9 Google Pixel announcements every fan needs to watch for on August 12

Pixel fans, it’s almost our time to shine. Google is hosting its next Made by Google event on August 12, and as confirmed by Google itself, that’s when we’ll finally get an official announcement for the Google Pixel 11 series.

While August 12 may not be that far away, it can seem like a lifetime if you’ve been patiently waiting for Google’s latest round of hardware. Thankfully, after months of endless leaks and rumors, we already have a pretty good idea of what to expect.

If you’re itching to know what Google has to talk about on the 12th, here’s a roundup of the nine biggest announcements you should keep an eye out for during Google’s big event.

Google is expected to announce a few new smartphones on August 12, the first of which will be the Google Pixel 11. This will be the entry point for the Pixel 11 series, and if the latest reports are to be believed, the Pixel 11 will be a very tame upgrade over the Pixel 10. The design, display, cameras, and more are all expected to stay roughly the same.

So, what’s changing? The Pixel 11’s battery is rumored to be ever-so-slightly larger, weighing in at 4,985mAh compared to the 4,970mAh cell inside the Pixel 10. Bigger batteries are nice, but don’t expect this to have any meaningful impact.

We aren’t anticipating any big rear camera upgrades, though the Pixel 11 will supposedly support up to 30x zoom, whereas the Pixel 10 caps out at 20x. Additionally, the current 10.5MP selfie camera may be upgraded to a higher-quality 13MP sensor. And, of course, the Pixel 11 will be available in a variety of new colors (including a pinkish-red shade that looks phenomenal).

The other big change is that Google is reportedly ditching the 128GB base storage amount and increasing it to 256GB for the Pixel 11. That’s great news on the surface, but as we’ll discuss later, it will come at a cost.

The Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL, while technically different phones, will almost certainly be identical — save for a larger screen and a larger battery capacity in the XL model. As such, I’m lumping them together in this one section.

Like the Pixel 11, the Pixel 11 Pro will have a lot in common with its predecessor. Compared to the Pixel 10 Pro, the Pixel 11 Pro should have a slightly higher-resolution and brighter 6.3-inch display, an upgraded telephoto camera that supports up to 120x zoom, and a nice default storage bump to 256GB. Unfortunately, that increased storage may also come with less RAM than before. Where every Pixel 10 Pro ships with 16GB RAM, lower storage variants of the Pixel 11 Pro might be reduced to 12GB RAM.

What about the Pixel 11 Pro XL? It’ll also get the new telephoto camera with 120x zoom support. Nothing is changing on the storage front (256GB remains the starting amount), but like the Pixel 11 Pro, it’ll also start with just 12GB RAM. Interestingly, the Pixel 11 Pro XL’s battery capacity might be smaller than last year’s model, going from 5,200mAh to 5,115mAh. Virtually everything else appears to be unchanged from the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

Like the base model Pixel 11, neither Pro phone is getting a major redesign, though all the new colors look great.

We have one more phone to talk about, and that’s the Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold. In a world where the Motorola Razr Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 have taken the foldable world by storm, Google’s upcoming answer with the Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels … uninspired.

Word on the street is that the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will be slightly thinner than the 10 Pro Fold, but not significantly so — certainly not on par with other folding phones on the market. The camera isn’t significantly improved either. The new Fold should support the same 30x maximum zoom as the base Pixel 11, but, just like last year, it’ll have a weaker overall camera system than the non-folding Pro phones.

There’s some confusion about whether the Pixel 11 Pro Fold will start at 12GB or 16GB RAM, though a smaller battery than its predecessor seems very likely. Compared to the 5,015mAh battery in the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold may go all the way down to 4,806mAh.

In addition to everything we just talked about, every Pixel 11 model — from the base Pixel 11 up to the Pixel 11 Pro Fold — will be powered by Google’s new Tensor G6 chipset. If none of the above specs got you excited about Google’s latest phones, this year’s new silicon might change that.

It’s looking very likely that the Tensor G6 will be the first chipset designed with TSMC’s 2nm process, naturally translating to better performance and efficiency compared to last year’s Tensor G5. Based on early benchmark tests, the G6’s CPU could see a massive 40% boost compared to the G5. It goes without saying that sort of year-over-year improvement would be wildly impressive. The GPU, unfortunately, won’t see nearly as big a performance boost, though gaming should draw less power on the new silicon.

But that’s not all. Perhaps even more exciting is that the Tensor G6 may be the first Tensor chip to not use a Samsung Exynos modem. Instead, rumors strongly suggest Google is opting for a MediaTek modem this year. Pixels have notoriously struggled with their network performance, so this could quietly be one of the biggest upgrades for all of Google’s new phones.

Combine all of that with a new Titan M3 co-processor for enhanced security, and the Tensor G6 could be the Google chipset we’ve been waiting for.

There’s one other big announcement we’re expecting related to this year’s Pixel 11 lineup: Pixel Glow. This is arguably the most interesting aspect of the new phones, simply because it’s so unique and unexpected.

On the back of the Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold (but likely not the regular Pixel 11) is a small circle next to the cameras. It might look like a regular LED flash, but it’s actually an RGB LED system that can showcase an array of different colors. Leaks have confirmed Pixel Glow will light up when talking to Gemini and when your favorite contacts call you, and it’ll presumably light up for other notifications, too.

It’s unclear to what extent you’ll be able to use Pixel Glow for, but it’s an interesting addition regardless. It’s been a while since Google took any real hardware gambles with its Pixel phones, and while Pixel Glow (or “HiLight” as it might actually be called) may not be the most groundbreaking thing ever, it’s still cool to see Google trying something new.

Believe it or not, Google will have more to talk about on August 12 that doesn’t just have to do with new Pixel phones. Along with the Pixel 11 series and all of its upgrades, we’re also anticipating the Pixel Watch 5.

Similar to this year’s phones, the Pixel Watch 5 is shaping up to be a pretty small upgrade over its predecessor. Google has some new colors for the Pixel Watch 5, double the internal storage (64GB up from 32GB), Wear OS 7 available out of the box, and slightly larger batteries that don’t appear to offer any meaningful improvement to overall battery life.

And … that’s about it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering how excellent the Pixel Watch 4 is, but just don’t go into August 12 hoping for a big Pixel Watch overhaul.

Perhaps the most interesting of all the August 12 announcements will be this: the Google Pixel Tag. The Pixel Tag will be Google’s first foray into the world of lost-item trackers (a la Apple’s AirTag), and it’s even reported to cost the same as Apple’s tracker.

Other than the above render showcasing its design, there’s a lot we don’t know about the Pixel Tag. We aren’t sure if it supports UWB, whether it’s rechargeable or uses disposable batteries, or whether it’ll be compatible with iPhones. All we know for sure is that it has a pretty discreet gray paint job with a prominent Google “G” logo.

Google is admittedly pretty late to this market, but it’s still exciting to see the Pixel brand expand into another category. Be sure to keep an eye out for this one.

Unfortunately, price hikes are expected in 2026. Samsung went through it with the Galaxy S26 series, and Motorola did too with its Razr 2026 lineup. For the new Pixels this year, here’s what we’re anticipating:

• $799 Pixel 10 -> $899 Pixel 11
• $999 Pixel 10 Pro -> $1,099 Pixel 11 Pro
• $1,199 Pixel 10 Pro XL -> $1,299 Pixel 11 Pro XL
• $1,799 Pixel 10 Pro Fold -> $1,899 Pixel 11 Pro Fold
• $349 Pixel Watch 4 -> $399 Pixel Watch 5

In short, we’re looking at $100 price increases for all of the phones, plus a $50 increase for the new watch. Note that this is just for the starting prices, and we expect higher costs as well for larger storage amounts on the phones and for larger sizes and LTE variants of the new Pixel Watch.

Finally, we need to talk about Google’s pre-order timing for its new gadgets, as it’s quite odd this year. Normally, companies host their big product launch event and then open pre-orders for everything announced. Google, for whatever reason, is taking the opposite approach.

The countdown timer on the Google Store right now is ticking down to August 12 at 10:00 AM ET. At that time, pre-orders for the Pixel 11 (and presumably the Pixel Watch 5 and Pixel Tag) will go live. However, the Made by Google launch event doesn’t actually start until 6:00 PM ET that evening.

Why is Google doing this? Your guess is as good as mine. It’s a really bizarre move to let folks pre-order new phones before actually announcing them, but that’s what Google has decided to do.