Google Pixel 11 Pro XL review

Pure Android 17

The Pixel 11 Pro XL boots Android 17 out of the box. Google promises 7 major OS upgrades and 7 years of security patches, which is the longest software support you can get on an Android phone, aside from Samsung, of course, which has the same software update policy.

Android 17 itself isn't that different from Android 16. Still, there are a couple of new features that are worth talking about, some of which we didn't see in Samsung's One UI 9.

For starters, Google is making it way easier to transfer all your data from your old phone to your new Android 17-running Pixel. The improved data sync feature is mostly useful to users switching from iOS to Android, though. It can now transfer way more stuff, including not just simple data like pictures and videos, but also eSIMs, messages, saved passwords and app data where available.

Additionally, Android's Quick Share feature now works with Apple's AirDrop feature on iOS and iPad. It's now easier to do cross-platform data transfers.

Transfer content

There are a few UI changes in Android 17 too. For example, the Wi-Fi and Mobile Data quick toggles have finally been separated. The frosted look of the Notification/Toggle center, as well as the volume and power menus, has been enhanced to look, well, better. You can freely resize any of the toggles to make them longer or shorter horizontally.

Android 17

Rich themes don't seem to be supported yet, though the UI says they are coming. The current customization features only allow applying a consistent color tinge across the UI and hiding app labels for a cleaner homescreen look.

However, you still can't get rid of the app launcher and have everything on the homescreen. And you can't select several icons on the homescreen to move en masse to another homescreen pane. There is also no way to remove the persistent search bar at the bottom of the homescreen or quickly uninstall an app from its homescreen icon, so Google still has some way to go to make their launcher more user-friendly.

Hide labels

Android 17 can turn any app into a bubble (floating window). You press and hold on an app icon and the option will reveal itself. You can stack several bubbles on top of each other and keep them in the corner of your screen for easy multitasking.

Bubbles

Screen Reaction is a new feature where your phone records both your screen and your face, so it can capture your reaction to whatever you are reacting to - video, photos, reels, shopping stuff, gaming, etc. Basically, it is an advanced screen capture that allows you to turn the selfie camera on, capture audio from the device and from around you, and even show your touches. There is a neat menu that allows you to choose what exactly you'd like to capture.

Screen Reaction

Then there is Magic Capture, which is a part of the Pixel Camera app. Once you hit the button, your Pixel starts capturing a video. Then it takes multiple photos, chooses the ones it deems best, edits them (crop, straighten, unblur) and saves them for you.

Magic Capture

Of course, we can't go by without some AI improvements as well. Google's apps now "talk" to each other and share data, with Gemini linking them all together. For instance, your Messages app knows about your calendar dates and your Contacts app reads your messages. This way Gemini can have a better understanding of your appointments and plans as well as better context of your usage overall. You can then task Gemini to do a bit more complex tasks like setting up a Calendar entry or book a spot at your favorite dining spot. Gemini Intelligence can even suggest actions on the fly, similar to Samsung's Now Nudge though it appears to be equally unreliable to spawn on its own.

You can use Gemini for photo and video creation, too.

Gemini

Last but not least, all Pixel 11 phones now get the new HiLight feature, which is essentially an LED notification light that surrounds the LED flash on the back. It will light up when using hands-free Gemini or when you have an incoming call from one of your favorite contacts. The LED array is RGB and looks nice.

The implementation here could have been much more versatile. For starters, the HiLight is on the back of the phone, so if you are used to placing your phone on with the screen facing up, the feature will essentially be useless. Another problem is that it's not truly a "notification" LED. You can't use it for notifications, at least not in the current state of the software. It doesn't light up for anything else other than Gemini responses and when your favorite contact is calling. It's almost like Google deliberately limited the functionality here.

HiLight

Performance and benchmarks

The entire Pixel 11 series runs on Google's latest chip - Tensor G6. It's based on the same 3nm manufacturing process as the previous Tensor G5 chip. With this new model, Google promises better efficiency and a 50% increase in AI computational power. It's based on the same 3nm manufacturing process as the previous Tensor G5 chip, but omits one of the CPU cores.

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 IMG CXTP-48-1536 by Imagination. Previously known as PowerVR, Imagination's graphics chips are the proverbial underdogs in the Android market. And while Tensor G5 used a modern Series D GPU, the Tensor G6, for some reason, goes for older Series C architecture, which has even worse support across game developers and does not even support ray tracing.

Memory-wise, the Pixel 11 Pro XL relies on either 12GB or 16GB of RAM, depending on the storage configuration. We can't miss pointing out that last year, all storage tiers had 16GB RAM. In contrast, here, the base 256GB storage comes with 12GB of RAM, and only the 512GB and 1TB variants get 16GB of RAM. In all cases, the storage is UFS 4.

Now, let's run some benchmarks.

The new Tensor G6 seems to offer one of the biggest CPU performance jumps we've seen from a Tensor chip in a while. And while that's good, the processor is still trailing behind the Snadpragon Elites and the recent Dimensity and Exynos models. It's in the top-tier ballpark, sure, but at its bottom.

The graphic performance score would have been very good for an upper mid-ranger, but it's not even close to the current flagships.

All in all, the GPU performance has barely budged compared to the Pixel 10 Pro XL. In fact, it shows roughly the same performance as before. Moreover, with the new GPU, ray tracing isn't supported even at the hardware level.

And, obviously, we could not run the unsupported Ray Tracing test, so there is no score for 3D Mark Solar Bay.

There is a good increase in the AnTuTu scores compared to the Pixel 10 Pro XL. But once again we got upper mid-range scores, below what recent Dimensity, Snapdragon and Exynos models can offer.

We should point out that the Pixel 11 Pro XL runs incredibly smoothly, and Android 17 is very responsive even on our unit with 12GB RAM. This is how Android should behave in the first place, something that only Nothing phones seem to get right.

Early reviews observed graphical glitches and performance issues in some game titles, but we are happy to report that as of this week, almost all game titles we tried ran just fine, which was not the case last week when our Pixel 11 Pro XL arrived for review.

We won't pretend to have an exhaustive list, but to give you a few examples: Genshin Impact runs quite okay now, even when maxed out, without any glitches or missing textures. Diablo Immortal no longer has issues regardless of the graphics quality level. Asphalt: Legends no longer stutters. And PUBG ran just fine with HD Graphics. Roblox and Brawl Stars had no issues either.

It's not all roses and sunshine, of course. Fortnite hardly worked on the highest settings. Alien: Isolation was entirely incompatible with the Tensor G6.

Performance stability under stress

Update, Sept 5: While preparing our upcoming Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro reviews over the past couple of days, we noticed that both phones maintained much better CPU performance under sustained load than the Pixel 11 Pro XL. That prompted us to revisit the Pro XL's CPU throttling test, and after several new runs, there is no sign of the poor performance we observed around a week ago.

Combined with the fact that the gaming issues early reviews encountered are now seemingly ironed out, it looks like Google has been hard at work fine-tuning its devices with last-minute software updates. Below are our latest performance stability results.

They show performance stability, which is around the level of last year's Pixel 10 Pro XL, so there is no major improvement. Not that 71% stability in the 3DMark stress test is anything to scoff at, but you have to keep in mind that in this graphics test, the Tensor G6 top score ranks around the level of the Dimensity 8300 from 2023 or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 from 2022.

CPU and GPU stress tests