Google’s priciest Pixel 11 may bring a smaller battery and a bigger bill

Google’s next Pro Pixels may turn “less for more” into a flagship feature

By Vikhyaat Vivek Published July 29, 2026

Rear shell of Google Pixel 10 Pro. — Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

Google’s next flagship phones may ask buyers to accept two changes that rarely sit well together: smaller batteries and higher starting prices. Reliable leaker Roland Quandt claims the Pixel 11 Pro will carry a 4,850mAh battery, while the larger Pixel 11 Pro XL will offer 5,115mAh. The same leak puts their UK prices at £1,079 and £1,279, respectively, for models with 256GB of storage. Google has yet to confirm any of these figures, with the Pixel 11 launch scheduled for August 12.

The Pixel 11 Pro XL gets the roughest deal

The reductions are relatively small, but endurance likely isn’t seeing a lot of progress. Google lists the Pixel 10 Pro with a 4,870mAh battery and the Pixel 10 Pro XL with a 5,200mAh cell. Meaning, the successors are losing a modest amount of capacity. The Pixel 11 Pro’s tiny reduction is unlikely to transform everyday endurance by itself. In our review, the Pixel 10 Pro’s battery life was inconsistent during early testing, particularly during heavy camera and AI use.

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The XL downgrade is harder to brush aside. The Pixel 10 Pro XL introduced the largest battery ever fitted to a conventional Pixel phone, and our review found that it consistently lasted a full day with 20% remaining while delivering around six to eight hours of screen time. Its battery life became one of the clearest reasons to choose it over the smaller Pro.

Google may charge considerably more for the XL

The leaked £1,279 Pixel 11 Pro XL price is £80 higher than the equivalent 256GB Pixel 10 Pro XL. It would also create a £200 gap between the two Pro models, double the £100 separation seen in the previous generation. Meanwhile, the gap between the Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro sees a positive trend.

Their 256GB models could actually cost £20 less than last year’s equivalent configurations. However, Google is reportedly dropping the cheaper 128GB tier, raising the minimum price of entry by £80. These are still just unconfirmed leaks, and even battery figures don’t actually convey true battery life. But seeing how Samsung is also moving to newer battery tech for its latest foldables, Google Pixels may lose more ground.

Vikhyaat Vivek is a tech journalist and reviewer with seven years of experience covering consumer hardware, with a focus on…

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