OnePlus 11 Intro
OnePlus is at a crossroads. The company which started with exciting "flagship killers" is now better known for its humdrum budget phones rather than flagships, but the OnePlus 11 is finally a chance to change that. As a fresh start, the OnePlus 11 comes with a new and more refined look including a gorgeous round camera system and a bunch of improvements under the hood, most driven by the impressive new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. It also comes with the insanely fast charging speeds that OnePlus is known for and is crafted with attention to detail, including features like the Alert Slider.
- What’s new about the device
- New, more elegant design with round camera system
- Three cameras on the back
- 2X zoom camera for portraits
- OnePlus alert slider is back!
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside
- Possibly best haptics ever on an Android phone
- 6.7-inch OLED screen with 120Hz
- Insane 100W fast charging
- No wireless charging, no IP68 rating
Table of Contents:
- Specs
- Design and colors
- Display
- Camera
- Performance
- Battery
- Competitors
- Summary
OnePlus 11 Specs
We've already mentioned the new processor and camera system, but take a look at all of the OnePlus 11 specs highlights below:
OnePlus 11 Unboxing
The OnePlus 11 ships in a big red box with the words OnePlus and Hasselblad printed on the cap and the letters 11 beautifully engraved on it.
Inside the box you will find the following:
- Phone with pre-applied screen protector
- 100W charger with USB-A port
- Red OnePlus cable with USB-A to USB-C connection
- See-through silicone case
- Stickers
- SIM tool
- User manuals
This is generous packaging for a 2023 phone, considering that most flagships these days don't even have a charger included in the box, let alone a case, so we appreciate OnePlus still packing all of those things in the box.
The OnePlus 11 comes in one size only. It's a large phone, with a 6.7-inch screen size, but it is not quite as wide as say a Galaxy Ultra.
The design is mostly similar to the OnePlus 10 Pro, glass back, aluminum frame, and you also have the familiar Alert Slider on the side, also known as the mute switch, which is super convenient. The glass is Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and the older generation Gorilla Glass 5 on the back.
The power button and Alert Slider are on the right, volume buttons - on the left. On the bottom, you have a USB-C port (only USB 2.0 speeds). And this time you even have an official IP rating: the OnePlus 11 is rated IP64 for some water and dust protection.
he dual loudspeakers have gotten a welcome upgrade with dual sub-magnets and NLC low-frequency algorithm, all fancy words, but in reality audio quality is noticeably improved.
The phone comes in two colors: a green one and a black model, the green features a smooth glass finish, while the black one has a new kind of coating which glimmers when light hits it at certain angles.
OnePlus 11 Display
ou have a 6.7-inch OLED screen here, which is slightly tapered at the sides.
The resolution is 1440p resolution for extra crispy detail, and it supports a dynamic refresh rate that goes from 1 Hz all the way up to 120Hz, thanks to LTPO 3.0 technology. The 1Hz option is great if you use the AOD (Always-on Display) function as it drains less power than before.
OnePlus is not disclosing the panel technology, but unofficial sources say it uses the older Samsung E4 OLED panel, rather than the newer E6 panels. This is one slight compromise compared to other new 2023 phones and it should result in screen color cast no quite as good as on the latest generation and lower peak brightness than higher end 2023 flagships.
OnePlus 11 Camera
The OnePlus 11 comes with a redesigned camera system that looks big and impressive from afar, but look closer and you will see some interesting decisions were taken with this camera.
First, let's break down the camera specs:
- 50MP main camera, Sony IMX890 sensor, f/1.8
- 48MP ultra-wide, Sony IMX581 sensor, f/2.2
- 32MP 2X zoom, Sony IMX709 sensor, f/2.0 (up to 20X digital zoom)
- 16MP front cam, ISOCELL 3P9 (S5K3P9) sensor
You get a 50MP main snapper, but interestingly, OnePlus seems to have opted for the Sony IMX890 sensor, which other phone makers use for the ultra-wide camera on their phones. It's certainly not in the same category as the 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor used by Xiaomi and Vivo.
The ultra-wide camera sensor is a 48MP one and it can focus as close as 3.5cm, so you can get some neat macro shots with it.
Last, but not least, the third camera in this system is a 2X zoom lens, perfect for portrait shots.
In the camera app, you get 1X and 2X portrait modes. 1X is actually a simulation of a 3.5/30mm Hasselblad XCD lens and the 2X mimics a 2.8/65mm Hasselblad XCD lens with cool swirly bokeh.
This sounds like a great setup for portrait shots and we are super happy to see a 2X lens back on a mainstream phone! However, those who want to be able to zoom further with higher quality might be disappointed in the OnePlus 11, as it lacks a long-range zoom lens.
Main Camera
It's evident that the OnePlus captures warmer colors that look more pleasing to our eye during the day compared to the darker and moodier exposure from the Pixel. Both capture a good amount of detail and clear photos during the day.
Night Photos
In low light, the OnePlus prefers brighter exposures, which some people may prefer, but that comes at the expense of noise creeping in the darker areas of the photos. The Pixel favors a darker exposure, but it captures a cleaner detail. Both phones automatically recognize low light conditions and will fire up an "auto night mode" shot, which you can turn off if you prefer to get a more natural looking, darker picture.
Ultra-wide Camera
Similarly to the main camera, the OnePlus 11 favors warmer colors and brighter exposure with its ultra-wide camera during the day. At night, however, the Pixel does a far better job keeping noise down to almost none, while the photo from the OnePlus has a lot of noise.
OnePlus 11 Connectivity
The OnePlus 11 will not be sold on US carriers, but you will be able to buy at big box retailers and Amazon with compatible 5G bands for the US market.
It is also a dual SIM, dual active phone that can either have two 5G SIMs or one 5G SIM card and one 4G SIM card. It also supports eSIM.
International models will support different bands, as usual.
The Chinese model of the OnePlus 11 which launched a couple of months earlier has different software and different cellular bands, so if you are buying from some less known store make sure you get the right model for your market.
OnePlus 11 Android version
For the first time, four years of Android version updates!
The OnePlus 11 ships with Android 13, but the actual skin on top differs depending on the model. The US and global models run on Oxygen OS, while the Chinese version has ColorOS 13.
The OxygenOS skin is clean and very well optimized, and for the first time, OnePlus promises four years of major OS updates, which means it will be getting Android 17, just like the Galaxy S23 Ultra. And it will also get 5 years of bi-monthly security updates. This is great news as OnePlus earlier did not have the longest software support, and the 11 is finally fixing that.
OnePlus 11 Battery
The OnePlus 11 battery comes in at a 5,000mAh capacity, which has become the de facto standard amongst large-sized Android flagship phones.
We are yet to test the OnePlus 11 battery life, so make sure the check back a while later for that.
What is not so ordinary is the incredibly quick charging speed on the phone. You get 80W max charging speeds (100W if you live outside the US), which a neat upgrade from the 10 Pro. We have the 100W version and we measured the following charging speeds:
17 mins - 65%
27 mins - 100%
Note that the global version charges slightly faster than that, but still that's super impressive! OnePlus promises that despite those fast charging speeds, there will be no quick degradation of the battery health and a battery should last around four years before it's due for replacement, which the company estimates is twice as long as competitors.
Of course, this charging speed is not quite a world record, this is currently held by Xiaomi and its 210W charging system (full charge in under 10 minutes). However, this will be one of the fastest charging phone that will come to the US market, so it's definitely worth noting.
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