Google's New Pixel 11 Phones: What You Need to Know

Google announced its new Pixel 11 smartphones on August 12, 2026, at an event streamed live online. There are three levels of phone to choose from: the regular Pixel 11, the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL (a larger version), and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, which opens like a book to give you a bigger screen. Google also showed off the Pixel Watch 5 and a new product called the Pixel Tag, a small device you can attach to keys or bags to find them if they go missing. That puts Google in direct competition with Apple's AirTag (Android Authority). The Pixel 11 goes on sale August 20, 2026 (The Verge).

The regular Pixel 11 uses Google's new Tensor G6 chip, a processor Google designs itself to power its phones. Google says it makes web browsing 25 percent faster and opens apps 15 percent faster than the previous model. The battery lasts over 30 hours, and it charges wirelessly 25 percent faster than the Pixel 10. The camera bump on the back is more than 40 percent thinner than before. The main camera is 48 megapixels and lets in 56 percent more light, which should mean better photos in dim conditions. There is also a 13MP ultra-wide lens for capturing more of a scene, a 10.8MP telephoto lens that can zoom in up to 30 times, and a 10.5MP front-facing camera for selfies. The Pixel 11 starts at $899, which is $100 more than last year's model. It comes with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. You can get it in lilac-like frost, hibiscus pink, pistachio green, or obsidian black.

The Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL have brighter screens, reaching up to 3,600 nits. (A nit is a unit of brightness; most high-end phones top out around 2,000 to 2,500 nits, so this is noticeably brighter.) They use the same Tensor G6 chip. The cameras get a big upgrade: a 50MP wide lens, a 48MP telephoto that can zoom up to 120 times, a 48MP ultra-wide, and a 42MP selfie camera. Battery life is rated at over 30 hours, with wireless charging that is about 29 percent faster than the previous Pro models. Both Pro phones include a new feature called HiLight — a small light built into the camera bar on the back that glows when Google's AI assistant, Gemini, is active or when you get a call from someone you've marked as a favorite contact. The Pro starts at $1,099 and the Pro XL at $1,299, both with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. If you choose 512GB or 1TB of storage, you also get more RAM — 16GB. The Pro and Pro XL come in canyon, fog, olive, and matte obsidian.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold costs $1,899, which is $100 more than the previous foldable model. It comes with 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, in olive or black. Google says it is three times as durable as the older Fold and has an IP68 rating, meaning it can handle being submerged in water and is protected from dust. The borders around the screens are the thinnest ever on a Pixel Fold. Both screens are 20 percent brighter than before, with the inner screen reaching 3,600 nits. It runs on the Tensor G6 chip and the battery lasts up to 24 hours. Its cameras include a 48MP wide, a 10.5MP ultra-wide, and a 10.8MP telephoto with zoom up to 30 times.

Across all the new phones, Google added new photo and video features, though it did not share many details at the event. A separate update in June brought additional creative tools and Gemini upgrades, including a screen recording feature, the ability to create short videos from text descriptions using a tool called Gemini Omni, and better multitasking on Pixel devices (blog.google).

The price increases are worth paying attention to. Google raised the cost $100 on both the regular Pixel 11 and the Pro Fold, bringing its prices closer to what Samsung and Apple charge for their top phones. The $899 starting price for the Pixel 11 does come with 256GB of storage, which is more than last year's base model offered, so you are getting more storage for the higher price. Whether the faster chip and better cameras are worth the extra money is something buyers will decide once the phones are available.

The HiLight feature on the Pro models, while small, points to a bigger direction for Google. By building a dedicated light into the phone's hardware to show when its AI assistant is working, Google seems to be making Gemini a core part of the phone's physical design rather than just software on the screen. The Pixel Tag, meanwhile, puts Google into a new product category. How well it does will depend a lot on whether it can compete with Apple's AirTag, which already has a large head start in the number of people using it.

The bigger picture from this event is that Google is becoming a more complete hardware company. A phone lineup from $899 to $1,899, a new watch, a lost-item tracker, and AI built throughout all of it add up to a company that now makes a full range of consumer devices — something that was harder to say even a couple of phone generations ago. The fact that all three phones share the same Tensor G6 chip gives the lineup a consistency that Google has been working toward since it started making its own processors.