogeneous multi-processing which unlocks all the physical cores for use at the same time. Slower cores are used for less demanding tasks and the faster cores kick in when maximum performance is required.

Cameras
Google Pixel: 12.3MP rear-facing, f/2.0, 8MP front-facing
Galaxy S7: 12MP rear-facing, f/1.7, OIS, 5MP front-facing

Google has made a lot of noise about the Pixel's picture-taking prowess. On paper the sensor technology seems to have been lifted from the Nexus 6P, but if that's the case it would never have come top of DxOMark's ratings.

We assume that the increased 1.55µm pixel size rights some of the f/2.0 aperture's ills, but even so it will need to go some distance to better the S7's extraordinary snapper.

The Galaxy uses a Dual-Pixel 12MP camera with a wide f/1.7 aperture and extras such as LED flash, phase detection autofocus and optical image stabilisation. The Pixel stabilises recorded video, but lacks full-blown OIS.

Battery
Google Pixel: 2,770mAh
Galaxy S7: 3,000mAh

Both handsets have quick-charging facilities, and in the Pixel's case a 15-minute charge can provide a claimed seven hours of battery life. The S7 goes one further with wireless charging.

The Galaxy S7 battery is slightly bigger in capacity terms, and it can ably begin a second day of use. We don't yet know whether the efficiencies offered by the Snapdragon 821 will improve on this. Google quotes a battery life of 13 hours for WiFi/LTE date use, and 26 hours of talk time.

Storage
Google Pixel: 32GB/128GB
Galaxy S7: 32GB/64GB, microSD up to 256GB

The Pixel offers two extremes when it comes to storage. In our mind, 32GB is just too tiddly and 128GB will probably please more buyers. There's no expansion support, but Google offers free unlimited online storage for photo and video content, which we guess is worth something.

In terms of storage options for the Galaxy, only the 32GB variant is available in the UK but this can be expanded to 256GB via microSD.

Summary
Samsung's Galaxy S7 seems to hold many of the cards on this occasion, but we'll need to conduct our full review to see just how the hardware story plays out.

If the Pixel's camera is as impressive as it's claimed to be, it could displace our current favourite. Google's effort certainly impresses with the operating system, and we're fairly certain that the Snapdragon 821 will beat its predecessor in benchmarks.

But how will it fare against the Exynos, and will it be enough to dramatically stretch the Pixel's battery life?