Why the Pixel 10 Pro Is Still the Better Buy Over Pixel 11 Pro
The Pixel 11 Pro costs $100 more than its predecessor but offers limited upgrades. Here's why the Pixel 10 Pro remains the smarter choice.
I love my Pixel 10 Pro and seriously considered upgrading it when the Pixel 11 Pro/Pixel 11 Pro XL came out recently.
I upgrade my Pixel nearly every year because I like having the latest phone, but this year a $100 price hike — likely thanks to the memory shortage caused by the AI data center build-out — on the new Pro, plus a corresponding downgrade for something I consider important, has made me change my mind about upgrading this year. That’s led me to realize that the best Pixel for me (and probably you) is not the newest one.
HiLight Is the Main “New Thing” on Pixel 11 Pro
But It’s Not the Notification System We Wanted
The main physical change with the Pixel 11 Pro this year is a feature called HiLight, which replaces the temperature sensor found on the previous Pixel that most people didn’t use. It’s only available on the Pixel 11 Pro models, and not the regular Pixel 11.
HiLight is a multicolored programmable LED that does two things. First, it pulses while you’re using Gemini, whether it’s thinking, listening, or responding. Google set out to give the Pixel 11 Pro a physical manifestation of AI to make it feel more “alive,” and HiLight kind of gets there — if your phone happens to be screen-down such that you can even see HiLight.
The second, more useful thing HiLight does is let you assign a favorite contact to one of five colors so that, for example, when mom calls, the light pulses red.
But as reviewers point out, HiLight has two major limitations.
It Only Notifies for Calls
HiLight only works for calls, which is very surprising in a world where most people don’t make phone calls at all. It would be much more useful if you could assign a color to a contact whether they call, text, or send you a WhatsApp message.
Overall, HiLight is not a feature worth upgrading for, and hopefully Google comes to its senses and expands the functionality of this limited feature. In fact, there’s an app that brings HiLight-like notifications to any phone.
This can be easily fixed with software, and Google just needs to look back at older phones from the early 2000s that came with a fully-programmable multi-colored notification light.
The 11 Pro Does Offer a Few Upgrades
A Slightly Brighter Screen, More Base Storage, Slightly Faster Charging, and a Processor Bump
| Spec | Pixel 10 Pro | Pixel 11 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $999 | $1,099 |
| CPU | Google Tensor G5 | Google Tensor G6 |
While the Pixel 11 Pro does bring incremental improvements — including a modestly brighter display, increased base storage, slightly faster charging, and the newer Tensor G6 processor — none of these upgrades are dramatic enough to justify the $100 price increase over the Pixel 10 Pro, especially when the headline new feature, HiLight, is so limited in its current form. For most users, the Pixel 10 Pro remains the stronger value and the smarter long-term choice.
