It has been every week because the Google Pixel 11 was announced, and every week since I’ve had my very personal Pixel 11 in its recyclable field and funky Pistachio colour.
This “child Pixel” as I wish to name it, or the bottom mannequin, is the one I have been excited essentially the most about this 12 months. On paper, it takes every thing that made the Pixel 10 so good in 2025 and makes it even higher, with upgrades proper the place they matter essentially the most.
In actuality, I think it’s going to be the telephone I like to recommend essentially the most over the subsequent 12 months as a result of it supplies essentially the most worth out of your complete lineup with out breaking the financial institution, and whereas nonetheless providing some wonderful options, like a zoom digicam and the most recent Tensor G6 processor.
However earlier than I write my full overview of the Pixel 11, which wants far more testing time than one week, I want to focus on just a few adjustments which have already received me over.
256GB of storage is a good begin
Nobody desires to fret about storage
I can already hear the counter-arguments raining: “I do not want 256GB of storage! The whole lot is within the cloud! I do not take photographs or movies! Why ought to I pay extra for a function I will not use?”
Look, each telephone on the market, whether or not it prices $100 or $2,000, has one thing further that you just — personally — do not essentially use, however the majority of consumers will want and use. 256GB of storage sits squarely in that class, in my view.
The Android system is already taking over 15GB of storage on my Pixel 11, and apps like Play Providers, the Pixel Digicam, and Google Search are already as much as greater than 1GB every. They are going to balloon additional the extra information they accumulate, and the extra AI I take advantage of.
I’ve already used up 71GB of storage on this telephone by simply putting in my apps, with out transferring every other information, and with out taking greater than a dozen photographs and movies. If I ever plan to shoot some 4K video, I count on I might be over 128GB in a few months. That is why beginning out with 256GB of storage issues.
Higher zoom, higher portraits, higher digicam seems to be
That is the most effective “low-cost flagship” digicam setup
I do not know if we are able to name the Google Pixel 11 a “low-cost flagship,” however at $899, it actually is among the least costly choices among the many dearer flagship telephones you should buy. And at that value, within the US, there is not a lot competitors with an honest 5x zoom digicam.
Google has gone this 12 months and improved it additional. It might probably now go all the best way as much as 30x, and whereas that provides very questionable photographs, the outcomes are a lot nicer at 10x and 15x, which was rather less dependable final 12 months on the Pixel 10.
On high of this, the Pixel 11 will get a lot of its Pro siblings’ new camera features. I can shoot portraits at 5x now, as an alternative of simply 1x-2x. The brand new Magic Seize works decently nicely in my testing, however I will report as soon as I give it a correct run for its cash over the weekend.
I am additionally firmly in love with the brand new Digicam Appears to be like function. I do know it feels like easy “filters” however I’ve discovered that the Vanilla look brings a bit of additional heat to the photographs — one thing Google’s Pixels have been severely missing over the previous couple of years. And if I do not prefer it, I can tailor it to my choice.
The truth that I can change how pics look from the get-go, with out having to dig into Google Pictures and painstakingly edit them, one after the other, is a large time-saver and an enormous boon for somebody like me who shoots 3,000+ pics a 12 months and disliked the Pixel 10’s flat colours.
The flatter digicam bar is definitely good
I didn’t count on to love it this a lot
Google made a complete fuss about flattening the digicam bar on its telephones — it was even talked about through the Made By Google livestream — but it surely’s one thing that I chalked off as insignificant.
Once I noticed the Pixel 11 lineup in particular person, I went searching for that flat bar and did not see it. It appeared to protrude simply as a lot as on final 12 months’s fashions. Seems that is solely a change on the bottom Pixel 11, and never the Professional or Professional XL models, and I used to be trying within the mistaken place.
And now that I’ve had the telephone in my hand and inside a case, I am unable to consider I am saying this, however I really prefer it! The telephone wobbles much less on a desk, particularly when it vibrates. There’s much less danger of it sliding and gliding and falling on the ground. That is already a win.
Higher but, as soon as I put Google’s official case on, it fell practically flush with the digicam bar module, making your complete telephone + case combo sit flat on my desk. At all times. I should not be comfortable about this — it makes no distinction in any way to how I take advantage of my Pixel 11 — however I like it.
Sooner wi-fi charging can also be higher
Qi2.2 with 25W makes a distinction
Though the improve from 15W to 25W wi-fi charging does not appear too large on paper, it actually makes a distinction in my expertise.
Final 12 months, Qi2.2 did not simply make the Pixel 10 Professional XL cost barely quicker on wi-fi pads and energy banks, it additionally brought on much less warmth dissipation and stored the telephone cooler through the course of.
I’ve seen this identical impact on the Pixel 11 this 12 months. With Qi2.2 25W and my Pixelsnap charger with Stand, or any of my Ugreen or Baseus chargers and energy banks, the telephone fills up decently quick and with out getting too toasty. That is all the time a win for Pixels.
I like that vibrant show
My digicam does not lie
Every time I’ve tried to take a photograph of the Pixel 11, I’ve needed to flip down the show’s brightness to do this, as a result of it is extremely vibrant. As much as 3,000 nits, and much like my Pixel 11 Professional XL.
This is not the type of distinction you’ll discover indoors or in dim environments, or within the foggy Parisian climate we have been having. However on a vibrant day, underneath the searing solar, like final Sunday, I used to be in a position to make use of the Pixel 11 with out having to carry my hand over it to shade it and see what was on the show.
Google has additionally vastly raised the sturdiness of its screens. There is a new Corning Glass Victus 2 glass on high of the show, which ought to be scratched much less simply than the Pixel 11 sequence.
This can be an ideal improve from the Pixel 8 or 9
Look, no telephone maker is angling its telephones at this time as upgrades to final 12 months’s fashions. Folks wait two or three years between upgrades, and the Pixel 11 is prone to be the subsequent telephone for somebody who has a Pixel 8 or 9. And for them, the adjustments can be large.
A further zoom digicam, a a lot quicker processor, plenty of AI smarts, a nicer and extra sturdy design, a ton of latest digicam perks and options, quick wi-fi charging with built-in magnets for a whole ecosystem accent, and on and on.
The Pixel 11 is an easy improve over last year’s Pixel 10, but it surely fills in all of the lacking gaps and brings enhancements in all of the areas that matter. I am unable to wait to try it out extra to have a extra stable opinion about all of the good AI additions, too.
- SoC
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Google Tensor G6
- Show sort
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Actua show
- Show dimensions
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20:9
- Show decision
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1080 x 2424
