Discussion - The Pixel 11 is getting brutally crushed by its bigger brothers before launch

Pixel 11 Pro XL remains on my buy list

Is that surprising? This is very predictable. The same recipe Samsung and Apple apply since 2019. The base model is there to look ridiculous and to confirm no one needs it, but it establishes a "base price". The next model (mid/pro) is there as the "rational /logical" choice, but at a marked price increase from the base model. Its purpose is to help you climb the mental "ladder" toward the top top tier "pro xl/pro max or ultra" model. Normally, you would not consider that top tier model given its prohibitive price. But given the base model is 💩 and you had no choice but to consider the mid model under those circumstances, and given that the price jump from the mid/pro model to the top pro/max model is not as big as the gap between the base model and the mid one, here you are flirting with the idea of finally getting the top tier flagship. Something you wouldn't have considered if not for this "creative" smoke and mirrors marketing game. And it works. If you look at the comments and sales numbers, people land on that top tier model or they aspire to buy that one.

My 9 Pro XL is still working great! So unless I damage it, I'm holding onto it another year. 👍

I have the Pixel 8 Pro XL so I will be getting the 11 Pro XL.

I basically care about two things in a camera (used to be three, but then it became really hard to find cameras with a physical QWERTY keyboard for a while and I had to adjust): The camera, especially zoom and resolution because I like to take photos from far away and care a lot about framing, and the screen size and resolution.

I bought my current Pixel 8 Pro 100% because of the 48-megapixel 5x optical zoom telephoto camera. I don't see any need to upgrade until/unless Google comes out with a phone with a camera with better optics/sensor. (I don't care about AI upscaling, and in fact I'd rather not have it.)

It's also the largest (single-screen) phone that will fit in my pocket. I'd have upgraded to one of the newer Pixel Folds as a way of getting a larger screen (and a more usable, if on-screen, keyboard) if they didn't have worse cameras. If Google comes out with a folding phone with a camera as good as or better than the Pixel 8 Pro's telephoto camera, they can have my firstborn and a kidney for it. (And if they came out with a phone that was a camera first and only secondarily a phone, with really good optics, better-than-5x optical zoom, and large high-res sensor, I might even relax my requirement that it be pocketable.) Short of that, I have no interest in upgrading as long as I can still run the software I want to run on my phone.