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.
Power Up
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.