The Pixel 11 isn’t the best Pixel of 2026, but it’s the smartest buy
The Verge · LC · trust 58/100
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Sandwiched between the 10A and the Pro 11, the regular Pixel 11 is a good value, thanks mostly to compelling features.
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It’d be easy to overlook the Pixel 11. Want the best cameras? The Pixel 11 Pro is your answer. Want the best bargain? The Pixel 10A is still a great deal.
But the Pixel 11 might be the sweet spot in Google’s lineup this year. With 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, it delivers the same performance as the base Pixel 11 Pro for $899 — $200 less. And while it’s $400 more than the Pixel 10A , it has a faster processor, more RAM and storage, Qi2 charging, and a telephoto lens.
It’s also the cheapest way to experience what’s actually new about the Pixel 11 series. With the hardware basically unchanged from the Pixel 10 except for new colors and a thinner camera bar, the spotlight this year has shifted to software, specifically features that aim to take full advantage of what most Pixel fans like about their phones: the cameras and special features that make the phones just a bit more helpful.
Last year, we said Google’s Pixel 10 was priced fairly at $799, and that it’d be greedy for buyers to expect more from it. Well, RAMageddon happened, and everyone’s prices went up. The new Pixel 11 starts at $899 and has mostly the same specs. It adds a few exclusive software features that mostly make up for it and doubles the base storage. I guess it’d be greedy to expect much more from this one, too.
The Pixel 11 looks, feels, and performs similarly to the $1,099 11 Pro. The Pro has a brighter, higher-resolution screen and much more powerful ultrawide and telephoto cameras, but the 11 is just as good in nearly every other way. It has the same Tensor G6 processor, and it even has the same amount of RAM as the base model Pro phone (though the more expensive Pro configurations have 16GB). In day-to-day use, I didn’t notice any performance issues owing to the smaller amount of RAM on the 11, though it’s possible that the newer processor balanced it out.
Google didn’t hold back any of the software features from this model, either. As someone who doesn’t upgrade their phone unless they have to (I’m still very happy with my Pixel 9 Pro ), I was skeptical that some of the phones’ most intriguing new camera features — Camera Looks and Magic Capture — would be enough to temp me. Unfortunately for those like me who are holding off on upgrading for as long as possible, both features are rad.
Like last year, the 11 has a 48MP main camera, 13MP ultrawide, and 10.8MP 5x telephoto, all of which are smaller and lower resolution than the sensors on the Pro phones. My Pixel 9 Pro’s wide and ultrawide lenses are roughly on par with the 11 Pro’s, and quite a bit more capable than the Pixel 11’s. But in the past week of testing, I don’t miss them as much as I thought I would. Camera Looks in particular helped me have more fun shooting with a Pixel than I have in years. It’s satisfying to quickly swap between different sensor-level presets, and they can make a big impact on how a photo turns out.
I’ve been a Pixel user since 2017, going from the 2 to the 3 to the 6 to the 9 Pro, almost entirely because of the cameras. I trust them to take great shots quickly and with little effort. I even brought the Pixel 2 on my honeymoon trip instead of a DSLR, and no, I don’t regret it all these years later. If you’re a serious phone photographer who spends time composing every shot, you’ll probably want to go for the Pro, but for more casual photographers like me, the quality difference isn’t that noticeable, especially with Camera Looks applied. Camera Looks has even encouraged me to slow down sometimes to put a little more effort into my composition.
Camera Looks seems like Google’s realization that the Pixel’s default vibrant HDR-drenched look isn’t the best choice for every photo. Now, it’s easy to switch to the bold, slightly more muted “Digi” or the black-and-white “Black Tie” styles when you want to take a more impactful photo. If you like one of the Looks enough to make it your default shooting style, you can lock it in. And it’s easier to make adjustments on the fly, thanks to the new quick access dials you can pin to the viewfinder. You can add dials for exposure, color temperature, and shadows.
Next 1 / 6 The “Velvet” style, at least in this example, bridges the gap between “Digi” and the default look. Magic Capture — another camera feature exclusive to the 11 series — is genuinely useful. The hybrid camera mode records a video and intelligently plucks hi-res photos and video clips from it, and I used it to capture a bunch of little moments with our two-year-old at the beach and at parks. It’s convenient to have a setting that can capture the unexpected without missing a beat. You can also manually capture photos while it’s recording. However, the photos are the highlight, not the video (the resulting video looks choppier than a standard video, as if it lacks image stabilization; it doesn’t seem like it’s meant for consumption). I’m more the type who’d like to shoot individual photos, as it feels great to happen upon a spectacular shot. But the AI does a good enough job at capturing little moments in the…
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