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The Pixel 11 will be a perfect storm of bad timing

Ben Schoon | Aug 2 2026 - 6:00 am PT

It’s all leaked at this point. We know just about everything the Pixel 11 is bringing to the table, and, well, it feels a bit underwhelming, doesn’t it?

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Google’s Pixel history has been turbulent, to say the least, with lots of ups and downs through each new release. Over the past few generations, though, Pixel has been on a bit of a hot streak. Starting with the Pixel 8 generation especially, I’d say Google has had quite a few big wins, and that’s now culminating in the 10-year anniversary of Pixel.

And the crowd goes mild.

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That’s because these new Pixel phones aren’t even just the “tock” in a “tick, tock” cycle – rather, they seem to almost give off this vibe of an “if it ain’t broke” mentality. It’s not like we didn’t expect this. Google has explicitly said it only intends to bring major design refreshes every 2-3 generations.

Still, one can’t help but want a little bit more. Last year’s Pixel 10 series was exciting not from a design perspective, but because Google introduced Qi2 support. This year, there’s no such feature to look forward to, unless you get really excited about a splash of RGB on the back. I’m seriously looking forward to the new colors – both in that the “Dune” Pro looks stunning, and in the hopes that the green options look better in person than they do in renders. “Fuchsia” at least seems like a guaranteed win.

Things are also pretty rough on the foldable side. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold looks to be a very minor evolution, and it’s coming at a time when Samsung is pulling ahead with long overdue refinements, everyone is racing to put out wider form factors, and Apple is on the horizon.

Yet, none of that is really the core problem.

A “boring” year wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for RAMageddon.

Google is recycling designs and not really bringing anything new to the table, all while prices are going up. Every Pixel 11 will be more expensive than its predecessor – albeit with more storage – despite the similarities, and despite the Pro models likely having less RAM on their base tiers according to leaks. I’d say “oh, but it’s not Google’s fault” – but it kind of totally is. It’s not the Pixel team’s fault, but AI data centers are the reason this whole mess exists, and now Google has to deal with the impact of the market that it’s pushing so hard to pull ahead in.

I’m sure the Pixel 11 series will be good, but Google’s new release is just coming at a perfectly terrible time.

We’ll find out more in just over a week.

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Someone found the Pixel leak faucet

If you felt you didn’t know enough about the Pixel 11 series, it’s all out there now. Much like the Avengers: Doomsday script our Abner Li was so distraught to find out had leaked on a recent Pixelated Pro episode, virtually everything there is to know about Google’s upcoming launch has surfaced in one way or another. Here are just a few of the key leaks from the past week, including our exclusive reveal of Google’s first-party Find Hub tracker, the “Pixel Tag.”