Google Pixel 11 review: Camera champ in its class

Of all the Pixel 11 series phones, the one that is the hero of this review seems the least changed compared to its predecessor. In many ways it is similar to last year's Pixel 10. But in some important ways it is also different, and that makes it the default premium Android phone for most people.The world of Android is in a flux in 2026. With the component pricing crisis brought about by the AI boom, the hierarchies have changed. The market has shifted, there are new winners and some losers. There is a change in the equation around what you could get earlier for your money. Now you get less, and pay ever increasing prices. In such a year, in 2026, I believe the Google Pixel 11 ought to be the default Android phone for most buyers in India. It is not exactly cheap at the sticker price of Rs 89,999 but at its price it also offers enough goodies to make it a worthy choice. That is the 2026 effect!It is not perfect. No sirs, and madams, not at all. Its Tensor G6 chipset, while improved compared to the chip in the Pixel 10, is still behind competitors from MediaTek and Qualcomm in raw numbers. Hence, this is not a phone for avid gamers. But on the whole, I believe the Pixel 11 offers more than what its competitors do in this price segment.So, let’s get better acquainted with the latest Google phone, and the most affordable — until the Pixel 11A arrives next year — member of the Pixel 11 series.Same looks, but some refinementsGoogle is beginning to get Apple vibes with its phones. The company now likes to stick to trusted and tried design. So, the Pixel 11 looks exactly the same as last year’s Pixel 10. It has the same satin finish aluminium frame, and same shiny glass on the back. The camera module, which is the signature Pixel with its horizontal capsule shape, is ever so slimmer by a few mm. Overall, this design works very well. It is easy on eyes and easy to use, with its symmetry. The Pixel 11 is a relatively light phone at 197 grams, although the iPhone 17 is lighter. With its 6.3-inch screen it is also fairly compact. In other words, if you hate the word Max or Ultra or XL in phones, you will find the Pixel 11 endearing, cute and perfectly-sized. The Pixel 11 has a screen that is bright enough to deal with sunlight. It is built extremely well. There is IP68 rating, finishing is top notch and as premium as it comes in this price segment. On both front and back, the phone has a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The buttons, made of metal, have a nice tactile feel to them. The phone is available in four colours: Frost, Pistachio, Hibiscus are funky colours. But the Obsidian, which is what you see in this review, is the one which is more subtle. Although, all four feature shiny glass finish, which reflects plenty and is mighty slippery. That is until you put the phone in a case, as we all tend to do. The glass back cover makes the Pixel 11 extremely reflective and slippery. Talking of which Google is selling some nice cases this time in India. There are Pixelsnap cases, made of silicon and quality wise right up there with what Apple offers. Although, just like Apple cases they too are pricey with an MRP of Rs 4,900. Unlike the US variant which only comes with eSIM, Google Pixel 11 in India supports physical SIM as well as eSIM.On the front, the phone has a 6.3-inch screen. Compared to what we see in most other phones in this segment, the Pixel 11 sports somewhat thicker bezels. But they are uniform. The screen in itself is extremely bright, capable of reaching brightness of up to 3000 nits at its peak, as well as supporting HDR content and HDR brightness of 2000 nits.Beyond the numbers and buzzwords, I found the screen pleasant to look at. It is not in the same class as what you get in ultra premium phones, but it is sharp enough and bright enough. It also can display punchy colours, and some of the OLED test videos I played on it revealed just how deep its blacks look and how vibrant is the contrast when HDR colours are displayed on it. In fact, compared to its predecessor I feel the Pixel 11 has a noticeably brighter screen even if the specs sheet may not reflect this difference accurately.The refresh rate of the screen is something I wish were better. It is still a screen with either 60Hz refresh rate or 120hz. By default the phone uses 60Hz but you can change it in settings to the higher refresh rate. There is no variable refresh rate on this screen, unlike what some other Android competitors offer. The difference in how the content scrolls on the screen, once you are running the Pixel 11 at 120hz, doesn’t matter except possibly in battery management. The Pixel 11 has a bigger sensor for its main 48-megapixel camera. Always-on display is supported, and under the screen there is a fingerprint scanner. I found the scanner to be precise and fast, although the face unlock doesn’t match, especially in low light, compared to what the class-leading iPhone offers through its FaceID hardware.Overall, I find the Pixel 11 a handsome phone with a fair bit of personality thanks to its funky colours and that signature camera module. It is also perfectly sized for one-hand use. With your finger resting just under the camera module it actually feels lighter in hands than it really is.Lots of AI, Google’s Android and using the Pixel 11So, how is the experience using the Pixel 11? Good. But some caveats apply.There was a time when Google used to put “pure Android” in its phones. In the last few years, now we don’t get the “pure” part of it. Instead, we get Google’s Android. And given that we live in the time of AI, The Android 17 in the Pixel 11 has been built in a way where Google Gemini sits at a deeper level compared to how it would be in any other Android phone. Afterall this is Google’s official phone. So, Gemini is not just an app. It is part of the operating system. Is it good, is it bad? I think on the whole it is good, because every phone company is going to take this direction, even if the results for end users may turn out to be mixed in the short term.Some AI features are great, some are not, and some would be useful to some users and not to others. Irrespective, in the Pixel 11 there are a number of genuinely useful AI features. There are features in the phone app, which let you deal with spam calls in a better way. There is a new feature called Rambler in the keyboard, which lets you dictate what you want to write and AI automatically filters out fillers like umm and hmmm. There is a feature that creators will love which lets them use the phone as a teleprompter. Gemini, as an app, of course is loaded on the phone. Similarly, all Google apps have Gemini AI sitting inside them, offering helpful — or not so helpful — suggestions when you use them. In the camera app there are AI features ranging from Pixel Studio to Magic Capture or Camera Coach. The Pixel 11 is full of many AI features. Still, as much as I love some of the AI features that Pixel 11 offers, I would not make that a key reason to get the phone. Except probably the Rambler and the transcript feature, which can be an essential tool for creators and those who love to record selfie style videos.Beyond AI, the Android 17 in the Pixel 11 is not only the freshest iteration of the popular OS but it is also incredibly clean and youthful. The OS design is done tastefully with good colour accents and plenty of customisation options. There are no unwanted or third-party apps on the phone, although almost all major Google apps have been bundled. In terms of performance and ease of use, I would put the Android 17 in the Pixel 11 among the top software out there. It is not trying to copy anyone. It has its own charm, and it works well.The Pixel 11 is powered by the Tensor G6 chipset. The base variant comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, while the 512GB storage is also available in India this time. 12GB is, in this price range, seems a little on the lower side but then that is 2026 for you. Almost all phones under Rs 1 lakh now are limiting themselves to 12GB RAM. The Tensor G6 is 25 per cent faster for web browsing and 15 faster for app loading compared to Tensor G5. For AI use, its TPU has 50 per cent more compute and can run the local Gemini Nano AI up to 3.5 faster. These are all Google figures. In use, I found the Pixel 11 to be a speedy and smooth phone in day-to-day use. In over a week of use, it gave me no trouble at all, whether I was using it to click some snaps in quick succession or if I was working on some documents in Google Doc.But where the Pixel 11 still falls short in performance is in gaming. It can handle Subway Surfer and the likes fairly well, but more demanding games can feel jittery and slow on it. This is not a phone for you if you are an avid gamer. It is a phone for people who do on their device everything other than gaming, and if at all they do gaming then they limit themselves to puzzles and casual games.Just to put some performance numbers to the Tensor G6, I ran a few benchmarks. Although, don’t get fooled by the numbers. Google does not play the specs game in chipset, and it optimises Tensor G6 and Pixels in a very different way.One more area where I believe the Pixel 11 could have been better is in its speakers. They sound full and meaty but are not particularly loud. In noisy environments they do not have the heft in the sound that can rise above the rest.Battery life of the Pixel 11 is middling given what others are offering nowadays with their humongous 7000 mAh batteries. In comparison, the Pixel 11 has a 4985 mAh battery. It is good enough to last a day, and then just a tad more. At least that was my experience with it. In other words, daily charging would be needed. Fast-ish charging of 30W is supported, which takes around 90 minutes to charge the phone from 0-100 per cent.Brilliant set of camerasIf you look at the specs sheet you will assume that the Pixel 11 has the same set of cameras as the Pixel 10 from last year. But that is not the case. Google has changed the internal camera hardware in the Pixel 11. The biggest change is that the main rear camera — the 48-megapixel camera — now has a bigger sensor. Combined with other refinements across the board, the Pixel 11 has a camera system that is superior to what is inside the Pixel 10. In fact, it has arguably the best camera system in a phone under Rs 1 lakh.The rear camera system is using the 48-megapixel main camera, along with a 13-megapixel ultrawide camera. Also, you get a 10.8-megapixel telephoto camera with 5X optical zoom and up to 30X optical quality zoom. On the front, there is a 10.5-megapixel selfie camera with support for autofocus. This photo has been clicked using digital zoom yet the camera has done a good job with it. Just how this camera performs, you can see in the image samples. But to summarise: I was pleasantly surprised by the performance that the Pixel 11 camera offers in all lighting conditions. They are mostly excellent, capturing brilliant colours and plenty of details. The photo on the left has been clicked using an ultrawide camera in the Pixel 11. The photo on the right uses 5x telephoto lens. Google has also added a few nifty tools to the camera app to make it more versatile. One of the top features is the option to choose the “look” of the photos. Different people tend to prefer different styles. Some want punchier colours, while some seek cleaner shadows. Some want just a tad underexposure, while some prefer more light in their photos. All of this can be now selected when you are clicking a photo, depending on what you want. In this photo clicked using digital zoom you can even make out markings of Indigo logo. Checkout rest of the image samplesThere are also a number of AI features in the camera app, ranging from Auto Unblur to Auto Best Take. Different users will find them useful or unnecessary, depending on how they use cameras. Personally, I don’t find the AI features all that appealing.Should you buy the Pixel 11?I think in India, where almost any premium phone worth its salt is now touching Rs 1 lakh, the Pixel 11 is a compelling offer from Google.It is not meant for dedicated and avid gamers, of course. But for everyone else, and more so for people who like a clean and reliable version of the latest Android on their devices, the Pixel 11 makes a lot of sense. It has a tasteful design, good software, brilliant set of cameras, a very good screen, and overall an experience that is fuss-free and no nonsense. All of that counts for something, even at an MRP of Rs 89,999, particularly in a year where prices are still rising. This year Google is also bolstering the after-sales support in India, which addresses one of the pain points consumers used to have Pixels earlier.Overall, the Google Pixel 11 is not just a phone for Pixel fans, like it has been in the previous years, but a phone for regular users. It ticks most of the boxes, and does so at a fairly competitive price.- EndsPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 17:49 IST