Weekly poll: does OnePlus 11's aggressive pricing make it the right flagship for you?

07 January 2023

OnePlus has officially gone back to the one flagship strategy – there is only the OnePlus 11 this round. Admittedly, the OnePlus 10 non-Pro never materialized, but dropping “pro” from the name of the 11-series flagship makes it official. Well, is this the one and only flagship you want or did the company miss the mark?

Before we put it to a vote, let’s take a closer look at how number 11 compares to the OnePlus 10 Pro and the 9 Pro. We will start with the similarities. The display is still a 6.7” AMOLED panel with QHD+ resolution and a 1-120Hz refresh rate, though this time it uses a new LTPO3 panel (up from LTPO2). How much of a difference this makes we won’t know until we get a review unit.

There’s no mention of a 10-bit panel or Gorilla Glass, but that could be just things that OnePlus has failed to list properly. No IP rating yet either, we will update you once we know more.

Next, the upgrades. There is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, of course, which is a major improvement over the original 8 Gen 1 and the 888 before it. And this time it is paired with faster UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X. Plus, the base configuration available now is 12/256GB, up from 8/128GB.

The cameras are tough to qualify. OnePlus replaced the 1/1.43” 48MP IMX789 with a 1/1.56” 50MP 890 sensor. Again, this is something that needs a thorough review. The ultrawide camera is a bit of a disappointment since it lost the impressive 150° lens and has an average 115° lens instead.

The telephoto camera is a tough call as well. The lens has a shorter focal length (48mm) and only offers 2x magnification, down from 3.3x (77mm). However, it has a fairly large 1/1.56” 32MP sensor behind it (vs. a smaller 8MP sensor), so it should offer high quality zoom in the 2x to 4x range. Also, all the Hasselblad goodies are still on board, assisted by a 13-channel multispectral sensor.

The battery has the same capacity as the 10 Pro, 5,000mAh, and is 500mAh bigger than the 9 Pro battery. Wired charging went up a notch to 100W (up from 80W and 65W in the older models), but wireless charging was axed for some reasons. We know that some of you don’t use it (either because of efficiency and heat concerns or you just don’t find it all that more convenient), but that’s still a downgrade.

And while we’re here, OnePlus axed the USB 3.1 port that was capable of video out and replaced it with a basic USB 2.0 port. The company never developed a desktop mode so video out had limited usefulness, but flagships should be gaining features, not losing them.

Anyway, the last thing to mention is price – we only have the one for China, so let’s look at the relative values. The OnePlus 11 starts at CNY 4,000 for a 12/256GB unit. That’s a good deal cheaper than the OnePlus 10 Pro, which started at CNY 4,700 for an 8/128GB unit. The matching 12/256GB configuration was even pricier. When the 10 Pro went global, the base 8/128GB unit was $900/€900/₹70,000, so the 11 should be less than that.

The aggressive pricing looks to undercut some premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones, present and upcoming. Let’s look at a few of them.

There is the vivo X90 Pro+ at CNY 6,500 for a 12/256GB phone. All that extra cash buys you a potentially better LTPO4 display of similar size and resolution, a 1” main sensor, a 3.5x periscope (with a 64MP sensor), a second 50MP 2x tele module and a not-so-wide 114° ultra wide camera. The battery is slightly smaller at 4,700mAh, but it has 50W wireless charging in addition to 80W wired.

The iQOO 11 Pro is a tad more affordable at CNY 5,500 for a 12/256GB phone. Like the X90, this one has a 6.78” LTPO4 display, though this one has been cranked up to 144Hz. The rest of the phone is quite similar to the OnePlus, save for the telephoto camera – a basic 13MP 2x module. The 4,700mAh battery is blazing fast, however, reaching 200W over a wire and capable of 50W wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 13 Pro – CNY 5,800 for a 12/256GB unit – also packs a 1” main sensor and while there is no periscope here, it does have a 50MP 3.2x tele camera, plus a 50MP 115° ultra wide. The display is a 6.73” QHD+ 120Hz LTPO panel, the 4,820mAh battery does 120W wired and 50W wireless charging.

The cheaper option is the Redmi K60 Pro, a 12/256GB phone will cost you CNY 3,900, just under the OnePlus 11 price. Even though it’s a Redmi, this does have a QHD+ 120Hz display (not LTPO, but it is a 12-bit panel) and it even has 30W wireless charging, not to mention 120W wired charging for the 5,000mAh battery. Camera-wise it is less impressive than the OnePlus – the 54MP 1/1.49” main camera with OIS is joined by a basic 8MP 118° ultra wide and no tele lens.

A couple of more phones worth mentioning are the Motorola Moto X40 and the nubia Z50. The Moto X40 (12/256GB) matches the OnePlus at CNY 4,000. It has a 6.7” non-LTPO OLED display – only FHD+ resolution but 165Hz refresh rate. The 50MP 1/1.55” main camera with OIS is comparable, as is the 50MP 117° ultra wide. The 12MP 2x telephoto module is pretty basic. Finally, the 4,600mAh battery supports 125W wired and 15W wireless charging.

The Red Magic 8 Pro is pricier in the 12/256GB configuration, CNY 4,800. It has a 6.8” display with just over FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. This is a gaming phone, so instead of spending money on fancy cameras, it instead brings active cooling for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (with RGB lighting) and a large 6,000mAh battery with 80W wired-only charging.

Right now, the OnePlus 11 is one of the cheapest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagships that you can buy in China. Maybe that will remain true on the global market as well. It doesn’t quite have the best specs, but some cutbacks and aggressive pricing is what made OnePlus so popular in the first place.

Time to vote – if you’re looking for a flagship, is the OnePlus 11 the one you are looking for or do you think that there are better options? If you encounter issues with the poll below, you can also cast your vote here.

PS. The OnePlus 11 global launch is scheduled for February 7, so it should arrive before Samsung’s S-series flagships.