The OnePlus 11 is finally here in the global market and is one of the most affordable Android flagships to come out in the market. However, the phone is still not receiving the same praise as you would hope for. On paper, it looks excellent, but every time you look at the phone, you feel like something is missing. Well, Carl Pei, OnePlus co-founder and Nothing CEO, feels the same.
Ex-OnePlus Director Carl Pei generally has good things to say about OnePlus 11 but also talks about how the phones no longer have a “real identity”
For those who don’t know, Carl Pei and Pete Lau started OnePlus and, at that time, completely disrupted the smartphone industry by offering a truly revolutionary flagship at a fraction of the price. However, Pei left the company in 2020 and later announced his own company called Nothing. Pei’s company later released Nothing Phone (1), easily one of the most unique Android smartphones and today, Pei has decided to review OnePlus 11, and he has some interesting things to say.
You can look at the video below.
For the most part, Pei had good things to say about the OnePlus 11. He admired the looks and talked about how when it is placed on the table, you just want to pick it up. He also appreciated the build quality. He also talked about the attention to detail that has gone into making the phone look more premium than it is.
Pei’s overall stance remains neutral on OnePlus 11, as he does not overlook the obvious downsides. For instance, he mentions how the camera island is not connected to the rails, and the power button and the alert slider are not vertically aligned.
Then he moves on to the software here, things get a bit more critical. If you remember, Oxygen OS used to be almost entirely like stock Android but with some OnePlus customizations on top. That has changed ever since the codebase for both Oxygen OS and Color OS merged, and Pei has talked about how the software is no longer what it used to be in terms of the software. The software on OnePlus 11 is no longer what it used to be on older devices
Pei’s stance is what most people, including myself, feel about the phone. At $699, the phone is cheaper than the base Galaxy S23 model but also lacks some of the features that Samsung has perfected. Not just that, despite having similar specs, the Galaxy S23 is going to outperform it in the overall user experience. Pei also mentions that OnePlus 11 is a great overall phone but has “no real identity.” With each release, the entire design of the phone changes with no cohesion whatsoever. You remove the branding, and you won’t be able to tell what phone you are holding.
Honestly, I was not expecting Pei’s review to be this neutral and on point. He remained neutral even when comparing the OnePlus 11 to Nothing Phone (1) and talked about the strengths and weaknesses of both phones. Here’s hoping OnePlus improves with their next iteration.
