7 hours ago
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Google’s latest super-sized Pixel takes everything that’s great about the relatively pocket-friendly 11 Pro and adds a huge, high-quality screen and a big battery.
That makes the Pixel 11 Pro XL one of the largest smartphones available in Europe and the US, competing directly with Samsung’s giant Galaxy S26 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro Max, with an equally sizeable £1,279 (€1,399/$1,299/A$2,099) price tag – £80 (€100/$100/A$100) more than last year with less memory because of the cost of RAMageddon.
The XL sticks with the tried-and-tested formula from the previous few years of super-sized Pixels: a fantastic 6.8in OLED on the front, polished aluminium sides and a glass back with a large camera bar poking through it. The new model is 6g lighter and 0.1mm smaller in every dimension than last year’s Pixel 10 Pro XL, but you would be hard-pressed to notice.
The phone has the same Tensor G6 chip, 12 or 16GB of RAM (depending on variant) and at least 256GB of storage as the rest of the Pixel line for 2026. The XL feels super snappy in day-to-day use and the chip can handle mid-level gaming but comes up short in raw performance compared with top chips in rivals. Those looking for the best frame-rate or graphics in games best look elsewhere.
The battery life is the longest of the current Pixels, lasting just about two days between charges, including more than six hours actively using the screen across a mix of 5G and wifi for browsing, messaging, apps and photos. That’s a few hours longer than the regular 11 Pro but slightly short of last year’s XL model. Most will only need to charge it every other night and it should outlast even the heaviest of use days.
The 11 Pro XL runs the same Android 17 as its smaller sibling, with support until August 2033 and an overall very polished experience. It also comes with a six-month subscription to Google AI Pro subscription with access to the video generator Gemini Omni, higher AI usage limits, 5TB of cloud storage and Google Health Premium.
Many of the new cutting-edge local AI tools are best-in-class, including the proactive Gemini information suggestions and the turbocharged Rambler voice dictation tool built into the keyboard.
Specifications
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Screen: 6.8in 120Hz QHD+ OLED (486ppi)
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Processor: Google Tensor G6
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RAM: 12 or 16GB
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Storage: 256, 512GB or 1TB
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Operating system: Android 17
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Camera: 50MP + 48MP UW + 48MP 5x tele; 42MP selfie
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Connectivity: 5G, eSIM, wifi 7, UWB, NFC, Bluetooth 6, Thread and GNSS
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Water resistance: IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes)
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Dimensions: 162.7 x 76.5 x 8.5 mm
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Weight: 226g
Camera
The XL has the same excellent cameras as the regular 11 Pro, including a very good 42-megapixel selfie camera on the front.
The triple rear camera is one of the very best on a smartphone, including a 50MP wide, 48MP ultra wide and 48MP 5x telephoto. New for this year is a significantly faster Night Sight low-light mode, which captures photos about three to four times faster with better detail and sharpness. The new Magic Capture mode shoots video and photos automatically with one press, which works great at parties. The Creator Suite has extensive tools to help produce social videos, too.
The telephoto camera can perform an excellent 10x magnification crop zoom, with very good digital zoom stretching up to 30x before being processed by generative AI for up to 120x magnification.
The new Camera Looks feature allows you to modify how the Pixel captures and processes your photos for the first time, even if that means making your pictures look technically worse, opening up lots of creative potential.
Sustainability
The battery is rated to last in excess of 1,000 full charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity. The phone is repairable by Google, third-party shops or self-repair, with manuals and parts available.
The Pixel 11 Pro XL contains 33% recycled materials by weight. The company breaks down the phone’s environmental impact in its report and will recycle old devices for free.
Price
The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL costs from £1,279 (€1,399/$1,299/A$2,099) in a choice of four colours.
For comparison, the Pixel 11 costs £879, Pixel 11 Pro costs £1,079, Pixel 11 Pro Fold costs from £1,799, the Pixel 10a costs £499, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra costs £1,279 and the iPhone 18 Pro Max costs £1,299.
Verdict
Google’s super-phone takes everything that’s good about its pocket-friendly Pixel 11 Pro and adds a huge, fantastic screen and a bigger battery.
It is wide and quite heavy, making it a two-hand phone most of the time, but its large display offers a similar screen area when watching widescreen video as Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
The camera system is one of the very best, and can be customised extensively for great creative licence. The phone feels responsive, lasts up to two days between charges and is packed with cutting-edge AI, much of which is actually useful.
The Pixel 11 Pro XL is a great, massive phone. But it isn’t a dramatic upgrade on those that came before it and falls short in performance and power-user features compared with Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Pros: excellent and huge screen, two-day battery life, great camera with 5x and 10x optical magnification and extensive customisation, seven years of software updates, impressive local and proactive AI, Qi2.2 wireless charging and magnetic accessory support, fast fingerprint and face recognition, six months of Google AI Pro included.
Cons: very expensive, less memory than before, huge and heavy, face unlock option not as secure as Face ID, raw performance and battery life short of best-in-class, no physical sim card slot in the US, not a massive upgrade.
