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I don't need to see the unveiling as I've already decided on my next phone

Will my next phone be the iPhone Fold, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, the Pixel 11 Pro XL, or something else?

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By Alan Friedman

Published: Apr 17, 2026, 9:24 AM

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I've decided which phone I will buy next. | Image by Onleaks

I currently have two phones that both could be considered daily driver material. There is my iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I bought immediately after I took delivery of the entire line of that year's review models. Then, there is my older Pixel 6 Pro.

I loved my first Pixel, the beloved Pixel 2 XL

I loved my Pixel 2 XL with that perfectly placed and fairly zippy rear fingerprint sensor. The unveiling sold me on the Pixel 6 Pro as I got hooked on AI features like Hold for Me and the Magic Eraser.

The Magic Eraser allowed users to circle an item inside a photo and have it disappear. The AI would come up with the background of the photo once the Magic Eraser made an item disappear.

AI features like the Magic Eraser and Hold for Me sold me on the Pixel 6 Pro

For example, let's say the Magic Eraser was used to get rid of an ugly truck parked in front of a wall. The AI is used to recreate the wall's design on the area vacated by the truck. It sells you on the illusion that there was never a truck in that spot in the first place.

Hold for Me allowed me to ask Google Assistant to monitor a call I was on that was put on hold. Once the other party returned to the call, I would have control of the call return to me. The point was to allow me to move around when I was on hold and not stay tethered to my phone and the call I was on.

Gemini as an assistant on the Pixel 6 Pro. | Image by PhoneArena

The Pixel 6 Pro was my first phone to feature a periscope lens, a 5,000 mAh battery capacity, and an under display fingerprint scanner. To be honest, as we told you over the years, there were some problems with the phone at first, which led me to return to my iPhone 11 Pro Max and then buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

The crappy Samsung modem on the Pixel 6 Pro would decide to take a siesta now and then, usually when you needed to make an important and timely call. The optical fingerprint sensor was slow and laggy and that was when it worked. The battery life was not worthy of a 5,000 mAh cell.

The turning point

But then came Gemini AI (originally named Bard, if you recall) and those with the Pixel 4 and later had the option to replace Google Assistant with Gemini. Google later dropped Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 users from having this option, but kept offering this option to those using the Pixel 6 through the Pixel 10 lines.

Whose approch to AI do you favor?

Ok, I'll be the first to admit it is odd, but I am constantly asking questions of the digital assistant on whatever phone I am using at the time. Many of the queries I ask are related to my job, and Gemini, like ChatGPT and Copilot, deliver deep and thorough responses on an incredibly wide range of topics.

Even though I installed the Gemini app on my iPhone, it is a lot more convenient to use the "Hey Google" hotword, activate Gemini, ask the question, and get an incredibly deep response. Over the years, Google also fixed things on the Pixel 6 series including the fingerprint sensor, the modem, and even the battery life (although living on Beta releases does impact things there).

When I first purchased my Pixel 6 Pro, it was scheduled to lose support after the release of Android 15, but Google eventually added two more stable Android updates, and I'm currently running the fourth beta release of Android 17 on the phone. The point is that I soon found myself holding the Pixel 6 Pro most of the time instead of my iPhone, and looking forward to using it more.

So I've made my decision to buy the Pixel 11 Pro XL even before watching the unveiling. In retrospect, last year's event was quite cringy, and I would rather see more Rick Osterloh (SVP of Platforms and Devices at Google) than Jimmy Fallon.

Between Google and Apple, only one takes AI seriously

Even before the introduction of the Pixel 11 line, I know that the optical fingerprint sensor I first struggled with on my Pixel 6 Pro was replaced with a faster and more accurate ultrasonic sensor with the Pixel 9 series in 2024. I also know that the facial recognition feature that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro was lacking, has been available in later models. One rumor suggests that for the upcoming new Pixel line, Google will make Face Unlock work in pitch-black areas by adding infrared lights under the screen.

I'm truly excited and looking forward to seeing the proactive Magic Cue in action on my new Pixel, along with the Camera Coach. Google uses AI to make your life better, while Apple seems to consider it as applications that iPhone users can employ to kill time.

I am interested in seeing what Siri 2.0 can do, but there is nothing that could sway me from my decision to make the Pixel 11 Pro XL my next phone.

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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