Thinking of buying the base Pixel 11? 6 Pro camera features you’ll miss

If you’re thinking about picking up the regular Pixel 11, here are a few camera features you’ll miss out on that the new Pro phones offer.

The Pixel 10 Pro phones debuted 100x Pro Res Zoom, as Google used generative AI to deliver sharp images out to 100x. This wasn’t merely a real image with AI-assisted processing, but rather an effectively generated picture based on a real scene. Nevertheless, 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 can understand not offering 100x or 120x Pro Zoom given the Pixel 11’s low-resolution 5x camera, but even 20x or 30x Pro Zoom would be a decent addition for people who don’t mind generative imagery.

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

Only Google’s Pro and Pro XL phones can take full-resolution snaps, and this also applies to the Pixel 11 generation. We could maybe understand this disparity a few years ago when the Pixel 8 had less RAM than the Pixel 8 Pro, but it certainly doesn’t make sense in 2026. It really feels like an arbitrary restriction to sell more Pro phones.

If you thought restricting high-resolution photo capture to Pro phones was a disappointing move, then I’ve got more bad news for you. Google only offers manual camera controls on the Pro series, and this trend continues with the Pixel 11 range.

This is perhaps the most perplexing decision on the list, as many cheap Android phones have a manual mode. I could understand making this feature a timed exclusive on Pro phones before bringing it to standard Pixels a year later, but this once again feels like a hamfisted way to encourage 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 around on smartphones for well over a decade now.

Google wasn’t the first smartphone maker to offer a night mode (hello, HUAWEI), but it was certainly part of the first wave back in 2018. The feature requires users to hold their phone still for a few seconds to capture a low-light snap with reduced noise and increased brightness.

Thankfully, the Pixel 11 range now offers Instant Night Sight functionality. As the name implies, this mode captures an optimized low-light picture in significantly less time compared to conventional Night Sight on previous phones. In fact, Google says it’s up to 4.5x faster than earlier Pixels.

The base Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold both miss out on Instant Night Sight, though. Google says the foldable phone lacks the upgraded image signal processor seen on the other phones, but the standard Pixel 11 still has this upgraded silicon. So what gives?

Google introduced Video Boost on the Pixel 8 Pro in 2023, which uses the cloud to deliver sharper, brighter, higher-quality video capture. Video Boost also enables 8K capture and so-called Night Sight Video. This is despite rivals like Samsung offering both 8K output and low-light video functionality entirely on-device.

Video Boost is still a Pro and Pro Fold feature today, which means the vanilla Pixel 11 doesn’t benefit from these video capture enhancements. At least it’s not as bad as restricting basic features like manual controls and high-resolution photo capture to the Pro devices, but it’s still annoying.

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

Unfortunately, Google told Android Authority that Pro Stable Video is a Video Boost feature — and Video Boost is exclusive to Pro and Pro Fold phones. It’s bad enough that the base model doesn’t have this feature, but I’m more disappointed that Google is once again turning to the cloud for a feature that everyone else does on-device without an internet connection.

Needless to say, you’re missing out on a ton of camera features if you opt for the standard Pixel 11 over the Pixel 11 Pro phones. But at least you’re still getting Camera Looks, Magic Capture, and the Creator Suite, so you don’t have to buy a Pro phone if you only want these features.