Google Pixel 11 review
Latest Android 17
Given that this is a Pixel device, we expect nothing short of the latest Android OS. The Pixel 11 arrived to us already running Android 17, and it didn't take long for it to receive an OTA, putting it on the September 1 2026 security patch.
Google also promises seven major OS updates and seven years of security patches. That's the longest software support promise on the current Android scene, but it's also matched by Samsung.
Even though the Pixel line remains Google's first-party offering, we would hesitate to call the modern Pixel experience AOSP. It is certainly a clean Android experience, but Google still adds its own touches here and there. Visually, Android 17 itself isn't that different from Android 16. Still, there are a couple of new features that are worth talking about.
For starters, Google is making it much easier to move all of your data from an old phone to a new Pixel running Android 17. The improved transfer process should be particularly useful for users switching over from iOS, as it can now bring across a lot more than just photos and videos. Supported data includes things like eSIMs, messages, saved passwords and even app data where available.
Additionally, Android's Quick Share now plays nicely with Apple's AirDrop on iOS and iPadOS, making cross-platform file transfers much more straightforward.
Home screen • Notification shade • Quick settings
There are a few UI changes in Android 17 as well. For one, the Wi-Fi and Mobile Data quick toggles have finally been separated. The frosted-glass effect used throughout the notification and quick settings panel, as well as the volume and power menus, has also been refined and, well, simply looks better. You can now freely resize the quick toggles horizontally too, making them shorter or longer as you see fit.
Recent apps • Settings • Settings
Rich themes don't appear to be supported just yet, though the UI does say they are coming. For now, the available customization options are limited to applying a consistent color tint across the interface and hiding app labels for a cleaner-looking homescreen.
However, there are still quite a few limitations. You can't get rid of the app drawer and have everything live on the homescreen, nor can you select multiple icons and move them to another homescreen pane in one go. The persistent search bar at the bottom can't be removed either, and there is still no quick way to uninstall an app directly from its homescreen icon. So, Google still has some work to do before its launcher becomes as flexible and user-friendly as we'd like.
Themes and icons
Android 17 can turn pretty much any app into a bubble, essentially giving you a small floating window for easier multitasking. The option appears when you press and hold an app icon. You can have several bubbles open at once, stack them on top of each other and tuck the whole stack away in a corner of the screen for quick access.
App Bubbles
Screen Reaction is another new feature that essentially takes screen recording a step further. It can record both your screen and your face through the selfie camera, letting you capture your reaction to pretty much anything on the screen - videos, photos, reels, shopping, games and whatnot. You can also capture audio from the device and your surroundings, as well as display your screen touches. A handy menu lets you choose exactly which of these elements you want included in the recording.
Screen record with reactions
Then there is Magic Capture, which is built right into the Pixel Camera app. Once you hit the button, the phone starts recording a video while simultaneously capturing multiple stills. It then picks what it considers the best shots, automatically edits them by cropping, straightening and unblurring where necessary and saves the finished photos for you.
Magic Capture
Of course, it wouldn't be a modern Android release without a few AI improvements as well. Google's apps can now "talk" to each other and share relevant information, with Gemini essentially acting as the glue that ties everything together. For instance, Messages can be aware of your Calendar events, while Contacts can pull context from your conversations. This gives Gemini a better understanding of your appointments, plans and overall usage.
In turn, you can ask Gemini to handle more complex tasks, such as creating a Calendar event or booking a table at your favorite restaurant. Gemini Intelligence can also proactively suggest actions based on the available context, somewhat similar to Samsung's Now Nudge. Unfortunately, it seems to be about as unreliable when it comes to actually showing up on its own.
Benchmarks and performance
One of the most significant upgrades the Pixel 11 gets coming from last year's model is the new Google Tensor G6 chipset. It's a nice little bump over the G5, but more evolutionary than revolutionary. Despite early rumors, it is based on the same 3nm manufacturing process and even has one fewer CPU cores than the G5. Totally different cores, though and Google promises better efficiency and a 50% increase in AI computational power.
The new Tensor G6 employs a 7-core CPU. The configuration packs 1x4.1 GHz ARM C1-Ultra cores, 4x3.4 GHz ARM C1-Pro cores and 2x2.65 GHz ARM C1-Pro cores. All seven cores are clocked significantly higher than before, though.
The GPU at hand is the IMG CXTP-48-1536 from Imagination. Formerly known as PowerVR, Imagination's graphics solutions remain something of an underdog in the Android space. Curiously, while the Tensor G5 used a newer Series D GPU, the Tensor G6 takes a step back to the older Series C architecture. That means somewhat weaker support from game developers, and no hardware ray tracing.
In terms of memory, the new Pixel 11 is an upgrade compared to the Pixel 10. The surprising part is that this is happening amid the ongoing chip crisis. The entry-level 128GB UFS 3.1 variant from last year is gone. The Pixel 11 starts at 256GB and can go up to 512GB, both with UFS 4.X class chips. Still no expandable storage, but we didn't really expect it either. Both storage tiers get 12GB of RAM, which seems to be kind of the current "sweet spot" for on-device AI work. 16GB of RAM would have been nice for sure, but Google still reserves that for the Pro model.
GeekBench 6
- Single-core
- Multi-core
iPhone 17 Pro
Galaxy S26
vivo X300 FE
Pixel 11
Pixel 11 Pro
Oppo Reno16 Pro
Oppo Reno16
AnTuTu
- v10
- v11
Xiaomi 17
iPhone 16
Pixel 11 Pro
Pixel 11
iPhone 16e
Pixel 10
Oppo Reno16
3DMark
- Wild Life Extreme (Highest)
- Wild Life Extreme (Lowest)
vivo X300
vivo X300 FE
Pixel 11 Pro
Pixel 11
Pixel 10 Pro XL
Pixel 9 Pro
Oppo Reno16
The new Tensor G6 appears to deliver one of the biggest performance jumps we've seen from a Tensor chipset in quite some time on the CPU side. The new silicon outperforms last year's Tensor G5 by more than 20% in multi-core workloads and by almost 20% in single-core tests. There is a sizeable improvement in combined workloads such as AnTuTu 11 as well.
GPU performance, however, has barely moved. To make matters worse, the new GPU doesn't support ray tracing at the hardware level either.
And despite the sizeable CPU gains this generation, Google's silicon is still well behind competing flagship solutions from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Apple. Their top-tier chipsets are considerably more powerful than the Tensor G6, which isn't particularly easy to overlook when comparing phones that are supposed to be proper flagships.
That being said, the Pixel 11 feels incredibly smooth in everyday use, and Android 17 is consistently snappy and responsive on our 12GB/256GB review unit.
Some early reviews reported graphical glitches and performance issues in certain games, but by the time of writing, almost everything we tried ran without any major issues. That includes Genshin Impact, Arena of Valor, Honkai: Star Rail, Wild Rift, Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, Call of Duty, Diablo Immortal, Asphalt: Legends, PUBG, Rocket League Sideswipe, Roblox and Brawl Stars.
It wasn't all roses and sunshine, though. Fortnite suffered from choppy frame rates at its highest settings, while Delta Force wouldn't let us select anything above Standard graphics quality. Alien: Isolation was an even more extreme case, as it was entirely incompatible with the Tensor G6 and the Play Store wouldn't even let us download it.
Thermal-throttling
Google says that it improved thermal performance this year, but that's just something every manufacturer says. In reality, we found no real improvement since last year. 58% to 68% stability admittedly doesn't look great, but it's far from uncommon for a modern flagship chipset. That said, the Tensor G6 is more akin to the Dimensity 8300 from 2023 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 from 2022 performance-wise, so an argument can be made that it should have thermal behavior more similar to a midranger.
Thermal-throttling
On the upside the phone never gets too uncomfortable to hold, even under unreasonable loads.
