Camera, battery, and charging: all the Pixel 11 models received incremental upgrades in these three areas that really matter in a smartphone for most users. However, the Pro variants – the Pixel 11 Pro, the Pixel 11 Pro XL, and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold – come with a new hardware capability called HiLight.
The Big G heavily advertised this feature at its Made by Google event, but I, personally, believe that it is nothing more than a gimmick. Interestingly, most of our readers also believe the same.
What's the issue with HiLight?
Look, I'm not totally against the HiLight capability in the Pixel 11 Pro phones. In fact, I believe it's an upgraded version of the notification LED, which was one of my favorite features on some old Android smartphones, like the Galaxy S8 and Nexus 5. The thing I don't like about HiLight is that its functionality is very limited at the moment.
In case you are not aware, it can currently be used only for two purposes: to inform you when you are receiving a call from one of your favorite contacts and to change patterns to let you visually know that Gemini is actively listening and responding to your commands. Worst of all, it only becomes active when you place your phone face down.
HiLight feature of Pixel 11 Pro. | Image by Google
I recently covered a Pixel story in which I included a poll asking you guys to share your thoughts about the HiLight feature in the latest Pixel phones. The poll has received 347 votes at the time of writing, with almost 62% of voters saying that this new capability is a useless gimmick. 31% of voters believe that it is half-baked, and only around 7% of votes were received by the option saying that the capability is really fascinating.
What's your thought on the HiLight feature?
348 Votes
Take notes, Google
As I mentioned above, the problem I have with this new hardware capability is that it performs only two functions. However, a popular Indian tech creator, Dhananjay Tech, developed an app called HiLight Studio, which uses HiLight to its fullest. It reportedly allows you to use this feature with almost all the third-party applications installed on your phone.
For instance, you can configure HiLight to glow green when you receive a notification from WhatsApp. In short, it would have been really cool if the Pixel 11 Pro phones' new hardware feature had offered at least capabilities like those of HiLight Studio.
Can HiLight become more capable in the future?
Possibly, yes. The reason behind this is how easily developers like Dhananjay are able to bypass the feature's limitations and introduce new capabilities to it. This apparently opens up the possibility of Google officially making it more capable through software updates sometime in the future.
I, personally, want the Big G to open the gates of the HiLight feature to third-party apps as well. Until then, I would only recommend the Pro models, the Pixel 11 Pro, for instance, for their cool camera features and not for this new hardware capability.
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Aman Kumar is a news writer at PhoneArena covering Google Pixel phones, Android features, AI-powered smartphone tools, and mobile tech news. Before joining PhoneArena, he spent over five years writing about consumer technology for publications like MakeUseOf, How-To Geek, and Guiding Tech. His current daily drivers are the Pixel 10 and Samsung Galaxy S26 Plus, while his red iPhone SE (2nd gen) remains a personal favorite. Aman also appreciates bold smartphone experiments and still considers the Nokia N-Gage one of the industry’s most iconic designs.
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