Because we liked the OnePlus 10 Pro so much, we’re already excited to see what the OnePlus 11 will bring in 2023 – even though we’re not expecting it to launch for a long, long time.
This will likely be the first OnePlus phone of the year, though we’re expecting many entries to the company’s Nord line in the meantime. It’ll likely be one of the best Android phones of the year, going by the last few entries in the family, though we’ll need to wait and see.
We haven’t heard many rumors about the OnePlus 11 so far. Normally we’d create a rumor hub listing every leak and report, but until we’ve heard anything major, we’ve written a wish-list that you can read below.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The 2023 entry in OnePlus’ flagship line
- When is it out? Likely the first few months of 2023
- How much will it cost? Probably just under $899 / £799 (roughly AU$1,400)
OnePlus 11 price and availability
Going by precedent, we’ll likely see the OnePlus 11 family debut in the first few months of the year – maybe staggered by region, like the OnePlus 10 Pro was, but hopefully at one big launch event, like for the company’s previous phones.
It’s harder to judge price though, and that’s because there wasn’t a ‘standard’ OnePlus 10, with a premium-but-not-super-premium price.
So we can make a good guess at the OnePlus 11 Pro’s price – it’ll likely cost around $899 / £799 (roughly AU$1,400), which is how much its predecessor set you back. If a non-Pro device launches, it’ll be a little cheaper.
OnePlus 11: what we want to see
After testing the OnePlus 10 Pro and other handsets from the company, and the wider Android world, here are some changes we want the OnePlus 11 to bring.
1. A non-Pro version
Is the OnePlus 10 Pro really ‘Pro’ if there isn’t a standard version? No, not really, we’d say – but for some reason, OnePlus’ only flagship phone of 2022 had that suffix.
Since there’s only one phone in the family, OnePlus can only put out a handset at a certain price tag. This means people wanting a more affordable alternative, or super-premium version, don’t have anything to buy.
We’d like to see the OnePlus 11 come with at least two members of the family, and maybe a third too – be it a Lite, Ultra or Pro Plus version.
2. A less convoluted launch
When phone makers launch their devices with lots of pomp and fanfare, it can really drive up excitement for the mobile… but the exact opposite happened for the OnePlus 10 Pro.
The device originally launched in January, but that was just for the Chinese market – it was launched for the global market in February at MWC 2022, and then saw yet another unveiling event in April, which actually was followed by a release for certain markets.
That’s very confusing for the average buyer and meant that, by the time it was actually available to buy, the OnePlus 10 Pro was old news. We’d like this whole procedure to be more condensed in 2023 so we’re not waiting months to buy the OnePlus 11.
3. Charging equality
The OnePlus 10 Pro had lovely 80W fast charging, ensuring the device could go from 0% to 100% in the same time it takes you to watch an episode of your favorite sit-com….
… that is, unless you live in the US. The OnePlus 10 Pro there only powers at 65W, which is still fast, but definitely not 80W fast.
We’d like the charging speeds to be equal for the OnePlus 11, so people in the US aren’t getting an inferior phone.
4. A better zoom camera
The OnePlus 10 Pro isn’t the best phone for zoom photography – though its 3.3x telephoto lens lets you zoom further than some similar-priced rivals, we do like seeing ‘Pro’ devices that get you 5x or even 10x further away (though maybe that latter is more of an ‘Ultra’ feature).
What’s not as great is the 8MP sensor that accompanies this lens – not only is that a little low-res for a smartphone camera, but it reduces the possibility of digital zoom beyond the optical limit.
We’d like to see more of a focus on zoom photography in the OnePlus 11, to give photographers the opportunity to shine.
5. A smaller alternative
The OnePlus 10 Pro is a big phone, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as you get lots of screen space – but it does make the device hard to hold for people with smaller hands.
If the OnePlus 11 does come with multiple versions as we’ve already wished for, we’d like one to be smaller, to cater for people who don’t want a giant monster.
We saw Xiaomi make this move with the Xiaomi 12, offering a smaller handset than it had previously made, and Samsung has done it for a while too. Hopefully, then, OnePlus will follow suit.