With another year around the sun comes another round of Google Pixel smartphones for us to enjoy. This year’s release of the Google Pixel 11 series of phones brings a continuation of what we already saw last year. When releasing a new smartphone year after year, it’s often difficult to introduce something truly groundbreaking and original. With Google, we typically get a rehash of the previous year’s phone with a few new bells and whistles. Though I am a big fan of these devices, I was hoping that the Google Pixel 11 would usher in a new era of smartphone supremacy, but sadly, they played it safe once again.
Acknowledging the elephant in the room when it comes to tech, we are in a very strange space lately, with the ever-evolving advancements in AI and the obvious shortage of memory because of it. Across the board, we are seeing the ramifications of this in many different ways. The release of the new Google Pixel 11 smartphone is a clear indication that, in this current time, tech advancements are really hurting.
Specs & Overview
This year’s Pixel 11 shares many similarities with last year’s model. They share the same body, with the Pixel 11 being slightly lighter at roughly 197g, and both phones have the exact same OLED display with HDR10+ and 2000 nits peak brightness. There are a few upgrades for this year’s model, as Google has upgraded the GPU to the latest Tensor G6, and we also have a slightly improved rear camera.
Some might say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but I am of the mindset: why release it if it’s 85% the same phone as last year? Battery life in this year’s Pixel 11 is the same as last year, though this year’s battery is 4985mAh, which is a slight increase from the Pixel 10’s 4970mAh battery. A nice new addition to this year’s smartphone is the new 25W wireless charging upgrade, which allows for a much faster wireless charging experience.
As mentioned, this year’s Google Pixel 11 is now sporting a brand new Tensor G6 (4.11 GHz) chipset, which does make for a significant performance bump from last year’s G5 (3.78GHz). We are also moving from an octa-core processor to a 7-core this year. The processing power on the Pixel 11 is noticeable; the speed of web browsing has increased by 25%, while loading apps is now 15% faster.
With the Pixel 11, the base internal storage has increased to 256GB, being the standard size, double the original 128GB that these phones would originally launch with. I do really enjoy that we are getting more storage in the base model of the phone rather than having to pay for the next version up to get it. As someone who makes a lot of video content with their phone, I’ve always opted to get the higher internal storage, but now, the base is more than enough.
What new feature comes with the Google Pixel 11’s camera? Not much. Hardware-wise, we are getting virtually the exact same camera that is in the Pixel 10. The main camera is still almost the same: 48MP with f/1.7 and a 24mm (wide) lens, just 1mm smaller than the Pixel 10. The front-facing camera is also the same at 10.5 MP, f/3.1 with the 112mm telephoto lens, which is the exact same one as the Google Pixel 10. There are some really cool features this time around that did make this year’s camera stand out.
“I was hoping that the Google Pixel 11 would usher in a new era of smartphone supremacy, but sadly, they played it safe once again.”
Magic Capture is a feature that allows you to take a video while simultaneously capturing clean and clear photos without any blurring. When you open the camera, you’ll have options for taking a photo or a video. Now, on the far-left part of that section, you will see the option for Magic Capture. I tried this feature while going for a walk with my dog, and I was impressed with how well it worked. The demo for this at the Made By Google event showcased this feature at a birthday party, and I can definitely see how this could be very appealing to parents looking to maximize the opportunity to capture those special moments.
Auto-edits are on by default, but if you think you’re better off editing on your own, it can be toggled off within the camera settings. Lastly, while scrubbing through your video, if you feel like a moment was missed, you can go back to that particular moment, pause the video, and tap “Save as Photo” so that moment will be saved.
New Features for the Pixel 11 Series
The advancement to the Creator Suite for the Pixel 11 series of smartphones is possibly my favourite feature of the phone. The Creator Suite is a content creator’s dream, as it really makes it very easy to record and edit videos all natively on the device. With new features like Teleprompter, you’re now able to record like a pro without using any third-party apps. Improvements to the audiovisualizer and the upgraded speech enhancement remove the guesswork of wondering if your audio levels are good and if you’re speaking clearly or not.
One small detail that I love is the social media grid. For those who create front-facing videos, we all know how annoying it is to record something, only to find out that part of the video is in the danger zone and will be cut off by the various social media overlays for the platform’s details (like, comment, description, etc.). This grid shows you in real time where you should be recording to create the perfect video.
Once you’re done with that video and want to share it with your friends and family, the new and improved QuickShare is the way to go. QuickShare now supports AirDrop, so file transferring to those with iPhones just got a whole lot easier.
If you’re a voice note or speech-to-text individual like myself, Rambler is about to be your best friend. This feature is an all-new voice input option within Gboard. It translates spoken thoughts into clean, well-structured text, skipping filler words like “ummms” and “ahhs.” I also enjoyed this because I have a speech impediment; I do stutter, and this feature handles it well by correcting the stutter and adding punctuation while preserving my authentic voice.
Gaming
In a strange turn of events, I’ve been playing a lot of mobile games in my free time, from Angry Birds Friends to Supremacy Warhammer 40k. Gaming on the Pixel phones has always been good, and with the Pixel 11, I didn’t have any issues with these games. Supremacy Warhammer 40k is a pretty demanding mobile game; once you get into a heated battle and have many enemy factions on the map, the Pixel 11 does start to bog down a little, but nothing to really complain about. Frames remain intact, and the visuals are still very stellar. My go-to game, Diablo Immortal, also played flawlessly.
There is nothing wrong with this phone, but as a tech enthusiast, I really wanted something more from the base model of the Google Pixel 11. The new Gemini features have made this year’s Pixel one of the most accessible smartphones on the market in a significant way. If you currently own a Pixel 10, there isn’t any real reason to upgrade to the 11, but if you are coming from a Pixel 8 or earlier, you will be in for a treat if you decide to upgrade to this latest model.
I enjoyed my time with this device, and I do love what it brings to the table. I just hope that in future installments, the base model of the Google Pixel series receives the same attention that the Pro models do in future releases.
- Order the new Google Pixel 11 today and get an Amazon Gift Card; valid 8/12/2026 until 8/27/2026 at 11:59pm PST, while supplies last and subject to availability
- Return of Pixel 11 without gift card results in charge; offer cannot be combined, is non-transferable and not valid for cash or cash equivalent
