When rumors first started swirling about a glowing LED light bar for the Pixel 11 series of smartphones, I was cautiously optimistic. I always enjoyed having notification LEDs on my earlier Android handsets, and a multicolored strip surrounding the perimeter of the Pixel’s iconic camera bar sounded like a logical modernization of the feature.
Alas, this ‘Pixel Glow’ bar never came to be, with Google instead introducing HiLight, a small, multicolored LED module built right into the camera bar’s flash unit. Exclusively available on the Pixel 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold, HiLight lights up when chatting with Gemini and while receiving calls from starred contacts.
For all intents and purposes, HiLight is severely limited in its initial incarnation. There’s no generic pulsing for incoming notifications, there’s no blinking to notify of battery life or other status conditions, and there are only five preset colors to choose from. Yes, these colors animate and pulsate in a pleasing manner, but the entire system feels far too restrictive on the whole.
…there’s still one major problem with the feature that I think is hard-baked into its implementation.
There does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to HiLight, as rumors suggest that Google plans on adding additional functionalities to the feature, and Android Authority has even unearthed software references of four new color options and support for messages. These additions would be welcome, to be sure, but they still don’t solve for the restrictive feel of the feature.
Now, even if Google were to fully open up HiLight for third-party developers to tweak via a dedicated developer API, there’s still one major problem with the feature that I think is hard-baked into its implementation: the LED module itself is facing the wrong direction.
Business in the front, party in the back
Google has a rear-facing predicament on its hands
I reckon Google made the wrong move by placing the HiLight LED module on the rear of its latest Pro Pixel phones, embedded right into the camera module. This location makes it so you don’t see the LED light up when resting your phone face up, forcing you to place your phone screen directly onto your table in a face-down manner.
For me, at least, I prefer resting my phone face up rather than face down, as the former allows me to view my always-on display while also avoiding the potential of scuffing my glass-clad display. Resting my phone rear side up breaks years of muscle memory, and, even with a lipped case on my phone, I still have concerns over scratching my screen.
To be fair, I can see why Google went the route it did, with more and more smartphone users turning their devices face down to temporarily unplug, especially in the context of being in company with other people. That being said, I usually leave my phone in my pocket or on a Qi2 charging stand whenever the situation calls for it, making this a bit of a moot point.
As it currently stands, HiLight is a good idea marred by poor execution.
There are pragmatic reasons why Google didn’t place HiLight on the front side of its latest Pixels à la older notification LEDs, chief among them being today’s emphasis on small, slim front bezels. I can’t help but wonder whether the HiLight LED array could’ve been placed under the display, instead, such that it’d only appear when necessary and disappear the rest of the time.
An under-display version of HiLight with broader functionality and a third-party API for developers to take advantage of would be absolutely ideal. In this theoretical configuration, I’d be able to view notifications and other status alerts like in the good old days, while maintaining an uninterrupted display for when actually operating the phone.
As it currently stands, HiLight is a good idea marred by poor execution. It’s not only too limiting by design, but it’s also quite literally facing the wrong physical direction. Had the company gone with a full-width camera light bar design on the rear, I’d have at least given it credit for offering up something unique, but what we’re left with is a half-baked multicolor LED that hardly surfaces any alerts, and that I need to flip my phone around to view.
Others have done this better
Rear hardware gimmicks are nothing new
Hardware gimmicks have always been a part of the mobile phone world, and we’ve seen rear-facing tickers, cover screens, and light arrays plenty of times before. Nothing’s Glyph Matrix immediately springs to mind as a far more fleshed out feature when compared to Google’s HiLight, with the Phone 3 even supporting ‘Toys’ that serve as mini applets of their own.
My hope is that Google will open up access to HiLight sooner rather than later, but the fact that it’s a single dot puts it at a disadvantage from a creativity potential standpoint when compared to other gimmicks we’ve seen in the past. Simply put, there’s not a lot you can do with an LED module of this caliber, multicolored or otherwise.
Knowing Google’s track record, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it drop HiLight altogether in a couple of years, in the same way it has dropped the thermometer sensor, the Soli Motion Sense sensor, and the Active Edge ‘squeeze’ feature from previous generation Pixel handsets. I hope to be proven wrong on that front, but I’m keeping my expectations firmly in check this time around.
