OnePlus advertises 100W charging as one of the key perks of its flagship phone. Unlike Apple, the OnePlus 11 won’t charge a convenience fee for it.
The OnePlus 11 11 is a few days away from its global debut, but it’s already being praised for an inclusion that sets it apart from Apple and Samsung. The design is a mild refresh, the innards are mostly iterative upgrades, and the software is still the divisive ColorOS-inspired experience. There’s a slight bump in the charging department, with the new flagship jumping from its predecessor’s 80W fast charging figures to 100W this time around. The upgrades aren’t exactly a big surprise, but there’s one aspect where the phone really shines – zero convenience tax.
The Chinese company ships the 100W charger (80W in the U.S.) in the OnePlus 11‘s retail package. OnePlus advertises the 100W charging capability as one of the phone’s marquee features, and as such, the company is making sure that customers get to experience it without worrying about any added financial burdens. That 100W figure is quite the technical achievement, especially considering where the competition currently stands. Apple hasn’t breached the 30W mark, while Samsung is yet to go past 45W output.
Convenience Shouldn’t Come At A Price
But it’s really the accessibility to a marquee feature that helps the OnePlus 11 stand apart. Let’s start with Apple. The company has already removed the ‘slow’ charging adapter from the retail package of iPhones, and has even been dragged to court for it. But what really stings is the proprietary MagSafe charging system. Apple marketed it as a super-convenient wireless charging technology that will redefine how you juice up your phone. In fact, MagSafe spawned a whole ecosystem of accessories around it. But let’s stick to Apple and its MagSafe charging puck, which is actually a convenience tax in itself.
MagSafe is arguably useful, but in all its forms, it comes at a steep asking price. Apple’s own MagSafe charger is priced at $40, a high price to access a charging convenience. OnePlus’ 100W adapter is over six times faster in terms of raw output, but you won’t have to pay an extra dime to reap all its benefits. Samsung isn’t too different. Buyers don’t get a charging brick in the retail package of its current-generation flagships, and the Galaxy S23 series phones are not going to be any different.
Samsung’s high-end phones are also comparatively sluggish at juicing up. The top-tier Galaxy S22 Ultra only goes to 45W, but you have to spend extra from your wallet for it. It also supports bi-directional wireless charging, and yet again, you’ll have to fork out extra cash to take advantage of that trick. Wireless charging is not really a unique feature for flagships, but even Samsung takes pride in advertising the faster-than-Apple 45W charging capability of its flagship, and yet, asks buyers to pay more for it.
Now, it’s not just about saving the convenience tax. Apple’s MagSafe charger is good only for iPhones. Samsung’s 45W charger, on the other hand, is only powerful enough for smartphones. OnePlus’ 100W charger goes the extra mile and jumps right into the laptop charging territory. At least, the thin and light ultrabooks. Take for example the previous-gen Warp Charge 65 adapter from OnePlus. In addition to 65W output for the compatible OnePlus phones, it also offers 45W USB PD PPS charging support for laptops, which is enough to juice up machines like the MacBook Air. With the OnePlus 11’s 100W brick, the raw output is only going to go up, without the convenience tax attached to it.
Source: OnePlus
