Someone turned the Pixel 6 into a Windows phone with full Windows 11

Not the return of Windows Phone many were quite expecting.

What you need to know

• A developer was able to get Windows 11 to run on a Pixel 6.
• The developer utilized an exploit in Android 13 to run the virtual machine on a Pixel 6.
• Android 13 is currently available on Pixel smartphones as an early developer preview.

While Microsoft is busy getting Android apps to run on Windows 11, a developer managed to get Windows 11 to run on their Android phone — a Pixel 6 running Android 13.

XDA developer, kdrag0n, was able to run Windows 11 on their Pixel 6 as a virtual machine, using the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) found on the recently released Android 13 developer preview.

And here's Windows 11 as a VM on Pixel 6 https://t.co/0557SfeJtN pic.twitter.com/v7OIcWC3Ab

— kdrag0n (@kdrag0n) February 13, 2022

From a performance standpoint, kdrag0n says it's "really usable" despite there being no graphics acceleration. They were even able to play old-school Doom on the Windows VM.

As explained by XDA-Developers (with much more technical detail), Android 13 allows easier access to the kernel-based virtual machine that's built into Android. Kdrag0n was able to take advantage of an exploit in Android 13 to unlock full virtualization on the Pixel 6, allowing it to run at near-native speeds.

Many still lament the loss of Windows Phone, so Windows-on-a-phone could be a roundabout way to relive the glory days, short of purchasing a Lumia 950. You could also spring for Microsoft's latest mobile endeavor with the Surface Duo 2. However, it still runs Android with a Microsoft launcher on top that loosely resembles Windows 11 on the best laptops.

Try Android 13

Google Pixel 6 Pro

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The Pixel 6 Pro is Google's latest and greatest smartphone, featuring a brand new design, in-house chipset, and impressive specs. It's also ideal for early adopters that want to try out Google's upcoming software before anyone else.

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