Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra — which Android flagship will win?

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is set to launch at the August 12 Made by Google event, alongside the rest of the Pixel 11 series. If past releases are anything to go by, this should be the flagship Google phone for the year, with the largest display, best battery life and all the other things that make premium phones worth having.

But the question still remains, how will it compare to other flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra? Pixel phones typically lag behind their rivals in the hardware department, and while they do make up some of the distance with robust AI and software features, it still feels like something is missing. A new phone is a new opportunity to one-up the competition, but will the Pixel 11 Pro XL actually catch up to the Galaxy S26 Ultra?

Here's our rundown of Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, based on all the rumors and leaks we've heard so far.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Specs

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Price & availability

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is available right now, with a starting price of $1,299 for a model with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. However, given the phone is a few months old, we have started seeing some significant discounts from various retailers — including Samsung itself.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is expected to cost $100 more than last year's model, meaning the phone may start at $1,299. The cheapest model will reportedly come with 256GB of storage once again, but it may feature a memory downgrade with just 12GB of RAM — compared to 16GB in the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

In other words, it looks like both phones will cost the same amount for similar core specs.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL release date isn't known right now, but new Google typically opens pre-orders for new Pixel devices at the end of the launch event, with the release day scheduled one to two weeks later. So expect to have your hands on a Pixel 11 Pro XL before the end of the month.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Design & display

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the larger of the two phones, rocking a 6.9-inch screen, measuring 6.44 x 3.07 x 0.31 in and weighing 7.55 oz. Meanwhile the Pixel 11 Pro XL is expected to come with a 6.8-inch display, measure 6.4 x 30.1 x 0.33 inches and weigh 7.9 ounces. That means, despite being slightly smaller, it is a heavier device — though part of that will come from the Qi2 magnets in the back of the 11 Pro XL.

The 11 Pro XL's screen is tipped to be brighter, with leaks promising a 3,600 nit display, compared to the 2,600 nit S26 Ultra. This should prove beneficial for the 11 Pro XL in bright situations, though it's unclear if it will have an anti-reflective coating the same way Samsung offers. Likewise, it's unlikely we'll see the Privacy Display features from Google anytime soon.

Both phones should offer rounded corners, though Google has the horizontal triple-lens camera bar while Samsung has stuck with the vertical quad-lens system for another generation. However Samsung's phone lacks the "Pixel Glow" feature that's rumored to be coming to all Pixel 11 phones, and is expected to serve as a notification light on the back of the device.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Performance

Performance is not the area Google usually excels at, especially since it moved to Tensor chips. Considering this, and how high the performance benchmarks are for Galaxy S26 Ultra's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, we should not expect to see the Pixel 11 Pro XL topping any benchmark leagues following its release.

That's especially true when you remember some of the rumored changes coming to this year's Tensor G6 chip. The G6 is rumored to drop to seven cores, instead of the usual eight, though it will be built on TSMC's 2nm process — which improves transistor density, and in the process boosts performance and power efficiency. To make matters worse, Google is utilizing a MediaTek M90 modem, which is several years old at this point.

There's more to performance than benchmarks and the latest hardware, but considering Google's track record with weak performance, you'd have thought it would make more of an effort.

The 11 Pro XL is also expected to come with a new Titan M3 security chip, which will supposedly feature a new "Tensor Processing Unit" and offer forwards-compatible protection against whatever future cyberattacks bad actors might develop — though how that compares to the latest version of Samsung's Knox isn't clear.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Cameras

On paper the Galaxy S26 Ultra has the advantage in the camera department. The phone is equipped with a 200MP main camera lens, partnered with a 50MP ultrawide lens, 50MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom and a 10MP secondary telephoto capable of 3x optical zoom — plus a 12MP selfie camera on the front.

In contrast, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is expected to come with a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultrawide and a 48MP telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom (and up to 120x AI assisted digital zoom). There's no word on what sort of resolution to expect from the selfie camera, but you shouldn't expect anything less than the 42MP lens from the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

Obviously we won't know how much better or worse the Pixel 11 Pro XL's cameras are compared to S26 Ultra until we actually get our hands on the phone. Camera hardware only tells you so much, especially with how important software has become to the photography process. So we'll have to do some thorough hands-on testing

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Software & AI

Software is easily the area where Pixel phones excel, especially since the 11 Pro XL will be several months newer than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The phone will have the usual array of software benefits, including first-in-line access to the latest Android updates, quarterly Pixel drops with new features, and the latest and best AI Google has to offer.

Samsung usually isn't that far behind, though. While One UI has had some hiccups in rolling out to everyone, Samsung tends to be pretty good at getting new updates to users fairly quickly. Just not as quickly as Google does with Pixel.

Likewise Samsung has invested a lot in AI, and there's been a lot of crossover between Pixel and Galaxy phones when it comes to the latest features. So we won't know for sure who has the best AI suite until Google actually reveals what the Pixel 11 series has to offer.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Battery & charging

Battery life is another thing Pixels flag on compared to Samsung, but we won't know how much has changed until we actually test the 11 Pro XL's battery life for ourselves. However, the phone has a slightly smaller 5,115 mAh battery compared to the Pixel 10 Pro XL, which doesn't fill us with a lot of confidence.

The 10 Pro XL lasted 14 hours and 35 minutes in our custom battery test, compared to the 16 hours and 10 minutes recorded by the S26 Ultra. If the Pixel 10 Pro XL can't beat the S26 Ultra's 5,000 mAh battery life, then a smaller Pixel 11 Pro XL isn't likely to have much luck.

But you can't always predict these things ahead of time, and we will see what results the lab testing reveals following the 11 Pro XL's release.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is also expected to offer 45W charging, which is slightly below that of the S26 Ultra's 60W speeds. However the two should be equal on the wireless charging front, with 25W Qi2.2 speeds, even if the Galaxy doesn't have the same built-in magnets as the Pixel. That said, the Galaxy S26 Ultra still offers reverse wireless charging, which Google scrapped last year.

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL vs Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra: Outlook

We know a lot about the Pixel 11 Pro XL, even if the official reveal isn't scheduled until August 12. Sadly everything we've heard suggests that this is a basic run of the mill hardware upgrade from Google, which means it's going to struggle to compete with the Galaxy S26 Ultra — which is our pick for the best Android phone.

That said, we can't make an absolute decision until we have both phones in our possession, and compare their performance side by side. A lot of factors don't show up on the specs sheet, and the only way to figure out which phone is better is with hands-on testing. Performance, cameras and battery life are the main three.

So for now, it looks like Samsung may have the edge in a bunch of areas, even if Google hasn't quite given up yet. Still, for the time being, we're just going to have to be patient to see what Google actually has in store for us.

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