Google holds its annual hardware event on Wednesday, and by the standards of a major product launch, there is remarkably little left to find out. The Pixel 11 series has leaked through an accidental Amazon listing, retail databases, marketing material and a steady drip from reliable sources. One Pixel Watch 5 unit reportedly turned up on the ocean floor, recovered by a diver, and was apparently still working.
What follows is what the leaks point to, what Google has confirmed itself, and where the reports disagree.
Event Details
Detail
Information
Date
Wednesday, 12 August 2026
Time
3pm PT, 6pm ET, 11pm BST
India time
3:30am IST on Thursday, 13 August
Venue
New York City
Stream
Made by Google YouTube channel
Host
Trevor Noah
Guests
Stephen Curry, Shubman Gill, Ayami Nakajo and others
The event runs a week earlier than last year’s and starts considerably later in the day, which puts it in the small hours for Indian viewers. Shubman Gill’s presence is the clearest signal yet of how seriously Google is now treating the Indian market.
Pixel 11 Series: Four Phones, All Dearer
The lineup is expected to mirror last year’s: Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold.
Model
Expected US price
Change
Pixel 11
$899
Up roughly $100
Pixel 11 Pro
$1,099
Up roughly $100
Pixel 11 Pro XL
$1,299
Up roughly $100
Pixel 11 Pro Fold
$1,899
Up roughly $100
Google has already publicly signalled higher prices, so the increase itself is not a surprise. What softens it slightly is that the 128GB tier is being scrapped entirely, so the base configuration now starts at 256GB. Whether that counts as value or as a forced upgrade depends on how much storage you actually used.
Less welcome is the RAM arrangement. Reports point to 12GB as the base across the range, including on Pro models, with 16GB reserved for higher storage tiers. On a lineup sold largely on on-device AI, pushing buyers to the 512GB or 1TB variants to get the extra memory is a pointed piece of segmentation.
What Is Actually New Inside
Tensor G6. The headline change, reportedly built on a 2nm process at TSMC. Google’s silicon has historically lagged Qualcomm on efficiency and thermals, and a full node shrink is the most credible route to fixing that. Paired with the Titan M3 security co-processor.
A MediaTek modem. Possibly the most consequential change for daily use. The M90 is expected to replace the Samsung Exynos modem that has drawn six years of complaints about Pixel connectivity and battery drain. If it delivers, it fixes the single most persistent Pixel weakness.
Pixel Glow. An RGB LED notification light built into the camera bar, referred to internally as HiLight. It is the only genuinely new piece of external hardware on the phones.
Android 17 out of the box, with expanded on-device Gemini features.
Pixel 11
A 6.3-inch OLED at 2,424 x 1,080, 3,000 nits peak, 60Hz to 120Hz adaptive. Tensor G6, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage.
Pixel 11 Pro XL
A 6.8-inch LTPO OLED at 2,992 x 1,344 with a 1Hz to 120Hz range, 5,115mAh battery, 45W wired charging and Qi2 support. Storage runs to 1TB. The camera system is expected to match the Pixel 11 Pro rather than exceed it.
Two things here are genuinely disputed. Peak brightness is reported at 3,600 nits by some outlets and 2,450 nits by others, a gap far too wide to be a rounding difference. And battery capacity is variously given as 5,000mAh or 5,115mAh against the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s 5,200mAh, which would make it a reduction. Some of that discrepancy may be rated versus typical capacity, a distinction manufacturers use inconsistently. Wednesday settles both.
Pixel 11 Pro Fold
The most expensive device at the event, and the second generation of Google’s book-style foldable.
Specification
Expected
Inner display
About 8 inches, high refresh rate
Cover display
6.4 inches, high refresh rate
Processor
Tensor G6
Main camera
48MP
Ultra-wide
10.5MP
Telephoto
10.8MP with 5x optical zoom
Battery
4,800mAh, down from 5,015mAh
Price
$1,899
The hinge and overall construction are reported to be improved, which matters more on a foldable than any spec on that list. The battery reduction is the concern. Shrinking capacity on a device with two displays to drive puts a great deal of weight on the Tensor G6’s efficiency gains being real rather than theoretical.
Pixel Watch 5
Refinement rather than reinvention. The Watch 5 keeps the 12.3mm thickness and the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 platform, paired with a Cortex-M55 co-processor, and stays compatible with Pixel Watch 4 bands.
Variant
Expected US price
41mm Wi-Fi
$399
41mm LTE
$499
45mm Wi-Fi
$429
45mm LTE
$529
That is roughly $50 more than the Watch 4 across the range. Indian pricing is unconfirmed, with early estimates circulating around ₹37,999.
The upgrades that matter:
Storage doubles from 32GB to 64GB, which is the single biggest hardware change
Slightly larger batteries at 332mAh and 465mAh, up from 325mAh and 455mAh, though quoted battery life is expected to stay the same at up to 40 hours on the 45mm
Fast charging reaching 50 percent in 15 minutes and a full charge in about an hour
Wear OS 7 from day one, with Gemini Intelligence built in
Sleep tracking Google is expected to claim as its most accurate yet, alongside breathing rate monitoring
A pulse-loss emergency alert that calls for help automatically if the watch stops detecting a heartbeat
Colours reportedly include Matte Black with a Volcanic Black band, Polished Silver with Mist, and Satin Pyrite with Olive, with the 41mm getting an additional exclusive finish.
Pixel Tag
Google’s first Bluetooth tracker, and a straightforward answer to Apple’s AirTag. It is expected to use ultra-wideband for precise directional finding rather than the rough proximity guidance Bluetooth alone provides, plugging into the Find Hub network. European pricing is reported at around €35.
This has been a conspicuous gap in Google’s hardware range for years, and the Find Hub network has been live long enough to make a first-party tracker overdue.
What Else Might Appear
Google usually holds something back. Android XR smart glasses are the most likely candidate for a status update rather than a launch. New Pixel Buds are possible but not strongly rumoured this cycle.
When You Can Buy Them
Pre-orders are expected to open immediately after the keynote on 12 August, with retail availability around 20 August. For the Pixel Watch 5, that is a much faster turnaround than the Watch 4, which did not reach buyers until October.
Indian availability and pricing were not part of the leaks and will need confirming on the night.
What To Watch For
Three questions matter more than the spec sheets.
Does the MediaTek modem fix Pixel connectivity? No amount of AI feature demonstration compensates for a phone that drops signal and drains battery. This is the change most likely to alter how a Pixel feels to live with.
Does 2nm deliver? Google has promised Tensor efficiency improvements before. A node shrink is real, but the gains only count if they survive contact with sustained load.
Do the batteries actually get smaller? The Pro XL and Pro Fold both show reduced capacity in leaks. If confirmed, Google is betting entirely on efficiency to hold battery life steady, and that bet has not always paid off.