OnePlus 11 5G review: Meaningful improvements; camera steals spotlight

OnePlus is a family title and 2023 goes to be an thrilling 12 months for the model. Kickstarting the 12 months, the corporate has launched its first flagship — OnePlus 11 5G — in India, catering to the plenty who demand uncooked efficiency and easy consumer expertise. Over the years, we have seen OnePlus telephones evolve and deal with many issues alongside the way in which, to the purpose that it now stands tall amongst huge gamers.

We’ve been utilizing the OnePlus for nearly two weeks now and listed here are our ideas.

OnePlus refuses to compromise on the specs, therefore the OnePlus 11 5G packs the top-notch specs you’ll be able to ask for in a flagship. From a top-tier Qualcomm chipset to industry-leading battery tech and interesting design, OnePlus 11 is poised to change into a number one flagship alternative for customers.

Specifically, OnePlus 11 5G sports activities a 6.7-inch 2K 120Hz Super Fluid AMOLED show, a triple rear camera comprising of 50MP+48+32MP lenses and a 16MP entrance snapper. The telephone is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset paired with 16GB RAM with an choice to broaden it additional by 4GB, 8GB or 12GB. This is players’ paradise. Under the hood, the OnePlus 11 has a 5,000mAh battery with 100W SUPERVOOC fast-charging help, and Android 13-based Oxygen 13. You can learn all concerning the telephone’s detailed specs in our launch protection of the telephone.

Let’s dive into how the OnePlus 11 performs in the actual world.

Design

Defying the development of constant the identical design, OnePlus has made some seen modifications that make the OnePlus 11 stand out. The greatest spotlight is the camera module, which is seems to be like a mixture of each OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus 7T. The round camera module with its daring Hasselblad branding attaches to a metallic body, which aesthetically fuses into the chassis. OnePlus despatched us the Titan Black version, which has a placing attraction. The show and the rear panel curve into the mid-frame, which improves the general ergonomics.

The glass again on the Titan Black version seems to be gorgeous with its starry texture. The deep black again panel is impressed by black holes, and we see it. It’s actually black and provides the telephone a wealthy look, a lot to our liking.

The show is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus and the mid-frame has energy/lock button, quantity controls and (gladly) the Alert Slider. The USB-C port is on the backside, sitting proper between the speaker and SIM card tray. The backside and high areas are flattened, which seems to be good and even presents a greater grip whereas gaming.

OnePlus 11 is truest to OnePlus’ design philosophy and the eye to element is outstanding. With all the things, the telephone weighs 205 grams and the load is nicely distributed to make it snuggly in hand.

Display

OnePlus 11 encompasses a 6.7-inch 2K AMOLED show with 120Hz refresh charge, which might go as little as 1Hz relying on the requirement (learn: Always-on Display). But what’s fascinating is that OnePlus went with LTPO 3.0, which matches refresh charge relying on the way you swipe your finger on the display screen.

The output on the OnePlus 11 show is nice for multimedia consumption and gaming. There have been no points like color shifting and the blacks are deep and whites will be fairly shiny. It is nicely fitted to outside use as maximising brightness could make content material simply seen with out hindering readability. But when you’re already utilizing the OnePlus 10 Pro, you will not discover any main modifications within the OnePlus 11 show.

The show responded precisely to the touch with none latency, which is crucial whereas gaming. The show additionally homes the fingerprint scanner, which works completely. It scans the registered fingerprint and snaps into the house display screen in a flash. The Always-on Display makes use of simply 1Hz refresh charge, has the bottom impression on the battery, but delivers important data at a look.

The show has all the weather of a superb display screen, however there’s nothing overly thrilling about it. As lengthy because it caters to the important wants of the telephone, gaming and multimedia particularly, we’re completely content material with the show as part of the general package deal.

Camera

This is our favorite. For years, OnePlus telephones have struggled with cameras, however current occasions have been totally different. With OnePlus 11, issues are simply nice. OnePlus has a triple Hasselblad-tuned camera setup, comprising of 50MP main sensor with 48MP ultra-wide lens and a 32MP 2x telephoto sensor. Together, they enable you create stunning pictures. We do not miss a fourth lens, which might’ve merely been a 2MP sensor to replenish the spec sheet. Glad, OnePlus will not be going for the optics on this one. The lenses OnePlus 11 packs are literally helpful.

We discovered the OnePlus 11’s camera able to taking actually good images, in any lighting situation. Of course, pure daylight gives you essentially the most detailed, vibrant and vibrant photographs (relying on what you are capturing). The dynamic vary is by far the very best we have seen in any OnePlus telephone and there is synchronisation in readability in pictures and depth.

We discovered ourselves switching to the ultra-wide extra usually on the OnePlus 11. The high quality could be very nicely maintained on the ultra-wide photographs, except you actually zoom into the very superb particulars. There was no tinting or obtrusive situation. The ultra-wide sensor additionally doubles as a macro sensor, so capturing shut topics have been enjoyable and easy.

The portrait, nonetheless, had some points. Even although the viewfinder precisely blurred the background, preserving the topic in focus, some images got here out with out the bokeh impact. But framing the topic extra rigorously the second time mounted that. Even adjusting the aperture did not appear to assist. But to ease your thoughts, this was a uncommon case and undecided what triggered it. In most photographs, the portrait labored fairly nicely for people than objects.

We seen OnePlus 11 went with a 2x telephoto lens and fairly frankly it is extra helpful than the 3x. Its simply that 2x is healthier for framing the themes and the small print captured in 2x zoom are pretty much as good because the 1x. It’s good for capturing topics whereas on the go, or capturing issues which will get disturbed by getting too shut. On the draw back, the 2x optical lens has its limitations with the gap as you may have to be nearer than you would need to be with 3x.

Even in low mild, the OnePlus 11 labored surprisingly nicely. The night time mode did little to assist, however the auto mode did all of the heavy lifting for us. The low-light photographs got here out fairly nicely, particularly within the darker areas and even in frames with shifting topics. The Hasselblad Pro mode is available in actually useful in circumstances of low mild. There are some remastered filters too or AI enhancement can be utilized to offer your pictures a full of life contact.

On the video entrance, the telephone supported as much as 8K 24fps and 4k 30fps in ultra-wide. The OIS and EIS hold the video secure and the standard is appropriate for vlogging. It’s simply that there are much better choices for video and the most recent iPhones stay undisputed champs when you can spend these further grands.

On the entrance, the OnePlus 11 has a humble 16MP camera, which manages to get clear selfies with pure pores and skin tones. Of course, there are filters and AI optimisation you should use to fit your style.

Check out a couple of camera samples shot on OnePlus 11:

Performance & UI

OnePlus has a status with regards to efficiency and the OnePlus 11 continues that legacy. From gaming to streaming, the OnePlus 11 did all of it with ease. We did not discover any heating points whereas gaming or charging the telephone. This might be courtesy of the brand new Cryo-velocity VC Cooling system, which does a superb job at warmth dissipation.

We ran a couple of video games like Asphalt and FreeFire they usually appear to work with none glitches. There have been no body drops even on the highest graphics setting and the gameplay is completely easy.

With the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor and ample RAM, there have been little doubts with the efficiency. The RAM will be additional expanded, however the onboard reminiscence appeared ample for now. It’s a pleasant possibility to contemplate after maybe a 12 months of use.

OnePlus has given extra care to sure experiences. It makes use of AI to order a small quantity of RAM for precedence apps like cameras. Though we did not face any points, however it might be nice to see its impact in the long run use.

What’s extra vital is that OnePlus will help the telephone for 4 main Android updates and 5 years of safety updates, which is consistent with different main OEMs. This will hold the OnePlus 11 from ageing as an annual refresh will convey thrilling new options and OnePlus will fine-tune its OxygenOS to ship optimally.

The present OxygenOS 13 primarily based on Android 13 labored seamlessly. The animations are easy, and each inventory apps and third-party apps responded nicely to motion. But the software program has loads of different choices price exploring, which makes it straightforward to customize the telephone to your choice all the way down to the T.

OnePlus 11 excels on the efficiency entrance, which isn’t stunning. It’s not even a leap ahead from its predecessor, besides in some areas of core optimisation.

Battery

OnePlus 11 has a 5,000mAh battery, which will get 100W charging help. Though OnePlus claims 25 minutes to full cost, our assessments got here out totally different. It’s a uncommon occasion that anybody would cost the telephone after it is useless, however contemplating most customers would high up the telephone when or earlier than it hits 20 %, we examined it from there.

In half-hour, OnePlus 11 costs as much as 80 % and one other 10 minutes to succeed in 100%. This was per or with out use. But what’s spectacular is that there was no heating when the telephone was charging at such a speedy charge.

In phrases of battery life, the system can simply final a day. There’s an in a single day drain of 8-10 %, relying in your notifications. But in case you are a median consumer, the telephone can go greater than a day and hardcore customers can count on the bars to drop beneath 20 % by night. Since the quick charging is so good, we by no means felt any shortcoming by way of battery. In 25 minutes, you will get 65 % battery, which is ample to final a complete workday. Our common display screen time was 6 hours with 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, GPS, calls, IMs, emails, social media, web looking and camera.

But what takes away that flagship ingredient is the lacking wi-fi charging. If you’ll be able to dwell with that, it is all honky dory.

Verdict

With OnePlus 11, OnePlus goes again to its roots in a method. The telephone is positioned as a flagship and a flagship killer. There are some options that you will immediately fall in love with, just like the design and camera, and there are these options that OnePlus is synonymous with – like efficiency and battery. OnePlus 11 5G clearly checks all of the bins for being your subsequent telephone in case your improve has been overdue for two years. I do not see OnePlus 10 Pro customers ditching their telephones for this one but, however it might certainly be interesting to many Nord customers.