The OnePlus 11 is the first Android flagship out of the gate for 2023 and marks the Chinese company’s third collaboration with legendary camera brand Hasselblad.
As an established rival to the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy and Google’s Pixel phones, the OnePlus formula remains unchanged. The 11 is a compelling mix of cutting-edge specs, handy features, minimal bloatware and premium hardware – with a price under £1,000.
Unlike previous years, there’s no ‘Pro’ model to speak of. OnePlus has its more affordable ‘Nord’ line-up but appears to be sticking with just the sole OnePlus 11 for this year. It does, however, come in two configurations (and colours). You can opt for either Titan Black (which has a matte finish) or Eternal Green (glossy) and a choice of either 8GB or 16GB of RAM. Storage comes in a choice of 128GB or 256GB and the asking price is £729 and £799 SIM-free respectively.
The design is strikingly similar to last year’s OnePlus 10 Pro with one rather obvious difference. The rear-facing stainless steel camera module has been converted from a square cutout to a circular one that’s meant to evoke a black hole.
Whatever you may think about the changed look (I happen to like it) the materials remain premium. Front and back are Gorilla Glass Victus and 5 respectively and the display is a 6.7-inch 120Hz fluid AMOLED one. The only danger I found with the design is that, despite a weight of 205g, the phone felt a little top-heavy. The hefty camera module at the top made me grip the phone a little tighter for fear it may tip over backwards and out of my hand. But I will also give a special mention to the physical alert slider, which returns here after being booted from the OnePlus 10T to save space.
Inside that black hole is a triple-lens rear camera system comprising a 50-megapixel f/1.8 IMX890 main sensor alongside a 48-megapixel f/2.2 IMX581 ultra-wide sensor. Lastly, OnePlus has oped for a 32-megapixel f/2.0 IMX709 portrait camera with 2x optical zoom that replaces the telephoto from last year’s flagship. The thinking behind it is, according to OnePlus, that more people are concerned about taking good portraits of subjects like friends, family and pets than they are about capturing something way off in the distance. There’s also a 16MP f/2.4 selfie camera added as a hole-punch in the display.
There’s obviously a fair amount of pressure to deliver when you’ve got Hasselblad stamped on the back, and OnePlus says the 11 is capable of delivering portrait shots that are near DSLR-level in terms of quality. The company benchmarked the phone’s images against Hasselblad’s own optical standards to make it as close as possible to shots taken with the camera company’s XCD 30mm and 65mm lenses.
The last piece of camera-nerdery to mention is the ‘13-channel multi-spectral light-colour identifying sensor’ that’s built into this phone. What does that mean? Well, it grants the camera a wider spectral analysis of light that lets it remove colour bias when you take your pictures. If, for example, the foreground and background are similar in terms of colours and tones (think yellow dress in front of a load of daffodils) the sensor can identify minor differences between the two and auto-adjust the colour reproduction and white balance to make sure the picture is as clear as possible.
If that means nothing to you, and you just want a phone that takes good pictures, then fear not – the OnePlus 11 is more than up to the task. It can also shoot video in a range of different modes: 8K video at 24 fps, 4K video at 30/60 fps, Super Slow Motion: 1080p video at 240 fps and Time-Lapse: 4K/1080p at 30 fps.
Have a look below at a few photos I captured with the OnePlus 11 – and matched them against the same shots taken by Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro for comparison.
Moving beyond the camera, the performance (and longevity) of the OnePlus 11 are clear to see. For starters, the phone is loaded with the latest processor: a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and the aforementioned RAM. That means two things, firstly that you can fire up demanding apps (like console-quality 3D games) and get quicker loading times and minimal lag. Secondly, you can multitasking with multiple apps open and swap between them without the phone slowing down.
During my time with the phone I hammered it with plenty of tabbed browsing, music streaming, photography and gaming and didn’t come up against any stutters that ruined the experience.
The OnePlus 11 is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery (which is what you’d expect and want with a display this size) and is capable of 100W wired charging. That’s a step up from the 80W charging that last year’s phone shipped with and means you can charge the 11 up from 0-100 per cent in just 25 minutes. Sadly, OnePlus has dropped support for wireless charging, so you won’t be able to plonk it down on any Qi pads you may have while you get on with other stuff.
With new phones coming out seemingly every month, you may be concerned the OnePlus 11 will be gazumped in a matter of days. And, while a OnePlus 11T could well be a possibility later this year, the company is doing what it can to make sure its handsets stand the test of time.
OnePlus has promised four years of Android software updates and five years of security updates for the 11. The company also told me independent bodies (like German firm TÜV SÜD) subjected the phone to a battery of tests. The result was external confirmation the phone will run as well as it does now in four years’ time. Which is to say you can have a measure of comfort if you opt to buy the OnePlus 11 in 2023 that it’ll still be performing well in 2027.
A longstanding benefit of OnePlus devices has always been how its own version of Android, called OxygenOS was minimally intrusive. That’s more or less still the case but you do need to swat back a few options if you want to keep it paired back. For example, alongside Android’s stock notification pull-down menu, you get a OnePlus ‘shelf’ that combines widgets and shortcuts to things like weather or Spotify. You have to be clear which one you want by being specific about which part of the screen you swipe down from.
But, if you’d rather, you can set up your homescreen with options for a smart sidebar or floating windows and split screen for multitasking. There’s also a work/life balance option that, similar to Focus in an iPhone, lets you set up different phone profiles for different times of the day.
Whether or not you’re familiar with OnePlus, it remains a solid choice for those looking for a high-performance Android smartphone. There are, perhaps, a few areas where Apple and Samsung have the edge but the OnePlus 11 has a lot going for it. For starters, it’ll cost you much less than devices from the aforementioned manufacturers.
The highlight this time around is, in my opinion, the camera. But the rest of the OnePlus 11 is no slouch either. If this device is an indicator of things to come in 2023, then gadget fans can get set for an exciting year ahead.
OnePlus 11: the details
Name: OnePlus 11
Starting Price: £729
What’s good:
- Camera performance
- Continued Android/security support for seveal years
- Premium design
What’s bad:
- No wireless charging
- Slippy to hold onto without a case
Where can I buy it? Direct from OnePlus through its online store here.
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