39:04
We've had a couple of days to digest the Pixel 11s now, and I'm still unsure on that Made by Google event. Like, I don't know what I dislike more, that event or that hibiscus color on the Pixel 11s. I feel like Google just didn't really mention any specs at Made by Google. If you turned it on to find out about the phones, I feel like you probably left not knowing a lot. So, that's what this video is all about. I'm going to tell you some of the specs that Google weirdly decided not to tell you or decided to not tell you on purpose. And the first one that I'm going to hit is something that Google introduced on the Pixel 10s last year, and sadly, we've still got it on the Pixel 11s. You might
be able to guess what this is, but it's the fact that every single one of these phones besides the 11 Pro Fold in the US is still eSIM only. I just don't like this. I said last year I didn't mind it, but honestly, it's become very annoying in the last 12 months. And I think Google, they're just a little bit ahead of the time here of what people actually want. Yes, you can have up to like eight eSIMs saved on your phone, and you can have two active same time, but just give me a physical SIM. I just don't understand what Google gained from removing the SIM card, because it's not like they're taking that SIM card tray out and putting in more battery, because, you know, this year that definitely isn't the case. And carriers,
I just don't think they're very good with eSIMs yet. If you're outside the US, then you'll be totally fine. It's not eSIM only at all, and you can still like get that physical SIM card tray. But in the US, Google, I just don't think we're ready for this yet. Let me move on to the next one, and this is the charging speeds, because I'm a big fan of this. I feel like Google mentioned this, but kind of skipped over it a little at the keynote. But the charging speeds for the Pixel 11 and the 11 Pro got a bump this year. If you're doing wired charging, then you get 30 W on the Pro and on the Pixel 11. And this means they can charge to 55% in 30 minutes. And I'm That's pretty quick. I'm all
right with that. But more impressively, the Pixel 11 Pro XL with its 45 W charging can get to 75% in the same 30 minutes, which is 5% quicker than it could last year. There's also a new concentrated charging mode where the Pixel just concentrates completely on charging your phone as quickly as possible. So, I really like this. Quicker charging speeds, I'm all here for. And the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, the Pixel 11, and the Pixel 11 Pro have all got a bump in their wireless charging speeds as well. If you're going to use Pixel Snap, they finally match the Pixel 11 Pro XL. They have the same Qi 2.2 charging, which means it can charge wirelessly at 25 watts. And I'm glad Google have done this because I thought it was weird to leave this out on the
base Pro last year. So, I'm glad they've included it on pretty much all of the phones this year. That's a good move, Google. Thanks. Moving on. This is something that Google didn't mention at all at the keynote. Your Pixel 11s can now tap to share. And to do this, what you need to do is open your file or photo that you want to share. And because Google has updated the NFC tag at the top of the Pixel 11s, it can automatically detect another Android phone and start that transfer without to go and find the device in Quick Share. This is still using Quick Share, but it's a little bit quicker, a little bit more seamless, and it means you don't have to go into share sheet and try and
find the device you're trying to send to. This is not just photos and files you can send with tap to share. You can use this to share contact cards as well. And the best thing is that this is not just a Pixel 11 like exclusive feature. This is coming to more Android phones at some point. Like for now, it is on the Pixel 11s, but hopefully this is going to be coming to a lot more Android phones. I do need to talk about the Pixel 11 Pro Fold this year because there are some things that Google just didn't want to tell you at that keynote. We know that Google made it thinner and lighter, which is great. They gave it a new glass fiber on the back, which means it's almost impossible to crack. And it
has a fingerprint resistant coating on that. So, that is cool. And even the fact the cover display is now a super actual display. So, it can go from 1 to 120 hertz, and it can have that always-on display wallpaper. Like I'm a fan of this. But what they didn't tell you is what the Pro Fold misses out on. The slab Pixel 11 Pros have instant night sight. So, taking low-light photos is like four times quicker. But, guess what? The Pro Fold doesn't have this. There's also a new 4K portrait video mode, which is finally upgraded from 1080p on the 11 Pros. But, guess what? This is not on the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. And we got a camera update on the 11 Pro Fold, but it's not a pro camera. We
didn't get the five times update that we did on the 11 Pros. You get the same main camera as you get on the Pixel 11. Like, this might be the least pro phone I've seen in a while. But, hey, at least Google gave you two new magic look animations. Let me complain quickly because this is something Google didn't tell you at the keynote. I know we heard that the Pixels can shoot in 8K, which it technically can, but it can't shoot in 8K on device. To get 8K, you still need to use video boost. You still need to turn video boost on every single time. It still has to go to the cloud, and it still has to take a lifetime for you to get that 8K video recording back. So, just remember and just like just know this that 8K
video recording is definitely not on device. Moving on. And from the keynote, if you can call it a keynote, I think Google are expecting a lot of people to try and move over from iPhones. And if you are, Google are at least trying to make that a little easier. When you're transferring your data over from your iPhone, you can now move over your passwords and your passkeys, which is kind of a lifesaver because it means you don't have to be stressing thinking about where or what password you're using for what. And those passkeys are so annoying. So, the fact that you can bring them over as you're transferring from your iPhone, I think is great. Let me go over some specs that Google didn't
really get into at the keynote and where the Pros and the Pixel 11 actually differ. Firstly, Wi-Fi 7. This is only on the Pros, and that was the same as last year, but the regular still has Wi-Fi 6E. It's a very small difference, but I feel like some people might want to know this. This is also the same for ultra-wideband, and if you don't know what that is, it's basically a more precise Bluetooth for tracking down your phone or other ultra-wideband tags if you lose them. So, rather than the find hub saying, "Oh, the device is close." It can give you a proper location and make it a little bit more accurate to find what you've lost. This is something that is only on the Pros
and not on the regular 11. But, there is something that was introduced for the Pro phones only last year, which is now on the Pixel 11 regular, and this is thread radio support. What thread radio is basically a low-power network used by loads of newer Matter smart home devices, and it's like a more direct connection between your phone and smart lights. So, for example, when you tell your Pixel to turn off the bedroom light, this command will go straight from the phone to that smart light rather than going from the phone, the router, and then the light. My favorite thing about thread radio is that even if you have no Wi-Fi, let's say it's gone down, you can still give your smart light a command because your Pixel is
the hub, so it still is able to turn off and on just by saying, "Hey, turn off the living room light." This next one I think is pretty important because Google didn't mention this at all, and it's a strange one not to mention because it's actually massive. It's the fact that we now have a new modem in the Pixels. Google haven't confirmed who makes this modem, but if you believe the reports, Google has actually ditched Samsung and moved over to MediaTek for this year's modem in the Pixel 11s. And as secretive as Google are being, what Google did tell us is that it should be able to deliver better connectivity when you're using 5G, and that it does use less power. So, in reality, what I'm hoping
this means is that if you're on data, your phone actually does run cooler, and then because of that, it starts to use less battery. I'm surprised Google didn't really mention this at the keynote, and with those smaller batteries this year that Google also conveniently forgot to mention, the Tensor G6 will need all the power saving it can to make sure these phones actually are getting decent battery life. And this was mentioned at the keynote, but it's all about magic capture, and I just wanted to explain what this does a little bit more. This is actually pretty clever because it's basically for those moments where you don't know exactly when to press the shutter. So, instead of trying to perfectly time the photo, what you can
do is have the Pixel record a video that has to be less than 8 minutes. Then it will use Gemini to look through up to 500 frames from that video. And then it will pick out the best five moments and turn those into proper HDR photos. And you'll know if you're using this by that new Gemini logo on the camera. And the cool bit about this is that you get to keep that video and then those photos that Gemini give to you. And I've not had a proper amount of time to play around with this yet, but I mean this is actually very clever. Let me stick on camera and talk to you about camera looks because this is new, and Google did cover it at the keynote, but I feel like they didn't really go into what this is. On the surface, it
sounds like Google has basically added filters to the Pixel camera, but actually these aren't filters at all. You have a few different looks like natural, for example. And this one tones down some of that classic Pixel processing. You have shadows for a little bit more contrast, or vanilla, which gives you this warmer, softer, it's almost like a golden look. But these aren't just Instagram filters being added to the photos. When you select one of these new camera looks, it's actually changing like the entire image pipeline when you take that photo. Google is changing how that photo is processed. So, it's using fewer HDR frames. It's changing the color processing at sensor level. And you can customize all of these as well and set
them as your favorite when you go into the camera app. So, you don't have to keep clicking it every single time. I love how the Pixel processing looks, but I know a lot of people go, "I don't know. I wish it looked a little less Pixely." Well, now you can actually decide how you want your Pixel camera to look before you even take that photo. And the best thing is this is not just for the pros. You can get this on the Pixel 11 as well. So, you can all have a go at playing around with the new camera looks. I think this is maybe one of my favorite things that Google have done this year. There you go. There's a couple of specs that Google decided to not really go into too much detail about
at this year's keynote. It feels like these keynotes are not for people now that really want to know about specs, but they're trying to grab like a completely different audience and try and get people to move over to Pixels. And I mean, they did the same with Jimmy Fallon last year. So, it must be working for them somewhere. Let me know if you like this sort of video giving you a little bit more of a deep dive on those specs. Because if you do, then we can do it a little bit more often. And I feel like we've told you more about the Pixel 11 Pros than Google did themselves. If you can subscribe to the channel before you head off, then that would be great.
I would massively appreciate it. And if you do that, then I will see you in the next one. See you later.
