The Pixel 11 Pro’s HiLight feature looks great. There’s just one problem with it

It wasn’t too long ago that practically every Android phone had a dedicated, multicolor notification LED. Usually placed above the display, the glowing light was surprisingly useful for notifying you of messages, alerts, charging levels, and other things you needed to be aware of. As a self-proclaimed fan of notification LEDs, I loved being able to glance at my phone from a distance and tell if I needed to take action. Always-on displays on phones can replicate some of that functionality, but they’re nowhere near as discreet as a simple light.

No wonder then that Android fans have been clamoring for the return of the notification LED. As we’ve seen time and time again, design innovation tends to be cyclical. And with the Pixel 11 Pro series, Google has listened.

The company calls its take on notification LEDs “HiLight.” On paper, HiLight is a great mix of old-school Android nostalgia and modern hardware. Built into the camera bar on the Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL, and Pixel 11 Pro Fold, the LED array creates subtle, colorful lights for notifications and AI status updates.

It looks great. Except, there is one big problem that becomes obvious almost immediately. Google put the lights on the back of the Pixel 11 Pro models — making them almost useless for how most of us actually use our phones.

While the Pixel 11 Pro-series doesn’t deviate too much from the 10 Pro’s design, it does make some improvements. The redesigned camera bar sports edge-to-edge glass that flows into the metal frame. That’s also where you’ll find the HiLight LEDs tucked away. When the lights are off, they blend into the camera module. When turned on, the LEDs are designed to produce a diffused glow rather than a point source. All that to say, it’s a nice visual upgrade over the notification LEDs we’re used to.

It’s clear that Google has put some thought into the software as well. HiLight’s current primary function is serving customized alerts for phone calls from the Google Phone app and WhatsApp. When you put the phone face down on a desk, the notification lights can alert you to calls from favorite contacts. Similarly, you can assign different colors to different people. So, you can see the LED glowing a bright red when you get a call from your boss. This is all pretty basic functionality that you’d expect from a modern take on the notification LED.

The other big feature is its integration with Gemini. The notification LED array shows you what Gemini is doing when you use the assistant hands-free. The LEDs switch colors based on whether Gemini is listening to your query, thinking, or generating a response. That’s pretty smart and lets you get some visual feedback while using the AI assistant hands-free, without staring down at your screen.

In theory, HiLight does exactly what a modern notification light should do. It keeps you informed without constantly pulling you back to your screen.

Now, as good as all that sounds, the problem with HiLight is pretty obvious. You simply can’t see the lights most of the time. For a notification light to be useful, it needs to be somewhere you can actually see. Putting HiLight on the back of the phone means you won’t see it unless you regularly place your phone face down.

I don’t know about you, but I usually leave my phone screen-up on a desk or a nightstand. That lets me glance at the time or see notifications without picking up the phone. It doesn’t help that my phone is always in silent mode, so I count on vibrations and a brightly lit screen to draw my attention. Google’s implementation, however, means that the rather convenient new feature is completely hidden.

Unless you are in a particularly dark room or if the light is disturbingly bright, there’s a good chance you simply won’t notice the light. But hang on, it gets worse. Like the Pixel 10-series, the Pixel 11 lineup supports the Qi 2.2 standard and has its own Pixelsnap lineup of magnetic charging accessories. These accessories are specifically designed to snap to the back of the phone and prop up the phone screen forward.

When Google knows and expects people to prop up their phones on a charging dock or an accessory, the decision to place HiLight at the back comes across as even more short-sighted. Or, more likely, as a case of two teams not talking to each other. It basically defeats the entire point of having a notification light.

As useful a feature as HiLight is, Google basically expects people to change their smartphone usage habits for a feature that might not be there by the time the Pixel 12 comes out. That’s rarely gone well. A well-designed piece of hardware should, by definition, enhance how people use a device instead of forcing them to conform.

The frustrating part here is that there’s no dearth of better places to place the notification light. The best, of course, would be at the top of the screen, but I get it that with minimal bezels, there might not be enough space.

How about a light around the power button, or even the volume rocker? If the smaller Clicks can figure out a solution to the problem with the Clicks Communicator, it shouldn’t be a hassle for Google. We’ve seen that before, and it’s a workable solution. I’d even take a notification LED placed next to the front-facing camera. Despite it looking like a retro throwback, it’s a solution that works. Plus, you know, retro is cool again.

None of these options would need a ground-up redesign. But, more importantly, they’d result in a solution that would be much more usable, and, dare I say, sensible.

I like what Google is attempting with HiLight. At a time when silent mode is the norm, it solves a very real problem that millions of others and I face. The idea of keeping you informed without being intrusive is great. The idea that it provides visual feedback on what your AI assistant is doing is even better. For that matter, even the visual execution of HiLight looks really good.

But none of that matters if you can’t even see it. As it stands, HiLight is a fun throwback to one of my favorite Android features with the unfortunate downside of being in a place where it’ll barely get noticed. Move those lights somewhere I can actually see them, and I can see HiLight becoming one of my favorite Pixel features. For now, much to my disappointment, it’s little more than a party trick.