Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL review: A sprinkling of interesting features can't make up for offering little else

I'm torn on the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL.

While these are not exactly bad phones, it's hard not to feel disappointed about what Google has released this year. There are few noticeable upgrades on paper, and the phones themselves have endured a $100 price hike that makes the apparent lack of progress sting even more.

But there's a lot more to a phone than what we can see on a specs sheet, and I was hoping that the Pixel 11 Pro could impress me in ways that I hadn't previously anticipated.

So I've been spending time with the phones to see whether Google's latest premium phones are actually worth picking up. Sadly, like the Pixel 10a, it turns out that this phone is just another lazy update that feels like half a step backward from last year's models.

Read on for our full Google Pixel 11 Pro and Google Pixel 11 Pro XL review.

Google Pixel 11 Pro & Pixel 11 Pro XL review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? The latest Pro-tier Pixel flagships, available in regular and XL sizes set to replace the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL.
• Who is it for? Those people who want the Google-led Android experience, with fast updates and a heavy focus on cameras and AI. Ideally people who haven't upgraded their phones for a few years
• What does it cost? Prices for the Pixel 11 Pro start at $1,099 / £1,079 / AU$1,849 while the Pixel 11 Pro XL starts at $1,299 / £1,279 / AU$2,099. Both phones offer 256GB of storage and 12GB RAM, though higher storage tiers are available with 16GB of RAM
• What do we like? The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL have the brightest screen we've tested, alongside a scratch-resistant display, excellent AI-centric features and noticeable improvements to the cameras.
• What don't we like? Overall this is a fairly mediocre upgrade, continuing the longstanding Pixel tradition of weak performance, unimpressive battery life, reduced RAM on the cheapest models, and very little to make it an appealing purchase for a lot of people.

Google Pixel 11 Pro & Pixel 11 Pro XL review: Specs

Google Pixel 11 Pro & Pixel 11 Pro XL review: The Ups

The moment I got into testing these new Pixel 11 Pros, the small refinements jumped out at me. A lot of it comes down to the software running in the background, but there is one hardware upgrade (especially in the midst of a very bright summer) that I especially appreciated.

Brighter displays

The Pixel 10 Pro XL was the brightest phone we ever tested with peak brightness of 2,555 nits. Recently the phone was beaten by the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's 2,687 nits. Well now it seems the Pixel 11 Pro XL has reclaimed that title, with peak brightness of 2,877 nits — closely followed by the Pixel 11 Pro's 2,860 nits.

That's well in excess of the iPhone 17 Pro Max's 1,281 nits brightness, and the Galaxy S26 Ultra's 1,806 nits. This ensures that the 11 Pro and Pro XL excel in brighter conditions, which I am currently plagued by in the heat of August. That being said, they do lack the anti-reflective display of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and S26 Ultra.

Both Pro models do come with a special anti-scratch display, which should help prevent mini scratches from appearing when you're looking at the screen under bright light. While I haven't deliberately tried to scratch up the screens, I haven't noticed any of them mysteriously appear, either.

Cameras have improved

At first glance, the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL's cameras don't seem to have changed all that much compared to last year — but that's not the case.

The main camera and selfie cameras are functionally identical, that much is true, but the ultrawide and telephoto lenses have gained new larger sensors. While the Pixel 11 Pro misses the mark in a lot of areas, the camera quality is not one of them.

The main camera lens is capable of going head to head with the Galaxy S26 Ultra's 200MP main camera, despite the obvious gap in resolution. The colors are a little more vivid on the Pixel, but the overall quality is fairly equal - to the point where you can see a lot of similar grain when you zoom in on the printed lettering.

The quality of the ultrawide seems fairly equal to the Pixel 10 Pro at first glance, but look a little closer and you can see that the Pixel 11 Pro's picture is a lot sharper. Whether that will affect casual appreciation of ultrawide-angle photos isn't clear, but it shows that Pixel 11 Pro is putting the larger camera sensor and Tensor G6 to good use.

It's a similar situation with the telephoto lens at 5x magnification. At first glance they don't seem all that different, but close in and you can see that the general quality on the Pixel 11 Pro's photo is clearer and sharper.

That's more noticeable at 10x magnification, with the Pixel 11 Pro XL's 10x "optical quality" camera picking up a lot more of the smaller details than the 10 Pro XL.

The AI-enhanced 120x zoom is where Google's AI capabilities really shine, especially compared to Samsung's 100x zoom capabilities. Despite offering 20% more magnification than Samsung, the 11 Pro managed to create a much-clearer image than Samsung does - with brighter colors and a lot more detail.

But that's not just the AI, the unenhanced version of the photo (above) also looks a heck of a lot better than what Samsung managed to create with AI help.

The quality of the selfie camera is generally fine, but they don't even come close to the detail afforded by the iPhone 17 Pro Max. The iPhone camera manages to pick up a lot more of the smaller details, and doesn't make me look like a vampire that's never seen sunlight before.

It's very much the same situation with Portrait mode. However I prefer Google's bokeh effect, especially with how it singles my head out without offering quite so much blurring around the edges.

Low light quality is also pretty admirable, though the pictures often came out slightly darker than they did with the Pixel 10 Pro. I'd say that the 11 Pro produces a better picture, and the Instant Night Sight feature does make the process of low-light photography a lot easier to pull off.

That said, the process isn't actually instant. The camera still needs two seconds to shoot a photo, rather than the three to six seconds required by Night Sight on the Pixel 10 Pro. Still, it's amazing how much of a difference even a single second can make to the photography process — and that third second feels so much longer.

Cool new software features

There aren't a whole lot of new software features coming to Pixel this year, but the ones that have been released are pretty impressive. The main trio include the Rambler dictation software, Magic Capture in the camera and Live Translate for media — though that's limited to YouTube videos for the time being.

Magic Capture might just be my favorite, since it lets you record video of a situation and uses AI to identify which frames are actually worth keeping.

In other words it's a great way to get photos of moving targets, like children or pets, without having to try and time your shutter with the perfect situation. It's kind of like an alternative to a burst mode, which the Pixel 11 doesn't have, but instead of recording a series of still images, you get a short video clip instead.

Live Translate is also pretty impressive, since it will automatically translate videos you're watching in real time. I have seen features like this on other phones, including the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, but always found them to be a little finicky.

Google's version seems to work in a much simpler way, so long as you've downloaded the appropriate language packs in the system settings. The feature only works with YouTube right now, but once you load up the appropriate foreign-language video, you'll see a pop-up offering to translate the page — similar to how you would in a web browser.

Once the translation mechanism is engaged, it will feed you an English-version of whatever is said on screen while preserving some sense of accent and realism. In other words it's not a robotic AI voice that you'll find in some parts of the internet. I tried it in French and Spanish, and found that it worked pretty well — though the AI did fumble at times due to the speed at which some Spanish people speak.

Rambler is also very interesting because it completely redesigns the voice-to-text feature in the Gboard app. I recently tested Gboard against iOS 27 beta's dictation capabilities and found that they were at a very similar level. Rambler blows them both out of the water.

Not only was it able to figure out all the verbal tics humans add to speech, and ignore them, it's able to differentiate between voice typing and giving it commands.

Better still it could go back and make alterations to existing text, which is not something I've seen freely-available dictation software do before. I may be a big fan of traditional ways of typing (mostly pen and paper), but my early experience with Rambler could make a good attempt at changing that.

256GB on the Pro

I've spent years complaining that 128GB of base storage was no longer enough, and this year is the year Google finally made it happen for everyone. Of course, the Pixel 10 Pro XL got the higher base storage last year, and Pixel Folds have always started with 256GB of space. But this year marks the first time the Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro have started with 256GB of storage.

Effectively this means the cheapest Pixel 11 Pro has double the amount of storage as last year's equivalent — which is perfect for storing all those files and photos you need to keep around. Though the downside is that you have to pay $100 more for the privilege this year, and won't get as much RAM.

Google Pixel 11 Pro & Pixel 11 Pro XL review: The downs

I know that upgrades between generations are always going to be more about the minor refinements. But the Pixel 11 Pros struggle to clear even that hurdle — all while charging $100 more and giving you less RAM at the baseline.

Minimal upgrades

By far the biggest issue with the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL is that the hardware has barely changed since last year. The real changes include the addition of the Tensor G6, different sensors for the cameras, replacing the thermometer sensor with HiLight and offering a brighter display on both models.

There is a new modem and the Titan M3 security chip, though these are hardly additions that will have any noticeable impact on ordinary user experience

The Pixel 11 Pro also gets the additional 256GB of base storage and 25W wireless charging, both of which were already available on the Pixel 10 Pro XL last year.

These updates are incremental at best, and considering the jump from Pixel 9 Pro to Pixel 10 Pro also featured minimal hardware changes, I had hoped that Google would offer a little more with the Pixel 11 Pro. But alas that does not seem to have been the case, and that's rather disappointing.

HiLight is probably the most interesting Google has offered, and even that seems like a half-baked addition to the phone. The LED works really well when your phone is left face down, but it also only works for two features right now. Specifically it flashes blue when you're talking to Gemini, and one of five custom colors that will flash when a starred contact calls you. But that's all it can do right now.

Google says it will be able to do more in future, but at the moment HiLight can only flash up for these two features and in these colors. Without better customization options and support for more kinds of notifications, it comes across as a gimmick more than an actually useful feature.

Price hike

The other main issue with this year's batch of Pixels is that the price has gone up. It's been a long time since Pixel phones were seen as the affordable option, but the Pixel 11 series pushes that to the extreme — and it feels worse for the Pixel 11 Pro XL.

Both phones' base models are $100 more than the equivalent Pixel 10 Pro. This means the 11 Pro starts at $1,099 while the 11 Pro Xl is now $1,299. The trade off for the Pixel 11 Pro is that the base model now comes with 256GB of storage, rather than 128GB — which is a good thing.

Sadly Google already made 256GB standard on last year's Pro XL and increased the price by $100 to compensate. This year's Pro XL has no such improvement, which means the price has been increased with no additional benefit to the user.

Reduced base RAM

The other big issue is that the standard 256GB model actually comes with less RAM than the Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL. That means those of you wanting the same 16GB as last year will have to pay for a 512GB of 1TB storage model. That's obviously going to cost a fair bit more.

The 512GB Pixel 11 Pro is $1,219, while the 1TB is $1,449. For the Pixel 11 Pro XL, you'll have to pay $1,419 for 512GB and $1,649 for 1TB. It's a lot more to ask for, but it's likely down to the fact RAM prices have skyrocketed over the past several months.

Why does this matter? Because RAM is super important for running on-device AI features. Without a healthy pool of memory to work from, your device's AI prowess is going to be increasingly reliant on the cloud. Not only does this have obvious issues with privacy and data security, it also takes slightly longer to process and relies on having an active internet connection.

All of which means that buying the cheapest Pixel 11 Pro model means paying more for a phone that likely has worse AI processing performance.

The return of inconsistent Pixel battery life

Pixel phones are not known for having strong battery life, even if things have been improving over the last few years. Sadly the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL barely make any progress in improving the battery life — which is not surprising considering Google added smaller battery packs this time around.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL lasted 14 hours and 28 minutes in our custom battery test, which involves continuous web browsing over a 5G connection. That's only eight minutes more than the Pixel 10 Pro XL's 14 hours and 10 minutes. In comparison the Galaxy S26 Ultra lasted 16 hours and 10 minutes, while the iPhone 17 Pro Max lasted even longer at 17 hours and 54 minutes.

The Pixel 11 Pro actually does worse than last year's Pixel 10 Pro, with a battery life of 13 hours and 25 minutes compared to the 10 Pro's 13 hours 43 minutes. This is worse than the iPhone 17 Pro's 15 hours 21 minutes, but it is better than the Galaxy S26 Plus's 13 hours 13 minutes. Sadly it also still lags behind the larger flagships — and last year's Pixels.

Performance languishes in the shadow of more powerful phones

Pixels have never been a paragon of performance power, and the Tensor G6 is absolutely no exception to that. The general performance is better than you'd get from the Pixel 10 series, and the Tensor G5, but graphics performance has dropped this year. Likewise the Tensor G6 is still so far behind Samsung and Apple that it's almost as though Google isn't really trying.

Compared to the Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL, the 11 Pro series has had a pretty hefty boost in raw performance. Both phones offer an increase in single-core and multi-core performance using the Geekbench 6 benchmarking test. Pixel 11 Pro rose to 2,649 and 7,164 versus 2,335 and 6,375. Meanwhile, the Pixel 11 Pro Xl did a little better with 2,713 and 7,453 against the 10 Pro XL's 2,322 and 6,286.

Graphically both new phones actually did worse, with Pixel 11 Pro scoring 3,113 in the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme Unlimited benchmark, with an average framerate of 18.65. Pixel 10 Pro score 3,134 and 18.77. The Pixel 11 Pro XL came out with 3,249 and 19.46fps, while the 10 Pro XL recorded a score of 3,462 and average frame rate of 20.73 fps.

All of it pales in comparison to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and iPhone 17 Pro Max, though. In fact the Galaxy's graphics benchmark scores are roughly double that of both new Pixels. Worst of all, the Pixels' NPU scored ridiculously poorly on Geekbench's AI benchmark, with four-digit scores that pale in comparison to both Samsung and Apple's 5-digit scores.

Considering the Tensor chips are supposed to be built for AI (alongside photography and security), this is a really embarrassing result for a phone that doesn't have a lot else going for it.

Google Pixel 11 Pro & Pixel 11 Pro XL review: Verdict

The Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL are not bad phones by any means, but they're also not anything particularly special. The upgrades Google has included do offer some enhancements compared to previous phones, but it also isn't enough to help the Pixel lineup catch up with some of its biggest rivals. Especially when you consider the 11 Pro's weaker battery life and the reduced amount of RAM on the cheapest models.

From a purely Pixel point of view, the 11 Pro and Pro XL both offer better cameras, AI features that could potentially be very useful, and a boost in overall performance. Not to mention brighter displays and increased base storage on the standard Pro model.

But at the same time the Pixel still lags behind its flagship rivals in both performance and battery life, and reduces the amount of RAM available on the cheapest models. That, combined with the $200 price hike and the meager selection of upgrades makes me think that the better purchase might actually be a Pixel 10 Pro — for as long as you can still get one, that is.