One of the highly anticipated releases for the year, the OnePlus 11 is a marvel of a device. We’ve been using the device for quite a while now since the official global launch and announcement and we have to say, we’re very much in love with the unit. From form factor to performance, the OnePlus 11 truly delivers and sets the bar high for flagship device rollouts for 2023. How did they win us over? Here’s pretty much how.
Geek-sthetic
Building upon the camera module of the OnePlus 10, the OnePlus 11 rounds everything up by enshrining the three rear cameras into a circular chromed-out décor. Curves are further accentuated with the OnePlus 11 design, from the more fluid aluminum chrome frame to how the light softly bleeds into the sleek multi-layered glass back of the units Stainless Steel unibody design, OnePlus 11 exudes sheer premium luxury never before seen with the brand. The OnePlus 11 isn’t a flagship killer anymore – it’s flagship in itself. Putting out all the stops, the OnePlus 11 comes in two distinct colors with varying textures. Titan Black has a soft matte finish back that prevents fingerprints and sweat stains while Eternal Green (which is the unit that we have) is sleek and has a wonderful hand-feel.
While the phone isn’t necessarily the thinnest one in the market, the overall phone design makes it seem so. Again, there’s a sleek premium feel to it that makes you want to use the phone as is – meaning without any carrying case. And while we know that the phone is reinforced with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus and other proprietary safe guards, we will still encourage you to get yourself a phone case – even a thin soft jelly case would do.
Binge-Watching Factor
The OnePlus 11 has a gorgeous 6.7” Quad HD+ (3216×1440) curved AMOLED Screen able to produce 1.07 billion colors for extra rich visuals. Couple that with OnePlus’ largest Dolby Dual “reality” speakers and you got yourself a winning combo in terms of binging your favorite shows on whichever streaming platform you’re currently subscribed to. The almost 93% screen-to-body ration gives you more screen real estate even with a slimmer form-factor.
Streaming movies or keeping your favorite Kpop MV on loop, regardless of the environmental lighting conditions, is made much easier due to the phone’s 1300 nits of max brightness capabilities. We’ve tested it under direct sunlight and surprisingly can still hold its own.
I have to hand it to the form factor of the unit as well, because of it’s slim and handy size, I don’t have the fear of the phone accidentally falling down on my face when I’m propped up against the bed.
That’s also partly one of the reasons why I sleep rather later now than usual. Oh well, more shows to binge!
Gaming Prowess
Being powered by the most powerful Qualcomm chipset to date, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and heavily supported by a monstrous 16GB of RAM with another 8 GB of Extended RAM capabilities, the OnePlus 11 can play anything you throw at it – even if you dial the graphics up to 11.
The chipset is said to support Ray-tracing for your mobile games and while we’d love to test that out further, there aren’t a lot of games (if there are any that’s readily available) that has the feature enabled.
So, we did what any normie gamer would do. Fire up Genshin Impact and clock everything up max – including setting the fps to the game’s max. The result? Superbly smooth gameplay still. Hot damn!
Thermals are managed quite thanks to the Crystal Graphene VC Cooling system of the phone. Playing hours-long session of Mobile Legends without a protective case is entirely possible.
All-in-all, the chipset, along with the RAM and optimization done by OnePlus, helps add to the future-proofing of the phone. We’re at a time when the device is stronger than the current software that’s out in the general market to date.
Geek Photoshoot Capabilities
Perhaps my favorite feature of the phone, the continued collaboration with Hasselblad really proves the brand’s dedication in pushing the capabilities of mobile photography. Equipped with 3 large cameras with amazing sensors each, OnePlus 11 makes photography joyous once more. I especially love the black and white photo-taking capabilities of this phone. The render just adds dramatic flair to pretty much any mundane thing you decide to shoot.
Take a look at these sample shots.
With a SONY IMX809 Sensor on the 50MP Main shooter, an IMX581 Sensor on the 48MP Ultra-wide camera (with TurboRAW taking capabilities and hi-res 4cm Macro photo capabilities), and an IMX709 RGBW Portrait Tele Cam, there’s no reason for you not to capture that perfect photo moment. Aside from that, the three main cameras are equipped with what OnePlus calls the Accu-spectrum light-color identifier – making images appear more natural. And even with the Ai Master on, we’re not getting overly saturated photos.
The three main camera of the unit coupled with very good processing power, enables the phone to capture rich details and separate subject from background regardless if you’re on Portrait Mode or just plain ol’ vanilla photo mode. The litmus test for me is being able to capture this particular flower from our garden. For some reason, a lot of smartphones I’ve tested had problems trying to capture the intricate details of this orange flower. Either hardware, processor, or software’s of other brands oversaturates and exaggerates the color itself – leaving the subject flat while highlighting everything else around it. The OnePlus 11? Captures the details perfectly.
Previous Daily Driver to the left, OnePlus 11 to the right
Even for portrait bokeh, subject separation is rendered closer to that of DSLR professional cameras.
Not really into still photography? No prob. The 5-Axis OIS (+EIS) stabilization of the device should help you create steady cinematic shots as well. There’s very little gimmick to the phone’s optics, really. The OnePlus is capable of recording up to 8K at 24fps as well. Just a little flex of the phone right there.
The only qualms we have with the phone’s optics would be its front-facing shooter. The unit only has 16MP front-facing camera – a bit of a step-down from some of the beefier flagships out there, but it does the job right especially on well-lit areas.
Everyday Reliability
On the surface, the OnePlus is built on a stainless steel unibody toughened by premium aluminum frame and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. Supposedly the phone can withstand drops from 1 meter max.
With a large 5000mAh of dual-cell battery and a whopping 100W SuperVOOC Flash charging, get juiced up from 0-100% in just under 25 minutes. It’s crazy fast, but pretty safe as well. The OnePlus 11 promises safe charging as certified by TÜV Rheinland. They’re also claiming a 48-month fluency for the phone, meaning for the next 4 years, you shouldn’t feel any lag or slow down and that continued support will be placed on the SoC and the OS.
There’s great assurance that this flagship device should last a very long time before first signs of wear and tear.
Another aspect that we enjoyed with the phone is the lack of bloatware out of the box. After checking out numerous China-brand devices, it’s refreshing to see one with hardly any apps when you first fire it up. We had to install majority of the communications and social media apps as well like Facebook, Instagram and the likes.
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- w/o pixelation
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- w/ pixelation
OxygenOS 13 (based on Android 13) also a lot of nifty features – one of which is a screenshot pixelation of names and profile images. Floating windows is made much easier to use and you can split your screen to two active windows simultaneously.
Lastly, haptic feedback on the device feels superbly amazing. There are a lot of subtle rumbles and pings mixed with proper sound cues to really give you a more natural (and premium) feel when you’re writing or typing away on the virtual keyboard of the device. If you’ve ever held a dual sense, you get a good feel of that on your OnePlus 11.
Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict
We cannot recommend the device enough especially for those who want a premium handset with superb optics and is pretty much built to last. Gorgeous specs mixed with gorgeous design and form factor is a winning combo in any book and OnePlus nailed it with the OnePlus 11.
The OnePlus 11 retails for Php 45,990 for the 8GB/128GB variant and Php 49,990 for the 16GB/256GB variant. Currently on pre-orders, you can also nab yourselves a TG113 Bluetooth Speaker and up to Php 2000 discount on vouchers.
For more on the OnePlus 11, visit their official social media pages.
OnePlus 11 5G specs:
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Processor
- Adreno 740 GPU with Ray Tracing
- 8GB RAM / 16GB RAM
- 6.7-inch Curved AMOLED QHD+ (3216×1440) display, 120Hz refresh rate, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, 1300 nits peak brightness, 92.7% screen-to-body ratio
- 128GB/ 256GB storage
- 50MP f/1.8 main IMX890 with 5-Axis OIS + 48MP IMX581 115˚ f/2.2 ultrawide with TurboRAW 2.0 + 32MP IMX709 f/2.0 Portrait RGBW Tele triple rear camera setup. Shoots up to 8K 24fps
- 16MP f/2.5 wide front camera
- 3G, LTE, 5G Dual SIM
- WiFi 7, Bluetooth, GPS, under display fingerprint scanner, gyro, USB Type-C
- 5000mAh battery with 100W SuperVOOC fast charge support
- Android 13 with OxygenOS 13
- Eternal Green (Glossy), Titan Black (Matte)
- PHP 45,990 / PHP 49,990