The new Google Pixel 11 Pro XL doesn’t dramatically reinvent the company’s flagship smartphone formula. From a hardware perspective, this year’s model represents an incremental update. But after spending time with Google’s latest full-featured Pixel, I’ve found that some of its most meaningful improvements for business users aren’t necessarily the things that stand out on a spec sheet or benchmark chart.

Starting at $1,299 with 256GB of storage, the Pixel 11 Pro XL features a 6.8-in. Super Actua LTPO OLED display, Google’s new Tensor G6 processor, a 5115mAh battery and an updated triple-camera system. Google also pledges seven years of operating system, Android security and Pixel Drop updates.

The hardware is very good, but Google’s deeper integration of Gemini with Android and other thoughtful software features are what make this device more interesting.

The Google Pixel 10 Series arrives at a time when the smartphone market feels more than saturated, and even predictable. Yearly cycles bring faster processors, brighter displays, and incremental camera bumps. What stands out this year is not that the Pixel 10 Pro XL can match other flagships in hardware refinement, but that Google is repositioning its Pixel 10 series as a contextually aware assistant, with thoughtfully built, helpful AI at its core.

We’ve spent a couple weeks with the Pixel 5 a on test drive and can report that Google has once again done more with less, and for less. This phone really shines with a pure stock Android 11 OS driving the hardware, but also one of the most well-optimized Android experiences I’ve worked with in a long time.

“With today’s rapidly evolving business climate, enterprises are constantly looking for new ways to modernize their business while leveraging their existing infrastructure. Running Anthos on bare metal using servers based on Intel Xeon Scalable processors will simplify the deployment of a cloud-first approach, opening a wide array of new use cases across retail, telco and manufacturing industries,” said Jason Grebe, Intel corporate vice president and general manager the Cloud and Enterprise Solutions Group.