Have you checked at Settings > Moves > Lift to check phone? I'm not sure whether or not that's enabled by default.

 

Out of curiosity, what build are you on?

Settings > About phone > Build number.

 

Sorry guys, this seems to be a Nexus-exclusive feature.

KIDDING! But boy, as a non-Pixeler that really felt good to say.

It's indeed strange that the feature seems to be missing / broken, and I unfortunately don't have a fix for you guys. There is an active thread about the issue over at the Google Pixel Product Forums. The issue has been escalated to Google, so hopefully there will be a fix (or at least an official response) shortly. I'd suggest following that thread for future updates.

 

That's how it works on the Nexus 6P for sure. It used to be that the single Settings > Display > Ambient Display option would (1) enable incoming notifications to briefly wake the device and display over the lockscreen and (2) briefly display the lockscreen notifications when you pick up the device.

I know a lot of users requested that the feature be broken out into two, with two separate controls. With 7.1.1 on my 6P, the Ambient Display option enables the (1) behavior while the Settings > Moves > Lift to check phone option enables the (2) behavior. It seems that the (2) behavior is missing on many (if not all?) Pixel XLs - doubly strange since I swear I saw it mentioned in some reviews.

Is its absence a bug/oversight, or did Google decide that it had a negative battery impact and pull the feature at the last minute? Who knows. Hopefully that thread I linked will get an official response before too much longer.