Google Pixel 11 Pro XL Review ⭐

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is a minor year-over-year upgrade with the same pros and cons as its predecessor. That's not unusual, but this is the second year in a row that Google raised prices on its Pixel Pro XL models by $100, and the elevated costs make it more difficult to overlook Pixel's downsides.
At-a-glance
Pros

✔️ Excellent camera experience for snapshotters

✔️ PixelSnap/Qi2.2 accessory connectivity

✔️ Helpful in ways iOS can only dream of

✔️ Comfort View is delightful

✔️ Instant Night Sight is terrific

Cons

❌ Expensive

❌ Unexceptional performance

❌ Poor battery life

❌ No notable hardware upgrades, some downgrades

Note: As you may recall, I originally purchased a Pixel 10 Pro back when Google first announced this new generation of phones in late August, but I ended up returning it because of a Google mistake with a trade-in and then ended up ordering the phone I really wanted, the Pixel 11 Pro XL.
Design
The Pixel 11 Pro XL design is largely unchanged from that of the Pixel 10 Pro XL, with its distinctive floating and curved camera bar, shiny aluminum sides, and prominent Google "G" logo on the center back. It's even the same size--6.4 x 3 x 0.3 inches--as its predecessor, and roughly the same weight at 8 ounces. Meaning, the Pixel 11 Pro XL is big and heavy: My iPhone 17 Pro Max is allegedly the same basic weight as the Pixel 11 Pro XL, but it feels noticeably lighter in the hand.

There are a few minor design changes year-over-year, the most notable being that the camera bar is now covered completely in glass, whereas the camera bar on the Pixel 10 Pro XL (and 9 Pro XL) featured glass over the camera lenses and surrounded the LED flash and temperature sensor with metal the same color as the phone.

Adding to the cleaner design, Google removed the superfluous temperature sensor this year, and the LED flash does double duty as HiLight, a nearly useless new feature described later. But from a design perspective, the camera bar looks a bit more cohesive than was the case with previous Pixels, and it continues to offer a nice non-wobbly experience when you place the Pixel 11 Pro XL down on a flat surface.

Google, like Apple, usually offers its Pro phones in less interesting colors than its non-Pro phones, and that's generally true this year as well. There are four choices, at least--Canyon (salmon), Olive, and Fog (a gray/light blue), and Obsidian--with the first three offering a "silky matte" back coating and Obsidian being the true matte most would want. Of course, that assumes not using a case, which few will do because the Pixel 11 Pro XL is as slippery as a fish, especially with the "silky matte" of the Olive color I chose.

The color is fine overall; indeed, it's one of my favorites. But the shiny metal sides are gold-colored fingerprint magnets, which I don't like.

Between that and the general slipperiness, putting this overly-expensive bauble in a case was the obvious...