In our OnePlus 11 5G review, there’s a lot to celebrate in terms of display and performance, but some missing features and a divisive design are disappointing.
Although you may not have heard of OnePlus if you’re not up to date on the modern smartphone market, this manufacturer has been releasing quality devices since 2013. While the company may have suffered a bit of a lull during a period in early 2020, The OnePlus 11 5G is set to put it back on the map, offering an impressive list of features and components, even if the design may divide the Android community.
The OnePlus 11 is one of the brand’s flagship products, serving as a practical alternative to big names like the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Google Pixel 7 Pro. Arriving in early 2023, this phone is on our list of the best OnePlus phones for a reason, with the latest chipset technology in the form of the Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and a display that will blow your mind. I’ve been using it for over a month now, and to say I’m a fan of this phone is a bit of an understatement.
Pros:
Incredible performance
Long-lasting battery life and rapid charging
Vivid display
Wi-Fi 7 capability
Cons:
Outdated design
No wireless charging
No IP68 waterproofing
Price and availability
With two models, 128GB and 256GB, the price of the OnePlus 11 depends on how much internal storage space you need. You can check out the suggested retail price (RRP) for each below, with prices varying depending on individual retailers or if you’re looking to pick up the phone on a contract plan. In terms of design, there aren’t a ton of colors to choose from, but you can choose between plain old Titan Black and the slightly more exciting Eternal Green.
OnePlus 11 5G 128GB – $699
OnePlus 11G5 256GB – $799
Features
As you’d expect with a flagship smartphone like the OnePlus 11, this device is packed with features that make it worthy of the top of the line for the manufacturer, with some surprising additions that add to the phone’s overall value and ease of use. Wi-Fi 7 connectivity is a great inclusion, especially in a market where many flagships are still using Wi-Fi 6, and the option to offer a model with 16GB of RAM also beats many other Android devices with 16GB of RAM. Its maximum is 12GB, or often just 8GB, inside.
Although we’ll go over the cameras in more detail in the next section of this review, it’s worth noting that the Hasselblad setup is one of the features OnePlus is most proud of with this device, as is the phone’s super-fast charging. However, it’s some of the features that the company omits in its on-the-box marketing that I find most appealing, especially the performance, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is one of the factors that really earns this phone a place in the higher-end phones. Levels of modern smartphones.
The most impressive feature by far is the pricing. For a suggested retail price (RRP) of $699, or $799 for the 256GB model, you get all the benefits of a flagship device, including four generations of Android support and five years of security updates, at a price that pales in comparison to high-end Samsung devices and Apple alternatives. . While it’s true that companies like Xiaomi are now offering similar long-term support, and the all-new Google Pixel 8 promises the same until 2030, this commitment to keeping .
While some features make the OnePlus 11 an attractive offering, there are some missing components that I expect in a modern smartphone. Wireless charging is one of them, and we’ll talk about that later. What’s even more worrying is the lack of IP68 water resistance. It’s splash-resistant, sure, but that lack of true waterproofing makes the OnePlus 11 feel less equipped for everyday use, especially if you’re like me and use your smartphone to play podcasts in the shower or keep tunes playing next to the sink when washing the dishes.
Camera
While many turn to the Google Pixel range or the new Xiaomi 13T series for great smartphone cameras, there’s enough in the OnePlus 11 to bring the phone into the conversation. This device uses three Hasselblad cameras, a 50-megapixel main, a 48-megapixel ultra-wide, and a 32-megapixel ultra-wide. The resulting images vary depending on the subject or what you’re trying to capture, with landscape images appearing better, even in low-light conditions.
As you can see from the photo of adorable puppy Floyd below, the main camera does a particularly captivating job of capturing colors. Almost all of the photos of Floyd taken on my iPhone and other devices I’ve tested struggle to capture that gorgeous orange hue running through his belly fur. The OnePlus 11 captures my gentle friend in all his majesty, detailing the intricacies of his coat in a way I thought I would only see through my own vision.
Similar to the depth in the photo of my beloved dog from above, the OnePlus 11 delivers great landscape shots, capturing colors from a distance with the same vivid colors as something directly in front of you. I’m lucky enough to live on top of a hill with a perfect view of the view, and in the photo below, you can see the fall red of the trees in the distance, as well as the greener foliage in my neighbor’s gardens. If you’re a tourist, especially one with a penchant for wide-open spaces filled with natural beauty, this device is sure to provide you with some Instagram-worthy shots.
The 16MP selfie camera is another boon to this device, although it’s a touch unforgiving. It makes you wonder if other phones don’t opt for high-resolution selfies like seeing yourself in such detail, especially in what you might consider ideal photography lighting, and showcasing the more intricate details of your face. There doesn’t seem to be any automatic smoothing either, so unless you’re completely flawless — and good for you, by the way — you may need to tweak some photo editing tools before uploading them to social media. However, the quality is impressive.
However, the portrait mode is a bit flat, considering how big of a deal OnePlus is with the technology that supports it. The bokeh effect and background blur appear, but it almost looks like it’s overlapping the subject you’re trying to capture a little, making the hair, or in the case of the image below, fur, appear blurrier than you might want. This is still better than the portrait options of most mid-range phones, but if you’re looking at the flagship hardware, the camera options I found in our Xiaomi 13T Pro review test seem to deliver superior results.
Design
When it comes to design, the OnePlus 11 looks like it’s from 2013 rather than 2023. Whether that’s a bad thing or not depends on your taste, but I prefer the feel of the Google Pixel 7 or Motorola Edge 40, both of which have a smooth back panel compared to the metallic finish. for this device. I wasn’t a fan of it on the early clamshell iPhone models, and after all this time, my opinion hasn’t changed.
It feels a bit slippery, and you have to adjust your grip every time you lift the phone to make it feel secure in your hand. If you plan to pick one up yourself, a case is a must, as you may drop the thing or watch it slide off your desk if that’s not the case. The large camera notch doesn’t help much with the overall feel of the OnePlus 11, forcing you to grip the thing by the lower two-thirds to find any sense
However, if you’re a fan of clicking and tapping buttons like me, the OnePlus 11’s responsive lock and volume buttons add something to the design. The same goes for the three-way slider that allows you to seamlessly switch between silent, vibrate and ring modes, which is especially useful when you need to make a quick change if you’re attending a meeting or have an incoming call to listen to. It can be a bit annoying when friction in your pocket changes these options without you knowing, meaning you might miss a call or hear it ring when you thought it was on silent.
Display
Display is where the OnePlus 11 comes its own. I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing phones from many manufacturers over the past few months, and this may be my favorite monitor, as it delivers high-quality gaming and live streaming no matter what lighting scenario you’re using it in. The extra display in landscape mode puts more light on the screen, especially in games that reach the expanded dimensions.
The size of the AMOLED screen on this thing provides an unparalleled viewing experience. The overall length of the device makes it seem more suitable for movies and cinematic television in particular. To test this, I watched two movies on my OnePlus 11, There Will Be Blood and the colorful Disney movie Up, both of which took advantage of the phone’s depth of color. If you’re a frequent traveler and like to check out the latest movies on the go, it’s worth considering choosing this device for that factor alone.
However, since video streaming is so smooth on the OnePlus 11, gaming is better. As a Marvel Snapper fan, I didn’t realize the depth of the game’s animation until I was playing on this device, as it knocked my iPhone 14 out of the park in terms of vivid articulation. The same goes for games like Honkai Star Rail and Asphalt 9, offering a level of detail in these games that I never had the chance to truly appreciate before playing on the OnePlus 11. As we delve into the performance department, the marriage of this premium display and top-level performance makes this device Perfectly suited for mobile gamers and a device to check out if this is your priority in an Android smartphone.
Battery
Many in the Android community consider OnePlus to equip its devices with long-lasting batteries, just like fellow Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, and that’s what you get with the OnePlus 11. Unless you opt for maximum gaming performance, which drains the device faster than usual, this thing can last. Easily for 48 hours, and often longer if you only use it for basic smartphone functions like messaging, calling and web browsing.
However, what’s even more impressive than the battery life is the charging speed. If you’re plugged in and using mains power with the official adapter, your OnePlus 11 can go from nothing to 50% in less than 15 minutes or 100% with a single touch in less than 30 minutes. I don’t have to explain how easy this is to use, as most of us have experienced that frantic moment when you realize you’re using a low percentage of charge with little time until you need to leave the house. That’s not a problem with this device, even with five minutes enough to top up 10-15% to get you to the next charging opportunity.
While many of the other components and features that arrive with this device are up to date with what you’d expect from a modern smartphone, they are let down by the lack of wireless charging. In my opinion, this should be a given for any smartphone that costs more than $500. Sure, wired charging is very fast, but OnePlus isn’t the only manufacturer offering that in 2023, and wireless capability is something I expect.
Performance
With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip powering the OnePlus 11, you expect best-in-class performance, and it delivers. There’s not a game you can throw into this thing that it can’t manage with ease, with options to push performance levels well above and beyond anything you can currently get from last-generation iPhones or Google Pixels.
As a primarily gaming site, I have a list of titles that I always turn to to see how performance compares between devices. In this regard, the OnePlus 11 is one of the most effective options on the market. The excellent display complements the performance, with something like Watcher of Realms, which I used to run via an Android emulator on my PC, looking and playing better than it does on my laptop. Simply put, it’s a gaming marvel, and considering its lower price compared to other gamer-friendly devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23, it’s something OnePlus should do more of.
Despite some reports of overheating issues with the OnePlus 11, I never felt like the device was getting hot. However, this may have something to do with those complaining about these issues they often encounter in hotter climates, and I’m writing this review in Britain in early October. It gets a little warm while charging, as many devices do, but I wouldn’t call it overheating, and if that’s the price to pay for how quickly this thing charges, I’m happy enough to roll with it.
Should you buy the OnePlus 11 5G?
Where the OnePlus 11 shines is where it really shines, offering excellent performance, crystal-clear visuals, and battery life worth marketing the device on alone. Sure, it’s not a looker, but as all the Disney movies I’ve watched on this phone have taught me, it’s what’s on the inside that matters most. In this regard, the OnePlus 11 deserves its flagship status, and deserves more credit than it gets compared to some of the more well-known names in the smartphone arena.
But there are caveats. If the feel of the design is crucial to deciding on your next phone, the OnePlus 11 is a little out of its depth there, with clicky buttons and comparisons to be made with smartphones that have been out of the market for half a decade. There are also glaring omissions in IP68 waterproofing and wireless charging, along with design quirks, that make this device look almost dated compared to the Google Pixel 7 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S23.
Alternatives
If, after reading our OnePlus 11 5G review, you don’t think this is the phone for you, we have some alternatives you can check out below.
redme Mi Ultra 13 / redme 13T Pro
For those in the USA, the Xiaomi Mi Ultra 13 5G is a suitable volition to the OnePlus 11, with analogous strengths in battery life and performance. It comes down to what you are looking for in a camera, with the Xiaomi immolation slightly better portrayal shots, in our opinion. For those reading in the UK, the new Xiaomi 13T Pro is relatively analogous, with better prints thanks to camerasco-designed by Leica.
Google Pixel 7 Pro
If it has to be Android, the Google Pixel 7 Pro is another solid option for an alternative to the OnePlus flagship. The Pixel’s cameras are better with just one touch, while features like Magic Eraser make it easier to edit your photos on the go. It’s not great for gaming, but if you’re interested in grinding Honkai Star Rail for hours on end, that shouldn’t be a problem.