One plus one is not eleven, but OnePlus has ticked enough to reach the 11 series of its smartphones… in fact, there is already a OnePlus 11R in the market, trying to pose as the more affordable version the premium brand can offer at the moment. In the journey from the OnePlus One to the OnePlus 11R, this relatively new entrant in the smartphone segment has shown how well it understands the market, the demands of its customers and, more importantly, how much they are willing to pay for what they perceive as a premium device.
The OnePlus 11R has been with me for almost a week and it is everything I expect the brand to offer. But that perception of OnePlus has changed over the past couple of quarters since it started homing in more towards the mother brand Oppo. And this is why I thought of doing this review a bit differently, asking probable buyers what they would like me to test out with the new OnePlus 11R.
Before we get into the user questions, here is what I thought of the phone after a few days of use.
Design
The design is as expected from a OnePlus phone, this time with a prominent circular camera bump that makes the phone stand out and be noted. OnePlus fans will be happy to note that the alert slider is still there on the right edge with the volume rocker on the left. The phone offers a decent grip and the sharper edge aids in this. However, it has become heavier than its predecessor and has crossed the 200g mark in weight.
Display
The OnePlus 11R has a 6.7-inch 120Hz Super Fluid Display with 2772×1240 pixels resolution and 500nits brightness that makes it great for gaming and consuming content. Depending on what the user is doing, the display will automatically move between 40 and 120Hz frame rate, thus saving power. For me, the first view of the display animation was good enough to take the cue that this is a great display and certainly better than what was seen on the 10R.
Processing power
This phone is powered by the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ as OnePlus seems to have dropped the MediaTek experiment for the R series. This should help the brand keep to its premium image at least for the flagship range and not water it down for the discerning audience. The 16GB should delight power users and gamers alike.
Camera
The OnePlus 11R offers a no-nonsense triple-camera system, the kind I have come to expect from this company. This also means the phone offers camera features regular users find value in and hasn’t packed any gimmicks which ultimately they won’t end up using. I was most impressed by the Macro settings and the colour reproduction when shooting regular images. The camera does not make reds look redder or greens show greener. However, in bright light, you have to adjust the focus to ensure images don’t burn out. On the other hand, the ultra-wide angle lens and the macro work best in bright light.
Battery life
This is where the OnePlus 11R packs some major advantages. The 5000mAh battery easily lasts a day with regular use, even on 5G. When the battery is low, the low battery mode lets you access essential features but still pushes what’s left of the power to stretch for a few more hours.
In the box is a 100W SUPERVOOC + charger that can charge up the phone for a day’s worth in just above 5 minutes and to a full charge in 25 minutes. This is mind-blowing stuff, especially if you like me are always forgetting to charge the phone on time. OnePlus is also packing in some new technology that helps the battery last long with a dedicated chip to manage just this aspect.
UI and usability
I am still a big fan of the original OnePlus Oxygen UI and the breath of fresh air it offered to smartphone users. Of late though, OnePlus UI has started looking more like what you see on Oppo phones and that’s not something I really enjoy, though this does not affect usability in any way. With the OnePlus 11R, I loved the implementation of the Shelf — a top-down swipe on the home screen — which offers updates from all important apps. The all-black low-battery mode is good too and makes it a usable UI and not restrictive as it is on some other phones.
OnePlus 11R review: Should you buy?
Yes, if you are looking at a flagship experience without going towards six-digit pricing. At Rs 39,999+, this phone offers all top features you are looking for without confusing you with gimmicks.
Now for the questions, I got on Twitter.
Multiple people asked if the lenses were jutting out too much
Yes, there is a camera bump, but it is not jutting out too much because I have seen worse. This one in fact looks good and has been blended well into the design. The phone is very manageable inside your jeans pockets.
Another question was about how good the low-light photos were, without HDR or night mode
This is one aspect that impressed me and I did do some experiments — with multiple phones.
My shots of the cactus pot with just one light source have quite some detail and look impressive on the whole. Some outdoor shots in a moving car still managed to offer a sense of movement but kept the colour vivid.
On camera, there were questions if the colours look real
Yes, they do look quite real and as I mentioned the colours don’t look amped up as we are used to seeing on many phones. You can go to the Pro mode and make the image look exactly the way you prefer.
Does the phone heat with prolonged gaming or OTT use?
The phone comes with a new inbuilt 3D cooling system, which OnePlus claims is able to store the heat and dissipate it slowly. And with the gaming I did, I could see this work and there was no heating or warm spots on the phone. Even with Netflix, an hour into Red Rose, the phone was cool as when I started.
Someone asked me how good the haptics of the phone were
In fact, this is one aspect that stood out, even as I was switching camera modes. I am not a gamer, but with whatever testing I did, I loved the feedback, which felt quite natural.
Many asked me about battery life
The battery is one aspect users will not have to worry about thanks to the 5000 mAh battery as well as the 100W SUPERVOOC + which is among the fastest I have tried. But yes the 100W SUPERVOOC + charger is a bit bulky because of this.
