Google Pixel 11 Review: Minor Upgrade
The Google Pixel 11 is a minor upgrade over the previous year's model, with a slightly better chipset and camera, faster wireless charging, and a fresh batch of AI features. However, it's not a significant improvement, and the base model storage has finally jumped up to a…
Intelligence analysis by Llama
The Google Pixel 11 is a solid smartphone with a great camera, strong battery life, and slick contextual AI features. However, it's only a minor upgrade over the previous year's model, and the base model storage has increased to 256 GB, but the starting price is $100 more than the 10.
Imagine you have a really good camera on your phone that can take great pictures. The Google Pixel 11 is a new phone that has a slightly better camera and some new features, but it's not a huge improvement over the previous year's model. It's still a great phone, but you might not need to upgrade if you already have a good phone.
Analysis
Design and Display
The Google Pixel 11 has a slightly refined design, with a thinner and all-glass pill-shaped camera bump. The phone sports the same satin finish on the recycled aluminum frame and gloss finish on the glass back as last year's phone, but with some fun new colors. 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. However, it's a shame Google didn't upgrade to a variable refresh rate (1 to 120 Hz) since it can save battery life.
Performance and Battery Life
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. However, dedicated gamers should still look elsewhere, as the phone struggled with demanding games like Wuthering Waves. The 4,985-mAh battery is a disappointing 15-mAh jump over the Pixel 10, but Google claims battery life has improved 25 percent from 24 hours to 30 hours.
Camera and Features
The Pixel 11 has a slightly better camera, with faster wireless charging and a fresh batch of AI features. However, the camera 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.
Key points
- The Google Pixel 11 has a slightly refined design with a thinner and all-glass pill-shaped camera bump.
- The phone sports the same satin finish on the recycled aluminum frame and gloss finish on the glass back as last year's phone, but with some fun new colors.
- 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.
- 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.
The Google Pixel 11 is a solid smartphone with a great camera and strong battery life. If you're in the market for a new phone, the Pixel 11 should be in the conversation. However, if you're looking for a justification to upgrade from last year's Pixel 10, you won't find it here.
The Google Pixel 11 is a minor upgrade over the previous year's model, and the increased price may be a deterrent for some users. Additionally, the camera still doesn't work in the dark, and US buyers will have to do without a SIM slot.
