Google launched the Pixel 11, the company’s latest flagship Pixel phone recently as the successor to the Pixel 10. This has a familiar design, comes with a new Tensor G6 SoC, and has an upgraded main camera. Is this a good successor to the Pixel 10? Let us dive into the review to find out.
Box Contents
- Pixel 11 12GB +256GB in Obsidian colour
- USB-C to USB-C Cable
- Quick Start Guide
- SIM Ejector Tool
Display, Hardware and Design
Starting with the display, the Pixel 11 has a 6.3-inch Full HD+ OLED display with a pixel resolution of 2424 x 1080 pixels, a 20:9 aspect ratio, and a pixel density of about 422 PPI, similar to the Pixel 10. The display is bright, since it has up to 2000 nits brightness for HDR and up to 3000 nits peak brightness, similar to the predecessor. Outdoor visibility is just brilliant. Google is calling it Actua Display.
The phone has a 120Hz refresh rate display like the Pixel 9 and the Pixel 10 which is not an LTPO panel that is available in the Pro models. The UI is smooth to use. It also has HDR 10+ support, which works for YouTube and Netflix.
Under the display options, there are different options to adjust colours based on your preference. There is also a night light option that lets you reduce the display’s blue light emission, so it doesn’t cause eye strain when you are reading at night. There is Dark mode and an always-on display option for the lock screen, but it doesn’t offer a lot of customization. It doesn’t have MEMC or DC Dimming option. The phone comes with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection, unchanged from the older models.
There is a centre punch-hole display that houses a familiar 10.5MP front camera with 95° FoV that supports 4K 60 fps video recording and HDR at 4K 30 fps. Since this is small, it doesn’t disturb when watching videos. The earpiece on the top doubles up as the secondary speaker. The front camera also works for face unlock.
You can notice a small bezel below the display, which is uniform as the bezels from the sides and the top.
The phone has a satin metal finish on the side, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints. You can see the antenna bands around the phone. The power button and volume rockers are present on the right side. The SIM slot is to the top along with the secondary microphone. The USB Type-C port, microphone, and speaker grill are present on the bottom.
It has a glass back with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection, so it doesn’t get scratched, but the polished glass back attracts fingerprints and might be slippery for some.
The phone has a refreshed design centered around an edge-to-edge glass camera bar. The camera bar’s thickness has been reduced by 40%, creating a flush appearance when paired with official Made by Google cases and preventing device wobble on flat surfaces.
The phone is 8.6 mm thick, the same as the Pixel 10. It weighs 197 grams, making it 7 grams lighter, since it has a slightly bigger 4985mAh battery compared to, 4970mAh in the Pixel 10.
In addition to the Obsidian, the phone also comes in Pistachio, Hibiscus, and Frost colours. The phone has IP68 ratings for dust and water resistance.
Camera
- 48MP main camera with 1/1.56″ sensor, f/1.7 aperture, OIS, LDAF, macro option
- 13MP 120° Ultra-wide camera with 1/3.1″ sensor, ƒ/2.2 aperture
- 10.8MP 5x telephoto camera with 1/3.2″sensor, ƒ/3.1 aperture
- 10.5MP 95° front camera with 1/3″sensor, f/2.2 aperture
The camera UI is simple with options for night sight, portrait, camera, video, panorama, Google Lens, Magic Capture, Astrophotography, Top Shot, Magic Eraser, Real Tone, Face Unblur, and Long Exposure mode. There is also Action Pan. Other features include Camera Coach, Auto Best Take and more.
There is no expert or pro mode for Pixel 10 since the Pro model is only getting it, but there is a RAW option, which you can enable from the advanced settings.
The new 48MP main camera has 56% increased light sensitivity, an f/1.7 aperture, and OIS, so the daylight shots came out well with a brilliant dynamic range. After pixel binning, you get 12MP output from the main camera. For ultra-wide, the 13 MP does a good job. It has a macro option with a main camera instead of an ultra-wide since the ultra-wide is fixed focus camera. The Pixel 11 gets a 5x telephoto camera which is better than the Pixel 10, thanks to the better sensor. It has an extended digital range up to 30x, up from 20x via Tensor G6. However, beyond 5x, it uses AI to enhance the image.
Edge detection is good in portrait. Lowlight camera performance is also good, and the night sight helps in places where there is minimal light. The 10MP front camera is good as well. Check out the camera samples.
It has 4K 60 fps recording from both the front and rear cameras. There is 120fps 1080p slow motion recording.
Software, UI and Apps
It runs Android 17 out of the box. The company has promised 7 Android OS updates, feature drops, and security patches to match the other Pixel models. You don’t get any bloatware.
The improved data transfer process from older devices is good, and it can transfer eSIMs, messages, saved passwords, and app data for supported apps. Wi-Fi and mobile data quick toggles are now separate, and it also has a frosted-glass effect in several places such a volume and power menus.
I am a fan of the new Rambler voice typing feature in the Gboard, currently exclusive to the Pixel 11 series.
It:
- Removes filler words and repetitions
- Converts natural speech into clean messages
- Supports multilingual input in a single message
- Switches between languages such as English and Hindi
- Processes audio in real time without storing it
Screen Reaction can record the screen and your face through the selfie camera. It still has Magic Cue, Pixel Screenshot, Pixel Journal, and other features.
The Pixel 11 has 12GB LPDDR5X of RAM. You get 11.37GB of usable RAM, and about 4GB of RAM is free when default apps are running in the background since AI reserves 3GB of RAM. It doesn’t have memory extension or virtual RAM. Out of 256GB UFS 4.0 storage, you get about 224GB of free storage. The 512GB configuration includes Zoned UFS 4.0 to improve read/write efficiency and extend memory chip lifespan.
Fingerprint sensor and Face unlock
The phone has an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner from Qualcomm, which is faster and accurate compared to the optical fingerprint scanner. There is also face unlock option, which is more secure for payments, says Google.
Music Player and Multimedia
YouTube Music is the default music player. It doesn’t have Dolby Atmos or any other custom audio features. Audio through the stereo speakers is clear and loud, and there is no distortion even at full volume. Audio through the headphones is good as well. Haptic feedback is top-notch as usual.
The phone has Widevine L1 so that you can play HD content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and other streaming apps. You also get HDR playback on Netflix, in addition to YouTube.
SIM and Connectivity
The Pixel 11 has a single physical SIM and an eSIM support, so you can use it as a dual SIM phone. The phone has the usual set of connectivity features such as 5G with support for 1/2/3/5/7/8/12/13/14/20/25/26/28/30/38/40/41/66/71/75/77/78/79 bands, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 6E 802.11ax with 2.4GHz+5GHz+6GHz, 2×2+2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 6 with antenna diversity for enhanced quality and connection, Dual-Band GNSS GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS, NavIC and NFC support.
It also has USB OTG support via USB Type-C 3.2. We did not face any call drops and the earpiece volume is good, even though it is present on the top edge. I didn’t have any 5G or 4G connectivity drops. This uses MediaTek M90 modem, compared to Exynos 5400 in the Pixel 10. I got 5G in a lot of places on Airtel 5G NSA network compared to the Pixel 10.
The Pixel 11’s body SAR is 0.99W/Kg and head SAR is at 0.99/Kg which is almost similar to the Pixel 10, and is well under the limit in India, which is 1.6 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
The Pixel 11 is powered by the new Google Tensor G6 SoC, an upgrade from the Tensor G5 in the Pixel 11 series. It has 1x C1-Ultra Prime Core at 4.11GHz; 4x C1-Pro Performance Cores @ 3.38GHz; and 2x C1-Pro Efficiency Cores @ 2.65GHz with PowerVR CXTP-48-1536 GPU and also has a new Titan M3 security chip. The company uses TSMC 3nm process tech.
The performance is smooth without any lags like any other Pixel phones. When you play graphic-intensive games like COD, BGMI and Genshin Impact, or use the camera for a long time for recording videos, it gets hot since it doesn’t have VC cooling.
In 3D Mark wild life stress test, it scored 78.2% which is way better than the Pixel 10. The temperature increased from 25 to 45 degrees, which is similar to the Pixel 10, since it doesn’t have an efficient cooling solution like the Pro models. That said, check out some synthetic benchmark scores below.
Battery life
Coming to the battery life, the phone packs a 4985mAh (typical) built-in battery, almost similar to the 4970mAh in the Pixel 10. I got more than a day of use on a single charge in 120Hz, and got close to 6 hours of screen on time once, mostly on Wi-Fi. With heavy use, it will last for a day for sure.
The phone has 30W PD fast charging, which charges at a maximum of 29W, according to Google. It takes around 25 minutes to charge to 50% and around 1 hour and 20 minutes for a full charge, which is less than the Pixel 10. The new extreme charging feature offers faster charges when the charge is below 50%, but to manage the heat, it temporarily pauses background activity like app updates for faster charges, says the company. This is useful for quick topups.
The Pixel 11 gets 25W Qi2.2 Pixelsnap wireless charging faster than the 15W Qi2 in the Pixel 10. It still uses magnetic technology that lets you effortlessly snap wireless chargers, stands, grips, and other accessories.
Conclusion
At Rs. 89,999, the Google Pixel 11 brings meaningful refinements over its predecessor, led by the upgraded Tensor G6 processor, a noticeably slimmer flush camera bar design, and a far more capable telephoto camera setup that now stretches up to 30x digital zoom. The inclusion of 25W Qi2.2 Pixelsnap wireless charging, faster wired top-ups, and the MediaTek M90 modem notably irons out the thermal efficiency and connectivity quirks seen on older generations.
However, leaving out an LTPO panel on a standard flagship nearing the 90K mark feels like an unnecessary compromise, especially when rivals offer variable refresh rates across their entire lineup. Sustained thermal throttling during heavy gaming also reminds you that this phone is built for everyday fluidity and AI-driven photography rather than extended mobile esports sessions.
If you are upgrading from a Pixel 9 or older device and want a balanced, compact flagship backed by a clean Android 17 experience and unmatched software support, the Pixel 11 is a rock-solid, future-proof daily driver. But if raw graphical performance or high-refresh efficiency is your priority, looking at compact competitors or snagging a discounted Pixel 10 remains worth considering.
Alternatives
Samsung Galaxy S26 is a good compact phone alternative. Google’s own Pixel 10 is being sold at a cheaper rate during sale, if you are fine with the older SoC.
Pricing and availability
The Google Pixel 11 is priced at Rs. 89,999 for the 256GB model in India which is Rs. 10,000 more than the Pixel 10, and there is also a 512GB model priced at Rs. 1,04,999. You can get it from from Flipkart, Google India online store, and offline stores across the country.
Pros
- Brilliant display
- Versatile triple-camera system
- Smooth performance
- Good build quality, IP68 ratings
- Promise of 7 years of OS updates
Cons
- Still no LTPO panel
- Average gaming performance compared to competitors
- Launch price is bit steep