Thinking of buying the basic Pixel 11? 6 Pro camera features you might be missing out on

If you’re thinking of getting a regular Pixel 11, here’s where you’ll miss out on a few camera features that the new Pro phones offer.

Pixel 10 Pro phones debut 100x Pro Res Zoom as Google uses generative AI to deliver 100x sharper images. It wasn’t just a real image with AI processing, it was an effectively rendered image based on a real scene. However, the base Pixel 10 didn’t get this feature at the time.

Google has now announced 120x Pro Res Zoom, and it’s exclusive to the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL. For better or worse, the vanilla Pixel 11 misses out on this feature in favor of 30x digital zoom. I understand that I wouldn’t recommend a 100x or 120x Pro Zoom given the Pixel 11’s low-resolution 5x camera, but even a 20x or 30x Pro Zoom would be a decent addition for those who don’t mind generative imaging.

Pixel phones have long shipped with high-resolution cameras (48MP or higher), but Google defaults to pixel-integrated 12MP or 12.5MP photos instead. What if you really want to take a full-resolution 48MP or 50MP photo?

Only Google’s Pro and Pro XL phones can capture full resolution, and the same goes for the Pixel 11 generation. We could maybe Understand this disparity when the Pixel 8 had less RAM than the Pixel 8 Pro a few years ago, but in 2026 it certainly doesn’t make sense. It really feels like an arbitrary restriction on selling more Pro phones.

If you think limiting high-resolution photography to Pro phones is a sad move, I have some more bad news for you. Google only offers manual camera control on the Pro series, and that trend continues with the Pixel 11 range.

This is the trickiest solution on the list, as many cheap Android phones have a manual mode. I understand making this feature a timed exclusive on Pro phones before rolling it out to standard Pixels a year from now, but again, this seems like a convoluted way to incentivize Pro sales. I’m sure someone at Google will defend this decision by saying “Pro controls are for Pro phones”, but this feature has been on smartphones for over a decade.

Google wasn’t the first smartphone manufacturer to offer a night mode (hello, HUAWEI), but it was certainly part of the first wave of 2018. This feature requires users to hold their phones still for a few seconds to reduce noise in low light and increase brightness.

Fortunately, the Pixel 11 range now offers Instant Night Sight. As the name suggests, this mode captures an optimized low-light image in less time than the regular Night Vision on previous phones. In fact, Google says it’s 4.5 times faster than previous Pixels.

Both the base Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold miss out on Instant Night Sight. Google says the foldable phone doesn’t have the upgraded image signal processor seen in other phones, but the standard Pixel 11 still has that upgraded silicon. So what gives?

Google introduced Video Boost on the 2023 Pixel 8 Pro, which uses the cloud to capture sharper, brighter, and higher-quality video. Video Boost also allows for 8K recording and so-called Night Vision Video. That’s unlike competitors like Samsung, which offer both 8K output and low-light video functions entirely on the device.

Video Boost is still a Pro and Pro Fold feature, meaning the vanilla Pixel 11 won’t benefit from these video capture enhancements. At least it’s not as bad as limiting key features like manual control and high-resolution photography to Pro devices, but it’s still annoying.

Google announced Pro Stable Video with the Pixel 11 phones. This mode automatically activates in bright, shaky scenarios, giving you a smooth, stabilized video clip. At first glance, it looks very similar to the Super Steady modes seen on phones from Samsung, Xiaomi and others.

Unfortunately, Google said Android Authority Pro Stable Video is a Video Boost feature — and Video Boost is exclusive to Pro and Pro Fold phones. It’s too bad the base model doesn’t have this feature, but I’m disappointed that Google has reverted to a feature that everyone else does on a device without an internet connection to the cloud.

Needless to say, if you choose the standard Pixel 11 over the Pixel 11 Pro phones, you’ll be missing out on a lot of camera features. But at least you still get Camera View, Magic Capture, and Creator Suite, so you don’t need to buy a Pro phone if you only want those features.