To paraphrase Tolkien, there once was one OnePlus to rule them all. Since the launch of that first handset in 2014, OnePlus has grown from a small disruptor with one phone to one of the big players in the Android market, with a portfolio of phones targeting different price points and consumers.
With the launch of the OnePlus 11 5G today, the Shenzhen-based company has a flagship device to kick off 2023. While OnePlus may have multiple handsets for sale, a single flagship has yet to define the company’s vision.
What does it mean to have a OnePlus phone?
oneplus 11 5g
evan spence
The headline specs are impressive. The OnePlus 11 5G is one of the first handsets you can buy with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 system on a chip; It comes with 16GB of RAM using USFS 4.0, 128GB of storage, enhanced calling via new stuff Specs and ideas that are going to be found across the board in 2023 flagships.
How OnePlus makes its handset stand out in this soon-to-be-crowded field
oneplus 11 5g
evan spence
The most straightforward answer is design. With a focus on making the phone lighter, thinner and with the highest screen-to-bezel ratio; But every single major manufacturer has them in remit too. Yet every manufacturer comes up with something that feels slightly different in the hand. It’s subtle but it’s there.
Are of course backwards design choices. This is where you can stand out with features that clearly identify your phone. OnePlus’s offset circular camera island with a flared side edging it…is an option. I’m not enamored with the looks, but in use, it feels really useful, at least when held with my left hand in the classic hold… my index finger reaching for the back of the handset, right in the middle of the camera Lives island, making it a big touch point of support?
deliberate? I don’t know useful? Yes.
oneplus 11 5g
evan spence
Cameras have always been seen as the weak spot in OnePlus’ package. The partnership with Hasselblad began to address this, and with more tuning and software work from the latter, OnePlus has improved the camera in the OnePlus 11 5G of course, so has the competition.
Nevertheless, it looks like OnePlus has taken a solid step forward with the OnePlus 11. While the processing still has a bias towards brighter and more vivid colors, it feels more consistent across both conditions and camera modes.
There’s a pretty standard triple lens system here, one main camera, one ultrawide and one telephoto. Your main camera clocks in at 5p megapixels, the ultra-wide at 48 megapixels and the telephoto at 32 megapixels, although note that the telephoto lens is only a x2 optical lens. I expected it to be bigger on a phone that focuses so much on imaging.
oneplus 11 5g
evan spence
Longtime OnePlus fans will love that the three-way alert slider is back on the top-of-the-line handset. This iconic feature was dropped from the mid- and low-range Nord handsets, but was retained in a select number of handsets until last year’s OnePlus 10T. At the time, OnePlus removed the physical switch to allow more internal space which facilitated a bigger battery and more cooling – the OnePlus 10T focused on raw performance.
The OnePlus 11 5G brings back the Alert slider – which suggests the 11 is a more rounded handset that it’s targeting. This is the OnePlus that everyone has seen for the past nine years.
What is given with one hand is taken back. The Alerts slider is back, but wireless charging has been removed. The space used by the charging receiver has allowed for a larger battery 5000 mAh compared to the 10T’s 4800 mAh and fast charging. The 100W SuperVOCC charger offers to charge from empty to 100 percent in 25 minutes.
I’ve been using wireless charging as my main charging solution for over a decade, so removing it from the OnePlus 11 5G is negative but personal. The removal of circuitry for this allows for a variety of design choices, and every smartphone is a balance of compromise and balance to find. The user base will tell OnePlus if this is the right choice… I suspect the Alerts slider is back because of the backlash around the option to remove it in the OnePlus 10T.
oneplus 11 5g
evan spence
OnePlus has always pushed the idea of a lightweight version of Android as its operating system. For a long time, it was seen as one of the closest implementations of the open-source project to Android. This role has arguably been taken over by Google’s Pixel range of smartphones. Yet OnePlus’s OxygenOS is a relatively clean implementation of Android.
Machine learning and AI play a role, with the OS working in the background to balance areas that are typically hidden from the user… tweaking RAM allocation to meet user expectations OS background Moving smoothly from to foreground is an example. You have it in common everyday use, but it also appears in more specific situations; For example, in OnePlus’ gaming software where the excitingly named HyperBoost gaming engine will move between different levels of performance to balance the needs of the game to achieve the best visuals while reducing the demand on the system in the more stable parts of the game. . ,
Have variable refresh rate on the display. It can drop down to 1Hz while still having static information on the screen, saving battery life. Here again machine learning is used, but you just have to trust it. These tweaks are made in code, with no user override available.
oneplus 11 5g
evan spence
Earlier I called it a flagship OnePlus smartphone, and in terms of recency, model number and core features, it certainly is. Why not call it Pro Model? If there is no Pro model coming in the summer, then there is no need to leave space on this smartphone in the nomenclature. Perhaps OnePlus is looking to move away from any Pro nomenclature as the alleged tussle has further whittled down the portfolio.
Is it a classic OnePlus flagship-killer? I don’t think so, as the price and presentation take it to the same spot. Is this a true flagship where everything has been maxed out? It’s close, but not quite. There are phones with faster charging, there are phones with more energy-efficient screens, and (ahem) phones with wireless charging.
Yet the OnePlus 11 is more than a 5G capable phone. It delivers on its promises, it pleases with its performance, and it’s not expensive enough to be seen as an exceptional phone
read mine now review The new OnePlus Buds Pro 2 True Wireless Earbuds…
Disclaimer: OnePlus has provided a set of Buds Pro 2 and the OnePlus 11 5G handset for this review objectives.
