Review: Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL
Google’s new voice typing is pure magic, but subpar gaming performance and a pointless rear LED keep these flagships from true greatness.
The Rambler Voice-Typing Feature Is Genuinely Impressive
There is one new feature on Google’s Pixel 11 series that, I kid you not, made my jaw drop. It’s an upgrade to one of my most-used Pixel features: voice typing.
I’m a swipe typer, gliding my finger across letters to form words instead of tapping each key. But I also lean heavily on voice typing. Google’s Pixel phones are by far the best at it — more accurate at understanding my words than iPhones or Samsungs, and better at sprinkling punctuation in the right places.
With the Pixel 11 devices, there’s a new feature called Rambler — an upgraded, AI-powered voice-typing tool that’s smarter than anything you’ve likely used before. Tap the microphone button on Gboard and start talking. The Pixel strips away the “ums” and “uhs,” and if you make a mistake and restate something, it won’t include the corrected bit in your message — it keeps only the parts it believes you actually want to send. You can also ask it to add bullet points or an emoji to format your message, all in the same breath.
The accuracy of the voice typing is astonishing, especially as it smooths out mistakes, pauses, and vocal fillers. But what really made my eyes widen was speaking in my mother tongue, Malayalam. Rambler did a surprisingly great job of romanizing my words into English — a skill I rarely use with my family because I can’t read or write the language. It’s something I’ve never been able to do with a smartphone’s voice typing before. To top it off, I asked it to translate the transcribed sentence into Malayalam, and it did. I fired off the messages to my mother, and she replied, “Perfect.” High praise indeed.
These are the kinds of features that make a Pixel phone feel joyful to use: smart, practical, everyday capabilities that genuinely improve your day. Call Screen is another — a feature Google pioneered that filters spam calls and robocalls and is now a staple on competing devices. Google Recorder is one more I use daily, turning what was once a basic recording app into a powerful on-device transcription service.
Rambler, exclusive to the entire Pixel 11 lineup, might eventually come to older Pixel devices — Google hasn’t shared details yet. It’s not even limited to the Pro models, which is what I’ve been testing this past week.
Up to Eleven
The Pro Pixels this year aren’t a major leap over their predecessors. Most of the improvements are with the cameras — still a great reason to buy a Pixel — but there are some minor, welcome upgrades too, like a scratch-resistant screen coating, a brighter display, more base storage, and faster charging. I quite like the all-glass camera bar, which looks especially good in the new colors (and, importantly, doesn’t rock on a table).
HiLight is one of the biggest new exclusive features — unavailable on the base Pixel 11 — and I’m sorry to report you’re not missing much. This LED glows when your phone is face down and when you trigger Gemini, so you know the assistant is listening, much like Google’s new smart speaker. It can glow a specific color when someone calls you, letting you stay somewhat connected. But there are only five colors to choose from.
If I have to assign a HiLight color to more than five people in my Contacts app, I’ll have to reuse colors, which renders the feature pointless — it’s baffling there’s no color wheel. While Google says HiLight will support text message notifications in the future, it’s odd that this basic capability isn’t available at launch. I love quirky new features on smartphones, but HiLight is too limited to be useful. Maybe, in a few Pixel generations, it’ll disappear, much like the temperature sensor from three Pixels ago.
For the vast majority of Pixel owners, you won’t run into any performance issues with Google’s new Tensor G6 chip. But for the sliver of people who want to dive into high-end gaming — and why shouldn’t they? These are flagship phones that cost $1,099 and $1,299, respectively — prepare to be disappointed. Casual games like Tennis Clash and Pako Forever ran without a hitch, but demanding titles like Zenless Zone Zero struggled to run smoothly. Worse was Genshin Impact, which gave me a red screen that made it unplayable.
A Google spokesperson tells WIRED: “We’re currently working with our partner HoYoverse to address this optimization issue on the Pixel 11. A fix is expected to be delivered in Genshin Impact’s upcoming update.” In fairness, this graphical issue didn’t occur in any other games I tried, even Zenless Zone Zero, another HoYoverse title.
Pixels have had this kind of suboptimal graphical performance for a long time, and it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore at these ever-rising smartphone prices — especially when these issues don’t exist on its rivals. Will there ever be a Pixel with flagship-grade gaming performance?
Rambler is the breakout software feature for me this year, but Google is also highlighting Gemini Intelligence and “Proactive Help,” where Gemini surfaces useful actions. For example, my friend suggested getting dim sum this weekend, and when I asked when to meet, a bubble popped up in the Messages app letting me quickly check my calendar without leaving the app. Then, after we settled on a time, another bubble popped up asking if I wanted to create the calendar event.
It all worked very smoothly, though Gemini struggled to realize that the restaurant’s name was “Din Sum,” not “Dim Sum.” The bigger issue is that this kind of proactive assistance is largely available only in the Messages app, which, unfortunately, is not my default messaging app. When this becomes a system-wide capability that works in every app, I’ll see its value.
Google has made some overall tweaks throughout the Pixel’s interface that give it a stronger, more cohesive design language. I also want to call out that these are still the only major Android phones with built-in Qi2 magnets — the magnetic accessory system akin to MagSafe on the iPhone. I’m all in on MagSafe accessories, whether that’s my car mount or my phone tripod, so this matters to me.
Speaking of hardware, battery life is quite unimpressive on both Pixel 11 Pro models. (The main difference between the pair is battery life and screen size.) I averaged four hours of screen-on time before the Pixel 11 Pro XL hit 20 percent, and roughly the same on the Pixel 11 Pro. Granted, I was downloading files over cellular, using Google Maps, and taking lots of photos. I think typical users will find it enough for a full day, but power users will definitely want a top-up. Perhaps it’s time for Google to consider denser silicon-carbon battery technology?
Camera Obscura
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Do you really need 120x digital zoom? Say it out loud and it sounds ridiculous, but then you look at the results, and it’s hard not to be impressed. Sure, there are AI-generated pixels (anything past 30x zoom) filling in the gaps, which is a nonstarter for many, but look how far away I am! It’s genuinely a challenge to take photos at that extreme zoom level since the camera gets very shaky. Still, having access to this level of zoom means I’m more comfortable zooming to 30x or 50x, where the results are even better.
The two big hardware changes to the camera system are a new 50-megapixel main sensor and a new 48MP telephoto zoom with 30 percent better light sensitivity. But the Tensor G6 chip is also powering many imaging improvements that should lead to stronger photos overall.
First, I’m happy to report that Google appears to have finally fixed Portrait mode. For too long, the Pixel’s Portrait mode struggled with hair, causing weird artifacts with rogue strands at the edges of a person’s head. It’s not perfect now, but it’s much better at detecting individual strands of hair and figuring out how to blur everything behind them.
Night Sight on these Pro devices is now Instant Night Sight, supposedly up to 4.5 times faster. I think Google might have jumped the gun on Instant, because there’s still a slight delay for people who hit the shutter button, and if you or your subject are moving even a little, shots can still come out slightly blurry. That said, it’s definitely not as long a delay as before, which makes low-light photos a bit more forgiving of small movements.
As someone who loves using the telephoto zoom on smartphone cameras, the 5x camera is fantastic, delivering crisp, detailed images even at night. I took a handful of comparison photos against the iPhone 17 Pro, and I found Google did a better job replicating colors, though it still leans slightly toward cooler tones. The iPhone tended to make everything look warmer than it was in real life.
The best part is that Google finally gives you a bit more control over how your photos look. Camera Looks, tucked away in the camera settings, lets you apply a different visual style. That can even mean deliberately taking a worse photo, maybe with blown highlights or lifted shadows, so your shots aren’t this perfect slice of life but something raw and you. I find myself gravitating toward the Vanilla and Velvet looks the most.
Another feature that makes daily life a little easier — for people who shoot video for a living like me — is Creator Suite. This mode in the Video tab of the camera app adds pro tools, like an audio visualizer, so you know your wireless mic is picking up your voice. But what I really love most is the built-in teleprompter. It understands the cadence of your speech and advances to the next line as you talk. It worked flawlessly in my test run, and I’m excited to use it at the next big event I cover soon.
Finally, there’s Magic Grab. It’s a dedicated mode next to Photo and Video, designed to let you just hold the phone up and let it capture various photos on your behalf. You can even get a 1080p video clip (though you can upgrade it to 4K using Google’s Video Boost technology). The idea is that when you’re singing happy birthday to your child, your face isn’t buried behind a phone; instead, you’re watching the scene in real life while the phone sits beside you capturing the moment.
I didn’t have a specific occasion to use it this past week, but I did hold the phone up while my dog played with other pups at the dog park, and to shoot scenes of volleyball at the park, and it did a pretty solid job capturing shots that would otherwise have required more focus on my part. I just wish Magic Grab could switch lenses itself, because right now that’s something you have to choose manually. This feature seems ripe for Google’s upcoming pair of smart glasses, since you wouldn’t have to hold anything up at all.
All in all, the Pixel 11 Pro models are yet another solid entry that deliver the camera prowess expected of a Pixel plus the software smarts. There are still areas where Google needs to catch up with its competitors, namely graphical performance and battery life — especially at this price.
But it’s also worth noting that you don’t need to spend this much to get a great phone. Google brings many of these smart capabilities down to its more affordable A-series phones, which also still have class-leading cameras and performance for the money, or you can get a very similar experience with the slightly cheaper Pixel 11.
(And by the way, I wrote these last few paragraphs entirely using Rambler.)
