Chips & Hardware
Google's Pixel 11 lineup adds pricier phones and a Tile-style tracker
Google unveiled the Pixel 11 series, Pixel Watch 5, and a new AirTag rival called Pixel Tag at its Made by Google 2026 event.
Google held its Made by Google 2026 event on Wednesday, unveiling the Pixel 11 phone lineup, the Pixel Watch 5, and its first competitor to Apple’s AirTag, alongside a set of new Gemini-powered features across its devices.
The standard Pixel 11 gets a redesigned camera bar that Google says is more than 40% thinner than the previous generation, using an all-glass surface that stretches across the phone’s width. Base storage doubles to 256GB, and the 128GB option is gone. The phone starts at $899 — a $100 increase over the Pixel 10 — which Google attributes partly to that storage change and partly to an ongoing RAM supply shortage. The Pixel 11 comes in Frost, Hibiscus, Pistachio, and Obsidian.
The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL add improved drop resistance and a new anti-scratch display coating that Google says offers more than twice the scratch resistance of the Pixel 10 Pro models. The Pro starts at $1,099, up from $999 for the Pixel 10 Pro, and ships in Canyon, Fog, Olive, and an all-matte Obsidian finish.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is nearly 10% lighter and almost 1mm thinner than its predecessor, with slimmer bezels, a 48-megapixel main camera, and 30x Super Zoom. It keeps IP68 water and dust resistance and adds a glass-fiber composite back cover and a redesigned hinge that Google says make the foldable three times more durable than the previous model.
Google’s answer to Apple’s AirTag is Pixel Tag, a $29 tracker (or $99 for a four-pack) that connects to Android’s Find Hub network so users can locate it through the Find Hub app. It can also be located from a Pixel Watch, and Pixel Buds users can ask Gemini to find or ring a tag.
On the Gemini side, Google is expanding “Live Transcribe” to support American Sign Language translation through the Pixel Camera, and introducing “Rambler,” a voice-input feature built to handle run-on sentences and filler words rather than requiring carefully phrased commands. Circle to Search is now accessible more directly from the Pixel Camera.
The Pixel Watch 5 starts at $399 for the 41mm model and $429 for the 45mm, with a $579 Stephen Curry edition; it adds monthly summaries of blood pressure and insulin resistance trends through the Google Health app.
Why it matters
Google is betting a higher-priced, more durable Pixel lineup and a new hardware accessory can pull users deeper into its Gemini ecosystem, directly challenging Apple’s device and services bundle.