Driver files show Pixel 7 and 7 Pro ready to use same display as Pixel 6 series

Driver files show Pixel 7 and 7 Pro ready to use same display as Pixel 6 series.

According to newly discovered specs for the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, the upcoming flagship phones are set to use the same display as the Pixel 6 series, but with a few tweaks.

Google’s phones took a big step forward with the introduction of the Pixel 6 generation, increasing the refresh rate of its screen components from 90Hz to 120Hz, and this generation also marked the first time the Pixel lineup has used a curved display.

Both the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro use relatively new Samsung displays.

At Google’s 2022 I/O developer conference, the company revealed its full lineup of Android devices through 2023, and we already know quite a bit about the upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro to see how they’ll look like Rounding out the iconic design of the Pixel 6 series, and how the internal hardware will be upgraded from the Google Tensor chip that debuted.

That said, there’s still a lot Google hasn’t shared about the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, including internal specs, and even what the front of the phone will look like is currently unknown.

Regarding the latter, we found code in the Android Open Source Project revealing the display used by the Pixel 7 series.

More specifically, Google created two new display drivers, one labeled “C10” and the other “P10,” shorthand for the “Cheetah” and “Black Panther” codenames for the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. Thanks to these documents, we now have fairly precise display specs for the next Pixel phones.

Pixel-7-and-Pixel-7-Pro-1.webp

The smaller Pixel 7 will feature a 1080 x 2400 display capable of running at a 90Hz refresh rate, while the Pixel 7 Pro will feature a 1440 x 3120 display that offers a 120Hz refresh rate.

If these specs look familiar, that’s because they’re the exact same specs that were offered on last year’s Pixel 6 series. That’s no coincidence, as current indications are that the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro use the exact same Samsung panels as their predecessors — the S6E3FC3 and S6E3HC3, respectively.

That’s a bit of a disappointment, as it means we can’t expect the display to be much improved from last year’s phone, but there are still some changes.

Most notably, the Pixel 7 will be a notch smaller than the Pixel 6, 1mm narrower and 2mm shorter.

Compared to the Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel 7 Pro’s display size is unchanged.

Instead, the Pixel 7 Pro’s display appears to have gained a mode that turns on native 1080p, presumably to allow Android to save power and render everything at 1080p, letting the panel’s “DDIC scaling” convert it to 1440p.

While it’s certainly less pleasant, it’s probably as an optional way to reduce battery usage, perhaps as part of a low-power mode.

Samsung and other Android device makers have adopted similar scaling options to save battery.

It’s worth noting that the Pixel 7 Pro’s display is likely to get minor hardware improvements, as Google has been working hard to support a display that’s nearly identical to the one specifically labeled “C10.”

This display has the model number “S6E3HC4” and may be a newer generation.

There’s no indication yet if this display will actually come to the Pixel 7 Pro, but the near-identical configuration makes it possible.

Overall, these newly discovered display specs seem to further suggest that the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro will be the lesser iterations, at least in terms of hardware.