I’ve been using the OnePlus 11 for close to one month now – enough time to notice any quirks and accurately assess battery life and performance in everyday use.
The Pete Lau spearheaded company’s latest flagship device goes on sale in Ireland on February 16.
If you pre-order it before then you get either a free Bang & Olufsen speaker or a free set of OnePlus Buds Pro 2.
That’s a decent deal and I can heartily recommend the handset after all my testing.
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Performance
The things I love most about OnePlus 11 include the fast and fluid user experience across the entire UI.
Inside is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is also found in the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra which I’m currently testing too. It’s the fastest, most powerful, chip you can get in an Android phone.
Here, it’s not quite as blazing fast as Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra but it’s not far behind – and that phone costs hundreds of euro more.
I’m making the assertion on performance based on both real world everyday use and benchmark tests using the likes of Geekbench 5, 3D Mark and PCMark for Android.
The OnePlus phone runs OxygenOS 13, incidentally, which is essentially Android 13 with more customisation options. I enjoy using the OS and its well laid out and clearly labelled settings app.
My review model had 16GB of RAM and 256GB of the fastest UFS 4.0 storage. The animations are superb - cycling through your apps on this phone feels fast and fluid the way it does on all OnePlus flagships.
The firm said machine learning smarts called RAM Vita in the phone speed processes up even more, ensuring enough RAM is assigned to apps such as the camera to ensure they never lag, while keeping every else working smoothly too.
Design and build
I am a big fan of how slim and light OnePlus 11 feels in the hand, and I love the matte black rear and the redesigned circular camera module.
The latter design is not something everyone likes, but it’s most certainly eye-catching – and I like the way it blends into the handset’s aluminium frame.
It is a large device but feels slim and compact in the hand thanks to its rounded edges and curved display. It’s only 205g in weight. For comparison, S23 Ultra is 234g and iPhone 14 Pro Max is 240g.
OnePlus 11 is only 74mm wide and this combined with the screen’s tall 20.1:9 aspect ratio means it is it good for one handed use or turned landscape for gaming with both hands.
I’ve been using it without a cover and there is not a mark or scratch on it after three weeks thanks to the Gorilla Glass Victus on the front and Gorilla Glass 5 on the rear.
But it’s only splash resistant and not waterproof, so be careful.
My review model was Titan Black in colour; you can also get the handset in a glossy-finished Eternal Green.
Fans will be delighted to learn that the firm’s unique three-position alert slider - silent-vibrate-ring – is present and correct.
Cameras
Hasselblad is on board with its third-gen camera software, and I have captured hundreds of photos on OnePlus 11 and found its main 50MP camera with its 1/1.56in sensor delivers consistently pleasing natural-looking images.
It has a wide f/1.8 aperture which takes in enough light to properly expose shots. The high dynamic range (HDR) is to be applauded.
The optical image stabilisation (OIS) counteracts any shaking in your hands and works a treat.
It’s fast to focus and there is little or no shutter lag in the camera app.
There’s also a 115-degree ultrawide lens with a 48MP half-inch sensor. Shots aren’t as bright as the main lens, but images are still sharp and usable.
There is only a 2x optical telephoto lens (a step down from the 3.3x lens found on the OnePlus 10 Pro from 2022) but images from this 32MP portrait shooter are decent in good lighting conditions.
The 16MP selfie camera is probably the weakest of the bunch. Again, it’s a step down from the 10 Pro which had a 32MP front camera.
You also get the Hasselblad-branded X-Pan mode to shoot like an old film camera in a wide panoramic format, plus a Hasselblad Pro mode that’s got manual controls with the options to shoot in RAW and 10-bit colour.
In general, the camera system is great fun to use.
Battery life
Despite its super-slim frame, OnePlus 11 has a large dual cell 5000mAh power pack inside.
Even in heavy use during testing, I consistently got to midnight with some juice in the tank after an 8am 100 percent start.
Battery life is superb, and my review model had a 100W charger that went from zero to 100 per cent in less than half an hour. There is no need to risk overnight charging. Simply plug it in when you wake up and you’ll be fully charged before you leave the house.
If wireless charging is a dealbreaker for you – it’s certainly not for me – then that’s something to consider as this phone does not support wireless charging.
Display
I also love the bright, crisp, colourful 6.7in, QHD+ resolution, OLED display and its 120Hz smooth refresh rate.
The display uses LTPO 3.0 technology, which means it can vary its refresh rate.
This means it can soar to the superfast 120Hz when playing compatible games or scrolling through social media and text, but it can go all the way down to 1Hz to save battery when not needed.
The screen makes the phone a joy to both work and play on. It supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision.
Other features
The phone’s haptics are excellent, among the best vibration feedback on an Android device.
There are pleasing quality stereo speakers and a reliable optical in-display fingerprint scanner.
You get software support for five years and four years of Android OS upgrades.
There is a pre-installed screen protector.
As touched on above, the phone is not waterproof. It has a rating of IP64 for dust and water resistance, which means it's dust-proof and can only withstand splashes of water.
Verdict
OnePlus 11 delivers an impressive flagship experience for many hundreds of euro less than the top phones from Apple and Samsung.
The firm is promising software support until 2028 too.
It is a slickly polished all-rounder.
My main and only real gripe would be that the selfie camera is not as sharp as previous generations. But it’s still fine for all scenarios with good lighting.
Aside from that, I’ve had nothing but pleasure from my OnePlus 11.
Pricing and availability
OnePlus 11 goes on sale on February 16 for €829. Pre-order now at oneplus.com
Key specs
Dimensions: 163.1 mm × 74.1mm × 8.5mm
Weight: 205g
Display: 6.7in, 3216 x 1440 QHD+ resolution AMOLED display, 1-120Hz refresh rate with LTPO 3.0, 20.1:9 aspect ratio
Rear cameras: 50MP Sony IMX890 main camera, f/1.8, OIS; 48MP Sony IMX581 ultrawide, f/2.2; 32MP Sony IMX709 portrait telephoto, f/2.0
Front camera: 16MP Sony IMX471 selfie camera, f/2.45
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
OS: Android 13 (Oxygen OS 13.0)
RAM: Up to 16GB LPDDR5X
Storage: 128GB UFS 3.1 or 256GB UFS 4.0
Battery: 5000mAh dual cell battery
Wired charging: 100W
Wireless charging: None
Connectivity: USB 2.0 Type-C, NFC, 5G, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7-ready
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