Pixel 11 ads show unannounced tracker; survey and guides stir Android debate

The unidentified device has a compact, elongated display and proportions closer to a fitness band than a smartwatch. Android Authority said it looks more like a Charge-style tracker than the Pixel Watch 5 or the screen-free Fitbit Air, a $99.99 wearable Google introduced in May. Google’s current wearable lineup consists of the Pixel Watch 5, which starts at $399, and the Fitbit Air, both of which send data to the Google Health app.

Android Authority listed three possibilities: a Fitbit Charge 7, a cheaper Pixel Watch, or a new Pixel-branded fitness tracker. It added that there is no concrete evidence connecting the ads to any model and that Google has not named the product. Until Google explains what slipped into its Pixel 11 marketing, the site said, it would avoid calling it a Charge 7, a Pixel Watch A-series, or anything else.

Also published on Aug. 17, an Android Authority survey of Pixel users found that heat and battery life matter more than a thinner body. Asked to choose the biggest Pixel hardware flaw, 42.3 percent chose overheating despite the bulk, and 39 percent chose Google’s repeated use of the same battery size. The survey found 81.4 percent would prefer Google to fix overheating or stagnant battery capacity rather than make future phones thinner and lighter.

Reader comments echoed the results. One commenter said they would accept a 1 to 2 mm increase in thickness if it brought a 6,500 mAh battery, a vapor chamber, and bigger camera sensors. Another said that with a 3 mm camera bump, Google may as well make the phone a little thicker and put a bigger battery in it. A separate 14 percent of respondents identified weight and thickness “with nothing to show for it” as their main concern, while 4.7 percent cited Pro-only features such as HiLight.

At Google’s Made by Google event, company executives framed the Pixel 11 generation around using phones less. Google VP Rick Osterloh said phones require too much tapping and scrolling, and he described often falling into a rabbit hole of dog videos after checking a notification. Google’s new HiLight feature, available on Pixel 11 Pro models, makes part of the camera bar glow when an important contact calls, with text-message notifications to come. Google said in a press release that the feature is one of the ways its latest hardware helps people be more present. ZDNET’s commentary argued that Google is not selling minimalism but is using that message to promote agentic AI: Gemini will increasingly handle tasks such as finding reservation details or creating invites, while Google learns more about the user in the process. The commentary also noted Google’s future plans include voice-driven intelligent eyewear later this year.

In two separate ZDNET how-to articles on Aug. 17, authors explained how to use an old Android phone as a low-cost computer. One article cited sharp Raspberry Pi price increases caused by AI-driven demand for RAM and storage, noting that two 16GB Pi 5 boards now cost the same as a MacBook Neo, and it recommended Termux, a Linux terminal emulator for Android, with proot-distro to run Linux distributions without rooting. The other described turning a phone into a home-network Linux server using the F-Droid version of Termux and installing Apache and PHP. Both articles listed limitations: no GPIO pins, limited Ethernet and USB ports, Termux bugs, storage and power-management restrictions, and privileged ports below 1024 being inaccessible. ZDNET suggested projects such as a Nextcloud server, a database server, a CMS, or home automation.