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Pixel 11 Pro or Pixel 11 Pro XL. Google wants you to pay around 200 bucks more for the larger model. But here's the thing. Both phones have the same cameras, chipset, and software experience. So, is the smaller Pixel 11 Pro actually the smarter buy? We've run both phones through all of our usual tests to find out. Let's get into it. The first thing you're paying for with the XL is, of course, the size, but bigger isn't necessarily better. The Pixel 11 Pro is more compact and over 20 g lighter than the XL. That makes it a bit comfier and easier to wield.
But apart from size, the two phones look and feel pretty much identical. You get the same design and premium build materials. Even the color options are the same. There's Canyon, Olive, Fog, and the only matte one, Obsidian. Both phones also sport the new highlight feature where the LED on the back glows for certain scenarios, like when interacting with Gemini. It's a neat touch, though we found it more of a gimmick than a particularly useful feature. And both phones have an IP68 rating with ingress protection against dust and water. But the extra size of the XL comes with one obvious benefit, a bigger screen. The Pixel 11 Pro has a 6.3-inch OLED display,
while the XL stretches that to 6.8 inches. So, if you watch a lot of videos, play games, or simply prefer having more screen real estate, the XL has a clear advantage. But does the larger model have a better-quality display, too? Not really. Both panels are sharp and vibrant, and our brightness tests put them virtually neck and neck. Both get impressively bright, making them great for outdoor use. You get a smooth high refresh rate either way, and it's quite adaptive thanks to LTPO tech. And under the display of either Pixel sits an ultrasonic fingerprint reader for biometrics, and they're just as responsive.
But the XL does have another advantage when it comes to enjoying media, and this one you can actually hear. The XL's speakers are in fact louder than the Pro's, with a score of Very Good on our loudness charts, and the sound quality is better, too, clearer and with better bass. You can listen for yourself with our comparison tool linked below. All right, so far the XL gives you a bigger screen and better audio. Fair enough, but what about battery life? Surely a bigger phone with a bigger battery should last considerably longer. The XL packs a 5,115 mAh battery compared to 4,850 mAh on the smaller Pro. It's only about 5% more capacity, though.
That extra capacity didn't translate into much longer battery life, but the XL did come out slightly ahead in our tests. The only meaningful difference was in web browsing. Everywhere else, the results were remarkably close. So, if you're expecting a major endurance upgrade with the XL, you won't find one here. But there's a twist. The XL may not last much longer, but it charges a lot faster. While the Pixel 11 Pro supports 30 W wired charging, the XL's is 45 W, and the difference in our tests was substantial. After just half an hour, the XL had charged to significantly more than the smaller Pro, and a full charge took 20 minutes less on the XL. So, while you won't get dramatically longer
battery life with the bigger phone, you will spend noticeably less time waiting for it to charge. Wireless charging, on the other hand, is identical. Both phones support 25 W Qi2 magnetic wireless charging, much like Apple's MagSafe. Now, the XL is pulling ahead in a few areas, but paying more won't get you any extra processing power. Both phones use exactly the same Tensor G6 chipset paired with either 12 or 16 gigs of RAM. Google's Tensor chips have never really been performance champions, but at least the Tensor G6 promises better CPU and AI processing power than last year.
The GPU architecture, however, doesn't support the ray tracing feature, which makes lighting and reflections look hyper-realistic, and at launch it wasn't well supported by Android game devs, leading to issues in games that prompted some pretty bad early reactions. But since then, the problems have generally been ironed out by Google. As expected, in benchmarks, both of these phones earn the same scores. It falls behind other top flagships when it comes to graphics, but CPU-wise, it's still solid. And the larger chassis doesn't give the XL a meaningful advantage in sustained performance either. Both phones show similar levels of throttling
in our prolonged stress tests. So, whether you choose the Pro or the XL, you're getting essentially the same performance, for better or worse. The similarities continue with storage options, which range from 256 gigs all the way up to a terabyte. And either way, you'll get Google's software experience, a clean yet customized version of Android 17. It runs quite smoothly, too, quick and snappy. But there's one more area where Google could have done something to justify the XL's higher price, the cameras. But instead, they haven't given the XL any special treatment at all.
Both phones have the exact same camera hardware. That includes a main cam, a 5x telephoto zoom, and an ultrawide camera which has autofocus. And our side-by-side testing confirms that image quality is essentially identical, too. So, rather than look for differences that aren't really there, let's see what kind of photos and videos you can expect from either Pixel. The main camera's photos are pretty great during the day, with some of that characteristic Pixel greenness, but also plenty of detail. Dynamic range is excellent, colors are superb, and overall there's very little to complain about.
At 2x zoom, though, things aren't quite as impressive. Google is still lagging behind some rivals when it comes to detail at this zoom level. Switch to the dedicated 5x camera and things improve. Photos are sharp, detailed, and very pleasing overall. The ultrawides also deliver solid results, and thanks to autofocus, you can get up close to your subjects. At night, both Pixels remain excellent with their main cameras, capturing well-exposed and detailed images. The 5x telephotos also hold up well, although they're not quite the sharpest in the business.
And the ultrawides produce decent nighttime photos without really standing out. Selfies from the Pixels' 42-megapixel front-facing cameras are great, and we appreciate the extra-wide field of view and autofocus here. And here's how 4K selfie video looks from both phones. Both phones have the same video recording capabilities on board, as expected. You can shoot in up to 4K at 60 fps with all cameras. Daytime footage is very good, with attractive colors and consistent rendering across the cameras. Though if you look closely, you might notice that the detail isn't quite as sharp as on some other leading camera phones. At night, the main cameras perform well,
while the telephotos are just decent. The ultrawides, however, leave a lot to be desired. So, after all of those comparisons, the takeaway is simple. You're not getting a better camera phone by paying extra for the XL. That brings us back to our original question. Is the Pixel 11 Pro XL really worth the premium? There are plenty of things these two phones share, like the same premium build quality and equally bright and smooth displays. The two phones have the same chipset and gaming performance. There's the same Google software experience and exactly the same cameras.
The smaller Pixel 11 Pro, however, is easier to handle, noticeably lighter, and gives you pretty much the same core experience, all while saving you a fair bit of money. The XL, on the other hand, gives you a more spacious screen, louder and fuller-sounding speakers, and slightly longer battery life, particularly for web browsing and social networks. But its biggest practical advantage may actually be the faster wired charging. So, are these improvements worth an extra 200 bucks? Well, if you want the biggest screen and value faster charging, the XL certainly makes sense.
But for most people, I think the regular Pixel 11 Pro is a smarter deal. You're not sacrificing camera quality, performance, or any of Google's flagship software features, and you're saving a pretty good chunk of money. Ultimately, the XL does give you more phone, but not necessarily 200 bucks more value. Which one would you choose? Let us know down in the comments. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next one.
