Pixel 11 Pro leaked details detail RGB LED array in place of IR thermometer

With May now upon us, we’re at the height of Google season: I/O is only a few weeks away, and then we’ve just got a few more months to go before the new Pixel 11 phones arrive. Thanks to some early CAD renders, we’ve already started to put together our expectations about what changes might impact the new hardware, and now a new source is shedding light on what we can expect from this year’s models.

As part of a massive Pixel 11 leak, mystic leak Telegram channel shares that Google is abandoning its infrared thermometer this year. And while we won’t have that sensor on the back of the Pixel 11 Pro, Pro XL, nor the Pro Fold, Google isn’t leaving this space empty — instead, the camera bar will now have a Nothing Glyph-like RGB LED array.

Both of these are ideas we’ve heard before, but presented here with more detail and clarity than previously available. The loss of the thermometer was something we actually began to fear following the publication of CAD-based renders that showed no clear sign of a thermometer in models like the Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL.

Google introduced the thermometer with the Pixel 8 Pro, and it has managed to stick around for the past few generations. Although we found some interesting use cases for it, it’s probably sadly underutilized, and we doubt anyone will be surprised to see it.

The more interesting angle is that RGB LED array. We’ve been following evidence of “Pixel Glow,” a new system for “light animations” that Google is building, for several months. The image you see above is not an official rendering, and the source admits that it is AI-generated, but also claims that it “looks like the actual appearance of the back cover of the Pixel 11 Pro.”

Although it looks great, our enthusiasm for the LED array is already slightly tempered by the potential limitations of what we’re able to do with it. Some evidence, at least, indicates that it is being used primarily by Gemini, and it’s not really clear yet how flexible it may be. Compared to the Nothing Glyph display, this source notes that Google’s version will be smaller.

Even if that’s the case, there’s no doubt that it’ll attract a lot of attention – and we can’t wait to see it in action for ourselves. While the smallest may be left out of the Pixel 11 array, based on this information it looks like it should come to the Pixel 11 Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold models.