What you need to know
- Thinborne made a classic; debuted a first set of cases for the Pixel 11 and there’s one amazing change: a wider camera bar cutout.
- Nothing is confirmed (by Google, of course), but the wider camera could accommodate the rumored Pixel Glow LED beam.
- Rumors about the Pixel Glow are divided, with some suggesting it could be a light bar, while others claim it will be located within the bar itself.
Nothing is official, but that doesn’t stop Thinborne from creating cases in preparation for Google’s Pixel 11.
Early this morning (May 29), Thinborne shared what it has been preparing for Google’s next flagship series. Interestingly, and as the company also joked, nothing is different. Thinborne could have said “Google is still Google… they barely changed lol”, but there’s one big change we can’t fail to mention: the camera cutout.
Thinborne’s images apparently show two Pixel 11 cases. What catches our eye is the phone case on the right, which is a little wider than the one on the left. Android Central’s Nicholas Sutrich wonders if this wider camera cutout is due to the rumored “Pixel Glow” we’ve been hearing about for weeks. There are assumptions everywhereparticularly because people are curious to know what’s going on.
When the company shared what it was working on, it didn’t specify which case belonged to which phone. If we’re going to guess (and this is wild speculation), perhaps the leftmost case belongs to the Pixel 11, leaving the right one for the Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL. It would be ideal, but nothing is confirmed yet.
Room to shine?
This isn’t the first time Thinborne has created cases for rumored phones. He did the same last year for the Pixel 10. The excitement was real when Thinborne launched its “Super Thin” collection of cases, which sold out shortly after its introduction. Google hadn’t said anything official, but consumers (and Thinborne) didn’t care. The commotion was real, very similar to this year.
Android Central’s opinion
Having Thinborne do what Thinborne does just makes our minds wander. Is this extra space to accommodate the Pixel Glow or is it due to some camera updates Google is working on? Perhaps a new sensor requires more space: a larger island. Or maybe we’ll get a bright light bar just below the camera bar for the two top-tier Pixel 11s. I can sit here and speculate all day… but that sounds exhausting.
“Pixel Brightness” was mentioned in rumors alongside the Googlebook, positioned as a nostalgic light bar. We have already achieved the google book and its bright light bar, and that continues to build excitement for the Pixel 11 series to get something similar. instead of flowing around the camera island, recent rumors claim that Pixel Glow could sit inside the device bar. This would involve approximately eight LEDs collected in a similar manner to Nothing’s bar or glyph array.
Rumors generated a mockup of what this could look like. It showed this small LED array located to the right of the camera bar flash. On the other hand, we have Google’s I/O 2026, which got people excited after a Gemini segment apparently mocked the Pixel 11 and Pixel Glow. The model held a Pixel phone sideways near a mirror and the camera bar took on a vibrant light blue glow around its edge.
