Google Pixel 11 Pro XL review: Default ultra-premium Android option for most people

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is an ultra premium phone, now available in India at a starting price of Rs 1,34,999. It is also, India Today Tech finds, can be the default Android option for everyone (except gamers) looking to get an ultra premium phone this year.There are two kinds of phone users, particularly in the world of Android. Those who know what PWM is and those who don’t. Or those who know what a periscope lens is and those who don’t. Or those who play Genshin Impact for hours and those who think of Jensen, the Nvidia CEO, when they hear the word Genshin. The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is a perfect ultra premium phone for those who neither know about PMV nor cares about it. Like most regular phone users.The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is more than enough for the needs of regular users. The only exception to this would be gamers. Let me explain.Best looking phone out there?Looks are subjective. Eyes, beholders, and something like that. But chances are that out of 100, at least 80 people will agree — if they see the Pixel 11 Pro XL or its smaller sibling Pixel 11 Pro — that this is a handsome phone, arguably one of the most eye-pleasing. Currently, in the ultra premium market we often have phones that fall in two groups. Either they have commonplace and bland personality, Galaxies I am looking at you. Or they are beefy such as the various Ultras, complementing Thars and Fortuners on our roads, complete with their oversized camera modules.In such a crowd, the Pixel 11 Pro XL stands out with its elegance and symmetrical design. The pill-shaped camera module now gets an all-glass look, and the rounded edges and matte finish aluminium frame makes the phone subtle and yet sophisticated. On the front, the bezels are slightly thicker compared to the likes of the iPhone 17 Pro, but that doesn’t matter in use as much as some tech experts tend to indicate. A quick note: everything I write about the Pixel 11 Pro XL is also true of the Pixel 11 Pro. The only difference between the two phones is physical size, and consequently screen size and battery capacity. The Pixel 11 Pro XL is a handsome phone. Here you can see the device in Obsedian finish The build quality of the Pixel 11 Pro XL is fantastic. I particularly like the silky smooth finish that Google gives to the back cover, which is made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. On the front too, we have a layer of the same glass, but with an additional scratch-resistance coating to it. This should, if the coating is as good as the one that Apple put on the iPhone 17 Pro last year, make the phone resistant to hairline scratches. Just like the Pixels last year, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is IP68 certified against water and dust ingress. It also has a punch-hole camera on the front, probably one reason why its facial ID unlock system is still not as good as that of the iPhone in low light. The fingerprint sensor under the display, however, works extremely well. So I would say the score is 1-1 because the Fruity phone lacks that sensor, at least for now.In terms of hardware, one new feature in the Pixel 11 Pro XL is the HiLight feature. This is a multi-coloured LED light that, apart from doing duty as camera flash, can double up as a notification light in certain use cases. The use cases, however, are only two for now. One, you can assign your favourite contact a colour and that colour would flash if you get the call from them. So, if your phone is kept on the table face down, you will know if there is a call from one of your favourite contacts. In total, the HiLight can flash in 5 colours, so you can assign a specific colour to only five “favourite” contacts. It will be enough for most users, but some might find it limiting. And two, when you are talking to Google Gemini, an AI assistant, and your phone has been kept with screen facing down, the lights will swirl.Is it an essential upgrade? I am not sure it is. But it is nifty enough, particularly for noticing calls from people who are really close to you.The Pixel 11 Pro XL is a large phone with its 6.8-inch screen. It is, in terms of practicality, a two-hand phone. It is also fairly heavy at 226 grams, which is similar to the weight of other large phones. If you prefer something smaller and lighter, you should consider the regular Pixel 11 Pro.The display comes with improved brightness. Relative to last year’s Pro XL, the 11 Pro XL has a screen that is around 200-300 nits brighter. In use, the difference is visible, although the brightness of these phones is already high-enough to deal with harsh outdoor lighting fairly well. You wouldn’t find any legibility issues on the 11 Pro XL even on a summer noon in Delhi. Compared to last year's Pixel 10 Pro XL, this time the new device has slightly brighter screen The quality of display is fantastic in how colours are displayed. Google has improved screens in its phones considerably in the last few years and the 11 Pro XL is near perfect. This is also a phone with variable refresh rate of 1-120Hz, which is always nice because of how it provides a balance between battery efficiency and smooth scrolling.Lots of AI, Tensor G6 and improved speakersOnce upon a time, Google used to offer what we would call the Pure Android in its phones. But those days are over. Now, Google gives users a version of Android that it believes serves them best. That means now you get Android from Google that is much more customisable, as well as has features that earlier other phonemakers used to add from their side.Google's Android also has a lot of Gemini AI built into it. In hard-selling the Pixel 11 Pro Xl to consumers, Google highlights a number of these AI features. I find that for different users these features will have different utility. Not all features will find use and not all will satisfy those who use them.As I tried the phone, for me a few of these features stood out. One is Rambler, an inbuilt speech transcript tool in the keyboard app. It is eerily accurate at inferring what you are saying. Similarly, I loved the teleprompter feature, which is part of the camera system because it lets you shoot selfie videos with a prepared script.Unlike a regular app, Gemini is woven into Android 17 that powers the phone. There are so many AI features in the phone that in the limited time I have used the device, I could not explore even 20 per cent of them. Rather, even if I use the device for a year, I will probably not explore all of them. This is also because many features are part of apps that we don’t even use that much in India, such as the Messaging app (we use WhatsApp, we are Indians). Irrespective, from Magic Eraser to Circle To Search to Live Translate, the features are there and I am sure some users will find some of them not only useful but essential. The speakers in the Pixel 11 Pro XL are much improved Overall, I find the Android 17 in the Pixel 111 Pro XL clean and highly usable. It has a distinct design, which is refreshing in the way it uses colours and accents, as well as in its approach in not copying the iOS. At the same time, there are some nifty features, including Quick Share that even works — and beautifully — with Apple AirDrop to transfer files wirelessly between devices. Talking of which, Google has made some improvements to its setup process, and now transitioning from some other phone, including from the iPhone, to Pixel is easier.While the Pixel 11 Pro XL is an iterative update over its predecessor, it does come with a new chipset. The phone has the Tensor G6 chip, with its base variant coming with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The 16GB RAM variant is also available along with 512GB storage. Tensor G6 runs well in day-to-day use. Google says it is 25 per cent faster in web browsing and 15 per cent faster in app launches compared to the G5. In use, I didn’t notice any difference. Just like its predecessor, I found the Pixel 11 Pro XL to be a smooth and fast phone, on which you can glide your fingers and apps will scroll and respond quickly. It also runs cool enough unless you are shooting long videos outdoors.One limitation, though, is gaming. This is an area where the Tensor G6 is behind the leading Snapdragons and Dimensities. It runs casual games well enough, but titles like Genshin Impact and BGMI are more fluid and seamless on other ultra-premium phones. This is not for gamers.In hardware, another update is in modem. The Pixel 11 Pro XL uses MediaTek M90 modem, compared to Exynos one in the last Pixel. It is too early to say if this would make call and network performance better in the new phone compared to the 10 Pro XL, but in my nearly a week of use I did not notice any network issues.Another bit that I believe has become better in the Pixel 11 Pro XL is the speaker performance. The stereo speakers are extremely loud, and fairly hefty. For the last one year, the iPhone 17 Pro Max has been the undisputed sound champ. The Pixel 11 Pro XL comes close, although at top volume it still loses out to the Max in terms of clarity and soundstage.Battery life of the Pixel 11 Pro XL is serviceable, but could have been better. It packs in a battery with capacity of around 5000 mAh. It lasts a day and then some more, but it is still a phone that you will need to charge daily. To put a figure to the battery performance, here is how the Pixel 11 fared in a battery benchmark:The charging speed has gone up slightly, when you charge it with a charger of 45W or higher. From 0 to 100 it takes a little over 60 minutes if you use “Extreme Charging Mode” which is fast enough even if it is not blazing fast relative to what some other phones offer.Top camera performanceOften, apart from the software, one of the biggest reasons to buy a Pixel phone has been its camera performance. In the last few years though, some Ultras and the iPhone Pro have caught up to the Pixels in this department. In fact, last year the Pixel 10 XL Pro sort of dropped the ball. But this year, the Pixel 11 Pro XL regains its footing.It is no longer the undisputed camera champ in the smartphone world. The Chinese Ultras have that honour. But it is right up there among the best, thanks to a new 48-megapixel sensor. In addition to the main camera, there is an ultra-wide camera with a 48-megapixel sensor, and a telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom (and 10X optical quality zoom). This one too uses a 48-megapixel camera. The Pixel 11 Pro XL has 5x optical zoom in its telephoto camera. But the phone also supports 10x optical quality zoom and the images, such as this one, are quite resonable at this zoom level All three cameras are largely excellent. I believe Google has tweaked image processing somewhat because the images are now cleaner and have lost that old “underexposed” look. And I believe the bigger main sensor has helped as well. Even the 10X “optical quality zoom” is usable, as you can see in the images of the pigeon and the egret.Now, more than words, I will let the images do the talking here. Click on the image samples below to see the kind of photos that the Pixel 11 Pro XL can manage.Overall, I find the Pixel 11 Pro XL to have an excellent camera system. It clicks images that have plenty of dynamic light in them, and colours that look vibrant but not oversaturated. In the camera app, Google has also added some new features. The most notable is “Looks”. This lets users change the way the phone processes images, although in use it is similar to Film Presets that many camera apps or editing apps offer. Accessing some of the advanced features like ISO and white balance is now easier, though this is something that only keen photography enthusiasts will use.The selfie camera too is excellent, and has none of that skin smoothening effect I see on other Android phones. On the video side, the Pixel 11 Pro XL captures 4K footage. In most lighting conditions, and circumstances such as an outdoor birthday party, this phone is going to be more than usable enough for you.Relative to other Android phones, it does extremely well even if it can’t natively — Video Boost is available through processing — capture 8K footage. But 99 out of 100 users don’t need 8K video footage. Overall, though, the iPhone remains the king of the hill in video recording.The default ultra-premium Android phone for most people?I believe it is. But then I am not a picky user of smartphones. I use them like the way most people do, using a handful of apps, clicking some photos while travelling or meeting people, and doing some work and communication through them. I don’t play a lot of games — I used to play Real Racing 3 quite regularly but then the game vanished earlier this year. And I don’t do professional photography or videography with my phone — although I do wildlife photography as a hobby but that is with the Nikon Z8 and a lens that weighs 2 kilograms.So, I use my smartphone as a smartphone. And on this count I really like the Pixel 11 Pro XL. Its design, camera system, speakers, screen, and software are largely excellent. It has more features than I really need or use. And its day-to-day performance is adequate. I don’t think that in any one aspect the Pixel 11 Pro XL tops the charts. But it is fairly close to the top ones in almost every aspect. And as a package it is a compelling option, even at a price of Rs 1,34,999, if you value a phone with clean software and competent performance, with gaming being an exception.- EndsPublished On: Sep 2, 2026 13:37 IST