Google used its annual Made by Google event on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, to unveil a fresh batch of hardware and software. The headline act is the Pixel 11 lineup, but the phone's starting price just took its biggest jump yet, climbing $100 over last year's model.
The good news is that buyers get double the base storage for that extra money.
A Pricier Phone With More Room
Google blamed a RAM supply shortage for at least part of the increase. Memory chips have been expensive across the industry, and phone makers have been passing those costs along.
The phone also gets a visual update. The camera bar, a signature Pixel look, is now more than 40% slimmer and uses an all-glass surface that runs across the full width of the device. It comes in four colors: Frost, Hibiscus, Pistachio, and Obsidian.
The Pro models also cost more. They get improved drop resistance and a display coating with scratch resistance that is more than twice as strong as the previous Pro generation. Pro colors are Canyon, Fog, Olive, and Obsidian, with Obsidian getting an all-matte finish.
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The Fold packs a 48-megapixel primary camera and 30x Super Zoom, keeps its water and dust resistance, and is three times as durable as the prior model, thanks to a glass-fiber composite back and a redesigned hinge. It comes in Olive and Obsidian.
More Than Just Phones
Google also introduced the Pixel Tag, its answer to Apple's AirTag. The $29 tracker attaches to keys, wallets, or luggage and works with Android's Find Hub network. A four-pack runs $99. Your Pixel Watch can locate it, and if you have Pixel Buds, you can just ask Gemini to find it or make it ring.
The Pixel Watch 5 also got an upgrade. It now adds monthly Google Health summaries that track blood pressure and insulin resistance trends over time, turning daily readings into a bigger picture. The 41mm model starts at $399, the 45mm at $429, and a special Stephen Curry workout edition goes for $579. The Pixel Buds Pro are also getting a new Olive color option.
Then there is the software. Google packed the Pixel 11 with more Gemini AI features, and a few of them are genuinely useful for everyday situations. Live Transcribe now supports American Sign Language, with the Pixel Camera able to render sign language as text in real time. Circle to Search works directly in the camera now, so you can point at a landmark, translate a sign, or ask a question about what you are seeing without leaving the camera app.
There is also a new voice-input tool called Rambler that is built for how people actually talk, which means it handles long run-on sentences and filler words without getting confused.
What This Means for Your Money
The takeaway here is simple: flagship phones are getting more expensive, but they are also coming with more baseline storage and more capable AI tools.
If you were already planning to buy a Pixel 11, the higher price is worth budgeting for. If you were on the fence, the Watch 5 and Pixel Tag add some nice perks if you stay inside Google's ecosystem, where everything plays nicely together.
The bigger trend is that Google is betting you will pay more for AI features that actually show up in your daily routine, whether that is translating a menu through the camera or getting a health summary on your wrist. Whether that bet pays off depends on whether the features feel essential once the novelty wears off. For now, the prices are higher, the storage is bigger, and the choice is yours.
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