I’m Skipping the Pixel 11 Pro XL — And I Don’t Understand the Hype

I’m apparently supposed to be excited about the Pixel 11 Pro XL, but as someone already using a Pixel 10 Pro XL, I’m having a hard time figuring out why. I’ve been looking for an actual reason to upgrade: better hardware, a genuinely useful new feature, or something that makes my current phone suddenly feel outdated. Instead, Google has somehow managed to make me appreciate the phone I already own even more.

From where I’m sitting, the Pixel 11 Pro XL doesn’t feel like much of an upgrade at all. In some ways, it actually feels like a downgrade, which is a pretty impressive accomplishment when you’re also asking people to pay more for it.

Less RAM on the Newer Phone?

The 256GB Pixel 11 Pro XL comes with less RAM than the Pixel 10 Pro XL I already have, and that alone makes the upgrade hard to take seriously. Nothing screams “new and improved” quite like spending more money on a newer version of a product and getting less hardware in return.

I’m sure there will be plenty of explanations about optimization, efficiency, AI memory management, or why you technically don’t need as much RAM anymore. Maybe all of that is true, but I already have the extra RAM. Why would I voluntarily spend more money to give it up? An upgrade shouldn’t require someone to explain why receiving less is actually a benefit.

Goodbye Temperature Sensor, Hello HiLight

Then there’s the temperature sensor. Was it the greatest smartphone feature ever created? No. Did I use it constantly? Also no. But it was at least an interesting, unique piece of hardware that my current phone has, and I’d much rather see Google improve features like that than remove them entirely.

If Google were replacing it with something significantly more useful, I probably wouldn’t care. Instead, we get HiLight, a feature built around lights on the back of the phone. Maybe I’m apparently using smartphones incorrectly, but I normally put my phone down with the screen facing up because I enjoy being able to see the giant display I paid for.

I genuinely don’t understand the appeal of deliberately putting an expensive phone face down just so I can see some lights on the back of it. It feels a little like buying a TV and turning it toward the wall because the ambient lighting behind it looks cool. I’m sure somebody will love HiLight, but it does absolutely nothing for me.

And Somehow It Costs More

This is where the whole thing really falls apart. If the Pixel 11 Pro XL were cheaper, or even the same price, I could write some of this off as Google making different design decisions. Smartphones have matured, and nobody should realistically expect revolutionary improvements every single year anymore.

But if you’re asking me to pay more, I need a reason. Instead, I’m looking at a newer phone that costs more while making compromises compared with the Pixel 10 Pro XL I already own. “Give us more money, we took some stuff away” is not exactly the most convincing upgrade pitch I’ve ever heard.

Why Are People So Excited?

What I find almost more interesting than the phone itself is watching people get genuinely excited about it. Obviously, people should buy whatever makes them happy, and I’m not trying to tell anyone how to spend their money. Still, smartphone launches have reached this weird point where excitement sometimes seems automatic simply because there’s a new model number.

A slightly different design gets treated like a major change. A new feature that most people will probably forget about after a week becomes a headline feature. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here with my Pixel 10 Pro XL trying to figure out what problem the Pixel 11 Pro XL would actually solve for me, and I honestly can’t find one.

That’s really what bothers me about this upgrade. I actually want Google to give me a reason to buy the new phone. I like my Pixel 10 Pro XL, and if Google released an 11 Pro XL that meaningfully improved on it, I’d absolutely be the kind of person tempted to upgrade.

Give me substantially better battery life. Give me a meaningful camera improvement. Give me faster charging, better thermals, or some new piece of hardware that makes my current phone immediately feel dated. Just don’t reduce hardware in certain configurations, remove an existing feature, increase the price, and expect me to get excited because the number on the box changed.

My Pixel 10 Pro XL Is Staying

The Pixel 11 Pro XL may still be an excellent phone when judged on its own, but that’s not really the question for someone who already owns last year’s Pro XL. The question is whether it’s meaningfully better than the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and for me, the answer is an incredibly easy no.

I’d be paying more for a phone with less RAM in the configuration I’d buy, no temperature sensor, and a replacement feature I have almost no interest in using. Unless there’s something dramatically better about the Pixel 11 Pro XL that changes the equation, I’m perfectly happy skipping this generation.

Funny enough, the Pixel 11 Pro XL might have accomplished one thing already: it made my Pixel 10 Pro XL feel brand new again.