Does the Pixel 11 finally fix Google’s modem issues? Yes — but with a catch

The reception to the Google Pixel 11 series may have been slightly muted, thanks to relatively minor upgrades and a higher price tag, but there’s one fundamental change this year that a lot of us Pixel fans have been waiting for: a new modem.

As rumored before launch, the Pixel 11 series ships with a MediaTek modem for the first time. Google has completely ditched Samsung’s Exynos modem on its latest Pixel phones in favor of a MediaTek modem, with Google claiming the new modem is more reliable, faster, and more power-efficient.

On paper, the new modem should outperform what we’ve seen on previous Pixel generations. It should also help address some of the biggest complaints we’ve had with Pixel phones over the years, including overheating, battery drain, and poor cellular reception.

But rather than taking Google’s word for it, I wanted to put those claims to the test. So, I put the Pixel 11 Pro against last year’s Pixel 10 Pro across a few different tests to see whether the new modem actually makes a noticeable difference.

How I tested the Pixel 11’s new MediaTek modem

Before we move on to the test, it’s worth noting that I used the same SIM card on both devices and tested them under similar conditions to keep things as fair as possible. I also disconnected both phones from Wi-Fi and relied entirely on cellular data throughout the test.

Lastly, I made sure both devices were running the latest available version of Android 17 before testing, so any differences should be primarily due to the modem rather than software.

Signal strength test

The first and most basic test is the actual signal strength both phones are receiving. Android does a slightly weird thing here, where the signal bars in the status bar don’t necessarily reflect the actual strength of the cellular connection.

So, instead of relying on those bars, I checked the actual signal strength reported by both phones in dBm through the Settings app to see which one was receiving the stronger signal. It’s worth noting that signal strength here is shown as a negative number, and the closer that number is to zero, the stronger the signal. So, for example, -80 dBm is better than -100 dBm.

I tested both phones in three different areas: one with particularly weak cellular reception, another with average reception, and finally outdoors, where I usually get the strongest signal.

The results aren’t a straightforward win for the Pixel 11 Pro. It recorded slightly stronger reception at both indoor locations, but the Pixel 10 Pro had a noticeably stronger signal outdoors.

What’s encouraging for the Pixel 11 Pro’s new modem, though, is that it managed to hold onto 5G at -99 dBm in the weakest reception area of my home. The Pixel 10 Pro, on the other hand, dropped to 4G at -101 dBm in the same location.

Speed test

For the second test, I wanted to see whether the new modem actually translates into faster cellular speeds. I ran three speed tests on each phone, both indoors and outdoors, again using the same SIM card and testing from the same locations.

Outdoors

Outdoors, the Pixel 11 Pro averaged an impressive 671 Mbps download speed, compared to around 593 Mbps on the Pixel 10 Pro. That’s roughly a 13% improvement. Ping was also slightly lower on the newer Pixel and remained much more consistent across all three runs.

Upload speeds, however, told a different story. The Pixel 10 Pro averaged around 106 Mbps, while the Pixel 11 Pro managed roughly 99 Mbps. It’s not a huge difference, but the older Pixel came out slightly ahead here.

Indoors

Things became even more interesting indoors, where cellular reception is weaker. The Pixel 11 Pro averaged around 493 Mbps download speeds, compared to roughly 405 Mbps on the Pixel 10 Pro. That’s nearly a 22% improvement for the newer Pixel, and arguably a more meaningful result considering the weaker signal conditions.

Once again, though, upload speeds went the other way. The Pixel 10 Pro averaged around 25 Mbps, while the Pixel 11 Pro managed just 14 Mbps. Ping was also slightly better on the older phone this time around.

On the whole, my biggest takeaway from this test is that the Pixel 11 Pro has much faster download speeds over cellular. It was consistently ahead of the Pixel 10 Pro, even indoors, where reception was weaker. Upload speeds were strangely worse on the newer phone, though, so the MediaTek modem isn’t necessarily better at everything.

Video streaming test

For the final test, I wanted to see whether the new MediaTek modem’s claimed efficiency improvements actually translate into better battery life during normal cellular use.

For this, I played the same YouTube video on both phones over cellular data for 30 minutes. I kept both displays at similar brightness levels, turned the volume down to zero, and set the video quality to 1080p at 60 fps with HDR on both devices to keep things fair.

The Pixel 11 Pro started the test at 66% battery and finished at 63%, meaning it lost just 3% over the half-hour stream. The Pixel 10 Pro, meanwhile, started at 61% and dropped to 56%, losing 5% over the same period.

Of course, a 30-minute test isn’t enough to tell the whole battery life story, and there are other factors at play beyond just the modem. But under the same conditions, the Pixel 11 Pro consumed noticeably less battery while streaming the exact same video over cellular.

So, did Google finally fix the Pixel’s modem problem?

Based on the three tests I’ve conducted, I’d say the Pixel 11 Pro’s new MediaTek modem is definitely a step in the right direction. It’s not better than the Pixel 10 Pro’s modem in every single metric, but the areas that actually matter to me seem to have improved.

The Pixel 11 Pro retained 5G in situations where the Pixel 10 Pro dropped to 4G, delivered faster download speeds both indoors and outdoors, and used less battery during my cellular video streaming test. I think those are the improvements most users will care about, so overall I’m happy with the results.

It’s still early, and I’ll need more time before saying Google has completely fixed the Pixel’s modem problems. But if you’re upgrading from an older Pixel that struggled with reception or cellular battery drain, this is one upgrade you’re likely to notice.