The Pixel 11 is already the best phone of 2026

Yeah, I said it — and I’ll stand by it. I know the dust hasn’t even settled on the end of 2025, nor have we named our editor’s choice picks for phone of the year, but I already know what the best phone of next year will be. It’s going to be the Google Pixel 11, and I don’t think there’s much you can do to convince me otherwise.

On the one hand, I think it’s good news for Google. I really, truly believe that the Pixel is in its best position in several years, with a steadily improving chipset and cameras that continue to get smarter. The real reason I’m willing to make this declaration so early, though, is that I think everyone else is a mess. Here’s why I think Google can simply coast to greatness while everyone else spins their wheels.

Remember, just a few months ago, when it seemed like Samsung was set to overhaul its Galaxy S26 lineup? The Plus was set to become the Edge, and the base model was going to adopt a Pro moniker to complement the already well-rounded Galaxy S26 Ultra. For once, it seemed like Samsung had significant changes in the works. Then, the leaks began to flow.

Slowly but surely, the Galaxy S26 Pro took shape — or rather, a distinct lack thereof. Instead of picking up upgrades that we might expect to go with its new name, it began to sound like little more than a base Galaxy S25 with a few tweaks. While the widely expected larger battery is a positive sign, the same old, same old cameras and thoroughly underwhelming 25W wired charging speeds are anything but pro-grade.

Now, it doesn’t even matter. Samsung has already ditched the Pro branding, and it’s walking back on plans for the Galaxy S26 Edge, too. In its place? Get ready for the Galaxy S26 Plus. And, by ‘get ready for,’ I mean take another look at the Galaxy S25 Plus, because it seems that next year’s phone will be almost identical to the one from early 2025, according to this new leak. If that leak proves true, you can probably just reread our Galaxy S25 and S25 Plus review in early 2026, too, because there won’t be much need to write a new one.

And then, there’s OnePlus. Sure, its OnePlus 15 was the first to bring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset to market, but it’s hardly been smooth sailing. The ending of its partnership with Hasselblad and downgrade in sensor sizes has knocked the overall camera experience back a step, and the squared-off, stone-textured design has erased just a little of the OnePlus personality we (or at least I) previously loved so much.

Unfortunately, the current state of Oxygen OS doesn’t do OnePlus any favors, either. Its once-light animations now feel like they’ve been pulled directly from parent company OPPO’s Color OS, while its main AI-powered feature, Mind Space, feels like a clone of Nothing’s Essential Space, just without most of the helpful organization bits like automatic checklists and reminders. Tack on an update commitment that lags behind Google and Samsung (four years of Android updates, six years of security patches), and it becomes an even harder sell.

So, for Google’s Pixel 11 to land as a smash hit — at least in my eyes — all it has to do is anything but all of that. I’m pretty confident that Google could simply stay the course that it established with the Pixel 10 and be just fine. It’s already added a telephoto sensor, a battery that’s larger than the one in the Galaxy S25 Plus, and Gemini-powered features that actually work, putting it comfortably ahead of its Android-powered rivals.

And yes, I realize that staying the course is precisely what I said Samsung can’t do. The difference here, though, comes from the respective courses that the Galaxy and Pixel series are on. While Samsung has been stuck in neutral (at best) for what seems like three generations, Google has been making an effort to erase the gap between its base Pixels and its Pros.

Besides, if we’re comparing the Pixel 10 to the expected Galaxy S26 Pro-Turned-Not-Pro, I think Google is already a winner. It already has a battery that’s 600mAh larger, charging that’s a few watts faster (and supports Qi2 charging without a specific case), and I’ll reach for the clean simplicity of Pixel UI over One UI any day. Factor in better AI features, such as Pixel Studio and Help Me Edit, which work like a charm, and it’s hard to see where Samsung makes up ground.

Don’t be fooled, though, I don’t want Google to simply do nothing with its Pixel 11 series. I want it to make its typical set of year-over-year upgrades, bringing a performance boost with the Tensor G6 and new AI features powered by its updated models. What I don’t think it needs is as big a rebuild as its rivals — at least not on the non-folding lineup.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold, however, could use some love. After a massive leap from the original Pixel Fold to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, this year’s upgrade felt like a half-step at best. I’d love to see Google take most of the energy it would otherwise put into the base Pixel 11 and even the Pros and put it right into the Fold. It needs to give its most expensive flagship a proper set of cameras, slim down its footprint, and speed up its charging just a bit. If it does, I don’t see how the Pixel 11 series doesn’t sweep our 2026 editor’s choice awards.