Google introduced its latest flagships, the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL, which it claims are the most durable models in the lineup so far. The phones have a spaceship-grade aluminum frame, with a screen protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover and a coating that makes it twice as scratch-resistant as previous models. Victus 2 was designed to withstand drops onto rough surfaces like concrete.
Similar to the base Pixel 11, these flagship devices feature the company’s custom Tensor G6 chip that delivers 20% better power efficiency than the G5. The processor was also designed to perform complex AI tasks, such as live translation, with little lag or latency. Additionally, both phones, like the Pixel 11, feature a redesigned camera bar with edge-to-edge glass. On the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL, the bar comes with an array of ambient LED lights built around the flash called HiLight. It works like the Nothing glyph bar in that it gives you visual cues for alerts.
Pixel phones have a feature you can enable called Flip to Shhh that automatically puts your phone into Do Not Disturb mode when you place it face down on a surface. However, if you are waiting for an important call, HiLight can still notify you that someone is calling without canceling DND mode. It lights up for incoming calls from your favorite contacts (you can even customize the LED colors for each one) and works for both standard calls and WhatsApp. HiLight also emits visual cues when Gemini is listening, thinking, or responding to your requests.
The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL devices come with a 50-megapixel wide main camera with a new 1/1.3-inch sensor that can bring out more details in zoomed photos. They feature a 48-megapixel ultra-wide camera with autofocus and a larger 48-megapixel telephoto lens, which has 5x optical zoom and lets in 32% more light than the previous version. Google’s Pro Zoom AI feature can give you images equivalent to 120x zoom by extrapolating details that the sensor couldn’t physically capture due to the subject’s distance. The rear cameras can capture 8K video at 24 or 30 fps. For selfies, the phones have a 48-megapixel front camera capable of shooting 4K videos.
Under Corning’s Victus 2 cover glass is a 6.3-inch screen for the Pro model and a 6.8-inch panel for the Pro XL. The Pro has a resolution of 1280 x 2856 pixels, while the Pro XL has a resolution of 1344 x 2992 pixels. They both have refresh rates between 1 and 120 Hz and a peak brightness level of 3,600 nits which makes the screen look clear even under direct sunlight.
Google is giving devices six months of Google AI Pro for free, down six months from the full year offered with the Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL. An AI Pro subscription costs $20 per month and gives you access to the most advanced Gemini models with 2TB of cloud storage. You can pre-order the phones starting today in Canyon, Olive (metallic sage), Fog (gray), and Matte Obsidian colors, with shipping on August 20. The Pixel 11 Pro will cost you at least $1,099, while the Pro XL’s lowest price is $1,299. Both entry-level configurations come with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM – smaller than the Pixel 10 Pro’s base 16GB of RAM – but if you need more storage, you can also get them in 512GB and 1TB capacities.
