Made by Google 2026: all the Pixel news and announcements

Arguably the coolest new photo feature for the Pixel 11 lineup is Google’s new Camera Looks, which process image data differently at the sensor level to produce photos that don’t have that “smartphone” look. The result is new styles like “Digi,” which mimics the style of photos taken by older digital cameras. But to use Camera Looks, at least initially, you’ll need to have one of Google’s Pixel 11 phones.

“Our latest camera updates are only available on our latest devices,” Google spokesperson Alex Moriconi tells The Verge. “We’re always looking to bring experiences to more users, but have nothing to share at this time.” That last sentence leaves some wiggle room for Camera Looks to come to older Pixel phones at some point in the future, though it’s unclear if or when that might actually happen.

It’s almost time for the Made by Google keynote, where the company will show off the brand-new Pixel hardware it announced today. Like last year, it’ll be a celebrity-packed live show, though Trevor Noah is hosting instead of Jimmy Fallon. If the 2025 show was any indication, today’s broadcast might be something of a cringefest.

If you’ve been following tech news this morning, you already know a lot about the new Pixels. Press and creators were able to publish extensive hands-on impressions of the new hardware hours ago, and you can read our coverage of the Pixel 11 phones, their new camera features, the Pixel Watch 5, and more right now.

Looking to get your hands on the latest Pixel devices? After weeks of leaks and rumors, Google has officially announced its next generation of Pixel phones and watches.

The base Pixel 11 starts at $899, the Pro and Pro XL are $1,099 and $1,299 respectively, and the Pro Fold starts at $1,899. The watch comes in two sizes, with the smaller 41mm model starting at $399, and the larger 45mm model starting at $429. The phones are available for preorder now, and will ship on August 20th, 2026.

Google just added four new phones to the Pixel family: the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. They’re slightly more expensive than their predecessors, but they come with some notable upgrades, including improved cameras and a new Tensor G6 chip that should deliver faster performance. The phones also have new photography tools, like Magic Capture, along with improvements to Gemini Intelligence, expanded Live Translate capabilities, and the ability to use Circle to Search directly through the camera.

To make deciding whether you’ll upgrade or hold onto your last-gen phone a little simpler, we’re focusing on comparing the specs of the 6.3-inch Pixel 11 and Pixel 10 models, as well as the 6.8-inch Pro XL models. If you’re curious about how the Pixel 11 Pro Fold compares to its predecessor (and to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 series foldables), we’ve got a spec comparison right here.

Google wasn’t first to make a foldable Android phone, but the company’s Pixel Fold series is now an established player with unique traits compared to its competitors. For one, it popularized the passport-style design years ago, being more wide than tall — something that Samsung tried for the first time this year with its Z Fold 8, and that Apple is rumored to do with its foldable iPhone that may or may not arrive in 2026. It also delivered the first IP68-rated foldable in the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, soothing concerns that all foldables are super fragile.

Now that the new Pixel 11 Pro Fold (along with the rest of the Pixel 11 lineup) has been unveiled, we thought it’d be fun to do a comparison of specs between Google’s latest foldable and the last-gen version, along with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra. It’s not often that we get to compare foldables to contemporaries, and hopefully the breakdown helps you figure out which you might want to buy down the line. Here are the HiLights — sorry, had to.

Google knows creators are a big audience. The occupation is growing fast, and landing some influential names could be a major turning point for the Pixel’s market share. This year, Google is building features directly into its new Pixel lineup that it says can help creators record, organize, edit, and publish content faster and more efficiently than they could on other devices.

Creator Suite is a new mode built into the Pixel 11’s camera app. The suite comes with features like a teleprompter, vocal enhancer, external microphone levels, and social media frame guides, which Google thinks will entice users who want to start building channels and have limited resources.

Google is hosting a Pixel launch event on Wednesday night where it will show off its latest lineup of devices. But you don’t have to wait until then for all the news; we were able to check out the devices ahead of the event and take a look at everything Google’s unveiling, including the latest Pixel phones, new health features on the Pixel Watch 5, and more.

Google livestreamed the event on Wednesday at 6PM ET / 3PM PT. But if weren’t able to watch along yourself, check out our 8-minute supercut, and can catch up on all of the highlights from Wednesday’s Pixel launch below.

More than two years after launching its own device-tracking network, Google has finally followed up with its own tracker. The Pixel Tag, which goes on sale in November, looks like one of the more capable trackers too: It combines ultra wideband (UWB) with Bluetooth 6.0 Channel Sounding for two distinct types of precision tracking.

The Pixel Tag goes on sale on November 11th, unlike the newly announced Pixel 11 and Pixel Watch 5, which are already available to preorder and ship next week. When it arrives, the Tag will cost $29, with a four-pack for $99 — the exact same pricing as Apple’s AirTag 2.

Android’s AirDrop-like Quick Share feature will now let some devices exchange files and contact information when tapped together. The update is coming to Pixel 6 series phones and newer starting today, according to Google’s announcement, and will roll out to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Fold 8, and Flip 8 “soon.”

The tap-to-share feature uses NFC and proximity to simplify sharing, enabling users to wirelessly send contact details, photos, videos, and more by opening the share sheet menu and bringing the two devices close together. Quick Share’s tapping update will also be expanded to “more Android devices by the end of the year,” according to Google, but no device models were specified.

The $399 Google Pixel Watch 5 isn’t about the hardware. Sure, there’s a new satin pyrite case finish, a few new strap colors, and a Steph Curry Special Edition. Under the hood, there’s a slightly faster Qualcomm processor and an itty-bitty battery bump. There’s a $50 price hike from last year, too, because the Pixel Watch 5 isn’t immune to RAMageddon — none of us are. Otherwise, no one would blame you for looking at this watch and thinking absolutely nothing’s changed. That’s because the big updates this year are all software-based.

This isn’t a huge surprise considering Google’s Fitbit Air launch in May. And after seeing some Pixel Watch 5 demos, it’s clear this year’s refresh is furthering the AI and proactive health themes that Google introduced earlier this year.

If you look at a photo taken by a smartphone today, it’s hard to find much that’s technically wrong. Faces are bright and visible. The skies are pristine and blue. Even at night, scenes are well lit and noise-free. If the physical limitations of a tiny camera are what you’re trying to solve for, you could probably label smartphone photography a mostly solved problem.

But in our current moment, the photos people are drawn to are not flawless — and that’s created a real problem for the people making smartphone cameras. “The gap between what two random people want from their camera is growing dramatically,” says Isaac Reynolds, who leads the Pixel camera team at Google. Some people want a perfectly optimized photo, Reynolds says. “But there’s a growing number of people who want something that they feel is more authentic or traditional, by their definition.”

When I first picked up the Pixel 11 Pro this week, it was clear to me that this was one of those refinement years — at least when it comes to hardware. Aesthetically, the phones are as beautiful as ever, with Google’s signature camera bar and bright, colorful backing glass. There are small updates, like a single piece of glass covering the camera bar and the all-new HiLight ambient LED on the Pros. But this year, the Pixel is all about quality of life and software improvements.

After weeks of teasers, Google has finally formally announced the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The phones are all shipping next week, on August 20th, and Google is holding a splashy event the evening of August 12th to show off the devices. Ahead of that, we had a chance to take a first look at everything that’s coming up.

Last year’s Made by Google event for the Pixel 10 resembled a late night talk show, complete with Jimmy Fallon as host, and it aired an hour after the phones were revealed. Spec dives and executive appearances were replaced with celebrity cameos and awkward skits, to the confusion of many diehard Pixel fans. But it served its purpose in reaching a broader audience: Last year’s stream racked up 8.4 million viewers on YouTube; the launch the year before only managed 1.4 million.

This year, Google has only escalated matters. For tomorrow evening’s livestream, Fallon has been replaced by Trevor Noah, who will lead a “stacked” lineup of celebrities including basketball star Stephen Curry, podcaster Alex Cooper, and DJ Peggy Gou. What the event won’t have is many surprises. While the launch event kicks off at 6PM ET, the Google Store’s preorder countdown is set to end eight hours earlier, presumably when the phones will be revealed in full.

It’s that time of year: On Wednesday, Google is set to host its annual Made by Google hardware launch event for Pixel gadgets. Google itself has already teased new slab-style and foldable Pixel smartphones and an updated watch, but leaks also indicate that the company could announce a new color for familiar earbuds and perhaps a brand new AirTag-like item tracker.

However, unusually, Google’s event is taking place in the evening: It kicks off on Wednesday at 6PM ET / 3PM PT instead of in the early afternoon or mid-morning, like many other tech events. And this time it has a celebrity host in Trevor Noah.