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Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL Review: Still Growing Into Their AI Shoes
For the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, Apple released the iPhone X , a stunning glass-and-steel monolith that also introduced Face ID and redesigned mobile software for the swipe-up instead of a physical home button. Google made no such grand makeover for the 10th anniversary of its Pixel phones. The Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL are mostly incrementally better versions of the Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL .
That shouldn’t surprise anybody. Phones—even “pro” ones—peaked years ago. Any hardware changes are bound to feel minor year over year. You may only feel impressed upgrading from a phone that’s several years old. For better or worse, Google’s North Star for the Pixel remains the same as ever: Gemini and AI at the center of everything you do.
The Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL have far more AI integrated into Android, but it’s still a long way off from being the do-it-all-for-you “agentic” phone that Google envisions.
The Pixel 11 and 11 Pro XL are some of the safest annual upgrades that Google has put out in years.
Call it boring or lazy, but I don’t mind that the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL merely refine the design established with the Pixel 9 Pros . After a week of testing, the Canyon and Olive colors have really grown on me. I love how light catches the polished aluminum frames (matte on the Obsidian version) and reflects off the satin glass backs. They’re handsome phones that look more elevated and luxurious than the utilitarian iPhone 17 Pros , in my opinion.
Visible changes include a fully black camera bar with a round telephoto zoom lens instead of a rectangular one, along with a new flash that doubles as a glowing “HiLight” LED for when Gemini is active face down on a surface and a favorite contact is calling. Gone is the temperature sensor; I don’t miss it.
The Pixel 11 Pro XL feels especially nice in the hand. It’s 6g lighter than the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and I could feel the weight difference.
While the display sizes on both models are the same as before—6.3 inches on the 11 Pro and 6.8 inches on the 11 Pro XL—they can reach a higher peak brightness of 3,600 nits. This was most noticeable in direct sunlight, where visibility can often be challenging. I could see the screen on the Pixel 11 Pros more clearly compared to the iPhone 17 Pros, which max out at 3,000 nits. I noticed the increased brightness the most when taking photos and videos outdoors. The screens are also up to two times more scratch-resistant. I don't know if it's as tough as the Ceramic Shield 2 on the iPhone 17 Pros, but I haven't found any scratches on the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL displays yet, and I've had them in my pockets with my loose change, a set of keys, and a card case.
My personal nitpick remains the position of the power button. It’s higher and more difficult to reach compared to an iPhone 17 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S26. I would have preferred that Google invert the power button and volume rocker, particularly on the larger 11 Pro XL, where they sit even higher, but then it’d also look like a Galaxy S26, so I guess Google had to do something different.
On the Pixel 10 series , Google let it be known that Gemini and AI are the main differentiators with features like Magic Cue, Voice Translate, and Help Me Edit (to name a few). This is even more true on the Pixel 11s.
Rather than chase Apple Silicon and Qualcomm’s chips, Google gave the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL a Tensor G6 chip, which is fine for regular Android operating stuff and faster for running on-device AI tasks, but it doesn’t compare to the performance you’ll get from the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pros or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip in phones like the Galaxy S26 Ultra .
Neither Geekbench 6 nor the newer Geekbench 7 app was available on the Google Play Store to run my usual single-core and multi-core tests in time for this review. (I’ll update this review when they are available later.) But anecdotally, I found next to no gains in graphics-intensive apps like 3D gaming. I played Asphalt: Legends and noticed the same dropped frames I did when I tested the Pixel 10 Pros. Some games like Genshin Impact were unplayable during my testing; the whole screen rendered pink instead of their proper colors. The Pixel 11 Pros also get warm fast when they're pushed hard for 3D games.
Android 17 is mostly responsive on the Pixel 11 Pros, though there’s still more latency than there should be from Google’s flagship devices. Sometimes images in help menus or settings take a few seconds to load up; the multitasker can hang just by a few ticks; apps don’t open instantly and sometimes take a few seconds to load content. They’re small things that can be fixed in future software updates, but it shows there's room for better optimization with the Tensor G6. Mind you, I noticed these little hang-ups on review units with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. The entry-level 256GB models come with only 12GB of RAM, which is less than what came with every storage tier for the Pixel 10 Pros.
One of the best things about the Pixel 11 Pros is easily Quick Share, which works with AirDrop on Apple devices. It's such a game-changer to be able to send and receive photos and videos directly to iPhones and MacBooks without needing to use another app like LocalSend .
If the Tensor G6 is pulling its weight, it’s doing it mostly invisibly as it crunches through “Gemini Intelligence," the catch-all term for AI on the Pixel 11 series. Google says Gemini can surface even more info at the right time and right place from more than 40 apps. The AI chatbot can also do more things for you, like order groceries and book rideshares, through supported services. I tried some of these “agentic” tasks, like asking Gemini to order me an Uber to the Empire State Building, and it did automate the task, taking me to the final ride type and payment screen, but it also took longer than it would have for me to just do it myself. This was also the case for ordering groceries from the Wa...
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