Many commenters under last week’s poll have already pre-ordered one of the new Pixels – the 2022 models are proving to be quite popular or at least well liked. Maybe Google is right to be making a record number of Pixel 7 units.

If you want one, but haven’t pre-ordered, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro (and Pixel Watch) are now available for direct purchase. You will find pricing details in this post (note: it seems that 512GB Pixel 7 Pros are not available in Europe for some reason).

Last year the Pixel 6 poll showed that there are a lot of potential buyers for the Google phones, but the company doesn’t have the retail footprint of other major smartphone makers, so many fans couldn’t buy a Pixel locally. Things are slightly better this year with the phones being officially available in more countries.

Interestingly, there is no clear favorite – both the 7 and 7 Pro have around 67% approval rating. The cheaper model has its supporters as does the larger, pricier model and no one is stuck wondering “this one or maybe this one…”. Maybe other companies can learn something about not oversaturating the market with a dozen nearly identical phones.

Also, Google didn’t raise the European prices compared to last year (unlike Apple) and that didn’t escape fans’ notice.

Not everyone is convinced that the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are a big enough upgrade over the 6 and 6 Pro. However, Google is accepting trade-ins – for example, a 128GB Pixel 7 is $600, but you can get $440 for a Pixel 6 (also 128GB) if it’s in a good condition. This makes the upgrade only $160. In Europe the equation doesn’t look quite as good, €650 – €300 = €350 for the same Pixel 6 to Pixel 7 trade, but it’s still a decent discount.

Phones from other brands are accepted too of course, e.g. an iPhone 12 Pro (128GB) is valued at $620/€620, more than the base Pixel 6 costs in the US (and almost as much as it does in Europe).

The positive reception for the Pixel 6 series didn’t lead to record-setting sales for the Pixel family, but the numbers did bounce back from the Pixel 5. The Pixel 7 duo received a warm welcome too and it could become even more popular.