I'm ranking the best Google Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro deals at launch — free phones, trade-in discounts, and more

Google's latest flagship lineup has finally hit store shelves, and I'm hard at work tracking down the best Pixel 11 deals (and Pixel 11 Pro deals) so you don't have to go searching. Whether you're interested in the base model Pixel 11, the powerful Pixel 11 Pro, or the super-sized Pixel 11 Pro XL, there are already quite a few deals and leftover preorder promotions that could make these AI-powered flagships pretty cheap (or even free) if you play your cards right.

The new generation of Pixel phones takes the stellar foundation of the Google Pixel 10 series and adds a new processor, an upgraded camera system, and a set of stylish new color variants. The Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL also feature the new HiLight LED system, a fancy light array around the camera bar that's sure to turn heads.

Another bit of good news is that, other than the Pixel 11 Pro XL (which now starts at $1,299), Google's 2026 lineup wasn't hit with a price increase this year. Still, the phones aren't exactly cheap, which is why the following deals are so important. Whether you're looking for a trade-in opportunity or a free gift card, keep reading for all of the best Pixel 11 discounts on the web (so far).

Quick links

• Google Pixel 11 hands-on review
• Google Pixel 11 Pro official review
• The best Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold deals
  
• T-Mobile: FREE Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro with eligible line
• Verizon: FREE Pixel 11 with eligible line
• AT&T: FREE Pixel 11 phones with trade-in, new line
• Amazon: free gift cards worth up to $200
• Best Buy: free gift cards worth up to $200
• Google Store: up to $600 off with trade-in
• Xfinity Mobile: FREE Pixel 11 with trade-in, new line

Google Pixel 11 deals

T-Mobile: Get a FREE Google Pixel 11 with new line on most plans

You read that right: the Pixel 11 was literally just announced, but you can already get the base model flagship for free by adding a line with most plans on T-Mobile's website. That includes the carrier's affordable Essentials 2.0 tier!View Deal

Verizon: Get a FREE Google Pixel 11 with eligible line

Add a line with the Unlimited Welcome, Unlimited Plus, or Unlimited Ultimate plan and Verizon will give you enough promo credits over 36 months to make the new Google Pixel 11 completely free! There's also some trade-in credit available. View Deal

AT&T: Get the Pixel 11 for only $5.43 per month with new line

Add a line with an eligible data plan and AT&T will knock the price of the Google Pixel 11 down to only $5.43 per month for 36 months. No trade-in required!View Deal

Amazon: Get a free $100 gift card with Google Pixel 11

Order the base model Google Pixel 11 unlocked from Amazon and you'll get a free $100 gift card with your purchase, no strings attached! There's also some trade-in credit up for grabs (in the form of an additional gift card).View Deal

Best Buy: Get a free $100 gift card with Pixel 11

Just like Amazon, if you order the Google Pixel 11 unlocked from Best Buy you'll receive a free $100 gift card to spend on anything you want. There's also some trade-in credit available.View Deal

Google Store: Get up to $500 off with eligible trade-in

Buy the Google Pixel 11 directly from the source and you'll be eligible for up to $500 of trade-in credit. You'll also get six months of Google AI Pro for free (a $119 value).View Deal

Xfinity Mobile: Get a FREE Pixel 11 with trade-in, new line

Add a line with the Mobile Plus plan and trade in an eligible device and Xfinity Mobile will give you $899 in promo credits, effectively making the Google Pixel 11 free. Don't have anything to trade in? Skip that part of the process and you'll still score a $600 discount. View Deal

Google Pixel 11 Pro deals

T-Mobile: Get a FREE Google Pixel 11 Pro with eligible trade-in, new line

Process a trade-in and add a new line on the Experience More plan (or higher) and T-Mobile will hook you up with a FREE Pixel 11 Pro. The carrier is being pretty generous with the devices it accepts, so dig up those old phones and see how much you can save. View Deal

Verizon: Get a FREE Google Pixel 11 Pro with new line

Verizon is running a deal that will give you $1,100 in promo credits when you add a line with the Unlimited Plus or Unlimited Ultimate plans. That's enough to make the Pixel 11 Pro totally free!

Verizon is also really pushing its Simplicity plan right now: bundle the new wireless plan with the Pixel 11 Pro and you'll get both for as little as $45 per month. View Deal

AT&T: Get a FREE Pixel 11 Pro with trade-in, new line

Process an eligible trade-in and add a line with a qualified unlimited plan and AT&T will give you enough promo credits to make the powerful Google Pixel 11 Pro completely free!View Deal

Amazon: Get a $200 gift card with Pixel 11 Pro

Purchase the Pixel 11 Pro unlocked from Amazon and you'll get a free $200 gift card with your purchase.View Deal

Best Buy: Get a free $200 gift card with Pixel 11 Pro

Buy the Pixel 11 Pro unlocked from Best Buy and you'll get a free $200 gift card with your purchase, no strings attached. You can also claim up to $1,000 of trade-in credit when you send the retailer an old or broken phone. View Deal

Google Store: Get up to $600 of trade-in credit

Order the Pixel 11 Pro from the Google Store and you'll score up to $600 off when you trade in an eligible device. You'll also get a free six-month subscription to Google AI Pro. View Deal

Xfinity Mobile: Get a FREE Pixel 11 Pro with trade-in, new line

Just like the base model Pixel 11, you can add a line with the Mobile Plus plan and score a FREE Pixel 11 Pro when you trade in an old or broken device at Xfinity Mobile. There's also a $600 discount available if you skip the trade-in process. View Deal

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL deals

T-Mobile: Get a FREE Google Pixel 11 Pro XL with trade-in and Experience Beyond plan

Process a trade-in and add a new line with the Experience Beyond plan and T-Mobile will give you enough promo credits to make the Pixel 11 Pro XL completely free! Go with the cheaper Experience More plan and you'll be eligible for up to $1,100 of trade-in credit. View Deal

Verizon: Score up to $1,100 off the Pixel 11 Pro XL with new line

Add a line with the Unlimited Ultimate plan and Verizon will give you the Pixel 11 Pro XL for just $5 per month. No trade-in required!View Deal

AT&T: Get a FREE Pixel 11 Pro XL with eligible trade-in, new line

Add a line with an eligible data plan and AT&T will hook you up with a FREE Pixel 11 Pro XL when you trade in an old or broken device with a value of $200 or higher.View Deal

Amazon: Get a free $200 gift card with Pixel 11 Pro XL

Just like the regular Pixel 11 Pro, you'll get a free $200 Amazon gift card when you order the XL phone on the retailer's website. View Deal

Best Buy: Get a free $200 gift card with Pixel 11 Pro XL

You guessed it: Best Buy will also give you a free $200 gift card when you order the unlocked Pixel 11 Pro XL on its website. View Deal

Google Store: Get up to $600 off with trade-in

Head to the Google Store and purchase the Pixel 11 Pro XL and you'll be eligible for up to $600 off the phone when you trade in. View Deal

Xfinity Mobile: Get a FREE Pixel 11 Pro with trade-in, new line

That's right: the affordable carrier Xfinity Mobile will give you the Pixel 11 Pro XL for FREE when you add a line with the Mobile Plus plan and trade in an eligible device. That's $1,300 in savings!View Deal

FAQ

(Image credit: Shruti Shekar / Android Central)

How much does the Google Pixel 11 series cost?

The base model Google Pixel 11 is set to retail for $899 / €999, while the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL will cost $1,099 / €1,199 and $1,299 / €1,399, respectively. The 128GB storage configuration has been removed with the Pixel 11 series, which means all three phones now start with 256GB of onboard storage.

The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL is the only phone in the flagship lineup to receive a price hike this year, selling for $100 more than its predecessor.

Which Google Pixel 11 phone should I choose?

It depends on what you're looking for! If you want something compact and affordable, the base model Google Pixel 11 is a great choice, with a stunning display, Tensor G6 processor, and a seven-year software promise.

If you want the same size but more power, you can upgrade to the Google Pixel 11 Pro and get a brighter display, better cameras, and the new HiLight LED light array. Last but not least, the Google Pixel 11 Pro XL takes the foundation of the Pixel 11 Pro and supersizes it, adding a 6.8-inch display with a larger battery and up to 16GB of RAM. Despite the higher cost, it's a great choice if you like using large phones (consider it Google's answer to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra).

No matter which device you choose, you're getting a powerful AI-boosted Android phone with an efficient Tensor G6 chipset, at least 12GB of RAM, and seven years of OS and security upgrades guaranteed.

(Image credit: Shruti Shekar / Android Central)

I already own the Pixel 10. Should I upgrade to the Google Pixel 11?

This is always a tough question whenever new phones come out. On the one hand, I'm generally of the opinion that manufacturers don't need to be producing new phones every single year, particularly when most flagship releases come with seven years of OS upgrades as standard.

If you already own the Google Pixel 10, you won't see a massive upgrade with the Pixel 11. I'd only jump to the new phone if you're particularly interested in the latest and greatest Pixel experience.

If, on the other hand, you own an older device and can score a good deal through the channels listed above, then by all means go for it. After all, these phones are sure to rank among the best Android phones ever built, so you won't be disappointed.

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Global smartphone sales hit a major slump, except for this Android phone brand

What you need to know

• Honor is bucking the slowdown, with shipments jumping 35% in the Middle East even as the overall market fell 13%.
• Honor is also gaining across multiple regions: Shipments climbed 53% in Africa and 15% in Southeast Asia, with strong growth in Malaysia and the Philippines.
• Competitors like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo suffered double-digit global shipment drops in Q2 due to their heavy exposure to budget segments hit by component costs.

While the smartphone market is getting squeezed from both sides, with weaker demand and rising memory costs, one Chinese phone maker seems to be finding room to grow across some of the industry's toughest markets.

New data from market research firm Omdia finds the Middle East smartphone market fell 13% overall in the first half of 2026, but Honor grew its shipments 35% year-over-year. That raised its market share from 10% to 15%, keeping it in second place for a second consecutive quarter.

(Image credit: Omdia)

Globally, Counterpoint Research says Samsung reclaimed the smartphone lead in Q2 with a 24% share and recorded the strongest year-over-year growth among the top five brands. The Galaxy S26 series, especially the Ultra, helped cushion weaker demand for cheaper phones.

Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo haven't had such a lucky run. All three saw double-digit shipment declines globally in Q2 due to rising memory costs that have hit their heavier exposure to entry-level and midrange phones, according to Counterpoint. Oppo and Vivo came in fourth and fifth places, while Xiaomi still had 12% of the global share.

Honor’s expansion is not confined to one region. Its shipments rose 53% in Africa in H1, while Southeast Asia grew 15% in a shrinking market. The brand also ranked as the fastest growing major vendor in Malaysia and the Philippines in Q2.

An important exception is Huawei. Counterpoint says its Q2 shipments in China rose 24%, giving it a 23% market share and the top spot. Apple also gained 23% in China, showing that premium phones are holding up better than the broader market.

Honor is also leaning hard into that same premium trend. IDC reported that in Q2 it captured 53% of the foldable market in Malaysia, 67% in Singapore, and an incredible 89% in Hong Kong.

That makes Honor's 9% global H1 shipment growth all the more interesting: it was the only Chinese Android manufacturer among the top brands to post year-over-year growth, according to IDC.

The trick now is to sustain that momentum amid ongoing memory shortages and rising component prices that continue to squeeze the industry.

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Samsung just confirmed when the Galaxy S26 FE will make its debut

What you need to know

• Samsung will hold its next Galaxy Event on August 27, where it is expected to unveil the Galaxy S26 FE.
• The Galaxy S26 FE is expected to feature a 6.7-inch 120Hz display and Samsung's Exynos 2500 chipset.
• Leaks point to a 50MP main camera, 3x telephoto lens, 4,900mAh battery, and support for 45W charging.

It's the day the Pixel 11 series officially goes on sale, but Samsung isn't keeping quiet either. The company has confirmed its next Galaxy launch event for August 27, 2026.

Samsung has sent out invites to the media for its "Galaxy Event August 2026." Interestingly, the company isn't calling this one Galaxy Unpacked. Samsung says it will introduce the latest addition to the Galaxy S26 family at the event. While it hasn't officially named the device, all signs point toward the Galaxy S26 FE.

Samsung says the keynote will also be livestreamed for anyone watching from home. You'll be able to catch the event on Samsung's website as well as the company's YouTube channel, with the keynote scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. KST (8 a.m. ET) on August 27.

(Image credit: Samsung)

As with almost every Samsung launch these days, though, there probably isn't much left to surprise us. A massive leak recently gave us our clearest look yet at the Galaxy S26 FE, including what appear to be Samsung's official marketing materials, revealing both the phone's design and most of its specs.

According to those leaks, the Galaxy S26 FE will feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ display with support for up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The phone is expected to be powered by Samsung's Exynos 2500 chipset, the same processor that powered the Galaxy Z Flip 7 last year. It's also expected to come with 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.

Android Headlines

Android Headlines

Android Headlines

Android Headlines

On the back, the Galaxy S26 FE is rumored to feature a triple-camera setup consisting of a 50MP main camera, a 12MP ultra-wide, and an 8MP telephoto camera with up to 3x optical zoom. The phone is also expected to pack a 4,900mAh battery, the same capacity as last year's Galaxy S25 FE, along with support for 45W wired charging.

There's no word on pricing just yet. But with the ongoing RAM crisis and memory shortage affecting smartphone makers across the industry, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Galaxy S26 FE arrive at a higher starting price than its predecessor.

Thankfully, we don't have much longer to wait. Samsung's next Galaxy event is just a week away, and if everything points in the direction we expect, the Galaxy S26 FE will finally make its official debut on August 27.

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Motorola's magnetic charger leaks, and it's exactly what Android needed

What you need to know

• Leaked images show a polished, Apple-like magnetic puck from Motorola.
• The images show a slim, MagSafe-style circular puck with a braided USB-C cable, metallic finish, and a purple accent ring.
• The accessory hints that native magnetic charging could expand across Motorola's mid-range and flagship lineup.

Android hardware makers have been slow to adopt magnetic wireless charging, allowing Apple’s MagSafe and Google’s Pixel lineup to dominate the market. But it seems Motorola wants to join the party. A leaked accessory dubbed the Moto Snap suggests the company could be preparing more phones for Qi2.

Images posted by leaker Evan Blass on X show a slim, round Motorola charging puck with a USB-C connector and braided cable. It looks very similar to Apple’s MagSafe charger, with what look like magnets to automatically align the phone with the charging coil.

Moto Snap pic.twitter.com/G1sg24Sx8kAugust 19, 2026

Interestingly, Motorola has taken a rather unusual step with the Edge 70 Max, its first phone with built-in Qi2 magnets. The handset supports wireless charging up to 25W, with the magnets built directly into the phone, rather than requiring a special case.

Motorola says its phone can also get up to 12 hours of battery life from six minutes of wired charging with its 90W TurboPower setup.

(Image credit: Evan Blass / X)

The Moto Snap itself is much more portable. It’s a flat puck with a metallic finish, a Motorola logo, a braided cable, and what looks like a purple illuminated ring around the edge. It’s designed to be attached directly to the back of a compatible phone.

Of course Motorola has still not said anything. The charger may just be an accessory for the Edge 70 Max. But it makes more sense if Motorola plans to bring magnetic charging to more devices. That could be a big deal for Motorola, whose wider lineup still has plenty of phones without wireless charging in tow.

If the company begins adding native Qi2 magnets to more of its mid-range and flagship models, then magnetic charging could finally become the mainstream Android standard we’ve been promised for years.

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This powerful Lenovo tablet is a good pick for students gearing up for the school year — and it's now 11% off at Amazon

As tablet deals take center stage for many who are about to start a new school year, retailers are launching new discounts left and right. One such example is Amazon, which is currently offering an 11% discount on the Lenovo Idea Tab Plus, representing $30 in savings on a solid, affordable device.

The Lenovo Idea Tab Plus comes with a first-party stylus, a 12.1-inch touchscreen, and a built-in Folio Case with digital pen storage. It's backed by Android 15 and features a relatively lightweight, albeit durable, aluminum build, as well as a basic 128GB of storage.

For those who need additional storage, it also comes with a built-in microSD card slot that offers up to 1TB of additional space. To be sure, it doesn't exactly feel like a premium tablet, but even at the normal sticker price, it offers a pretty good value for what you get.

Lenovo Idea Tab Plus (12.1-inch): $279.99 $249.99 at Amazon

Amazon's Back-to-School deals include a $30 price drop on the Lenovo Idea Tab Plus, bringing it down to just $250. With the included Folio Case and digital pen, some might even call it a steal before the discount.View Deal

✅Recommended if: you're looking for a powerful Android tablet with a large, useful touchscreen, and you'd prefer a device that comes with a first-party stylus; you need something with enough storage for a wide range of file types, even if it means utilizing a microSD card; you like having something thin, lightweight, and portable, and something that also feels durable and drop-proof.

❌Skip this deal if: you're looking for the best tablet on the market and you have the budget to spend money on a premium-level device; you plan to use this for fast-paced gaming and you'd rather spend more on something with top-notch performance; battery life is your top priority when it comes to using a tablet with a stylus.

Lenovo's Idea Tab Plus offers a mid-sized 12.1-inch touchscreen with a 90Hz refresh rate, clocking in at a slightly smaller overall size than the Tab Pro. It has 128GB of storage as well as a microSD port for expandable storage, and a great Folio Case with storage for the included Lenovo digital pen stylus.

Lenovo says the tablet will get users over 6 hours of battery life per charge, and while that isn't an industry-leading spec by any stretch of the imagination, it's likely enough for most casual users, students, and young professionals. If you're looking for a hardcore gaming tablet, however, you may want to look into higher-priced devices with better performance.

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Fairphone Gen 6 Plus rocks Murena's /e/OS, and it's making all the right moves in its August launch

What you need to know

• Fairphone and Murena have teamed up to debut the Gen 6 Plus with /e/OS, a privacy-focused software based on Android.
• The Gen 6 Plus delivers 12GB of RAM, 12 replaceable parts for consumers, and a five-year warranty/five years of software updates.
• Murena Backup debuts with the Fairphone Gen 6 Plus, integrated into Murena Workspace Accounts, alongside the Advanced Privacy widget.
• The Fairphone Gen 6 Plus is available for $699 in a new Cobalt Blue colorway.

If Fairphone's Gen 6 caught your eye last year, the company's latest Gen 6 Plus is taking sustainability even further.

Together with Murena's /e/OS, Fairphone launches the Gen 6 Plus, categorizing it as its "latest achievement in the mission to make technology fairer, more modular, repairable and long-lasting while prioritising user privacy and experience." The original Fairphone Gen 6 launched in June 2025, but the company says the Plus model isn't anything to overlook.

The company states the Gen 6 Plus builds on "what already works" with the previous device. Fairphone is looking to "fight back" against current economic pressures, while improving the phone's lifespan. Repairability is a major highlight for Fairphone, and that's continuing with 12 replaceable parts in the Gen 6 Plus. Additionally, consumers will receive a five-year warranty and five years of software updates, carrying the Gen 6 Plus into 2033.

Elsewhere, Fairphone states the Gen 6 Plus comes equipped with 12GB of RAM and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7s Gen 4. This is a mid-range chip; however, Qualcomm boosted the SoC with stronger, "flagship-level" gaming capabilities. The CPU has been boosted by ~7% over the 7s Gen 3, which the Fairphone Gen 6 debuted with.

Privacy-focused software

(Image credit: Fairphone)

Murena stands tall with its privacy-focused software, and the Fairphone Gen 6 Plus will benefit from the latest updates. Murena states its source code is "fully open." This means that anyone can verify that it "does not collect user data" in the ways Google collects data. It states Google's OS (Android) has "tracking embedded in its source code and native apps that are constantly ‘pinging information to Google - with ambiguity surrounding how that data is used and where it ends up."

Murena does away with this. Moreover, /e/OS now has an Advanced Privacy widget. This will let users control the data collected by third-party apps installed on their devices. The Fairphone Gen 6 Plus announcement calls back to Murena's /e/OS 4 update, which rolled out in June. The patch focused on making it easy to switch from Big Tech. Users will find "one-click" migrations from Google that transfer their files, dates, emails, contacts, and more to Murena's systems.

One feature that was teased in June was cloud backups. That's not debuting with the Gen 6 Plus as "Murena Backup." It states this is "a new cloud-based backup and recovery solution fully integrated with Murena Workspace accounts."

Consumers can purchase the Fairphone Gen 6 Plus from Murena for $699. Fairphone highlights a new colorway: Cobalt Blue. However, you'll also find Forest Green and Horizon Black.

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One year with the Google Pixel 10 Pro: Why do bad things happen to good phones?

Perhaps the best part of owning a Pixel is that the phone is better a year in than on the day it launched. Google has very successfully made a name for itself in the industry with Pixel Drops, a set of quarterly updates delivered to Pixel phones alongside monthly security updates and annual operating system updates.

After a year with the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, I can confidently say this phone is better now than it was last August, but that comes with some caveats along the way. Considering the rising prices of electronics these days, it very likely makes more sense to buy a Pixel 10 this year than a Pixel 11.

While the Pixel 11 is launching with several new features that might make Pixel 10 owners jealous, there is very little doubt in my mind that the vast majority, if not all, of these new features will come to the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

But this past year hasn't been without its problems for the Pixel 10 series, and a series of very serious, problematic software updates follows a trend Google simply shouldn't be proud of. One of the reasons I didn't recommend the Pixel 10 series last year was its bad software update track record, and Google did nothing to help that image this year. Let's explore the best and worst of the Pixel 10 after one year, shall we?

Start with the bad

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

I'm going to get the bad out of the way because it's really bad. Ever since the Pixel 6, Pixel phones have been a bit... buggy. Most of the time, a reboot fixes the issues, or, in a worst-case scenario, you have to wait a month or two for Google to patch them. But March 2025 marked the start of a trend in the wrong direction. I even wrote a guide on how to roll back your firmware at the time.

Somehow, the Pixel 10 series may have had the most update issues I can recall with a Pixel phone to date. For the first several months, Google continuously worked on weird graphical issues for the Pixel 10. Touch responsiveness and battery drain issues followed in January, and the patch even completely broke Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

And then the really big problems began. Google's March 2026 update seemed to finally put an end to the GPU issues users had dealt with since launch, but it also bricked many Pixel 10 units. So many users reported the problem that the initial bug report hit the maximum number of comments, while the follow-up report is now 230 comments deep as of August 10.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

This very scenario is something I was concerned about going into the Pixel 10's release, and Google has done little to assuage my fears about recommending its devices. The problem mainly seems to come down to Google's update cadence. With very rare exceptions, Pixels get an OS update every month. In my opinion, this is too much and doesn't allow enough time for proper QA testing.

I wrote as much about Meta Quest headsets in April 2025, as the same kinds of issues kept popping up with every monthly software update. Quarterly or even bimonthly software updates make much more sense and would certainly give Google more time to test devices properly before rolling them out to the public.

At this point, there is zero likelihood that I would recommend Pixels to anyone, given Google's abysmal track record of software update stability. It's time for Google to take this seriously and fix a brand-killing problem.

Mellow it out a bit

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Google has shied away from promoting its phones as top performers, and I said as much in my Pixel 10 Pro review. Some games are fine on this phone, while others aren't. That hasn't changed at all in a year.

But we did see some software changes toned down a bit compared to Google's initial marketing. Pixel Daily Hub was removed just a few weeks after launch, and while Google said the feature would come back better than ever, that never happened. Instead, it looks like we got Gemini Daily Brief, a feature I enjoy using every morning, but not one that's Pixel-exclusive, and it's also not quite the same as what Daily Hub was.

Google also removed Pixel Studio, the AI-generated image creation suite that shipped with every Pixel 10. Ironically, Google did this right before Apple announced an identical AI-powered image generation app for iOS 27.

Now for some better news

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

If you made it this far (and I'm impressed you did, to be honest), then you're about to get a lot happier about the Pixel 10's future. Let's start with Magic Cue, a feature hyped during the Pixel 10's launch that turned out to be far less exciting than most hoped for. Google put major work into the feature, and it's being relaunched as Gemini Proactive Intelligence with the Pixel 11 series and Android 17.

Google also debuted Material 3 Expressive in the Pixel 10 Pro's first big update, further improving the look and feel of Pixels, with additional apps and settings windows getting the update a few months later. Google then debuted AI-powered notification summaries in October 2025, and Pixel Theme Packs a month later.

Subsequent updates gave us custom AI-generated icons, followed by a working desktop mode and a brand new notification organizer. Then, in 2026, we got Gemini automation (albeit not a Pixel-exclusive feature), lock screen widgets, and the rather awesome Comfort View Filters to reduce visual stimulation.

(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

Yeah, it's been a monumental year of jam-packed updates, often delivered via Pixel Drops each quarter. Assuming you weren't one of the people who experienced major problems with your Pixel 10 after an update, you were probably extremely happy with Google's support for its phones.

Which brings me back to what I said in the intro: the Pixel 10 Pro is a better phone today than it was on launch day, and that's not just because Google introduced a boatload of new features. It's also because the company wasn't shy about pulling back features that weren't worthwhile and then reintroducing them when they were improved.

Here's hoping that the problematic updates we've seen over the past year for this phone are gone and, in their place, updates we can actually look forward to installing. Otherwise, I'm not entirely convinced people will want to keep returning to the Pixel brand.

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