Two years after reviewing Google's folding phone, City AM's reviewer was blown away. The extra screen real estate was transformative, particularly for someone who spends most of their time reading on smartphones. So enamoured with the device did the reviewer become that they ditched their previous handset and made it their own, confidently predicting that before long, folding phones would become the device of choice for business executives — a forecast the reviewer still backs, even though adoption is taking time. Folding phones still make up only a small fraction of global smartphone sales.

Then disaster struck. Two months ago, the battery indicator stopped working, replaced on screen by a question mark. A few days later, the front screen grew laggy, then stopped working altogether, forcing the phone to be unfolded to use it. Not long after, both screens blacked out and the device became entirely unusable. The cause of death was never determined, though the reviewer wonders whether scorching summer heatwaves may have affected its delicate internal organs.

With Google's latest release this week, the reviewer stayed on safer ground, testing the tech giant's more conventionally designed, single-screen Pixel 11 — and remains impressed.

New features on the Google Pixel 11

First, it feels really nice to hold, which matters for a device gripped for hours every day. From the moment of first use, it feels faster and slicker. The screen looks brighter and more vivid, while the camera is noticeably more versatile.

It is also lighter, and the battery can charge as much as 25 per cent faster than the previous model — handy for the poorly organised. For those who do not switch phones often, Google guarantees seven years of OS updates — a pledge the company first made with the Pixel 8, since matched by Samsung on its flagship Galaxy phones.

There are a bunch of new AI features that users may or may not find useful — unsurprising, perhaps, given that the Pixel range has become the shop window for Google's AI software, with new tools typically landing on Google's own handsets first. One favourite, exclusive to the Pro, is the 'hilight' function, which lets users assign specific colours to contacts so that a flashing light on the back of the phone shows who has called. The reviewer loved that their old BlackBerry did this and is heartened to see it re-entering the mainstream.

What is interesting — from the perspective of spec-watchers, at least — is that there has been no improvement in compute memory from the previous generation. The entry-level Pixel 11 boasts 12GB of memory, the same as the Pixel 10 and Pixel 9. Meanwhile, the Pro models have actually taken a downgrade: the lowest-storage Pro 10 has 16GB of memory, while the lowest-storage Pro 11 has 12GB.

That is the latest sign of 'Ramageddon': AI hyperscalers have put such strain on the supply of chips that consumer electronics firms have had to slow down upgrades to keep a lid on prices. Expect to see something similar in Apple and Samsung's releases later this year.

Speaking of Apple and Samsung, these two giants of the industry are Google's biggest targets: the company will have to persuade customers to switch in order to build market share. That is a longstanding challenge — Apple and Samsung between them lead global smartphone sales, Pixel's worldwide share remains in the single digits, and iPhone owners have repeatedly shown themselves among the industry's most loyal upgraders. The reviewer does not know whether the latest Pixel range offers quite enough to tempt them away — but as a fully paid-up Android user, they are pretty happy.

• The Pixel 11 smartphone goes on sale this week. Prices start at £879.