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Android Authority review: Pixel 11 Pro disappoints on paper but is hard to put down

After three weeks of testing, Android Authority says the Pixel 11 Pro’s headline features underwhelm, yet the phone’s everyday charm makes it difficult to put down.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-05 22:41

The Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL, unveiled Aug. 12, cost $1,099 and $1,299, respectively, according to the review. Early criticism included less RAM than last year's models, a Tensor G6 chip that is not a big performance upgrade, and higher prices. After three weeks of testing, the reviewer says those concerns do not overshadow what the reviewer calls “unmistakable Pixel magic.”

The three biggest disappointments, according to the review, are HiLight, Proactive Assistance and charging. HiLight is the glowing panel on the back of the phone. In its out-of-the-box state, it can light in colors assigned to favorite contacts when they call, and it pulses when the phone is face down during Gemini interactions. That is all it does so far, the review says, and third-party apps have already enabled more useful notification lights, making the stock functionality “truly embarrassing.”

Proactive Assistance, which was meant to offer shortcuts for upcoming flights or restaurant reservations inside Google Messages, proved genuinely useful “a grand total of zero times” in testing. The review explains that the feature requires very specific text threads to trigger, and when suggestions did appear, they were unnecessary, such as summarizing a meal reservation the user already knew about.

Charging performance also disappointed. The Pixel 11 Pro keeps the same 30W maximum wired speed as its predecessor, while the 11 Pro XL stays at 45W. Google's new Extreme Charging Mode, which reduces background tasks below 50% battery, made little difference. In the reviewer's tests, the 11 Pro went from empty to full in 86 minutes, nearly the same as the 87 minutes the Pixel 10 Pro needed. The 11 Pro XL's 45W charging finished in 64 minutes, slightly faster than the 10 Pro XL, but the Galaxy S26 Ultra with 60W charging did the same job in 42 minutes. The reviewer also notes that reaching top speed still requires a specific 21V PPS charger; a common 67W Anker charger topped out at 25W on the 11 Pro XL.

The reviewer still says the phones are hard to put down. “The day-to-day experience of using the phones still ignites that unmistakable Pixel magic,” the review states, adding that the writer plans to keep using the Pixel 11 Pro long after the review is finished.