OnePlus 11 5G review: speed demon

Samsung and Apple you have flagship smartphones that start at $800 but pay a little more and you can even get more flagship phone (flagship?) with the words “Ultra” or “Pro” at the end. OnePlus used to follow the same strategy, but this year it’s changing things up with a new OnePlus 11 5G. Instead of making you pay more for an estimate, there won’t be a OnePlus 11 “Pro” at all. A standard flagship should have everything you need and more, right? As if the company answered Marty DiBergi’s question. from This is a spinal tap. to the heart.

The new phone is damn good. It lacks some of the features you’d expect to find for its $699 base price, such as wireless charging and an IP68 water resistance rating, but it manages to effectively compete with most other high-end phones in just about every other way, from performance to time. autonomous operation of cameras. This is not my first recommendation if you are looking for a new smartphone, and not the second, but that does not mean that this is not an all-around respectable device.

Go to 11

OnePlus has always put speed above all else, and the OnePlus 11 proves it. The device is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with 8 gigabytes of RAM and 128 GB of internal memory. You can upgrade to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for another $100 (and if you like the fancy green I tested). I had no problems moving from one application to another, and even intensive games such as Genshin Impact feel super smooth on a 120Hz screen at the highest graphics settings. OnePlus includes a range of optimizations and hardware improvements to maximize this performance; I can’t list them all, but suffice it to say that this is an impressively fast and responsive phone.

Speed ​​demons will note that the base version of the phone comes with Universal Flash Storage (UFS) 3.1, while upgrading to 16GB of RAM gets you UFS 4.0. The latter storage option offers faster data transfer speeds with better power efficiency, so apps and games should load faster and battery life get shorter, although you’ll likely only notice the difference when you put these devices side by side. They are already fast enough for most tasks.

As for the battery, I never felt like I had to stick close to a power outlet. With average usage, the OnePlus 11’s 5,000mAh battery comfortably lasted a full day, with plenty left in the tank the next morning. OnePlus 11 remains one of the fastest charging phones in the US. I was able to go from 8 to 95 percent in about 22 minutes. The catch is that you need to use the OnePlus SuperVooc+ 80W charging adapter, which is short. But at least it’s included in the box, unlike most other phones these days.

Worried about damaging your battery? The phone will intelligently recharge at slower speeds when it detects you’re sipping juice before bed, but if you forget to plug it in and rush out the door at 8:45 a.m., it will know to fire up. Ironically, OnePlus has ditched wireless charging, a staple of all flagship phones, arguing that most people will instead rely on fast wired charging. Possibly, but I’m not sure why both can’t coexist, especially since it wasn’t an issue on the OnePlus 10 Pro. I prefer to put my phone on the wireless charger by the bed rather than looking for a cable in the dark. Well. Time to fumble.

Perhaps even stranger is the company’s decision to move from a USB-C to USB-A charging adapter. The old port is still common enough that this might not be an issue for you, but since most newer devices work exclusively with USB-C ports and cables, this seems like a step backwards. When I was working at a coffee shop, I brought the OnePlus 11 charger and cable, but the cable was too short to reach my MacBook’s port. This meant I couldn’t replace it with a longer USB-C cable to my MacBook’s USB-C. I know, first world problems, but this is a stupid snag in 2023.

In addition, there is an IP64 water and dust resistance rating. OnePlus 11 will be well protected from dust and rain, but maybe not. How protected if you drop it in a pool, compared to an IP68-rated phone (which, er, most flagship smartphones). It is strange that the company could not get a higher rating. In addition, the screen is covered in Corning’s scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass Victus, while the back glass uses the old Gorilla Glass 5. Even the cheaper Pixel 7 uses Victus glass on both sides, making it more durable (the new Galaxy S23 uses even more durable glass). stronger Victoria 2).