Reviewing the Pixel 11 Pro felt like watching the classic rock movie , where guitarist Nigel Tufnel proudly shows off a custom guitar amplifier with volume knobs marked up to 11 instead of 10.When asked why it's better, he explains that it gives you "one louder" for that extra push over the cliff.That's the Pixel 11 Pro.
Google cranked it to 11.The biggest change is in numbers.The number of AI features, longer camera zoom, a bump to Android 17, higher screen brightness, less RAM, and faster charging.
For everything else, it's extremely similar to last year's Pixel 10 Pro, and that's fine.This is Google's best smartphone yet, even though it's more derivative than iterative.Google Pixel 11 Pro XL 8 Brand Google SoC Google Tensor G6 Pros & Cons Solid hardware and battery life Some handy AI features (Magic Capture and Rambler) Bright and beautiful display Qi2 magnets built-in More expensive Less RAM and slightly smaller batteries Very similar to last year's model See at Amazon $1299 at Google Store $1299 at Best Buy Expand Collapse See Our Process How We Test and Review Products at How-To Geek We go hands-on with every product to ensure it's worth your time and money.
Posts By Justin Duino Price and availability The Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL are available for purchase from the Google Store, Amazon, U.S.carriers, and most third-party retailers.The 11 Pro starts at $1099 with 256GB of built-in storage and 12GB of RAM.
The smaller 128GB configuration is no longer available.The big Google Pixel 11 Pro XL starts at $1,299 with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM, $1,419 with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, and tops out at $1,649 with 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM.Both phones come in four main colorways: Canyon (a peachy-reddish color), Fog (light bluish-green-purple), Olive green, and Obsidian (matte black).
In my review photos, you'll see the Pixel 11 Pro XL in Olive and the Pixel 11 Pro in Obsidian.Specifications Brand Google SoC Google Tensor G6 Display 6.8-inch Super Actua display Cameras 50 MP main wide | 48 MP ultrawide with Macro Focus | 48 MP Periscope lens supporting up to 120x Pro Zoom | 42 MP, f/2.2 front selfie camera RAM 12 or 16GB Storage 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB Battery 5115 mAh Ports USB-C 3.2 Operating System Android 17 Dimensions 6.4 in (height) x 3.0 in (width) x 0.3 in (depth) Colors Canyon, Olive, Fog, Obsidian Weight 8.0 oz IP Rating IP68 Display dimensions 20:9 Display resolution 1344 x 2992 Wi-Fi connectivity Wi-Fi 7 Bluetooth Bluetooth v6 Expand Collapse Solid hardware, again Premium build materials through and through Close There's a running joke that Google doesn't care about hardware, and to a degree, that's true.Its primary focus is on software and cameras, but that doesn't change the fact that the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL are absolutely fantastic in terms of design and build quality.
These phones look, feel, and ooze quality materials.They're solid and heavy, and the slight gold hue on my green model looks fancy.Last year's Pixel 10 Pro finally delivered premium hardware to match Google's stellar software and camera experience, and I can happily say the same thing about the new Pixel 11 Pro.
Google didn't care much about the hardware because it was already good.This is a great phone, but unfortunately, not much else has changed, and I'm getting that strange feeling of Déjà vu all over again.I love the rounded edges and smooth transition to the metal sides, which help the 6.3 and 6.8-inch screens feel smaller in the hand, even if they're heavier than a comparable Samsung Galaxy flagship.
Going back to the numbers I mentioned earlier, another notable change is in display technology.By the numbers, the Pixel 11 Pro XL increases peak brightness to 3,600 nits and HDR brightness to 2,400 nits, compared to 3,300 nits and 2,200 nits on last year's model.It's also more scratch-resistant.
Otherwise, they're the same great LTPO OLED displays.The other hardware numbers you need to know about are the fact that the entry Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL models ship with 12GB of RAM to start, 4GB less than last year, and the XL costs $100 more, too.On the inside, the batteries are a hair smaller, too, but that hasn't made any difference in day-to-day use.
The new Tensor G6 SoC is a little more efficient, slightly more powerful, and shows most of its benefits with UI fluidity and all the AI stuff shoved into every facet of this phone.I have the 512GB model with 16GB of RAM, and it feels just as good as the Pixel 10 Pro XL I reviewed last year.One thing I did notice is how incredible the built-in speakers sound on Google's Pixel 11 Pro XL.
They're loud, full, crisp, and clear, and they make my Galaxy S25 Ultra sound like a tin can by comparison.These phones still have satellite SOS, magnets built in (unlike Samsung), which Google calls PixelSnap, to take advantage of the newer Qi 2.2 standard for better efficiency and compatibility with magnetic accessories.The Pixel 10 Pro only supported Qi2.
These new phones offer 45W wired charging, but there's no charger in the box.The hardware, display, and performance are all perfectly acceptable.It's just as good as it was last year.
However, you can barely tell the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro models apart.The biggest physical change is to the large camera visor and Google's new "HiLight" LED system on the back.And, unfortunately, the main physical change is probably the least exciting part of the phone.
Camera performance Sneaky good cameras with minor improvements Close Back to my Spinal Tap reference, the cameras are another area where Google cranked it to 11.The Pixel 11 Pro has a slightly redesigned camera bar that houses a larger telephoto sensor supporting up to 120x Pro Zoom and 5x portrait mode.This is an increase over last year's 100x.
And yes, there's the silly HiLight LED flash.The main 50MP shooter features a larger aperture (f/1.68) for better light capture.Then, the telephoto lens has a new macro focus mode and a closer minimum autofocus distance of 40 cm.
For everything else, you'll be dipping into Google's endless supply of AI enhancements.Close Overall, the cameras are great.As expected, the entire camera experience is good, photos are consistent, and everything is a touch better than last year.
Colors pop and details remain crisp.Night Sight now features "Instant Night Sight," which can take photos 4.5x faster, making it easier to capture good photos in dark environments or for astrophotography.Another number that's a little bigger is the 100x Super Res Zoom, which now reaches 120x.
The slightly further zoom doesn't make a notable difference in how you'll use the phone, but it's a nice little upgrade.I'm still amazed at how well the Pixel 11 Pro can zoom in, analyze all the images, and then deliver a crisp and clear image at 120x.Close Zoom all the way in with an iPhone or Galaxy, and the results are a fussy mess.
Google uses AI to clean it up, and most of the time it works great.That said, if the final zoom isn't very clear, the AI will try to guess what it's seeing, and the results can get wonky.I've seen words become gibberish, and entire subjects change, but for the most part, it works well.
Close Here's another sample of the Zoom and AI at work.You can't tell, but there's a clubhouse and pool out in the field I'm looking at.After zooming in, I found the building and a road stop sign.
The AI understood, but made the stop sign letters look a little weird.Your results will vary, but overall, it's still impressive.There's also a new "Magic Capture" mode that you'll love.
Switch from photo mode to magic capture, start recording a video, and AI will intelligently snap photos, then center, resize, touch up, and unblur the content.At the end, you'll have a full video, along with excellent photos and memories.You don't have to choose one vs.
the other; the Pixel gives you both.Related These 5 camera features on Pixel 11 Pro make it worth the upgrade A sneaky good camera experience.Posts 1 By Cory Gunther And finally, Google has an entire suite of "Creator tools" hiding in the camera video mode settings menu.
You'll need to be switched to video capture, head to settings, and you'll find social media gridlines for capturing content, a teleprompter mode, and audio visualizers.These features add to an already feature-packed camera system, which includes a Camera Coach, AI editing tools, object removal, and much more.In testing, I found the Pixel 11 Pro cameras to be exactly what I expected.
Fast, capable, and dependable.I'm talking to my phone a lot Rambler might be the Pixel's superpower Before I talk about the software, especially since it's exactly what we all know, love, or expect from Google, I want to mention Gboard's Rambler.So, what is Rambler, and why should you care? Rambler is an upgraded Gemini AI-powered smart dictation and voice-to-type feature on Pixel devices that kicks things up a notch.
Google's voice dictation was already the best, but now it's miles ahead of the competition.Ramber turns natural, spoken thoughts and words into clean, structured text by filtering out filler words, pauses, and other fluff.It self-corrects everything, and I've found myself constantly talking to my Pixel 11 Pro XL.
I use voice typing all the time, and Rambler is a game-changer.It strips out "ums" and mistakes, and you can even resay something a second time, and it'll fix everything for you.Rambler removes it all, cleans up run-on sentences, fixes your grammar, allows voice edits, and even supports multiple languages.
It's crazy good, and honestly, it's my favorite part of these new phones.It's stuff like this that makes a Pixel phone what it is, even if the hardware gives me serious Déjà vu.Software that we've come to expect Endless AI enhancements and plenty of customization Close As far as software is concerned, that's the main area of improvement this year (aside from the cameras and HiLight), but it's also not all that exciting to talk about.
Google's version of Android 17 for Pixel phones is smooth, fast, and fluid, while retaining all the customization from Android 16.I love easily changing the icons, UI colors, quick settings, and the like.It's a Pixel, and you know what you're getting.
Shocker, there are new AI goodies everywhere.Google's Magic Cue from last year is now called Proactive Intelligence, and it's a little better than before, although I rarely saw it in practice.Gemini pops up in messages, Gmails, group chats, and things of that nature for dinner reservations, calendar entries, and other small things to make life easier.
When it works, it's nice, but it's nothing to write home about.Close Gemini is everywhere and better than ever, and the cameras are packed full of AI enhancements, as we mentioned above.Gemini Automation enables the AI to be proactive and perform multi-step tasks across different apps on your behalf, such as turning a grocery list into a recipe search.
There's a new device help AI agent and chat system, live translation for media, and a neat new green screen feature hiding in settings.Then, everything else from older models holds true.Call Screening and Hold for Me are two features I absolutely love.
The Pixel Screenshots app is still great for organization and using Gemini to find and summarize information from screenshots.Everything you know and love about a Pixel phone is here, only with more AI and more customization.Battery life The same as last year As for battery life, the Pixel 11 Pro XL lasts about as long as I expected.
Battery life isn't great, but it's not bad either.It's on par with previous years and some of the competition, but still not quite as good as Samsung.The more efficient Tensor G6 chip should improve battery life, but the battery packs themselves are a hair smaller than those on the Pixel 10 Pro, so it basically cancels that out.
If you're coming from an older Pixel, it'll be a refreshing change of pace to have a phone that lasts all day, then recharges quickly thanks to 45W fast charging.Most days, I was able to use the phone all day without it ever dropping below 50 percent, unless there was heavy use of social media, Android Auto, and such, but I never had my phone go under 30 percent in a day.And when you need a top off, fast charging does the job.
The battery life could be better, but I have no complaints.We'll see how it holds up after 6 months of usage.Should you buy the Pixel 11 Pro or Pro XL? At the end of the day, is the Pixel 11 Pro series worth buying? Well, that depends on what phone you currently have.
If you already own a Pixel 10, it'll be a side upgrade at best, so that's a hard no.Pixel 9 Pro owners might not see enough to justify it, either.It's safe to say that the Pixel 11 Pro XL is Google's best phone yet, and that's what makes this hard.
Anyone who buys it will love all it has to offer.It's an absolutely fantastic phone, but also an extremely iterative device similar to the outgoing model.That shouldn't surprise anyone, either, and it's been the case for the last 4–5 years.
Smartphones have plateaued.I can confidently recommend the Pixel 11 Pro XL.Then again, if you're coming from a phone that's several years old, or it'll be your first Pixel, just buy the Pixel 10 Pro instead.
There simply aren't enough reasons to pay more for the latest and greatest.Google Pixel 11 Pro XL 8 Brand Google SoC Google Tensor G6 See at Amazon Google Store See at Best Buy Expand Collapse
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