OnePlus is back again with its latest flagship launch, the OnePlus 11 5G. Over the years, the company has emerged as one of the major flagship brands competing against the likes of Samsung and iPhones. The company has powered the new OnePlus 11 5G with an evolved Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor.
And yes, the alert slider is back, which was missing in the OnePlus 10T.
In the box
The phone unit, Type-A to Type-C charger and cable, SIM ejector, black phone case, and the documentation.
Design
The new OnePlus 11 5G brings back the circular module, which we saw last in the OnePlus 7T, but the module has shifted towards the left and is fused with the metal frame. The phone feels good in the hand, and the black textured body offers an aesthetic appeal. It comes with a glass back and satin finish preventing fingerprint smudges, which we liked. The phone comes with a glass-metal-sandwich design separated by a metal frame which consists of a SIM tray, Type-C port and speaker outlets at the bottom. At the top of the phone lies a noise cancellation mic and a speaker grille. The power button and the alert slider are on the right side, whereas the volume rockers are on the left side of the device.
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The front side of the phone is a full display with curved corners, and very thin bezels. The selfie sensor is placed strategically at the top left corner. The fingerprint sensor is inbuilt into the display, and has a lighting fast response to touches.
Display
As a successor to the OnePlus 10 series, the new OnePlus 11 comes with an evolved and more intelligent screen. The company has used 6.7 inches LTPO-3 2K AMOLED screen with an adaptable refresh rate of 120Hz. The new screen type is smoother and capable of saving power more efficiently. It offers a touch sampling ratio of 360 Hz, which aids in enhancing the gaming experience. The video content enhancement is also good as the phone comes with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support allowing users to stream movies and videos in their highest quality from Netflix, Amazon and YouTube. Screen visibility is very good as it goes up to 1300 nits making it visible under bright sunlight quite comfortably. The display has a screen resolution of 1440 x 3216 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9.
OS
The new OnePlus 11 5G runs on OxygenOS 13, based on Android 13 and just like all other OnePlus phones, it will get all the major updates for around three years and security updates for up to four years. The UI interface is very clean and smooth. You get all the necessary smart features, especially the ability to clone the apps which were missing in the flagship Pixel phone.
Processor
The latest OnePlus 11 5G is powered by an advanced and powerful processor with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The octa cores present are divided very smartly to compartmentalize every task very efficiently with one core powered at 3.2 GHz Cortex-X3, two cores at 2.8 GHz Cortex-A715, other two at 2.8 GHz Cortex-A710 and rest three at 2.0 GHz Cortex-A510. We enjoyed playing games, and the adaptive frame rate makes sure where there is a need for more power and smoothness. Further, the company has used a brand new Cryovelocity VC Cooling system in the OnePlus 11, thus, making sure that no matter how many apps you use simultaneously or how intense games you play, the phone will maintain heat stability.
OnePlus 11 makes use of the 3rd generation Hasselblad-branded camera to deliver crisp images.
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
For graphics, Adreno 740 has been used, capable of delivering up to 25 per cent faster performance, with up to 45 per cent better power efficiency taking the gaming experience to the next level. Adding more joy for the gamers, the company has incorporated a Hyper Boost gaming engine that actively learns and adapts to the user’s game, increasing the frame rate stability and efficiently managing the power consumption.
The processor further gets the support of 16GB RAM with LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0, which ensures better power efficiency and wider bandwidth, allowing it to run the applications more fluently. For storage purposes, the variant which we got to review came with 256GB of ROM.
Camera
We have always liked the camera performance of OnePlus phones, and the latest addition of the OnePlus 11 in the family follows the same path. The company has made collaboration with Hasselblad, and the branding can be seen on the camera module. The new OnePlus 11 makes use of the 3rd generation Hasselblad-branded camera to deliver crisp images.
At the rear side, under the circular frame, lies three sensors, where the main sensor is a 50-megapixel camera Sony IMX890 with an aperture of f/1.8, OIS and PDAF. The main sensor captures excellent images with very fine details. Following the main sensor is a high-resolution ultra-wide 48-megapixel Sony IMX581 camera sensor with an aperture of f/2.2 and has 115° field of view, allowing you to capture more area in your wide shots. Also, the wide lens is equipped with HDR and macro photography capabilities, making sure that you are able to focus on close-range subjects and capture them in a detailed manner. The third sensor is a 32-megapixel portrait telephoto lens, again Sony IMX709 sensor, with autofocus and has an aperture of f/1.8. We enjoyed capturing portrait images as the camera lens is able to produce well-separated images from the background with light flare effects.
The OnePlus 11 5G’s main camera sensor, a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 captures excellent images with very fine details.
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan
The overall images captured in daylight were balanced, with natural colours intact in every shot. Whereas, we found that the camera in low light adds a little more light than usual, giving the images a bright look that seems odd on occasion. We suggest using the night mode available for night shots as it allows you to capture detailed and clear images without any noise effect. We liked how fast the camera processed the images captured at night within seconds, and the reason could be attributed to the next-generation processor, which powers the camera as well.
To capture selfies, OnePlus has used a 16MP lens with an aperture of f/2.4. Similarly, the selfie captured under home lights has that extra addition of a brightening effect which seems different. The daylight selfies, on the other hand, are a treat. Other than the extra lights, the selfie sensor does not miss any details, be it night or day, and we liked it for this ability.
The camera lenses are a treat for movie/reel makers as the phone offers a Sony IMX890 image sensor which utilizes DOL-HDR technology to maintain sharp focus and higher contrast while recording videos. The videos recorded were very stable, and you can capture videos in 8K at 24fps, 4K at 30/60fps and 1080p at 30/60/240fps.
Battery
The new OnePlus 11 5G ships with a battery capacity of 5,000mAh. The battery power is more than enough to last a day quite comfortably. The company has supplied a 100W charger to charge the phone, which is a downgrade considering the 160W charger which we got in OnePlus 10T. That said, the charger is still able to juice up the phone from 0-100 percent in 28-30 minutes. Also, the company has integrated a battery health engine in the phone, which extends the battery lifespan and retains its high charging speed.
Verdict
The new OnePlus 11 5G is a game changer in the Android flagship phones, offering almost everything from power to performance, quick charging, smart camera configurations. There were some surprises as well, completely out of our understanding, like using Type-A to Type-C chargers and overfilling of lights in the photos. In the end, it could be said that the OnePlus 11 5G surely lives up to its name of being an upgrade considering its ability to drive every process with ease.
