OnePlus 11 evaluate | Engadget

Final yr’s OnePlus 10 Professional is about to get replaced by the OnePlus 11. There received’t be a OnePlus 11 Professional, and there wasn’t an everyday OnePlus 10. Issues may very well be extra easy, however what are you going to do? Barring any spinoffs, that is OnePlus’ flagship telephone, the main focus of all its consideration, growth price range and every part else. Leaks meant we knew what the OnePlus 11 would appear to be lengthy earlier than it was formally unveiled. It has every part we cherished about OnePlus prior to now: a robust, high-end processor, a vivid display and (after a short diversion) a aggressive price ticket ($699).

The OnePlus 11 launches the identical week as a trio of telephones from Samsung, the dominant Android telephone participant. The 2023 Galaxy S sequence has telephones which are each greater and smaller, pricier and cheaper, than OnePlus’ latest telephone. Luckily, this new flagship has one trick to face out from Samsung’s new lineup: extremely quick 100-watt charging.

Design

OnePlus has made some modifications to the design. The corporate drew inspiration from sports activities vehicles (it has collaborated with McLaren prior to now) and swiss watches. This apparently led to a unibody slab with a stainless-steel digicam array. There are some tremendous particulars within the digicam glass which supplies it a little bit little bit of a watch aesthetic, nevertheless it’s mainly simply one other big digicam pop-out. The steel bezel protrudes barely greater than the glass, which ought to assist keep away from scratches. Initially, I assumed it was a little bit too huge and ostentatious, nevertheless it’s roughly equal to the unit on the iPhone 14 Professional – and the Pixel 7 Professional’s Cyclops digicam bar is arguably even flashier.

The OnePlus 11 additionally answered the pleas of the OnePlus devoted by reintroducing its Alert Slider. In case you haven’t seen it on earlier telephones, it’s a steel slider simply above the ability button on the fitting edge that swaps between silent, ring and vibrate modes. OnePlus claimed in earlier years that the removing was as a result of house calls for contained in the telephones and that the slider would make a return, so the corporate has a minimum of fulfilled that promise to its followers. For the remainder of us, I’m unsure we’d like it. Then once more, I’m the sort of individual that retains my telephone on silent just about on a regular basis.

The telephone is available in shiny gray-green (Everlasting Inexperienced) and glowing black (Titan Black) shade choices. I assumed the black end would have a gritty, 3D-printed really feel to it, nevertheless it’s nearer to slate – someway clean and grippy on the identical time. I don’t perceive the physics of it both. In the meantime, the inexperienced model is loads like final yr’s telephones. The shiny end is sadly a canvas for all of your fingerprints and smudges.

The OnePlus 11 has a stunning 6.7-inch 2,048 × 1,080 OLED display that may attain as much as 120Hz refresh charges. As soon as once more, there’s an LTPO panel that may now dip low at 1Hz when the always-on show (AOD) is on. OnePlus claims that, in contrast with typical 30Hz AODs, OnePlus 11’s 1Hz AOD consumes 30 p.c much less energy. In fact, it’s not utilizing a lot energy to start with as an AOD, however may result in a little bit extra battery life in the long term, even when it’s not represented in our typical battery rundown exams. Apart from the upgraded AOD capabilities, this display is in any other case similar to the OnePlus 10 Professional – which isn’t a foul factor. It’s one other space the place OnePlus typically goes toe-to-toe with one of the best smartphones on the market, regardless of sometimes costing tons of of {dollars} much less.

Digital camera

The OnePlus 11’s main digicam is a brand new 50-megapixel sensor, with a f/1.8 aperture. It sounds much like the OnePlus 10 Professional’s most important digicam, however makes use of a much bigger 1/1.56-inch sensor. This works alongside a 115-degree ultrawide 48MP digicam that pulls double-duty for macro photographs.

This time, OnePlus’ flagship has a 32MP telephoto digicam, up from a measly 8MP on its predecessor. Nevertheless, optical zoom tops out at 2x, whereas the lower-res OnePlus 10 Professional may punch in at as much as 3.2x optical zoom. It’s an uncommon change to make. Which is the higher resolution? Whereas I didn’t have final yr’s OnePlus 10 Professional to match instantly with the OnePlus 11, the pictures didn’t appear as muted as I keep in mind. In fact, they weren’t as magnified, however given the higher-resolution, I can all the time crop in with out ruining the outcomes an excessive amount of. It’s just about a guide digital zoom, cropping like this, however you profit from a greater sensor earlier than you crop away the surplus megapixels.

The OnePlus 11’s digicam array, what it calls its third-generation Hasselblad Digital camera, is improved, and nonetheless comes with some addictive filters for stills and video. Nevertheless, It doesn’t fairly attain the head of smartphone pictures, led by the Galaxy S22 Extremely, iPhone 14 Professional and Pixel 7 Professional, although.

The OnePlus 11 appears to do its greatest work on panorama and road pictures. There’s a Professional mode once more, so you may dabble in RAW modifying, however I used to be more than pleased with the JPGs. The OnePlus 11 additionally options an AI Spotlight video mode. The telephone makes use of picture processing to take care of even ranges of publicity when recording video and shifting between areas of various lighting. I examined it out on a sunny afternoon, on a bridge, however I didn’t see too many tangible advantages to overexposure. It really works a little bit higher while you’re filming in a largely darkish scenario, however, oddly, that is meant to be the standout software program characteristic for this yr’s OnePlus flagship – it’s not notably outstanding.

Efficiency and battery life

The OnePlus 11 has the de facto prime Android processor: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It’s highly effective, positive, however the greater advantages may come by longer battery life. Based on the chip maker, its new Adreno GPU can supply as much as 45 p.c higher energy effectivity.

OnePlus software program doesn’t seem to have modified a lot because the OnePlus 10 Professional. OnePlus claims its HyperBoost Gaming Engine makes use of machine studying (and Qualcomm’s newest processor) to stability efficiency and battery drain. The caveat right here is that it’s solely appropriate with main cellular titles like Genshin Affect. It’s additionally exhausting to inform whether or not it affords a discernible influence on video games, when so many different telephones are equally specced and supply an identical expertise.

The OnePlus telephone sequence sometimes affords first rate battery life. So it’s no shock that the OnePlus 11 clocked virtually 20 hours on our video rundown take a look at. Though the battery icon appeared a little bit ‘sticky’ round one hundred pc after taking part in video for a very good two hours. The one telephones that beat which are the corporate’s personal OnePlus 10T and the iPhone 14 Professional.

Whereas that’s nice, the velocity that OnePlus 11 can cost is much more spectacular. 100W charging is right here – the sort of wattage we get with laptops. There’s a appropriate charger within the field, fortunately, nevertheless it’s proprietary tech, so you will want this particular charger, this cable and OnePlus’ newest telephone to hit these heady charging speeds. OnePlus says it takes 25 minutes to achieve a full cost from empty, and in apply, that’s been correct.

The flexibility to plug my telephone in for a short stint (roughly ten minutes) and have it prime up 50 p.c is magical. Nevertheless, there’s no wi-fi charging. It’s not a deal breaker for me nevertheless it’s undoubtedly one thing to notice as lacking from a flagship telephone. I’d take these heady charging speeds over wi-fi charging any day.

Wrap-up

The OnePlus 11 has an amazing display (once more), extremely fast-charging (once more) and cameras which are higher than its predecessors. Nevertheless, the supercharge speeds appear to be the one distinctive factor that the OnePlus 11 brings to the desk. However is that sufficient to make you need to improve from an older telephone, or select a OnePlus over the competitors?

At $699, with 8GB of reminiscence and 128GB of storage, that’s $100 lower than final yr’s flagship. It’s a a lot better deal than its predecessor – and this may very well be a deciding issue. The OnePlus 11 sits between midrange gadgets, just like the Pixel 6a, and premium telephones together with Google’s Pixel 7 and Samsung’s Galaxy S23 sequence. In some ways, you get one of the best of each, however towards the dominance of different telephone makers, it must do extra to tell apart itself.