{"slug": "pixel-11-hands-on-better-but-no-longer-a-bargain-at-899-video", "title": "Pixel 11 hands-on: Better, but no longer a bargain at $899 [Video]", "summary": "Google's Pixel 11, the entry-level flagship for 2026-2027, starts at $899, a price increase from previous models, and features a glass camera bar and new colors like Pistachio and Hibiscus, but lacks the HiLight glowing LED and display brightness upgrade. The device retains the design introduced with the Pixel 9 series and offers over 30 hours of battery life with a 4,985 mAh cell.", "body_md": "After three runs, the Pixel 11 [comes in hot as Google’s vision](https://9to5google.com/2026/08/12/pixel-11-launches/) of the perfect base Android phone for the next year. Just how is it? Find out here.\n\nAs the entry-level model in Google’s lineup for 2026 and 2027, the company has seen fit to make some changes to the formula that has been iterated on since the introduction of the Pixel 9 in 2024. The Pixel 11 is Google’s new baseline flagship device, backed by Google’s advanced Gemini Intelligence suite at a [lesser $899 starting price tag](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11%3Fhl%3Den-US&sid=damienwilde%3AI7HX0V).\n\n## Table of contents\n\n[For more video content, subscribe to 9to5Google on YouTube.](https://bit.ly/9to5G)\n\n## All quiet on the design front\n\nThe more things change, the more they stay the same as the saying goes and I can’t help but feel this nails the Pixel 11 more so than anything else.\n\nJust like [last year with the Pixel 10](https://9to5google.com/2025/08/27/google-pixel-10-initial-review-constrained-concise-costly-upgrades-video/), you could easily be forgiven if you failed to spot anything noticeably “new” on the Pixel 11. Aside from the return to a glass camera bar, which does look a lot better in my opinion, the new colors are the standout design change on Google’s entry for late-2026.\n\nPre-release renders are never truly representative of the real product, but with a Pixel phone, that seems to be way more apparent or pronounced. I implore you to go and at least seek out a physical representation of these devices, as I had initially balked at some of the color options, only to be pleasantly surprised in person.\n\nThe Pistachio colorway is one such example. I did not like this when I first saw the renders. Having held it and seen it up close, it has grown on me drastically. The “Hibiscus,” or pink to the normies, is undoubtedly the most vibrant color this year and exudes so much Barbie pink energy that it simply demands you pay attention to it.\n\nI’m a little annoyed that we still haven’t had a decent Porcelain follow-up. Sure, the “Frost” option is close, but its light blue-gray hues are just not quite as inviting. Obsidian, well, that’s just another utilitarian classic.\n\nUntil someone pointed it out, I hadn’t even noticed the return of an all-glass camera bar. It’s a sleek visual change, but I didn’t hate the metal frame. I’m unsure how this will affect durability. It looks even more like a visor than ever before – and I mean that in a good way.\n\nSadly, the HiLight glowing LED is not available on the base model. It’s locked to the Pro models, which is a little bit of a disappointment given the price increase and lack of major changes elsewhere.\n\nEverything else feels identical to last year. Same shape, same weight, same hand feel. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” goes the saying.\n\nOne thing that disappointed me a little bit was the lack of display brightness increase; it feels like that, without changing this, Google could have prioritized smaller bezels. I think that might go a long way further, given that the max brightness has not changed from 3000 nits.\n\nPersonally, I would say that readability outdoors hasn’t been much of a complaint for a few years now, so it feels like a weird place to omit upgrades when the display edges could be shaved. Maybe I’m in the wrong or out of touch, and bezels just aren’t a concern for most people anymore. It still feels like an easy win that was missed.\n\nI mentioned that this omission feels more prominent as Google has nipped and tucked over time, and the Pixel 11 represents what we believe to be the final iteration of the design introduced with the Pixel 9 series. Save some nitpicks, I simply cannot fault it. The device looks similar, but it still stands out.\n\nThe Pixel 11 claims over 30 hours of battery life with Adaptive Battery. The physical cell sits at a typical 4,985 mAh capacity with fast charging. According to Google, the Pixel 11 can reach 55% in just 30 minutes. This is aided by Google’s 45W USB-C charger, which is sold separately, but remains at 30W even with the higher-rated power brick. Pixelsnap also offers Qi2 speeds at up to 15W.\n\nWhat sets the Pixel 11 apart from the previous generation, though, is “Extreme Charging Mode.” This is an interesting new function that you can enable to reduce background activity and processes on your phone to potentially speed up the charging process. It only works when your battery dips below 50%, and tops up faster to 55% on Pixel 11 and 11 Pro before stopping. I’m not sure why that figure was chosen, because it’s capped at 75% on the Pixel 11 Pro XL. That said, it’s a novel way to try and top up your phone extra quickly, but I’m not really convinced it will be all that useful. It feels like turning on Airplane mode would do the same thing.\n\nHaving spent little time to ascertain any potential Tensor G6 efficiency gains, I’m quite surprised at these fairly modest lifespan figures. We’re not seeing massive performance gains year over year. The Pixel 11 ran identically to the Pixel 10 over the course of a couple of hours, and I was unable to fully try and push it to its limits with any high-end applications or services.\n\nI’m not entirely convinced that anyone even remotely interested in this phone is worried too much about the benchmarks. There’s no doubt in my mind, it’ll be fine for most people. Don’t read that as a pass for the Tensor G6 processor. I want to see it at least start to get within 20% of the best Snapdragon chips. That said, we simply don’t know at this early stage.\n\n## No go for all Pro phone features\n\nI’m not sure if Google has somewhat painted itself into a corner with the Pixel 11. Ostensibly, this should be the entry into all of the features that the company wants to push as groundbreaking or game-changing.\n\nAt least the company hasn’t touched the RAM, as this is still set at 12GB. The biggest bonus is the ditching of 128GB storage. The new 256GB base tier is just a more comfortable volume for photos, videos, apps, and files you’ll accrue while using your phone today and into the future. It’s a solid longevity play and something that the company could have easily tried to avoid due to the various storage and memory costs ballooning as of late.\n\nThe issue, though, is that some of the best things have to be saved for the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL. What appears to be happening with each passing year is a dulling of the feature set. On Pixel 11, this is most prominent with the camera stack.\n\nThere is no HiLight tucked tidily into the camera flash. So, no, you won’t be getting that nice but completely unnecessary function.\n\nThankfully, we get a return to form with a bigger, better 48MP main sensor, 13MP ultrawide, and 10.8MP 5x telephoto. Ditching the A-series main sensor reduces any sour taste left behind from thoroughly downgrading the camera on the Pixel 10 last year.\n\nA big deal was made of the “Creator Suite,” but some of this is missing on the Pixel 11. Teleprompter, audio visualizer, and Google Photos-powered storyboards are here. As is “Camera looks,” which can emulate filters but are applied in real-time within the viewfinder and allows for tuning if you want something truly unique. Whether they look good after processing and whatnot remains to be seen. I like that Google has taken some outside ideas on board for the first time in a while. This isn’t just an AI fad feature either. It feels human in the right ways.\n\nVideo Boost still isn’t available on the Pixel 11, even though it requires a cloud connection to process on the Pro phones. Nor is the new Pro Stable video available, but that makes a little more sense.\n\nWhile I didn’t get as much time to test out some of the Gemini Intelligence features, those are all present and correct. Rambler works very well within Gboard; it builds heavily on the already exceptional voice dictation on Pixel phones, but I love that I can be flexible with the way I speak now. Vocal ticks be damned, I can talk to my phone like I would any of my friends, and it’ll still work nicely.\n\nI feel that maybe by integrating more Gemini functions, Google can close some of the increasing gap without allowing it to become a feature-set chasm.\n\nI can’t say I noticed any performance gains anywhere, at least during this brief period of testing. It felt identical to the Pixel 10 or Pixel 10 Pro, which I’m not sure is a bad thing or a good thing. Things loaded fast, and Android 17 is super smooth. We’ll put it through its paces when we have devices in hand in the coming weeks, though.\n\n## Initial thoughts\n\nHaving spent just under an hour playing around with the Pixel 11, I’m convinced that Google feels less strongly about the base model with the emergence of the A-series.\n\nThere are some good changes. Increased storage is welcome, and a return to a decent camera system is also great to see. I wasn’t so keen on a couple of the colors until I saw them in person, and they started to grow on me – in particular, the Pistachio model.\n\nI have a nagging feeling about some of the omissions. HiLight not being here makes sense, but still stings. Certain AI-powered camera features not being present also leaves a sour taste. However, it’s the price increase that might cause the most pain for the Pixel 11.\n\nIt has never been, and never will be, [worth almost $900 at retail](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11%3Fhl%3Den-US&sid=damienwilde%3AI7HX0V). You simply do not get enough bang for your buck today when compared to the competition in nearly every global region, and that was never an issue until the past couple of years. I always thought Google made the best outright base model. I can’t say that with any degree of confidence now, even after just a brief time fondling the latest launch devices.\n\nNo doubt I’ll have these preconceptions challenged when I put the Pixel 11 through its paces in the coming weeks, but right now, I’m left wanting something a little more “Pro” at this price point, [and at $899](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11%3Fhl%3Den-US&sid=damienwilde%3AI7HX0V), it’s almost impossible to hide some of the growing flaws given that an [inevitable Pixel 11a](https://9to5google.com/guides/google-pixel-11a/) will do almost all the same things at a much more palatable entry price.\n\n**Pixel 11:**[Google Store](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11%3Fhl%3Den-US&sid=damienwilde%3AI7HX0V)|[Amazon](https://amzn.to/3UtFVqB)|[Best Buy](https://bestbuy.7tiv.net/c/126147/1929241/10014?sharedid=damienwilde&subId1=damienwilde&subId2=0M4UZF&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fproduct%2Fgoogle-pixel-11-256gb-unlocked-frost%2FJ39TC82XV5)**Pixel 11 Pro:**[Google Store](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11_pro&sid=damienwilde%3AL2GGDW)|[Amazon](https://amzn.to/4fUOxPt)|[Best Buy](https://bestbuy.7tiv.net/c/126147/1929241/10014?sharedid=damienwilde&subId1=damienwilde&subId2=SCWF9O&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fproduct%2Fgoogle-pixel-11-pro-256gb-unlocked-canyon%2FJ39TC828SC)**Pixel 11 Pro XL:**[Google Store](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11_pro&sid=damienwilde%3AL2GGDW)|[Amazon](https://amzn.to/4g6oDqG)|[Best Buy](https://bestbuy.7tiv.net/c/126147/1929241/10014?sharedid=damienwilde&subId1=damienwilde&subId2=K6Q9PH&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fproduct%2Fgoogle-pixel-11-pro-xl-512gb-unlocked-canyon%2FJ39TC82L9G%2Fsku%2F6684517)**Pixel 11 Pro Fold:**[Google Store](https://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5527864-15751464?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.google.com%2Fconfig%2Fpixel_11_pro_fold%3Fhl%3Den-US&sid=damienwilde%3AZWT8Q3)|[Amazon](https://amzn.to/4wooSDQ)|[Best Buy](https://bestbuy.7tiv.net/c/126147/1929241/10014?sharedid=damienwilde&subId1=damienwilde&subId2=9JZ23M&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fproduct%2Fgoogle-pixel-11-pro-fold-512gb-unlocked-olive%2FJ39TC8XCPV%2Fsku%2F6684610)\n\n## More on Pixel 11:\n\n[Pixel 11 Pro launches with the best of Google’s Gemini Intelligence starting at $1,099 [Hands-on]](https://9to5google.com/?p=725011)[The Pixel Watch 5 isn’t much at a glance, until you get to ‘At a Glance’ [Hands-on]](https://9to5google.com/?p=724406)[Google announces $29 Pixel Tag coming in November with UWB [Hands-on]](https://9to5google.com/?p=724433)[Pixel 11 Pro Fold is $1,899 and Google says the back is ‘nearly impossible to crack’ [Hands-on]](https://9to5google.com/?p=725040)\n\n*FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.* [More.](https://9to5mac.com/about/#affiliate)\n\n[our homepage](http://9to5google.com/)for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on\n\n[exclusive stories](https://9to5google.com/feature/exclusive/),\n\n[reviews](https://9to5google.com/guides/reviews/),\n\n[how-tos](https://9to5google.com/guides/how-to/), and\n\n[subscribe to our YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/9to5google)", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pixel-11-hands-on-better-but-no-longer-a-bargain-at-899-video", "canonical_source": "https://9to5google.com/2026/08/12/pixel-11-hands-on/", "published_at": "2026-08-12 14:01:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-12 14:25:23.065789+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-products"], "entities": ["Google", "Pixel 11", "Pixel 10", "Pixel 9", "Gemini Intelligence", "9to5Google"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pixel-11-hands-on-better-but-no-longer-a-bargain-at-899-video", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pixel-11-hands-on-better-but-no-longer-a-bargain-at-899-video.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pixel-11-hands-on-better-but-no-longer-a-bargain-at-899-video.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/pixel-11-hands-on-better-but-no-longer-a-bargain-at-899-video.jsonld"}}