A rare Google Pixel 7 leak reminds us why this phone hasn't been leaked much

The upcoming Google Pixel 7 isn't leaking anywhere near as frequently as its oft-teased Pro sibling, but it's starting to become very clear why.

A rare leak for the smaller sibling has come out, from regular phones leaker Yogesh Brar, and if you hadn't had your morning coffee, you'd be forgiven for confusing Brar's provided information with the specs list for the Google Pixel 6.

The Pixel 7 will apparently have a FHD+ OLED 90Hz screen, 50MP and 12MP rear cameras, 8GB of RAM, either 128GB or 256GB of storage and 30W charging. These are all specs that the device has in common with its predecessor.

There are a few differences, but it's not clear whether these are actual things that could be different in the upcoming phone, or just minor discrepancies. For example, Brar points to the phone having a 6.3-inch screen (0.1 inches smaller than last year) and a 4,700mAh battery (86mAh larger than last year), however, these tiny differences could be rounding errors as much as actual changes.

There is one genuine upgrade listed here, but it's something we already knew about: the Google Pixel 7 will get the Google Tensor G2 chipset, which is the second-gen version of the original Tensor which debuted in the Pixel 6. Google already confirmed that the Tensor's successor would show up in the Pixel 7, so no news here.

Analysis: why there aren't many leaks

With a specs list that's so familiar, it's hard to get excited for the Google Pixel 7. There are no eye-catching changes, or even a curious downgrade that might point towards a focus shift.

Sure, there will likely be some software changes to focus on when the Pixel 7 family launches, including hopefully new camera modes in the spirit of Magic Eraser, and integration with all Android 13's new features.

But even so, the Pixel 7 likely won't feel very different to use compared to the Pixel 6, and the biggest indicator of that is the huge lack of leaks around the upcoming phone (other than this new one, obviously).

Leakers are tech fans, and generally, when we see few leaks around an upcoming product (especially a high-profile one), it means that the leakers aren't excited - maybe there aren't going to be many changes over the previous generation, for example.

This is commonly an intriguing way to gauge how big a reinvention each generation of Samsung Galaxy mobile in particular is over the previous one - earlier, and more frequent, leaks suggest Samsung is brewing something big. But the same principle applies to all brands.

A relative lack of Google Pixel 7 leaks hints toward this phone being quite a dull one, with nothing new from last year. That's a shame, because at best it means that the device might not make its way onto our list of the best smartphones, and at worst it means that Google hasn't learned from its Pixel 6 reinvention, where a flashy new phone got people to care about the Pixel line after a duff few years.