Google Pixel 11 Review: Minor Upgrade
Wired · LC · trust 38/100
WIRED Great camera. Strong battery life. Solid performance. Qi2 25W support. Slick contextual AI features. TIRED Not much is new. eSIM only in the US. Secure face unlock still doesn’t work in the dark. The hot pink Hibiscus color is dazzling, but is Google’s 11th-generation Pixel just another iterative upgrade, or does it dial things up to 11? Diving beneath the surface, we find a slightly better chipset and camera, faster wireless charging, a fresh batch of AI features, and not much else. Don’t get me wrong: This is a slick smartphone, perhaps the best Android phone for folks who are comfortable with Google and Gemini AI, but it’s only a very slight improvement over last year’s Pixel 10 .
Although it lands alongside the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL , the Pixel 11 shares more in common with the new Pro Fold (review coming soon). The Pro models' more powerful camera system, with the gimmicky, glowing HiLight LED, is what sets them apart. The base model storage has finally jumped up to a more practical 256 GB, but that means the starting price of the Pixel 11 is $100 more than the 10 at $899 (not technically a price bump since the 256 GB model of the Pixel 10 was the same price).
Refinement has been the pattern in smartphones for the last few years, and the Pixel 11 does nothing to buck that trend. If you’ve got a 3-year-old handset and you’re in the market for a new phone, the Pixel 11 should be in the conversation, but if you’re looking for a justification to upgrade from last year’s Pixel 10, you won’t find it here.
Photograph: Simon Hill The instantly recognizable design has been slightly refined; most notably, the pill-shaped camera bump is thinner and all-glass. Stick a case on the Pixel 11, and it will lie flat on a desk. It sports the same satin finish on the recycled aluminum frame and gloss finish on the glass back as last year’s phone, but with some fun new colors.
I was delighted to get Hibiscus (otherwise known as hot pink), but there’s also a more subtle Pistachio (warm green), and the usual Frost (white) and Obsidian (black). I’m sad they cut Indigo (surely everyone’s favorite from last year). Like Apple, Google seems to save the fun colors for the regular Pixel, and the Pros look more muted.
Despite a 6.3-inch screen, this is what passes for a small phone nowadays. Switching from last year's Pixel 10 Pro XL, I really appreciated how easy it was to handle the Pixel 11 one-handed. It’s a little thick, but it feels good in hand and has almost the same profile as the Pro, so you can use cases interchangeably. And I do recommend snagging a Pixel 11 case; I already scuffed the paintwork when I dropped it on the beach.
The screen is the same as last year’s: an excellent 6.3-inch OLED display with a 1080 x 2424-pixel resolution and refresh rates of 60 or 120 Hz . It’s a shame Google didn’t upgrade to a variable refresh rate (1 to 120 Hz) since it can save battery life. It also defaults to 60 Hz, and you have to dip into the Display settings to toggle on the smoother 120 Hz. The display is plenty bright with a 3,000-nit peak brightness; I never found myself squinting. Side by side with the Pro, it’s not quite as bright or sharp, and it has larger bezels, but you have to look closely to see the difference.
The fingerprint unlock is as good as any, but Google’s Face Unlock still doesn't work in the dark, which will annoy any iPhone defectors. US buyers will also have to do without a SIM slot, as the Pixel 11 is eSIM-only stateside. Physical SIM cards make switching between phones more straightforward, but phone makers and carriers have made that process smoother with eSIMs than in the past. Sure, it’s much easier to pop a card in than to go through your carrier when traveling abroad, but setting up an international eSIM isn't that complex. Both have benefits, but with US phones and carriers embracing eSIM over the past couple of years, it's become a nonissue.
The new chip, Google’s Tensor G6, is supposed to deliver 20 percent gains in power efficiency, 25 percent faster browsing, and 15 percent faster app loading. The Pixel 11 has 12 GB of RAM and 256 or 512 GB of storage. For everyday use, it feels fast and responsive. I had no issues with loading apps or scrolling web pages, and the camera app feels a bit faster. Compared with my Pixel 10 Pro XL, I also noticed the Pixel 11 notified and loaded video from my Nest video doorbell a second or two faster.
I put it through its paces with the challenging mobile game Wuthering Waves . It was playable, but the action stuttered, and even on the Balanced (graphics and performance) setting, there were dropped frames aplenty during combat. After an hour, the Pixel 11 was warm, and the battery went from 40 to 26 percent. Less demanding games, like Mini Metro and Alto’s Odyssey, were fine, but dedicated gamers should still look elsewhere.
The 4,985-mAh battery is a disappointing 15-mAh jump over the Pixel 10, but Google claims battery life has improved 25 percent from 24 hours to 30 hours. I’m not sure it’s quite that much based on my first week of testing, but the Pixel 11 has seen me through very busy days without hitting empty, though I still think daily charging will be the norm for most folks.
The Pixel 11 charges at 30 watts wired (cable but no charger included), but support for Qi2 25W enables faster wireless charging. I recommend buying a Qi2 wireless charger . The magnetic Pixelsnap (Google's version of Apple's MagSafe on iPhones) feels a touch stronger than the one in the 10-series, and it’s such a handy feature that saves you from fumbling with cables. Google has also expanded the screensaver so you can have a multiple swipe function on the nightstand, including clock, weather, photos, charging status, and smart home controls.
Google has also switched to a MediaTek modem in the Pixel 11. I wouldn’t normally mention a modem, but the Samsung variant Google used in last year’s 10 series was prone to draining the battery and not…
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