Google Pixel 11 Pro XL

I get the new Pixel every year and I always go with the biggest Pro. I’ve been doing that since the Pixel 4 XL back in 2019. I’m a Google guy. The house is full of Google devices, I like the AI features, and I have zero interest in leaving Android.

This is the first year I almost skipped one.

The RAM shortage wrecked the lineup. I never need more than 256GB of storage, because the only thing living on my phone is photos and those go up to Google Photos and then I wipe them off the device. But this year 256GB comes with 12GB of RAM, and my Pixel 10 Pro XL had 16GB. The only way to not go backwards was the 512GB, so I paid an extra $120 for storage I don’t need to keep the RAM I already had.

The colors didn’t help either. I don’t use a case or a screen protector and haven’t for years, so how the phone actually looks is the whole thing. The matte black is cool right up until you scuff the side rails one time and it looks like garbage. And there’s no Moonstone this year, which I really liked on the 10. So it came down to Olive or Fog, and I figured I’d do something a little different for once, so I went with the Olive.

What got me over the line was the math. I had $318.98 in Google Store credit sitting there from last year’s phone, they gave me $700 instantly for the Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the $1,419 turned into $450.35 out the door with tax. Then $284.26 in store credit comes back to me after it ships, which is what buys next year’s phone. As a business expense, that’s tough to argue with.

I keep Pixel Care+ with Loss and Theft on it, $16 a month. I’ve used it exactly once in seven years, on the Pixel 6 Pro, which I shattered riding an electric scooter home from a Pirates game.

I ordered this one on August 12 and it lands on the 20th, so I can’t tell you yet how good it is. I can tell you I wish Google would push a little harder.