OnePlus 11 Long-Term Review: A True Flagship Killer

The OnePlus 11 comes in two storage variants. The base variant has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage at a price of Rs.56,999, while another variant with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage retails for Rs.61,999.

The phone is available in two colour options: Titan Black and Eternal Green. It is available for purchase on Amazon and OnePlus India’s official website and retail stores.

The OnePlus 11 comes with the following items inside the box:

• Phone
• 100W charger
• Type-C cable
• SIM ejector tool
• Documentation

Here is a quick look at the specifications of the OnePlus 11:

• Display: 6.7 inches AMOLED
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
• RAM & ROM: 12GB RAM, 256GB Storage, 16GB RAM 256GB Storage, 16GB RAM 512GB Storage
• Software: Android v13
• Rear camera: 50MP + 48MP + 32MP
• Selfie camera: 16 MP
• Battery: 5000 mAh
• Weight: 205 grams
• Dimensions: 163.1 x 74.1 x 8.5 mm

The OnePlus 11 has a glass back design with a circular camera bump instead of a square one found on previous OnePlus flagships. This new camera island has a stainless steel finish that seamlessly blends into the aluminium side frame.

Also Read: OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite Review: Is the Cheapest OnePlus Phone Worth Your Money?

The phone does not feel heavy despite weighing around 205 grams and being 8.5mm thick. On the back is Gorilla Glass 5 for protection, and the device is comfortable to hold in the hand.

However, I highly recommend using a case as the glass is slippery and has a tendency to slip automatically when kept on a surface.

OnePlus has stuck to using its traditional Eternal Green and Titan Black colours, which feel a bit stale at this point, and I am glad the company is introducing new colours with the OnePlus 12.

Coming to the ports and button placements, there is a power button and the iconic alert slider on the right, which feels tactile and clicky to use. The volume rocker is on the left, while the phone has the secondary speaker grille at the top.

At the bottom, you get the SIM card tray, USB-C port, and speaker grille. The curved edges, complimented by the flat sides, make it an ergonomic device to hold in the hand.

The OnePlus 11 packs a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel primary camera, 48-megapixel and a 32-megapixel telephoto with 2x zoom. Furthermore, there is a 16-megapixel front-facing camera for taking selfies.

OnePlus has designed the camera in collaboration with Hasselblad and delivers great daytime results. The colours are bright and vibrant while maintaining an excellent dynamic range and details.

Also Read: Apple iPhone 14 Long-Term Review – One Year Old, Still As Good As New

The ultrawide angle camera has the same colour tuning as the primary lens, meaning you can expect the phone to deliver consistent results regardless of the lens used. Furthermore, the telephoto lens manages to retain details on objects, although it only supports 2x zoom.

When it comes to night shots, the OnePlus 11 takes decent shots, although the results can be inconsistent at times. The details remain sharp, but the phone tends to boost the exposure, resulting in brighter images than expected.

The OnePlus 11 can record 8K videos at 24fps with the primary camera, while the ultrawide and telephoto lens support recording up to 4K at 30 FPS. The details are crisp, and the dynamic range is good.

Coming to the selfie camera, the 16-megapixel shooter manages to take excellent shots during daytime with ample details. It can take good portrait photos with natural skin tones, although the results can be a bit mediocre at night.

The OnePlus 11 packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 100W SUPERVOOC charging support. The phone can easily last up to 5 to 6 hours of usage on 2K resolution at 120Hz. Furthermore, you can turn down the resolution to Full HD+ to get even more backup.

Also Read: Nothing Phone (1) Long-Term Review: Still A Worthy Contender?

Thanks to the power-efficient 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and the LTPO 3 display, you won’t have to worry about battery life on the device. The 100W charger can fully charge the device within 25 minutes. Furthermore, you can get the battery juiced up to 67 per cent with just 15 minutes of charge.

However, the lack of wireless charging is a bummer, given that other phones in this segment, such as the Nothing Phone (2), offer these features. Thankfully, the upcoming OnePlus 12 has been confirmed to arrive with 50W wireless charging support.

The OnePlus 11 has a 6.82-inch 2K AMOLED LTPO curved panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen has a peak brightness of 1300 nits and a pixel density of 525 PPI. Furthermore, it comes with Gorilla Glass Victus for protection and has Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ support.

You also get an in-display fingerprint sensor, which is fast and accurate. However, I would have preferred an ultrasonic sensor instead of an optical one. The screen has a punch-hole cutout in the top left corner and symmetrical bezels surrounding the display.

Also Read: Vivo V29 Review – Made For Photophiles

The bezels are a bit on the thicker side compared to other phones in this segment. The curved front screen provides an immersive experience when watching content. I enjoyed watching Season 6 of “The Crown” on Netflix and faced no issues whatsoever.

Furthermore, the screen is bright enough to be used outdoors. It also comes with a Nature Tone Display feature, which automatically adjusts the screen’s temperature, similar to True Tone on iPhones.

Navigating through the interface feels smooth and fluid thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate and the LTPO 3.0 panel, which can dynamically adjust the refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz. Unlike other OnePlus phones, you can enjoy the benefits of a high refresh rate across most apps.

The OnePlus 11 has a stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support. There is a speaker grille at the bottom and a secondary grille at the top. The sound is loud and crisp enough with no distortions, even at the highest volume.

The OnePlus 11 runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 paired with up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The 8 Gen 2 can be considered one of the fastest processors in the market until Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 debuts in India.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy S23 Long-Term Review – Still One Of The Best Compact Phones?

The variant we have has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which uses UFS 3.1 instead of the UFS 4.0 on the 256GB variant. However, OnePlus could have introduced 256GB as the base since no 128GB UFS 4.0 storage manufacturer exists in the market. The iQOO 11, which also uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, has 256GB UFS 4.0 storage on all variants.

The 4nm processor can handle day-to-day tasks, and you won’t face any lags or issues.
Even after opening multiple apps in the background, such as Spotify, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, I did not face stutters or slowdowns with the phone. Even the base variant with 8GB of RAM will suffice for most users.

When it comes to intensive tasks, the OnePlus 11 can easily run all games at the highest graphic settings. The Adreno 740 GPU inside the phone can run demanding games like Wreckfest and Genshin Impact at 60FPS.

Furthermore, games like BGMI and COD Mobile have 90 FPS and 120 FPS support for a smooth experience. However, it is worth noting that the phone can get warm very quickly and reach temperatures up to 41 degrees Celsius.

This makes it uncomfortable to hold during prolonged gaming sessions. Even during the chilly winters of NCR, I felt the phone getting warm and throttling itself in games, which is a bit concerning.

As far as the benchmarks are concerned, the OnePlus 11 has a Geekbench score of 1573 in single-core and 4459 in multi-core. During a 15-minute CPU throttling test, the phone throttled to 84 per cent of its peak performance.

Moreover, the phone has a stability score of 68 per cent in the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test and an AnTuTu V10 score of 1287226, which defeats 68 per cent of users. Overall, the OnePlus 11 is a good choice if you are not into long gaming sessions, as the phone suffers from some serious heating issues.

The OnePlus 11 originally arrived with Oxygen OS 13 based on Android 13, and it has now received Oxygen OS 14 based on Android 14. Furthermore, OnePlus promises four years of updates for the device, which is on par with Samsung.

The Android 14 update has drastically improved the performance of the phone. Games like Wreckfest, which struggled to reach 20 FPS at the highest settings, can now run smoothly at 60 FPS.

Furthermore, the new update also brings features such as File Dock, allowing you to seamlessly share files between apps using the Side Bar. The new Battery Health and Stop Charging at 80 per cent features are also useful and can help prolong your device’s battery life.

In addition, the new Oxygen OS 14 update also adds Content extraction that allows you to extract objects and text from photos. It also introduces a new Smart Cutout feature that functions similarly to Dynamic Island on iPhones and can display timers, food deliveries, and phone calls in an ongoing pill.

OnePlus deserves appreciation for offering bloatware-free and bug-free experience while delivering timely updates for its smartphones. OxygenOS, despite its similarities to ColourOS, remains one of the few Android skins that provide a smooth and stable experience.