Google pixel – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Google Pixel

Due to a recent DOJ decision, Google’s lucrative relationship with Apple’s iPhone is in jeopardy, and that means the Pixel is even more important than ever to the company’s success. In 2024, it seems like the company will be leaning into AI. It’s got the Pixel 9 Pro with plenty of Gemini AI features, plus the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The company’s also launching a new Pixel Watch 3 as well as the Pixel Buds Pro 2.

A week with Googlebooks: four notes from our testing so far

It’s been a whirlwind time of coming to grips with Google’s new laptops, and we’ve got feelings about Googlebook OS.

Antonio G. Di Benedetto, David Pierce and 2 more
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
The Pixel’s multi-camera feature expands to Discord, WhatsApp, and more.

The feature, called Connected Camera, lets you capture video from multiple angles by linking your Pixel phone camera to another Pixel device or GoPro. Google first launched the feature with support for social platforms like YouTube and Instagram, but now Android Authority reports that it’s expanding to communication apps including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Google Meet, Slack, and Facebook Messenger.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
A rumored Pixel feature could make it easier to use Face Unlock in the dark.

Android Authority spotted code in Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 hinting at a new “Face Active Illumination” feature that might help Pixel phones recognize users’ faces in low light. It appears to have a brightness slider and toggles for turning it on in various settings, like after bedtime or when “Do Not Disturb” is active.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Leaked Pixel 12 specs hint at a display upgrade for its next foldable phone.

According to GSMA database listings spotted by OVR Plus, the Pixel 12 Pro Fold appears to have a higher inner display resolution of 2296 x 2404, up from 2076 x 2152 from this year’s model. However, as 9to5Google points out, the aspect ratio suggests Google might not switch the next Pro Fold to a passport-style design.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The Pixel 10A now costs $100 more.

After Samsung bumped up prices on its Galaxy S26 and midrange A-series phones last week, Google quietly did the same for its Pixel 10A. It was $499, but now starts from $599 — a hard sell for a phone that was already almost identical to the 9A from a year before.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Pixel HiLight should get better, with new colors on the way.

The Pixel 11 Pro light is so far underwhelming, only working for calls from favorite contacts or Gemini interactions. Google always said message support is on the way, but a report from Android Authority suggests new colors are coming too, expanding on the five available now. That’s still behind what other devs have done with it.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Here come those promised Pixel Watch health features.

The blood pressure trends, insulin resistance trends, and sleep breathing quality metrics mentioned at the 2026 Made By Google event weren’t available when the Pixel Watch 5 launched last month, but now Google says they’ll start rolling out to Watch 3 models and later this week. You can set them up in the Google Health app, and trend reports will arrive in “early October.”

Here’s the preview of the blood pressure trend feature we got last month.
Here’s the preview of the blood pressure trend feature we got last month.
Photo: Victoria Song / The Verge
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Older Pixel Watches are getting Google’s September update now.

The Pixel Watch 2 and later are getting Gemini Personalization, allowing the AI assistant to learn from past conversations and connected Google apps. The 3 and on also get new double-pinch gesture controls, while the 4 gets a performance bump to raise-to-talk. A similar September update is rolling out to Pixel phones too.

Google Pixel Watch Update - September 2026

[Google Pixel Watch Community]

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Google’s September Pixel Drop and Android 17 QPR1 updates are rolling out now.

Now the “Pause Point” option Google launched on the Pixel 11 is rolling out to more devices, across Android 17 QPR1, and for Pixel hardware going back to the Pixel 6. The new Android 17 update also increases the use of background blur and adds a new Quick Settings tile that points to your notes app, among other updates.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The Pixel Tablet is gone from Google’s online store.

The 2023 Android tablet has seemingly been discontinued. Its online Google Store page is gone, and there’s no longer even a “Tablet” section in the menu. The Pixel Tablet was most notable for the included dock, which turned it into a smart home hub, but never received a follow-up.

Travis Larchuk
Travis Larchuk
Today’s Vergecast: Our Pixel reviewer roundtable.

Senior reviewer Victoria Song leads a Vergecast roundtable with editors Dominic Preston and Cameron Faulkner to talk about the Pixel 11/Pro/Fold and the Pixel Watch 5. We discuss if HiLight is a LowLight, whether we miss the temperature sensor, and if the Watch 5’s GPS truly beats Garmin and Apple. And stay tuned for more camera discussion on Friday’s Vergecast.

Cameron Faulkner
Cameron Faulkner
Drop in your Pixel 11 (or Pixel Watch 5) questions.

Subscribers, head to our AMA page and leave any question that’s on your mind about Google’s new Pixel 11 phones, be it the plain 11, the 11 Pro, or the 11 Pro Fold. Oh yeah, the Pixel Watch 5, too. We’ll be answering them at 3PM ET.

Google Pixel 11 in front of brightly colored blurry background.
1/4Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
The Pixel 11 isn’t the best Pixel of 2026, but it’s the smartest buy

8

Verge Score

Sandwiched between the 10A and the Pro 11, the regular Pixel 11 is a good value, thanks mostly to compelling features.

Cameron Faulkner
Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era

8

Verge Score

A great foldable with IP68 and a reliable triple camera, trapped in a shape everyone else seems to be moving on from.

Dominic Preston
The Pixel 11 Pro is a great phone, no thanks to its flashiest new features

Forget HiLight and Proactive Assistance. The Pixel 11 Pro is at its best with focused new tools that actually work.

David Imel
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Google is reportedly stopping Pixel production in China.

Most of Google’s products are still manufactured in the country, but Nikkei Asia reports that all production of Pixel phones, watches and earbuds will leave China starting in 2027. Google started this exodus in 2019, shifting to building production capacity in Vietnam and India instead, as have Apple and Microsoft in recent years.

Nathan Edwards
Nathan Edwards
The biggest moments from Google’s Pixel 11 event.

We live blogged almost 90 minutes of a show that was, honestly, better than expected. Our video team cut it down to eight.

Pixel 11 event live blog: Let’s watch Trevor Noah introduce Google’s new phones

We’re ready for some bad jokes during Google’s celebrity-packed live show.

Jay Peters, Victoria Song and 3 more
Nathan Edwards
Nathan Edwards
Don’t touch that dial!

The Made By Google keynote, hosted by Trevor Noah, kicks off at 6PM ET. Stay tuned to this website starting at 5:30PM for our live blog. Victoria Song will be there live, with Jay Peters, Jake Kastrenakes, and myself following remotely. Let’s see what happens.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Now that’s what I call pistachio.

Samsung’s online-exclusive “Pistachio” version of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 looks great, and has apparently been selling well. But I’m a much bigger fan of Google’s Pixel 11 finish by the same name. It looks a lot closer to the color of a good pistachio gelato, unlike whatever minty nonsense Samsung is up to.

Google Pixel 11 next to Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, both in Pistachio
Your pistachios really shouldn’t look like the phone on the right.
Images: Google, Samsung
John Higgins
John Higgins
Google’s two-year-old Pixel earbuds are getting an ANC update.

It’s not a brand-new set of earbuds, but in addition to a new olive color, the Pixel Buds Pro 2 will get a firmware update that can improve ANC based on how the buds sit in your ears. Expect the update to roll out sometime in September.

The olive Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 in their open case at the Made by Google 2026 event.
The ANC update will hopefully make the Buds Pro 2 competitive with other current earbuds.
Photo by Andru Marino / The Verge
Google’s Pixel Watch 5 dives deeper into AI and health

We’re talking offline Gemini, proactive AI suggestions, better GPS maps, insulin resistance trends, and a $50 price hike.

Victoria Song
Google is making the Pixel cameras better by making them worse

Google’s new Camera Looks feature will do less computational photography — and that’s a great thing.

David Imel