We’re expecting the Google Pixel 7 series will land soon and there’s now more evidence of that, as phones believed to be the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have been listed on an FCC (Federal Communications Commission) database.
The listings – which were spotted by 9to5Google – are something we’d expect to see close to launch. More specifically they suggest we might be around a month off, with a mid-September launch possible, as both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6a hit the FCC roughly a month before they were unveiled.
The Pixel 6 was revealed in October, but it sounds like its successor could be early this year. As well as being a sign that these phones could be just weeks away, the listings also provide some details about them.
They don’t tell us much, but they do suggest the Google Pixel 7 Pro will get UWB (ultra-wideband), while the standard Pixel 7 won’t.
UWB, for those unfamiliar, is a wireless technology that can allow for extremely precise positioning and location tracking of devices. It’s used by Apple’s AirTag for example, and in the Pixel 6 Pro it’s used for Nearby Share, which lets you share content with nearby devices. Though notably you don’t need a Pixel 6 Pro for Nearby Share, so UWB is not an essential component here.
Currently the Pixel 6 Pro is the only Pixel handset with UWB, and it looks like Google is keeping it a Pro feature if this FCC information is accurate – which it likely is, since this is an official database.
The FCC listings don’t reveal much else, though they mention unsurprising things like support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, plus versions of the phones that offer both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G connectivity and ones that just offer sub-6GHz. Those refer to different 5G frequency ranges, and it’s likely that the mmWave version will only be sold in countries that can take advantage of those frequencies.
While we’d always take leaks with a pinch of salt, FCC details tend to be accurate. We should know for sure soon though, as - even without these listings - we'd be expecting to see the Pixel 7 line in October.
Analysis: limited UWB support means Google might still not do much with it
If you were thinking of buying the standard Pixel 7 you probably won’t miss out on much by not getting UWB, since Google doesn’t use the tech for much right now.
While it’s possible that will change, the fact that the company is keeping it exclusive to the Pro models suggests that there probably isn’t anything big planned for UWB in the near future – otherwise it would make sense for it to be more widely accessible.
So the presence or absence of UWB probably isn’t something you should overly factor in when choosing which of the best Pixel phones to buy.
