Returning to its roots, OnePlus has taken a bold step with its latest smartphone release; rather than being one of several flagship models offered, the OnePlus 11 5G stands alone. Maybe you won’t feel like you’re settling without a Pro model, though, because the 11 5G comes loaded with many top-of-the-line features, including the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, a 5,000mAh battery, and 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging in the US. However, there is one feature you won’t find on this new device; will its omission be a deal breaker for you?
We’ll have our full OnePlus 11 5G review up soon, but in honor of today’s launch event, I wanted to give you a taste of what’s coming.
The OnePlus 11 5G has a gorgeous 6.7″ Super Fluid AMOLED display that offers up to a 120Hz refresh rate and LPTO 3.0. Depending on what you’re doing onscreen, LPTO will adjust the display’s refresh rate from 1 to 120Hz so you’ll get the smoothest scrolling experience possible when needed, balanced with preserving battery life when the higher refresh rate isn’t necessary.
If you’re a gamer or a power user, this might just be the device for you; the 11 5G is available with up to 16GB RAM, which can be boosted a further 12GB (for a total of 28GB!) using RAM Expansion in the Settings. Speaking of the 16GB version, OnePlus says that it can handle having as many as 44 apps active in the background.
Because the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform is powering the OnePlus 11 5G, there is also support for ray tracing. For those of you who aren’t gamers, ray tracing is the technology that makes it possible to enjoy highly detailed scenes with realistic lighting, shadows, and illumination effects right on your smartphone; you can see an example of it in action here.
Heat dissipation in the OnePlus 11 5G is handled by a brand new Cryovelocity VC Cooling system, and crystalline-graphene materials are being used that have a new heat dissipation structural design that OnePlus says provides a 92% improvement in heat dissipation capability.
The OnePlus 11 5G is one of the first smartphones to feature Dolby Vision, and it uses Dolby Vision HDR for better brightness, contrast, color, and lifelike detail. On top of that, there are dual “Reality” speakers that support Dolby Atmos.
As you might expect with such bonafides, listening to audio over the 11 5 G’s speakers is impressive — the sound is quite clear, and it can get loud, but most importantly, everything sounds great.
When listening with Bluetooth headphones, Dolby Head Tracking will recalibrate the audio as you turn your head from left and right. Sound will be more natural, immersive, and realistic, whether you’re watching a movie, listening to music, or playing a game.
That the square camera module that was introduced in the OnePlus 10 series is gone, and the OnePlus 11 5G introduces a new round triple-camera module equipped with a 50-megapixel Sony IMX890 main sensor, a 32-megapixel IMX709 portrait lens, a 48-megapixel IMX581 ultra-wide camera, and a dual-LED flash.
With 3rd-generation Hasselblad Camera for Mobile, the 11 5G uses a 13-channel multispectral sensor for light-color identification, and it supports the latest Hasselblad Natural Color Calibration. Hasselblad Portrait Mode can now provide almost DSLR-quality depth-tracking, natural bokeh, and light flare effects.
Some other tidbits worth noting are that the OnePlus 11 5G supports two nano-SIM cards, which is a welcome return of a feature that has been missing for several OnePlus generations; it also brings back the iconic three-stop (mute, vibrate, ring) slider that was sorely missed in the 10T, and it has an IP64 dust and water-resistance rating.
The new OnePlus 11 5G comes in Tital Black or Eternal Green.
To keep the dual-cell 5,000mAh battery going, the OnePlus 11 5 G has 80W SUPERVOOC fast charging; with that, it takes just 27 minutes to reach full battery status. And yes, OnePlus includes that high-speed charger in the box!
Here comes the part that may or may not be a deal-breaker for you: the 11 5G does not offer wireless charging. Granted, with such speedy wired charging speeds, you may not even miss wireless charging, but if you’ve been spoiled by the ability to wirelessly top off your current phone when in your vehicle or at home, not having wireless charging may seem like a lost convenience.
Myriam will have her full review of the OnePlus 11 5G ready soon, but in the meantime, here’s her unboxing video.
Available in Titan Black or Eternal Green, the OnePlus 11 5G will go on sale at 10 am ET on February 16th. The 8GB RAM and 128GB user memory version will sell for $699, and the 16GB RAM with 256GB user memory will sell for $799. You’ll be able to purchase the 11 5G from OnePlus, Amazon, and Best Buy.
It’s not bad for the overall features noted. I don’t mind it does not have wireless charging, but I do agree it should be listed $100 less because of it’s absence.
The other thing missing is USB 3.0 back to 2.0. What this generally means is the loss of HDMI out so you can’t wired cast to your TV, a real pain for travelers and developing countries
The prices seem pretty reasonable to me for all of the features. I’m curious about the Dolby Head Tracking for Bluetooth headphones, and the 13-color multispectral light sensor.
Decent prices, but the camera design on the back of the phone is unappealing to me. Otherwise, all the other features are a big plus! I can’t wait to read Myriam’s full review!
Wow, This phone has more RAM than my PC. It is amazing how powerful phones have become.