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5 hours ago
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Google’s latest Pro phone is out to prove it has the best camera on a smartphone while embracing customisation, allowing you to change the look and feel of your photos far beyond simple filters even if that means making them technically worse.
The Pixel 11 Pro packs the best of Google’s hardware and software into a still-pocketable and easy to handle frame, instantly making it a contender for best smaller phone of the year.
Being smaller doesn’t make it cheap. The 11 Pro sits above the regular £879 Pixel 11 and costs from £1,079 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,849) – £80 (€100/$100/A$150) more than last year, with double the storage but less memory owing to the cost of RAMageddon.
Little has changed on the outside for the Pro Pixels in several years. The new model is 0.1mm smaller in all directions and 3g lighter but has the same size 6.3in OLED screen, same polished aluminium and glass body and a large camera bar sticking out the back. It is an attractive design that has aged well.
The temperature sensor from previous Pixel Pro generations, which always felt like a gimmick, has been replaced by a coloured HiLight LED that works as a camera flash and notification light. The LED glows when you talk to Gemini or pulses with one of five colours when your favourite contact calls. But it doesn’t work for notifications of any other kind, so is a wasted opportunity.
The 11 Pro has the same Tensor G6 chip as the regular Pixel 11 and has 12 or 16GB of RAM depending on the storage version. It can’t match the raw performance of the top Qualcomm or Apple chips for games but is snappy in day-to-day tasks.
Battery life is just shy of two days with the screen actively used for about seven hours across a mix of wifi and 5G for browsing, messaging apps and photos. This is a bit behind the regular Pixel 11 but should see out even the heaviest of use days with some left in the tank. Most people will need to charge the 11 Pro every other day for general use.
Specifications
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Screen: 6.3in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (495ppi)
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Processor: Google Tensor G6
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RAM: 12 or 16GB
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Storage: 256, 512GB or 1TB
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Operating system: Android 17
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Camera: 50MP + 48MP UW + 48MP 5x tele; 42MP selfie
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Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 6, Thread and GNSS
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Water resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)
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Dimensions: 152.7 x 71.9 x 8.4mm
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Weight: 204g
Quality Android 17 experience and AI
The 11 Pro runs the same Google version of Android 17 as the regular Pixel 11 and will be supported until August 2033 with operating system and security updates, making it one of the longest-lasting devices available.
It’s a polished experience with smooth animations, nice touches of haptic feedback across the system and enough customisation to make it yours. But as with other Pixel devices, the phone is a showcase for Google’s most advanced AI tools that are littered throughout the software.
The 11 Pro comes with six months of Google AI Pro subscription, which gives you access to Gemini Omni to generate surprisingly good eight-second videos, higher AI usage limits, 5TB of cloud storage and Google Health Premium.
But the most interesting tools are the local AI ones, including the new Rambler voice dictation feature in Gboard, which produces fully formed succinct sentences and paragraphs from your ramblings, removing unnecessary pauses, ums, ers and deviations. Gemini’s proactive assistance has also improved with more time-saving suggestions, although it only works in certain apps and not WhatsApp, Signal or other third-party apps.
Camera
The reason you buy a Pixel Pro is for the camera. The 11 Pro has a very good 42-megapixel selfie camera on the front and a similar winning triple camera system on the rear from last year: a 50MP wide, 48MP ultra wide and a 48MP 5x telephoto camera.
All three cameras capture really fantastic photos across a range of lighting conditions with very little effort. The wide and telephoto cameras now capture more light and slightly better detail, but the biggest boost is the new Instant Night Sight. It dramatically speeds up low-light photos by up to 4.5 times, which makes taking great shots in very dark scenes a lot easier.
The 5x telephoto camera manages a very good 10x crop zoom before stretching up to 120x magnification, first with a very good traditional digital zoom to 30x then using local generative AI to go beyond. The camera keeps the regular digital zoom image and the one processed by AI to add back lost detail, which can be remarkable or filled with artefacts.
Magic Capture takes video and photos automatically with just one button for point-and-shoot recording, which works well for events such as a birthday party.
But Camera Looks is the most interesting feature for getting creative with photography. It allows you to modify how the camera processes your photos, starting with subtle changes such as darker shadows and ranging to more distinctive looks such as “minimal”, which reduces the computational photography processing for a more raw photo. Other options include “digi”, which replicates the look of old digital cameras that have become popular, and “velvet”, which mimics the look of some film cameras. Each look can be further customised, allowing great creative licence.
The Pixel shoots great video with lots of stabilisation and processing tools including the new “Creator Suite”, which captures clips straight into a folder for storyboarding and trimming, with a teleprompter, framing for social media and speed enhancement.
Sustainability
The battery is rated to last in excess of 1,000 full-charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity. The phone is repairable by Google, third-party shops or self-repair with manuals and parts available.
The Pixel 11 Pro contains 31% recycled materials by weight. The company breaks down the phone’s environmental impact in its report and will recycle old devices for free.
Price
The Google Pixel 11 Pro costs from £1,079 (€1,199/$1,099/A$1,849) in a choice of four colours.
For comparison, the Pixel 11 costs £879, Pixel 11 Pro XL costs £1,279, Pixel 11 Pro Fold costs from £1,799, the Pixel 10a costs £499, the Samsung Galaxy S26 costs £879, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra costs £1,279 and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro costs £1,099.
Verdict
The Pixel 11 Pro is a refinement of multiple generations of Google’s Pro phones rather than an outright revolution, but that’s no bad thing.
It is one of the very best smaller phones, packing all the top-end hardware, cameras and AI features of Google’s most biggest and expensive model into a slightly cheaper and more pocketable form. You buy a Pro Pixel for the camera, which doesn’t disappoint with arguably the best photography on a phone at the moment.
The ability to customise the processing of your photos goes far beyond rivals for interesting creative potential. The dramatically faster Night Sight is also a significant improvement.
Gemini’s proactive tools show great potential but depend on using the right apps. The supercharged Rambler voice dictation system is fantastic, and there are many other little AI tools that are useful from time to time.
With just shy of two days battery life, a decent chip and quality software, the Pixel 11 Pro is a great pocketable phone. It just isn’t a massive upgrade on the already excellent Pixel 11 or recent Pixel Pro models.
Pros: great camera with extended zoom and extensive customisation, seven years of software updates, excellent screen, impressive dictation and local AI features, Qi2 wireless charging and magnetic accessory support, good battery life, great size, fast fingerprint and face recognition, six months of Google AI Pro included.
Cons: quite expensive, less memory on cheapest model than before, face unlock option not as secure as Face ID, raw performance and battery life short of best-in-class, no physical sim card slot in the US, not a massive upgrade.
