AKSARAHIJAU – Last year’s OnePlus 10 Pro is set to be replaced by the OnePlus 11. There won’t be a OnePlus 11 Pro, and there wasn’t a regular OnePlus 10. Things could be more straightforward, but what are you going to do? Barring any spinoffs, this is OnePlus’ flagship phone, the focus of all its attention, development budget and everything else. Leaks meant we knew what the OnePlus 11 would look like long before it was officially unveiled. It has everything we loved about OnePlus in the past: a powerful, high-end processor, a vivid screen and (after a brief diversion) a competitive price tag ($699).
The OnePlus 11 launches the same week as a trio of phones from Samsung, the dominant Android phone player. The 2023 Galaxy S series has phones that are both bigger and smaller, pricier and cheaper, than OnePlus’ newest phone. Fortunately, this new flagship has one trick to stand out from Samsung’s new lineup: incredibly fast 100-watt charging.
OnePlus has made some changes to the design. The company drew inspiration from sports cars (it has collaborated with McLaren in the past) and swiss watches. This apparently led to a unibody slab with a stainless steel camera array. There are some fine details in the camera glass which gives it a little bit of a watch aesthetic, but it’s basically just another giant camera pop-out. The metal bezel protrudes slightly more than the glass, which should help avoid scratches. Initially, I thought it was a little too big and ostentatious, but it’s roughly equivalent to the unit on the iPhone 14 Pro – and the Pixel 7 Pro’s Cyclops camera bar is arguably even flashier.
The OnePlus 11 also answered the pleas of the OnePlus faithful by reintroducing its Alert Slider. If you haven’t seen it on previous phones, it’s a metal slider just above the power button on the right edge that swaps between silent, ring and vibrate modes. OnePlus claimed in previous years that the removal was due to space demands inside the phones and that the slider would make a return, so the company has at least fulfilled that promise to its fans. For the rest of us, I’m not sure we need it. Then again, I’m the kind of person that keeps my phone on silent pretty much all the time.
The phone comes in glossy gray-green (Eternal Green) and sparkling black (Titan Black) color options. I thought the black finish would have a gritty, 3D-printed feel to it, but it’s closer to slate – somehow smooth and grippy at the same time. I don’t understand the physics of it either. Meanwhile, the green version is a lot like last year’s phones. The shiny finish is unfortunately a canvas for all your fingerprints and smudges.
The OnePlus 11 has a gorgeous 6.7-inch 2,048 × 1,080 OLED screen that can reach up to 120Hz refresh rates. Once again, there’s an LTPO panel that can now dip low at 1Hz when the always-on display (AOD) is on. OnePlus claims that, compared with typical 30Hz AODs, OnePlus 11’s 1Hz AOD consumes 30 percent less power. Of course, it’s not using much power to begin with as an AOD, but could lead to a little more battery life in the long run, even if it’s not represented in our typical battery rundown tests. Aside from the upgraded AOD capabilities, this screen is otherwise identical to the OnePlus 10 Pro – which isn’t a bad thing. It’s another area where OnePlus often goes toe-to-toe with the best smartphones out there, despite typically costing hundreds of dollars less.
[hurrytimer id=”1818″]
