The Pixel 11 series’ reception has been less than stellar.Google is taking it on the chin for iterative changes, half-baked ideas, and increased prices.As a long-time Pixel owner, I somewhat agree, but much of the outrage is overblown.
These phones are not bad.It’s not often these days that the general consensus on a new phone is negative.The reality is phones are all pretty great now, and a company has to really screw up to make the tech community turn on it.
The last few generations of Pixel phones have been extremely well received, but the narrative is different this year.Some of the criticism is fair, but a lot of it isn’t.From Pixel 10 to Pixel 11 What actually changed? Much of the conversation about the Pixel 11 series can be boiled down to disappointment in the changes from last year’s Pixel 10.
More specifically, the of changes.So, I wanted to take an in-depth look at the differences before going too far.I’m going to be talking generally about the “Pixel 11 series” a lot in this article, and I want to clarify that I’m including every single phone in the family.
The Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold.Across the board, the Pixel 11 series is lighter than its predecessors.The displays are brighter (3600 nits), they’ve all been equipped with the Tensor G6 chip, and fully upgraded to UFS 4.0 storage.
Battery capacity for all but the base Pixel 11 has decreased, but wireless charging speed has increased to 25W.The thermometer sensor is gone, and a new LED HiLight appears on the camera bar of the “Pro” models.There are minuscule changes in the camera hardware, but nothing to write home about.
That’s essentially all of the changes—it’s not a lot.If Google hadn’t slightly redesigned the camera bar, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the two series apart.Everyone who’s pointing out how small the changes are isn’t wrong, but they may be missing the point.
Related The Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like a classic—and that might be its biggest problem I finally tried a Pixel Fold, and Google's playing it too safe.Posts By Joe Fedewa Most comparisons aren’t useful How many people upgrade yearly? Many reviewers—including myself—do exactly what I just did.We talk about a new phone as it relates to it’s predecessor.
Admittedly, this probably isn’t the most helpful thing to do.While I’ve been lucky to get my hands on just about every Pixel phone in the last decade, most people don’t upgrade that often.It’s true that the upgrades from the Pixel 10 to the Pixel 11 aren’t massive.
However, we can’t forget that the Pixel 10 series .Read reviews from last year, and you’ll find most of them were in the 9/10 range.This is not a situation where a company made low effort changes to a bad phone.
How much can you really improve upon a nearly perfect device? The changes from the Pixel 9 series to the Pixel 11 series are far more significant, and that’s an important measuring stick.There was a time when many people in the U.S.had two-year contracts with their carriers.
It was common to get a new phone every two years, and I think it still is today.We’ve lost sight of that somewhere along the line.The Pixel 11 isn’t the problem It’s the entire industry Close The criticism facing the Pixel 11 series isn’t that different from what was said about the Galaxy S26 series or the iPhone 17 series.
Year over year, the main flagship phones have added a number to their processor name, slightly increased battery capacity, and not much else.The biggest changes I’ve noticed were in Samsung’s foldable lineup.Nobody wants to admit that last year’s products are still perfectly fine this year.
However, the industry demands new products.When that’s the expectation, making minor upgrades to an already excellent device is the responsible thing to do.Not only is it unnecessary to completely reinvent the wheel each year, but it’s also wasteful.
The Pixel 11 series didn’t have many upgrades because it didn’t need to.Google started with excellent phones and built small improvements on top of them.Personally, I don’t have a problem with that unless the starting point isn’t good enough anymore.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold, for example, is the weakest of the family because Google didn’t keep up with the major upgrades that its competitors made.Overall, the Pixel 11 series is very good because the Pixel 10 series was very good—and that’s okay! You don’t need to upgrade from a Pixel 10, but there’s no reason to avoid the Pixel 11 if you have an older Pixel.Google Pixel 11 Pro Brand Google SoC Google Tensor G6 See at Amazon $1099 at Best Buy $1099 at Google Store Expand Collapse
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