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Google is all set to unveil the Pixel 11 lineup on August 12, and current Pixel owners have a lot of expectations from it. There have been several leaks already that have seemingly indicated that these phones are very likely going to be incremental upgrades. However, one particular leak hints at the return of a discontinued smartphone feature that will certainly get long-time Android owners excited about the Pixel 11 phones. The upcoming Pixels are reportedly going to feature a version of the notification LED.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, a notification LED is essentially an LED light built into the phone’s design that blinks or glows to alert you about missed calls, texts, app notifications, and battery status. It used to be a key feature of earlier Android phones, including the first commercial Android phone — the T-Mobile G1 aka HTC Dream. Google included it on most Nexus phones, and Samsung had it onboard the Galaxy series for the longest time — until bezel-less displays started getting popular. However, if leaks and rumors are to be believed, the Pixel 11 lineup is bringing it back with the name ‘HiLight’.
HiLight will seemingly leverage the camera LED flash
As per an image shared by Winfuture.de journalist Roland Quandt on BlueSky from alleged promotional material for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, ‘HiLight’ will leverage the camera LED flash to function as a notification LED. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as functional as the notification LEDs of older Android phones. The machine translation of the promotional material indicates that the LED will light up when your favorite contacts call you or when you are talking to the Gemini AI assistant. Known leaker Evan Blass aka evleaks has also shared some alleged marketing material for the entire Pixel 11 lineup, which also shows ‘HiLight’ in action. More importantly, you can see it in an official video teaser for the Pixel 11 Pro.
As the LED is on the back of the phone, it’ll only be useful when your phone is placed face down. Essentially, Google seems to be trying to help folks avoid missing calls from important people while they try to avoid distractions by silencing the phone and placing it face down. There is no word on whether it’ll blink or glow when you get texts or other notifications; however, it seems unlikely based on the placement.
What else to expect from the Pixel 11 lineup
The Pixel 11 series is reportedly going to include four models at launch, the same as its predecessor. These are the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold. As mentioned, these are mostly expected to be incremental upgrades, even in terms of design. The leaked marketing material shared by Evan Blass shows subtle tweaks in the camera bar design of each phone, with the Fold showing a relatively more pronounced camera island change, but not much else. The leak also suggests that Google is removing the temperature sensor — a feature that most people may not care about.
In terms of raw specifications, the Tensor G6 SoC will power each of the four devices, and you can expect 12 to 16 GB of RAM. Additionally, the Pixel 11 Pro and the Pro XL are said to feature a brighter 3,600-nit display, whereas the Pixel 11 will keep the same 3,000 nits of peak brightness as the Pixel 10. Battery sizes are likely to be largely similar to the Pixel 10 series, except for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, which is reportedly getting a smaller 4,806mAh battery.
