Pixel 11 moves the NFC antenna to the top of the phone for easier payments, Tap to Share

Ben Schoon | Aug 13 2026 - 5:30 am PT

In a nice quality-of-life change, Google says it has moved the NFC antenna on its Pixel 11 phones to the top of the device, making it easier and just more logical to do things such as make mobile payments or use the new “Tap to Share” feature.

The placement of your NFC antenna doesn’t usually matter, but when it does, it’s really annoying to try and remember exactly where it is. Logic says it should be at the top of the phone and, on iPhones, it usually is. But Google Pixel and virtually every other Android phone will place it elsewhere, often towards the center of the back of the device, but we’re finally seeing things move in the right direction.

Like Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series, the Google Pixel 11 series has an “updated NFC tag” that’s placed at the top of the phone. Samsung accomplished this by adding an extra antenna, but Google apparently just moved the hardware entirely.

From Google:

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Sharing with others is just as easy: Alongside an updated NFC tag at the top of the phone, Tap to Share makes it even easier for you to instantly swap contact cards or share large files with any nearby Android device with a quick tap.

There are a million places where this might prove useful, including the new “Tap to Share” feature that Google mentions. I’ll also throw out that moving it to the top is so welcome from the standpoint of accepting tap to pay through apps like Square – if you know, you know the pain I’m talking about.

The Pixel 11 series is available for pre-order now, shipping August 20.