OnePlus 11: what we want to see
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The OnePlus 11 will be the next big flagship from popular Chinese phone company OnePlus, and having been such big fans of the OnePlus 10 Pro from 2022, we’re already looking to the future and speculating on what the next version will bring. the.
This will likely be the first OnePlus phone of 2023, although we may see more entries in the company’s Nord line in the meantime. It’s also probably one of the best Android phones of the year, judging by the last few entries in the family, though we’ll have to wait and see.
We haven’t heard many rumors about the OnePlus 11 so far, but we’re starting to hear some whispers. Below you’ll find all the leaks and rumours, and below that we’ve written a wish list of what we want from these phones.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The entry for 2023 in OnePlus’ flagship line
- When is it out? Probably the first few months of 2023
- How much is it? Probably just under $899 / £799 (about AU$1,400)
OnePlus 11 price and availability
Judging by the precedent, we’re likely to see the debut of the OnePlus 11 family in the first few months of the year – perhaps spread out by region, as the OnePlus 10 Pro was, but hopefully in one big launch event, as was the case for the previous phones.
It’s harder to judge the price, though, and that’s because there was no ‘standard’ OnePlus 10, with a premium-but-not-super-premium price.
So we can make a good estimate of the price of the OnePlus 11 – it’s likely to cost around $899 / £799 (around AU$1,400), which is how much its predecessor set you back. Rumor has it that while the Pro name will be ditched, it will in fact be the Pro handset (stay behind).
We also got the OnePlus 10T in 2022, which started at $649 / £629 (around AU$940), but so far it’s not clear whether or not a OnePlus 11T will follow.
OnePlus 11 Leaks and Rumors
First of all, it’s worth noting that there may only be one OnePlus 11 model, and according to a leak it could be called the OnePlus 11, but has the sort of specs you’d expect from a OnePlus 11 Pro.
That said, other early leaks refer specifically to the OnePlus 11 Pro, so naming remains uncertain, but it seems likely we’ll be getting a pro model, whether it has pro in the name or not. Whether there will also be a lower-spec model is less clear, but doesn’t look very likely.
Leaker @OnLeaks has at least shared renders of what the OnePlus 11 Pro could look like, in collaboration with SmartPrix (opens in new tab).
These renders, one of which you can see below, show a new – more circular – camera block design. You can also see there’s Hasselblad branding and three sensors. Other details include a warning slider and the phone will apparently use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is something we fully expected anyway.
We’d take this leak with a grain of salt though, especially as these renders are apparently based on an early prototype of the OnePlus 11 Pro, so it could be subject to change.
Since then, the same leaker has shared more complete OnePlus 11 Pro specs, saying the phone will feature a 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a 5,000mAh battery with 100W charging.
It is also said to have a 16MP front-facing camera and a triple-lens rear camera with a 50MP main sensor, a 48MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 32MP telephoto with 2x optical zoom.
More recently, another leak has again mentioned 16GB of RAM, adding that the OnePlus 11 will also have a ceramic finish, as well as improved UFS 4.0 storage – significantly faster than the UFS 3.1 technology used in the top of the range phones. 2022.
OnePlus 11: what we want to see
After testing the OnePlus 10 Pro and other handsets from the company, and the wider Android world, here are some of the changes we want the OnePlus 11 to bring.
1. A non-Pro version
Is the OnePlus 10 Pro really ‘Pro’ if there’s no standard version? No, not really, we’d say, but for some reason OnePlus’ sole flagship phone of 2022 had that suffix.
Since there is only one phone in the family, OnePlus can only release a handset at a certain price tag. This means that people who want a cheaper alternative, or a super premium version, have nothing to buy.
We’d like to see the OnePlus 11 come with at least two members of the family, and maybe a third too – be it a Lite, Ultra or Pro Plus version.
2. A less complicated launch
When phone makers launch their devices with great pomp and circumstance, it can really stir up the excitement for the mobile phone… but the exact opposite happened with the OnePlus 10 Pro.
The device originally launched in January, but that was just for the Chinese market – it launched for the global market in February at MWC 2022, then saw another reveal event in April, which was actually followed by a release for select markets.
That’s very confusing to the average buyer and meant that by the time it actually went on sale, the OnePlus 10 Pro was old news. We’d like to see this whole procedure more concise in 2023, so we’re not waiting months to buy the OnePlus 11.
3. Charge equality
The OnePlus 10 Pro had wonderfully fast 80W charging, which allowed the device to go from 0% to 100% in the same time it takes to watch an episode of your favorite sitcom….
… that is, unless you live in the US. The OnePlus 10 Pro is only rated at 65W there, which is still fast, but definitely not 80W fast.
We’d like the charging speeds to be the same for the OnePlus 11 so people in the US don’t get an inferior phone.
4. A better zoom camera
The OnePlus 10 Pro isn’t the best phone for zoom photography – while its 3.3x telephoto lens lets you zoom further than some similarly priced rivals, we’d like to see ‘Pro’ devices that can get you 5x or even 10x further away (although perhaps is the latter more of an ‘Ultra’ function).
What’s not so great is the 8MP sensor that accompanies this lens – not only is that a bit low resolution for a smartphone camera, but it also shrinks the possibility of digital zoom beyond the optical limit.
We’d like to see more focus on zoom photography in the OnePlus 11, to give photographers the chance to shine.
5. A smaller alternative
The OnePlus 10 Pro is a big phone, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as you get a lot of screen real estate, but it does make the device difficult to hold for those with smaller hands.
If the OnePlus 11 comes with multiple versions, as we’ve already wished, we’d like a smaller one, to cater for people who don’t want a giant monster.
We saw Xiaomi take this step with the Xiaomi 12, which offered a smaller handset than before, and Samsung did it for a while too. Hopefully OnePlus will then follow suit.