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It’s typically been the case that higher-end phones like Apple and Google’s Pro models and Samsung’s Ultra flagships tend to come in more subdued colors than their more affordable counterparts. You can get last year’s vanilla Pixel 10 in deep blue or sharp yellow-green finishes, for example, while the Pixel 10 Pro is available in white, gray, black, or a pastel green.
But the Pixel 11 Pro comes in multiple appealing finishes, and it feels like part of a trend that I hope continues.
Joe Maring / Android AuthorityThe standard Pixel 11 is available in four finishes. Three are fairly opinionated: there’s a pastel purple (Frost), bold magenta (Hibiscus), and a kind of gold-green (Pistachio), along with a basic black (Obsidian). But for the first time that I can remember, the Pro version actually comes in more interesting colorways.
Aside from the Fold, the 11 Pro is also available in four colorways, two of which are especially eye-catching. There’s Canyon, which is a peachy color with coppery accents, and Olive, an earthy green with gold trim. Either of these finishes could have stood out as the “hero color” of the lineup — think the Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro or the Lavender Galaxy Z Fold 8.
Even the 11 Pro’s less-flashy color options are more interesting than what Google’s offered lately. The neutral light option this year is Fog, a pleasant light blue with glossy silver-colored trim — hardly loud, but more memorable than the exceedingly plain white-and-silver Porcelain finish we got with the Pixel 8 Pro, 9 Pro, and 10 Pro.
Joe Maring / Android AuthorityThe 11 Pro’s neutral dark option is still Obsidian, but it manages to stand out with its all-matte finish, a detail borrowed from Pixel Watch’s Obsidian models (from Pixel 7 Pro through 10 Pro, the Obsidian colorway came with glossy dark gray trim). Photos don’t quite do these finishes justice — but in motion, I think they’re very appealing.
Consumer tech nerds like myself have been complaining for years that base-model smartphones tend to get all the “fun colors” while the high-end models that we actually want to use are stuck with a handful of neutral finishes and, if we’re lucky, one vibrant hero color. It makes sense, intuitively: the Pro branding implies a degree of seriousness that flashy finishes might clash with, at least in theory.
But it feels like that’s all shifting lately. Every phone in the Galaxy S26 series is available in the same six colors, and the Phone 17 Pro comes in both bright orange and dark blue finishes (though the standard 17 does offer five colorway options to the Pro’s three). With Google hopping on the vibrant Pro flagship bandwagon, I think we’re finally there: high-end phones no longer look boring compared to their cheaper counterparts.
Do some fresh colors merit dropping $1,100 on a new phone? I certainly don’t think so, and I’m still sticking with my Pixel 9 Pro for now (in Rose Quartz, naturally, the sole non-neutral colorway that phone comes in). But I do have to admit I’m pretty envious of the new Olive and Canyon finishes on Pixel 11 Pro — I think they’re the best-looking Pixels yet.
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