[Updated] Google Pixel 7 & 7 Pro front camera photos blurry, grainy or washed out? You aren't alone

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on October 19, 2022) follows:

The Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro series is now available for purchase in multiple regions. Many are already enjoying the company’s new smartphones.

Several key areas such as performance, rear cameras and the general user experience are being praised. But there are some other aspects that can be improved, according to reports.

For instance, there are some Pixel 7 owners who are not satisfied with the quality of the stereo speakers. Also, the performance of the fingerprint sensor is leaving a lot to be desired.

Now, multiple reports suggest that the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro front camera quality is really poor, generating blurry, grainy or washed-out photos.

Many Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro users are not satisfied with the quality of selfies on their new smartphones. Apparently, the quality of the final photos is very low, more typical of mid-range smartphones.

According to reports, the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro front camera photos lose a lot of detail when lighting conditions are not perfect, resulting in blurry, noisy or washed-out images.

Pixel 7 series users consider that selfies ‘soften’ surfaces and skins. There is also visible noise and grain in the image when the ambient lighting is reduced.

I just got my pixel 7 and I tried to record a video using the selfie camera but it came out looking like I’m wearing a ton of makeup to smooth my skin. Is there any way to turn this off? I’ve been trawling the settings and all the threads on here from past models and have found no answers.
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Why everyone is ignoring front camera on pixel 7/pro. The selfie camera is one of the worst I have ever seen. When it’s low light ( I don’t mean dark fully) the camera is really bad. If you use the camera app google fix it with software but for video so bad and also in every social apps. Worst is during video calls.
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The issue reportedly affects both photos and video recordings. In the following sample pic, you can clearly see how grainy the image is.

Also, in the following sample pic (comparing Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy Z Fold 4 selfies) you can see both the lack of detail and overexposure on the Google smartphone.

Unfortunately, there is still no workaround to help improve the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro front camera photos. There is also no official acknowledgment of this issue from Google yet.

We will update this story once new related developments emerge.

15:29 pm (IST): Some Pixel phone users (1,2,3,4,5) now report that the rear-facing cameras are over-processed with boosted sharpness, contrast and HDR.

On the other hand, images captured with selfie camera (1,2,3,4,5) are underwhelming as they aren’t capturing enough details. However, the issues haven’t been acknowledged yet.

02:22 pm (IST): Google has released a fix for the issue where photos captured from Pixel 7 appear distorted or currupted when zoomed in.

Fix for issue occasionally causing captured photos to appear corrupted or distorted while zoomed in *[3] (Source)

09:36 am (IST): Some Pixel 7 owners (1,2,3) continue to complain about low-quality front camera pictures. It appears that no fixes have been made since the devices’ release.

11:18 am (IST): More Pixel 7 users (1,2,3,4) have recently voiced their dissatisfaction with the front camera’s picture quality.

However, disabling the ‘Face Retouching’ option can work as a potential workaround. So affected users may give it a try.

01:06 pm (IST): Google has recently released Android 13 QPR2 beta 2 update. So if you are still facing this issue, then you can try installing the beta update and see if it helps.

01:03 pm (IST): We have come across an inconvenient yet effective workaround for the blurry front camera photos.

not an ideal suggestion but if you have a wearos watch, you can set a timer and take selfies with the rear camera, can even turn on portrait mode and it has a viewfinder on the watch (I use the pixel watch)
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05:48 pm (IST): A Redditor has shared some tips to get better selfies using Pixel 7 and 7 Pro’s front camera. You can check it out below.

12:55 pm (IST): Google has just released a software update for March 2023 for eligible Pixel devices and it also introduced some enhancements for color accuracy or exposure level while using the front camera.

So, affected users can upgrade their devices to the recent update to check if it helps fix the issue.

NOTE: You can also check the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro bugs/issues tracker.

Featured image: Google

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