The Pixel 11 is Here

6:33 pm: They brought on DJ Peggy Gou to show off how the HiLight works, and well, it’s just a blinking LED on the back of the phone. “Sometimes it’s the simplest features that are the most powerful.” Sure.

6:31 pm: Trevor Noah just introduced Toni Urban, who works on Google sensors. This will probably be about HiLight. You’ll be able to assign people one of five colors, so when they’re calling you a little light will show up on the camera bar, to let you know that person is calling. There will also be a seperate color or something that’ll let you know Gemini is listening. I kind of want to know more about the latter, but they kind of skipped over it.

6:28 pm: The Pixel Buds Pro 2 are here, with a ‘huge upgrade’ to noise cancelation. They do look a little bulky, but that probably comes down to the blown up image on the screen.

6:24 pm: Quick charging is getting a boost too, Edward Shi claims that 15 minutes on the charger will get you 15 hours of battery life. That’s something I’d like to actually test before I’m willing to take it as gospel.

6:22 pm: Edward Shi has taken the stage to talk about the Tensor G6 processor and the Pixel 11 camera. There’s a telephoto lens with 120x (optical?) zoom. There’s also a new “instant night” mode for the camera that should boost low-light performance. That’s always the biggest problem I have with phone cameras, so I’d love to see if the low-light performance actually matches the claims here.

6:20 pm: The Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold is apparently the most resilient Google foldable yet. Google is rating the folding mechanism for 83 million folds, which is probably more than you’ll ever actually put it through. Isabelle Olsson also claims that the back cover of the phone is ‘nearly impossible’ to crack, which, I’ll believe it when I see it.

6:15 pm: The Google Pixel Watch 5 is here, and apparently Stephen Curry helped design a special edition band. I’m not sure what’s different about it. They spent like 30 seconds on the watch before transitioning it to the Pixel Tab, which is Google’s take on the Apple AirTag. Hopefully they go into a little more detail on these devices at some point.

Google Pixel 11

6:14 pm: The Pixel 11 camera bar is thinner than ever, which should help it fit in your pocket better. It should also stop the phone from wobbling when you put it down on a table – something I’m sure we’re all super familiar with.

6:11 pm: Finally, it seems like we’re going to see the phone. Noah introduced Isabelle Olsson, who will be introducing the Pixel 11 lineup. There are four phones, the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. We’ll probably see the actual phones eventually. Olsson claims that Google has the coolest phone colors ever, and some of them actually do look pretty nice, but of course all the colorways have fancy names.

6:10 pm: We’re 10 minutes into this event, and the entire thing has been yapping about how awesome Gemini is.

6:06 pm: According to Osterloh, over a billion people are using Gemini. I typically forget its even there, but absolutely let me know in the comments if you’re actually relying on it for anything. Trevor Noah called it a GLP-1 of technology, which, ugh.

6:04 pm: Trevor Noah is sitting down with Google’s Rick Osterloh, talking about what’s new for Android. And of course he’s talking about how we’re in a new era of tech where everything is getting easier to use. I’m not sure if Gemini’s features make things any easier to use, but I might just be a curmudgeon who’s used to doing things manually. Apparently tapping your phone is a lot of work.

6:02 pm: Trevor Noah kicked things off joking about a (thankfully not real) feature that’ll randomly share your internet history with your friends and colleagues. I mean, it’s kind of a thing if by “friends and colleagues” he meant Google Gemini, but whatever.

6:00 pm: And, here we go! The show is starting off with more music and a reel of all the guest stars. It almost feels more like a TV show than a tech presentation, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Trevor Noah just took the stage, behind a big red couch.

5:46 pm: The stream has officially transitioned from a still image to a bunch of moving pictures and generic music. Obviously the Pixel 11 Pro is front and center, so expect that to be the star of the show. Although, there have been little flashes of the Pixel Watch 5, and with how big wearables have become, there will probably be quite a bit of time on that one.

5:45 pm: Fifteen minutes to go!

5:30 pm: Really, one of the things I want to see most is Google figuring out a way to avoid throttling on its new chipset. My pet peeve, when it comes to phones, is that in long, sustained workloads, performance just tanks after a few minutes. Just looking back to the Galaxy S26 Ultra earlier this year, performance dropped by as much as 30% in a long 3DMark workload. That’s kind of just a side effect of phones getting thinner, but there’s so much opportunity, especially in the age of on-device AI.

5:11 pm: Ok, Made by Google starts in a little under an hour. This is an odd little event, because Google already kind of revealed all the hardware it’s going to show today, so I can’t help but wonder what’s actually going to be shown. There are definitely some features, like HiLight that I want to hear more about. After all, a little light on the back of your phone doesn’t seem like it’s necessarily a headline feature. But, who knows, maybe its a bit more sophisticated than it seems.

1:11 pm: Google has actually announced the entire lineup from today’s event. We’re not just getting the three phones, but also the Pixel Watch 5, Pixel Buds 2 Pro and 2a, along with a Pixel Tag. The Pixel Tag seems incredibly similar to Apple’s AirTag, and will help you keep track of anything they’re attached to. Again, Google will reveal more about how all of these products actually work later today, so stay tuned. But, for all of them, I expect a heavy dose of Google Gemini.

12:30 pm: It looks like the rumors about ‘HiLight’ were real. Basically, on the Pixel 11 Pro, there’s a light that lives next to the camera that’ll let you know when one of your favorite contacts are calling you or if you are talking to Gemini. I’m sure Google will talk a little more about how it actually works during its presentation later today, but right off the jump it reminds of the tiny extra screen on the LG V10 about a decade ago. It might be a minor feature, but it does seem genuinely helpful, especially if you keep your phone face down on the table in front of you when you’re out with friends or something.

11:15 am: The event starts in about seven hours, and it does seem like Google will be packing the thing with a ton of hardware. But it seems like Google has already made the Pixel 11 lineup available for preorder. Right now you can order the Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro Fold and Pixel 11 on Google’s website for $1,099, $1,899 and $899 respectively. Depending on how well Google’s new Tensor G6 chip performs, the new foldable could give Samsung and Motorola’s recent foldables a run for their money.

How to Watch Made By Google 2026

If you want to watch Made By Google yourself, you can do so on the Made For Google YouTube channel. The stream will go live at 6pm EST / 3PM PST. It should be about an hour long, and it’s going to be absolutely packed. Google teased the event last week, including appearances from actress Ayami Nakajo and athlete Stephen Curry. Plus, the whole thing will be hosted by Trevor Noah, which should be a step up from the typical stuffy tech executive that usually presents this kind of thing.

What to Expect

Just like with every iteration of this event, Google is going to be revealing its next generation of phones. Obviously, we can expect the Pixel 11, the Pixel 11 Pro and the Pixel 11 Fold, but Google will also be showing off at least one smart watch.

But no matter what hardware Google has to offer, it’s likely that Gemini is going to be a constant topic throughout the presentation. Whether you’re into AI or not, pretty much every smartphone maker has made AI a central feature. The Pixel 11 will be no different, and I expect at least one or two new AI features to make it to the phone.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra