Pixel 11 Pro XL Review: What No One Is Saying

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The Pixel 11 Pro XL delivers on all the fundamentals - stunning design, reliable cameras, and excellent battery life. But charging more while shipping less RAM on the base model is a frustrating step backwards that Google needs to address.

The Good

1. Distinctive, premium design with standout colour options
2. Fast, accurate, and reliable camera system
3. Excellent battery life, especially on standby
4. HiLight is a promising idea with room to grow

The Not So Good

1. Base model drops to 12GB RAM from 16GB on Pixel 10 Pro XL
2. Price increase over last year's model
3. Power button placement remains frustrating

• 8
• User Ratings (4 Votes)
  7.1

When I offered my first impressions of the new Google Pixel 11 series last week, following an hour-long hands-on session in Paris, I noted that the colours were a standout feature.

This wasn’t – and still isn’t – a criticism. In fact, I think it says more about the state of the smartphone industry than any other product launch I can think of recently.

The good news is that I’ve had the Pixel 11 Pro XL in my possession now for just over a week, and as is customary with any review unit, I’ve been using it as my main phone.

This means that what follows isn’t a deep dive into the specs, nor is it an arduous attempt to stress test the camera performance, battery stamina, or performance ceiling. Because I can’t be bothered with any of those things. This is just a 45-year-old dad using a phone in the most regular of ways and telling you how it fared.

Oh, and I do need to address the elephant in the room.

But, first…

Design… and those colours

This year, the flagship Pixel phones come in Obsidian (which is all-matte for the first time), Olive (my personal favourite), Fog, and Canyon. I was sent the latter to review.

It wouldn’t be my first choice were I to buy this phone. Canyon is best described as a subtle, muted pink. It’s rather lovely and is made strikingly jewellery-like with the combination of the rose gold polished aluminium sides and camera surround.

It looks like an expensive phone. That’s important, given that the Pro XL has gone from £1,199 to £1,279 in the UK, and $1,199 to $1,299 in the US. The good news is that it will, at least, look exceedingly pretty and stand out in a crowded coffee shop. Canyon has grown on me, actually, over the last few days and neatly illustrates what I was saying last week about Google’s choice of colour; it’s inspired and will hit just the right mark with the right buyer.

As for the design, it’s basically the same as last year, save for a slightly less protruding camera bump. There’s also Gorilla Glass Victus 2 glass on the front, which Google says is twice as scratch-resistant.

I’ve long been a fan of the Google Pixel design; it’s one of the most distinctive and instantly recognisable among a sea of very similar-looking phones. It doesn’t need to change each year considerably. It has earned its place.

The one thing that does still annoy me is the power button placement. Google still positions it above the volume rocker, which is the opposite arrangement to that of virtually every other Android smartphone. It catches me out every time.

What’s new?

It’s not just about new colours, obviously. Google has given us a small but considered number of new features this year, and a lot of them are specific to the Pro and Pro XL.

Let’s start with HiLight. Google has taken the flashlight within the camera housing and turned it into a notification beacon (it’s still a flashlight and camera flash, don’t worry). The idea is that you place your Pixel 11 Pro XL face down and allow HiLight to only inform you when something important happens.

We’ve seen this before from Nothing, but Google’s implementation is much simpler. It’s also rather limited. At the time of writing, HiLight only works for calls (both regular and via WhatsApp) and Gemini. Head into Contacts, and you can now assign specific people a HiLight colour (one of five) so that when they call, that little light pulses away. Similarly, if you speak to Gemini with the phone face-down on the table, you’ll know it’s listening and doing stuff because HiLight will show you so. You get the idea.

I’m all for being encouraged to use my phone less. But HiLight feels like the most first of first versions. In the next version (which I’m sure we’ll see via software update), I want to see it work for messages, but, more importantly, on a per-app notification basis.

Nothing has done something similar with notification LEDs – we took a close look in our Nothing Phone (4a) review if you want to compare.

The cameras on Google’s flagship have had a spruce-up, too. The 50MP main camera uses a 1/1.3inch sensor, the 48MP telephoto now brings in 30% more light, and the 48MP ultra-wide has autofocus.

I’m a Pixel photography fanboy and have been for many years. I like Google’s approach of leaving the hardware relatively untouched and instead focusing on the processing pipeline. The Pixel 11 Pro XL joins a long line of Google phones that offer fast, accurate, reliable, and immediately-pleasing photography.

We also now have 120x Pro Zoom, which is up from 100x on last year’s models. It relies on AI to fill in the gaps and render the photo usable, and it’s one of the best I’ve used. But it’s still not a focal length I have any need for – or have ever yearned for. As usual, this is more an example of a brand showing off what it can do, which is absolutely fine.

Instant Night Sight offers up to 4.5 times faster capture in low light, and seems to work well – the Pixel, once again, is a wonderful shooter when light fades. Nice that it works on the selfie camera, too.

Then, we have Magic Capture, which is designed to remove the frantic guesswork from trying to grab the perfect photo of fast-moving subjects. You just hit the shutter button once, then again when you’re finished, and the phone offers you what it thinks are the best snaps. I tested it with my dog, Nala, as she ran towards the phone, and it picked two frames that placed her slightly too far away in the frame. Although I should note that the demos I saw during the hands-on event were more impressive. Again, not a feature I’d use personally, but definitely worth trying the next time your kid wants to show you their keepy-up skills.

The battery, while smaller, apparently offers more duration this year, and I can confirm that it is brilliant – particularly on standby. It’s not made from silicon kryptonite, but that doesn’t matter.

I’ve run out of things to say about Android phone battery performance – it peaked long ago. The same goes for performance; the Tensor G6 chip for everyday usage will be speedy enough for most regular users.

The RAM situation

Oh, hello, old friend. Let’s talk about the RAM situation. Again.

Last year, the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL both came with 16GB of RAM, regardless of which storage tier you picked. The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL come with 12GB of RAM on the 256GB versions; you have to plump for the 512GB or 1TB editions to get 16GB of RAM.

They’re more expensive than last year, too, which means Google is essentially giving us less yet charging more for it if you go for the base model. One caveat here is that the base model 11 Pro has had its storage doubled, which offsets some of that increase. Kinda.

I completely understand the complaints surrounding this. Paying more for something and getting less for it compared to what you could have got last year is frustrating and unfair. However, to add some balance (and reassurance), you’re unlikely to notice any difference between the two generations on the base model. And Google has done this, they say, because of the current RAM crisis and the lack of chips (they’ve all been swallowed up by AI companies, you see).

Yes, Google is one of those AI companies. And, yes, people like yours truly (and possibly yourself) are complicit in this too, because we’re using the AI services that are demanding all of that memory.

But we are where we are. I deeply hope the current situation rights itself and component costs come down. That feels unlikely, unfortunately, but one can hope.

Wondering how the Pixel 11 Pro XL stacks up against last year’s model? Our Google Pixel 10 review is a good place to start.

Have smartphones peaked?

Yes. That happened around two years ago.

If you’re spending between £400 – £1,300 on a smartphone these days, you’re going to be absolutely delighted with your purchase. The design, build quality, display, camera, and performance will last you well past your next upgrade.

This doesn’t excuse sloppy, boring, and lazy new series updates on behalf of the manufacturers, but it does neatly illustrate the challenges they face.

It’s a challenge summed up by a recent viewer on my YouTube channel, who pointed out that his three-year-old Samsung S24 Ultra “still absolutely crushes the newest Pixel in performance”. He can’t have been referring to the Pixel 11, because there’s no way he’d have access to test it, but the point is: three-year-old phones are still biblically capable. I agree.

So, why would you buy something newer?

Google appears to be acutely aware of this. It’s why the Pixel 11 series isn’t a colossal upgrade. It’s why they’ve focused on small (literally) feature additions and tweaks to existing stuff. What else are they going to do? For anyone upgrading to the Pixel 11 Pro XL from an earlier version, the overall package will be far more impressive; the new stuff is the icing on the cake.

That’s why new colours matter. And it’s why the Pixel 11 lineup is probably going to sell rather well.

Conclusion

The Pixel 11 Pro XL is one of the best flagship smartphones available today. For regular users, it is absolutely on par with the best of what Apple, Samsung, and OPPO offer.

If you’re after a flagship with a great design, build quality, camera performance, display, and operating system experience (not to mention AI gubbins, at which Google remains one of the best), it’s hard not to recommend the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL.

Or, save yourself some money and grab the Pixel 10, which will be an absolute bargain now. The choice is yours.