Tom's Guide's review of the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL describes them as not bad phones, but says Google hasn't done enough to justify their existence. One of the few hardware additions is HiLight, an LED built into the camera flash that can glow in six colors — blue, teal, yellow, magenta, purple and white. In practice, though, the reviewer found HiLight extremely limited: it only lights up blue for Google Gemini interactions or in one of the other colors when a starred contact calls, and it only works when the phone is face-down. It doesn't respond to texts, emails, or messaging apps like WhatsApp, which the reviewer says makes it far less useful than expected, especially since phone calls from starred contacts are described as rare compared to texts or WhatsApp messages.
Google has said HiLight will eventually support notifications from favored contacts' messages, but no timeline was given. Separately, a third-party tool called HiLight Studio reportedly lets users control the light's colors and expand which apps can trigger it, though Tom's Guide notes the setup is complex, requires reactivating the service after every reboot, and is not something Google intends for users to modify. The reviewer concludes HiLight has potential but is currently a 'non-starter' unless Google rolls out further updates.
In a separate test, Tom's Guide compared the fitness-tracking accuracy of the Pixel Watch 5 against the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 during a roughly 35-minute, manually counted 4,000-step walk, also logged via Strava on an iPhone 16 Plus. Both watches came within about 20 steps of the manual count, with the Pixel Watch 5 recording 4,010 steps and the Galaxy Watch 9 recording 4,017 steps. The Pixel Watch 5 was closer to the control for distance (2.07 miles vs. Galaxy Watch 9's 2.06 miles, against a control of 2.11 miles) and climb (229 feet vs. 254 feet, against a control of 233 feet).
Heart rate and pace results were less consistent: the Pixel Watch 5 recorded an average heart rate of 139 bpm and a max of 160 bpm, while the Galaxy Watch 9 recorded a notably lower average of 102 bpm and max of 128 bpm — lower than the reviewer's typical expectations from prior tests. The Pixel Watch 5 also reported a slower-than-expected average pace of 19 minutes 23 seconds per mile, more than a minute slower than Strava's recorded pace. Despite these quirks, Tom's Guide declared the Pixel Watch 5 the overall winner of this comparison based on its closer step count, distance and climb accuracy, while noting Samsung's low heart rate readings warrant further investigation in a future review.
On the retail side, Tom's Guide highlighted a Verizon promotion offering the Pixel 11 Pro for free with a new Unlimited plan, bundled with a free Pixel Watch 5 and a free Galaxy Tab S10 FE 5G with any Google phone purchase. The outlet's own review found the Pixel 11 Pro costs $100 more than the Pixel 10 Pro, now starts with 256GB of storage instead of 128GB, but has had its base RAM reduced from 16GB to 12GB. Despite this, the review notes the Pixel 11 Pro offers better cameras, AI features, overall performance and a brighter display than its predecessor. While Tom's Guide says it wouldn't recommend buying the Pixel 11 Pro at full price, it does recommend the Verizon bundle given the free watch and tablet included, provided buyers sign up for an Unlimited data plan.