The Pixel 11 Pro XL camera benchmarks are in, and while the overall results are impressive, Google’s latest flagship still can’t touch the iPhone for video — until you enable Video Boost. Once again, the Pro-edition Pixel’s best-quality video output is locked behind this cloud-based video enhancement feature, and this year it’s even more effective.
Testing lab Dxomark awards the Pixel 11 Pro XL 168 points overall, placing it in joint fifth place and level with the iPhone 17 Pro. However, below those headline figures, the Pixel 11 Pro XL comes out ahead for photos (171 points vs the iPhone’s 166), but the iPhone 17 Pro leads at video (172 points vs the Pixel’s 162).
Dxomark’s recently released Video Boost test results show that the Pixel 11 Pro XL can beat the iPhone 17 Pro for video when Video Boost is enabled. According to Dxomark, the Pixel 11 Pro XL would have reached 175 overall if Video Boost had been taken into consideration, propelling it to the number one overall position in the chart alongside Huawei’s Pura 80 Ultra.
It’s The Mode, Not the Camera
Video Boost requires shooting in a special format and relies on Google’s cloud servers for processing, but if ultimate quality is your aim, rather than immediate availability, it can produce some of the best-quality video available from a smartphone.
“Overall, Video Boost significantly enhances the Pixel 11 Pro XL’s already strong video performance, with its biggest impact on the texture-noise compromise.” — Dxomark.
Counterintuitively, two video sub-tests score lower with Video Boost enabled: autofocus and artifacts.
Beating Apple — Kinda
Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro currently earns the highest Dxomark standard video score of any smartphone (172 points). It was tested at 4K resolution and 60fps in Dolby HDR mode, which Dxomark notes delivered the best quality results.
The Pixel 11 Pro XL’s Video Boost mode easily beats this, at 183 points, but with the caveat that users must enable the feature manually and will receive a low-quality preview video until the captured footage has been uploaded to Google, processed in the cloud and then re-downloaded in its final high-quality form. Dxomark doesn’t count Video Boost scores in its official ranking, but presents them separately behind a toggle switch on the site.
Dxomark’s results show that Video Boost is becoming increasingly important to the Pixel Pro series as Apple has pulled ahead in (un-boosted) video performance against Google:
The Pixel 10 Pro XL scored 160 points for video against the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s 167, a gap of 7 points, but the Pixel 11 Pro XL scores 162 points for video against the iPhone 17 Pro’s 172, a gap of 10 points.
The Pixel 10 Pro XL’s video performance jumps from a base level of 160 points to 175 points with Video Boost enabled, but the Pixel 11 Pro XL leaps from 162 up to 183. This means, out of the box, this year’s Pixel 11 Pro XL loses to the iPhone 17 Pro on video by 10 points, but Video Boost pushes it ahead of Apple by 11 points.
Note that Dxomark hasn’t specified the base-level video settings for its Pixel 11 Pro XL test, but the sample videos uploaded to Dxomark’s YouTube channel play back at 4K 30fps for the Pixel 11 Pro XL, whereas iPhone 17 Pro clips of the same scene play back at 4K 60fps. This strongly suggests that the Google flagship was tested at 30fps.
This is an important distinction because, unlike the Pixel 10 Pro XL, the Pixel 11 Pro XL can record 4K 60fps HDR video directly on the device without Video Boost. I’ve checked both models and verified this behaviour on a Pixel 11 Pro XL, so why Dxomark chose 30fps is not yet clear. I await a response from Dxomark.
Do You Actually Want This?
In most shooting situations, the iPhone 17 Pro dominates at video, but if you don’t need the result immediately, the Pixel 11 Pro XL pulls ahead in pure quality, according to Dxomark. However, the report also notes that “Autofocus instabilities can still be observed in specific situations.” Ultimately, it’s up to the user whether or not to enable Video Boost, but you won’t come close to the Pixel 11 Pro XL’s best video quality without it.