Google’s Pixel 11 lineup offers fewer hardware changes, but much more Gemini

For the last few years, Google’s Pixel has been a showcase of new AI features, with few hardware changes from the previous year’s devices. Similarly, the Pixel 11 series isn’t too different in design and internals from its predecessor.

However, this year’s devices have more Gemini features to complete tasks in the background, including a new Wispr Flow-like transcription feature, a live translation feature that works across content, and a new camera feature that captures the right frames.

AI advances on the Pixel 11

With this year’s Pixel 11 series launch, Google is thinking more agentic AI to complete your tasks. With Gemini, U.S.-based users will be able to order groceries, book rides, or get coffee, for instance. Plus, Gemini can call businesses on users’ behalf for table reservations or appointments. Google said that users can take over or stop tasks at any point in time and also review transcripts for AI-operated calls.

Over the next few weeks, a new slate of connected apps will be able to work with Gemini to get things done, including Granola, Otter.ai, Wix, Fever, Get Your Guide, Localiza, OpenTable (U.K.), Ticketmaster, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Angi, Thumbtack, and Zocdoc.

The company has also evolved the “Magic Cue” feature from last year to use Gemini, which proactively surfaces contextual information, to now display information from across your apps to help you find suggestions for things like a dinner spot or show.

In May, Google announced a dictation product called Rambler to take on competitors like Wispr Flow and Aqua. Now, that product is making its way to the Pixel phones.

The new Pixel series phones have some other helpful features that might be handy for daily usage, too. First, the device can translate videos, podcasts, and voice messages in the target language. The company is also making its “Circle to Search” gesture-based feature available directly in the camera, something that Apple also did in iOS 27 by making Siri available in the camera.

What’s more, Google is adding an accessibility feature to the camera, which uses Gemini to translate sign language into text to help people communicate with others who have hearing impairments. And the company has redesigned the live transcribe interface for improved communication.

Camera features

Google also added a few AI tricks embedded into its camera. One feature is called “Magic Capture,” which picks the best frames out of hundreds of frames it captures between when users press start and end. The idea is to take a video and get photos as a byproduct. Google said that the feature also auto-crops and unblurs the frames to make them ready for sharing.

The company has upgraded its super zoom from 100x to 120x for Pro phones, and from 20x to 30x for the base Pixel 11. With the new devices, users will be able to create custom looks for the camera, which are specialized filters that appear when users are snapping images.

The Pro phones are also getting faster capture with a feature called “Instant Night Sight,” which takes 4.5x less time than the previous-gen phone’s Night Sight. Google enhanced video shooting, too, with support for 8K resolution with video boost and better stability.

For creators, Google added a “creator suite” mode in video settings, which lets you use Pixel 11 devices as a teleprompter while shooting clips. When you are done shooting, the clip is saved in a dedicated folder, making it easier to find for editing.

Hardware upgrades

All the Pixel phones now run the latest Tensor G6 processor, which has 20% better power efficiency and
allows for 25% faster browsing, as per Google. Plus, it lets users take faster low-light photos with Night Sight Instant.

The new image signal processing on the chip also enables 120x magic zoom on the Pixel 11 Pro XL. The company said that the new processors run the latest models with lower latency, but didn’t offer any specific metrics.

The display size on all phones is the same, but the Pro models get a slightly brighter display, which could be helpful in the daylight.

Google said Pro models get an updated main camera sensor that takes higher-quality photos than the previous generation without specifying any numbers. It also said the new telephoto sensor allows for 32% more light while capturing an image.

London-based startup Nothing made its phones recognizable by Glyph bars and then a Glyph interface. Google is not that extravagant, but it has now placed an LED light on the back, which is built around the flashlight. This acts as an indicator for calls or messages from favorite contacts when Gemini is thinking or listening.

All these devices are available to preorder starting today and will start with a base storage of 256GB.

The Pixel 11 starts at $899, the 11 Pro starts at $1,099, and the 11 Pro XL starts at $1,299. (The prices of the Pixel 11 and the Pixel 11 Pro are the same as last year’s 256GB models, but you could buy a 128GB model at that time with a $100 lower price tag.)

With the rising prices of components, the company has bumped the price of the top model by $100 compared to the Pixel 10 XL.

A new lineup of Pixel 11 accessories is also arriving alongside the phones, including new Pixelsnap cases (which now include clear) and Pixelsnap Ring Stand colors.