Google Pixel 11 series review: Is the magic fading? – Ars Technica

Google’s approach to making smartphones has changed a lot over the years. It started with Nexus phones aimed at the tinkerer and enthusiast niche back when there were countless companies making smartphones. Today, there are far fewer, and Google’s hyper-polished Pixel lineup is seeing less competition and higher sales. So maybe Google thinks it can just keep doing what works. The new Pixel 11 series is Google’s most refined yet, featuring sleek designs, smart software, and incredible screens. They’re also rather boring.

Google made precious few hardware changes in its 2026 phones, shaving off a fraction of a millimeter here and dropping a gram there. The design language has been the same now for three generations, all while prices continue to inch upward. And this year, Google’s hardware has actually regressed in a few key areas. Despite that, the Pixel 11 phones aren’t bad—they’re some of the best 2026 has to offer. But it feels like Google is forgetting that it’s not just competing against Apple and Samsung. It also has to compete against the Pixels of yesteryear.

The same old (but great) design

Just like last year’s Pixel 10 series, Google’s 2026 lineup includes three flat phones and one foldable. The flat Pixels are the same size, and even side-by-side, it’s hard to tell them apart from their predecessors. We’ve got almost identical aluminum and glass sandwich designs, which do admittedly look very nice. They still have Pixelsnap, too.

The Pixel 11s feel extremely solid, and Google has finally managed to make the buttons less wobbly. The base model Pixel also has a flatter camera bar, which makes it a little more pocket-friendly. The three flat phones are all still eSIM-only in the US—the international versions and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold retain their SIM card slots.

The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL keep the taller camera bar on the back, but it’s nice that the cameras are centered on the back, unlike Samsung phones. You can set a Pixel down on a table, and it’s stable enough to poke at. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold still has that off-center camera module, which makes it less stable.

The back of the phone is also home to the Pixel 11’s new HiLight module. This ring of LEDs is inside the camera flash of the Pro phones to act a bit like an old-fashioned notification LED. However, it’s mostly tied to Gemini to indicate when the AI is listening or responding. It also lights up to tell you when one of your favorite contacts calls. And that’s it.

HiLight only works when the phone is face down—if the accelerometer detects any other orientation, it won’t light up. So it really only makes sense if you’re using “OK Google” hotword detection and leaving your phone face down a lot. Annoyingly, you can’t even have the LEDs light up for text messages from your starred contacts.

It’s really a baffling addition to Google’s phones. It would be questionable even if it had all the functionality of a classic notification LED, but it barely does anything as it currently stands. Honestly, give me the thermometer back. That at least had a theoretical use, even if it didn’t come up very often. HiLight has been so hobbled that it might as well not exist. Google says more features will be added later, but why the slow drip? We had notification LEDs figured out 20 years ago.

The displays on the Pixel 11 OLED screens are all fantastic, and Google says they’re twice as scratch-resistant now. While the base model stayed the same, all the other screens got a little brighter this year. These phones are perfectly legible in bright outdoor light, even the Pixel 11 that remained at 3,000 nits. The other phones have a peak brightness of around 3,600 nits. They are a bit more reflective than Samsung’s latest flagship phones, which have an anti-reflective quality, but the Pixels still look great. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold’s internal screen is a bit too reflective due to its plastic top layer, though. So far, Samsung is the only company that has worked to address that issue in foldables.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold saw the biggest chassis change compared to last year’s model, but even here, the difference is minor. It’s a few tenths of a millimeter thinner, but that’s not enough to notice unless you have both phones to compare. It certainly doesn’t look or feel as supernaturally thin as the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, or even last year’s Z Fold 7. Oddly, the two halves of the phone are also slightly different (the side with the cover display is thicker). You can feel the difference when holding the phone, and while it doesn’t affect usability, it’s a little strange from a tactile perspective. The screen also still has a fairly deep crease compared to the Z Fold 8, which has almost none now.

Google is, however, doing foldable durability right. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is IP68 rated for water and dust protection, and the back panel is a new glass fiber composite that Google claims is “nearly impossible to crack.” Still, the Pixel foldable is much heftier than the latest foldables from Samsung or Motorola.

Very Google-y software

Google’s new Pixel phones ship with Android 17, not that you would know from listening to Google. It doesn’t talk about Android much anymore, let alone Android version numbers. Regardless, Google has the best version of Android on its phones. While you do get the full suite of Google apps that you may not use, there’s no superfluous filler, sponsored placements, or duplicative apps. If you use Google’s products, the Pixel 11 series is ready to go out of the box.

Google’s apps, widgets, system UI, and home screen have a unified aesthetic that even Apple would envy. However, Google has oversimplified some things in recent updates, like surfacing suggested widgets instead of showing you the full list by default and using a larger, less dense home screen grid. Still, the Pixel build of Android has great vibes.

It also has a ton of AI. There are hints of Gemini in numerous apps, but that’s also true when you access these products in a browser. The on-device AI features can be mostly ignored if you just don’t tap any of the buttons with the AI sparkles on them, but that’s getting harder.

For example, Gboard now has AI-assisted voice transcription built in for Pixel phones. When you tap the mic input button (which now has the telltale AI sparkle), you get a feature called Rambler. Rather than directly transcribing your words with all the mistakes intact, it essentially summarizes what you say to remove “ums” and streamline what you meant to say if you have to correct yourself. This works in the way that AI summarization tends to work, making you sound polished, stilted, and sometimes weirdly positive.

Gemini is also a key part of the experience even more so now that Google has announced Assistant will begin shutting down in the coming weeks. Like Samsung’s latest phones, the Pixel 11 series includes expanded AI automation in more than 40 apps, like Airbnb, Best Buy, DoorDash, eBay, Delta, and more. It’s basically a robot that helps you buy things.

The story here is the same as it was on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Gemini is capable of navigating these apps with some difficulty. It usually gets where it needs to go, adding items to your cart or pre-booking a reservation. However, it takes much longer than it would if you did it yourself, and its decisions are sometimes suspect. You have to carefully evaluate what Gemini does in these apps, which makes the feature much less useful.

Google continues to offer seven years of OS updates, along with monthly security patches and quarterly Pixel Drop feature updates. This is on par with Samsung and a bit longer than almost everyone else. Google’s updates also arrive in a timely fashion, whereas even Samsung may take several months to roll out new versions of Android.

Performance compromises

Google is not interested in talking about smartphone performance in the traditional way. It readily admits the Tensor chips are not optimized for winning benchmarks, but it claims the new Tensor G6 offers 25 percent faster web browsing and up to 20 percent better power efficiency. This seven-core Arm chip sports the same middling GPU as last year’s G5, along with a new MediaTek modem.

As expected, the Pixel 11 series doesn’t show well in benchmarks, trailing the flagship phones from other smartphone makers. But those are all just abstract numbers that might describe how the phone performs in some situations.

In daily use, the Pixel 11 phones feel great. Animations are fluid, touch response is instant, and apps open quickly. Google’s phones can feel faster than even the Galaxy S26, which is sometimes inconsistent despite being the fastest on paper. Google’s chip is also more thermally stable than high-end Qualcomm chips, losing under 25 percent of its performance during extended use.

Gaming is more of a problem for Google, though. The company is still using the same PowerVR GPU in the new Tensor chip, which is markedly slower than what you get in high-end chips from Qualcomm or Apple. Consequently, if you’re playing graphically intensive games like Genshin Impact or the mobile port of Red Dead Redemption, you will get lower frame rates with the Pixel. For the simpler, free-to-play games most people play, the Pixel is plenty powerful.

It is notable that Google has backtracked on RAM in the Pixel 11. Previously, Google cited the need for running bigger on-device AI models as a reason to upgrade base SKU Pixel phones to 16GB of RAM. However, the 2026 Google phones start at 12GB, and you have to upgrade to get 16GB. That means you’re looking at a minimum of $1,219 for the Pixel 11 Pro with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.

Heavier apps and games may close more quickly on the 12GB versions of the Pixel 11, but the difference has been minimal in my testing. However, should you have to make that kind of compromise with a phone that costs $100 more than its predecessor? Probably not. That said, Google’s phones are generally better at keeping apps in memory than, say, Samsung, which only has 12GB of RAM in its $2,100 foldable.

Battery life is also complicated with the Pixel 11 series. All the batteries are slightly smaller across the board this year. The flat phones are less than 100 mAh smaller, but the Pixel 11 Pro Fold dropped more than 200 mAh compared to last year’s foldable. Yet Google is claiming similar battery life this year, somewhere between 24 and 30 hours, depending on the model.

In my time with the Pixel phones, they haven’t seemed to run dry faster. So that’s good… sort of. Ideally, we should be seeing battery life expanding beyond this “about one day” window we’ve been stuck in forever. Very few phones have managed to do that, and Google doesn’t seem interested in making the kind of changes (See: OnePlus’ last hurrah) that would support substantially longer battery life.

There is some good news in the battery department. The Pixel 11 Pro XL has finally gotten a charging boost, now topping out at 45 W instead of 30 W. The base model, 11 Pro, and Fold are still at the lower wattage, but now all of them at least have 25 W wireless charging with a compatible Qi 2.2 pad.

Insta-ready cameras

Google’s camera hardware has gotten a few minor tweaks this year. The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL have all the same setup—a 50 MP primary, 48 MP 5x telephoto, and a 48 MP ultrawide. However, the main and telephoto sensors are new components that promise better optical quality. The Pixel 11 and 11 Pro Fold have a new 48MP primary sensor. The foldable has the same 10.8 MP 5x telephoto and 13 MP ultrawide from last year, and the flat phone has a new 13 MP ultrawide and the same 10.8 MP telephoto as the Fold.

Most of the changes are in the software controlling those cameras. In general, these changes are clever and could be nice to have for certain situations, but they’re not game changers.

There’s a new feature called Magic Capture that lets you outsource the shutter button to the on-device AI. Once you activate this mode, the phone starts recording a video. When it determines the moment is right, it can snap full-quality still photos as well. This works well in theory, but it’s not infallible. Generally, if the scene isn’t too busy and your subject is around the middle of the frame, the AI will reliably snap a photo. This works a lot of the time—I’ve gotten some genuinely cool shots with Magic Capture, but it also sometimes misses the moment. If a photo is important, I’m going to do the legwork of tapping the shutter myself.

11 Pro and 11 Pro XL photos:

Google also says the Pro phones have a new Instant Night Sight feature, but calling it “instant” may be overselling it a little. You’ll still get a timer telling you to hold the phone still, but the captures are noticeably faster. That could be the difference between a blurry photo and something usable. So while it’s not as fast as a regular photo (and certainly not instant), it’s still a nice upgrade.

However you’re taking photos with the Pixels, the results will be impressively sharp. With quick captures and powerful processing, even moving subjects are clear. Even the most expensive phones from Samsung and Apple struggle here. Google’s dynamic range is also better than you’ll see on other devices, resolving details in light and shadow very well.

Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold photos:

However, Pixel photos have a specific look, and it might not be ideal for every situation. With the Pixel 11, Google has debuted Camera Looks to address the situation, but it’s a little confusing. There are new default styles, like natural and shadows, that are retained each time you open the camera. Then there are the more dramatic filter-like looks you access by swiping in the viewfinder. This includes options like velvet, digi, and editorial. You can imagine this like something akin to film simulations on Fujifilm cameras. You can also edit any of the looks to your liking, changing sliders for highlights, tint, grain, and more.

Camera Looks:

While they’re a bit clunky to access, Camera Looks give you a ton of new shooting options on Pixel phones. They’re perfect if you’ve gotten tired of the super-sharp processed look of smartphone photos.

A rebuilding year?

The Pixel 11 phones are good devices. The regression on RAM is a bummer, but the 12GB phones still feel very fast and keep apps in memory well enough for all but the most picky buyers. Likewise, the slightly smaller batteries are less than ideal, but the battery life doesn’t seem to have taken a dive.

57 Comments