Pixel 11 might get exciting upgrades — except for the one thing that actually matters

It’s May, and that means that spring (and Pixel leaks) are in the air. Over the last day or two, we’ve seen some major leaks from Mystic Leaks for the upcoming Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro that shed light on what to expect from Google’s flagship phones this year. A lot of it looks promising, but there’s an elephant in the room that has to be addressed.

Pixel 11 upgrades

The Pixel 11 leaks reveal two promising upgrades: the camera and “Pixel Glow.”

New camera sensors

It looks like all four models are getting new camera sensors this year. The Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold will get a new main camera sensor (code-named “chemosh”), while the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL will get new main and telephoto sensors (“bastet” and “barghest”, respectively). Specs aren’t totally clear, but “chemosh” is likely to be a 50MP sensor.

New camera hardware is a big deal — the Pixel used to be the undisputed king of the smartphone camera landscape, but that lead has shrunk significantly over the last few years. Maybe this will be a return to form?

Pixel Glow

The Pixel 11 Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold are losing the temperature sensor and instead gaining a feature called “Pixel Glow.” This is “an RGB LED array in the camera bar,” described as similar to Nothing’s Glyph system, but smaller. Possible functions include providing visual alerts for notifications and battery level, camera-related functionality like a timer, and AI integration.

At first glance, this might seem pretty superfluous, but for those who remember the notification LED on old-school phones, this is exciting. The last Pixel to feature a notification light was the Pixel 2, but it was disabled by default and tucked away in settings. These features provide a visual indicator that you have notifications waiting and can be seen from a distance more easily than an always-on display. Pixel Glow could be the next useful Pixel-exclusive feature.

What about the chip?

Let’s talk about the Tensor G6

The Pixel 11 series will feature Google’s Tensor G6 chip, which is drawing quite a bit of flak following the leaks.

On the CPU side, the chip actually has fewer cores than the Tensor G5 (but a higher max clock speed). It’s also built on TSMC’s 2nm node. Taken together, this should result in significant efficiency gains, which should, in turn, translate to better battery life.

Unfortunately, the GPU appears to be very outdated — it’s based on a setup from 2021. Between the outdated GPU and efficiency-focused CPU, the Tensor G6 looks to continue the trend of being underpowered compared to competitors. Pixel fans are not happy:

That last post really sums up the issue — Google charges flagship prices for the Pixel lineup, while performance lags behind phones from Samsung and Apple. While the Tensor chips are generally alright in day-to-day usage, it’s becoming increasingly hard to feel like the prices are justified. When Google put a mid-range chip in the Pixel 5, it at least lowered the price to match.