The OnePlus 11 arrives in France, and is one of the first smartphones to benefit from Qualcomm’s new high-end chip. According to our first tests, it is a real success.
OnePlus has certainly lost some of its former glory, but is far from having abandoned the smartphone market. He is launching his OnePlus 11 in France, a smartphone that is unashamedly eyeing the high end. The terminal is indeed far from the category of “flagship killer” which made the reputation of the brand in the 2010s.
In a context of generalized price increases, the OnePlus 11 indeed starts at 849 euros for its basic configuration, with 8 GB of Ram and 128 (small) GB of storage. A second version, more muscular, is marketed at 919 euros, this time with 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. It is clearly this latest version that we recommend, given that the storage is not expandable… and that 128 GB seems a bit low for a smartphone at this price.
The OnePlus 11 is a rather large device, with a 6.7-inch screen and a weight of 206 grams. Here is a summary of its technical characteristics, of which we can highlight some highlights. Obviously, the presence of the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip (we will come back to this) but also a large 5,000 mAh battery with ultra-fast charging. We also appreciate the presence of 16 GB of RAM on the high-end model.
Enough, according to OnePlus, to keep up to 44 active applications at the same time! Good news, which compensates for a photo partition that is a little less generous than with the competition, in particular with a telephoto module rather dedicated to portraits, which is satisfied with an x2 optical zoom… and a “selfie” module which is satisfied with 16 Mpix .
Screen: a slight disappointment
While waiting for a full test, here are our first measurements, live from 01Lab! Let’s start with the screen which, without being ashamed of it, far from it, is a bit fishing compared to some recent rivals of the OnePlus 11.
With a brightness measured on average at 754 cd / m2, the AMOLED panel is 12% less bright than the average of the smartphones we have tested over the past 12 months. The Delta E 2000, which represents the fidelity of displayed colors, is also a tad disappointing, with a measurement of 4.99. Nothing prohibitive however, in one case as in the other. The OnePlus makes up for it with a variable refresh from 1 to 120 Hz, which will be appreciable especially for games.
Performance: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, a very good vintage?
We still have little perspective on Qualcomm’s new SoC, but this chip, which should equip a good part of high-end smartphones this year, seems to have it in the belly. This OnePlus 11 shows it to us once again, after the exceptional results of the Nubia Redmagic 8 Pro.
According to our measurements, its CPU is around 30% more efficient than the average smartphone in the same range that we have tested over the past 12 months. Even more impressive, the results in terms of GPU power soar, with a terminal more than 100% more efficient than those we tested previously!
We voluntarily compared the OnePlus 11 to competitors with the same chip that we were able to test (S23 Ultra and Redmagic 8 Pro) as well as two flagship models from last year, including the previous generation from the Chinese manufacturer. We note, of course, that it does not manage to match the performance of smartphones also equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. However, the results are so close that they can be considered equal. On the other hand, the OnePlus 11 is clearly distinguished from the Pixel 7 Pro (about 80% more efficient for the GPU and 50% overall) as well as from the OnePlus 10 Pro, which benefited from a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (33.6% of progress for the GPU part and 43% overall). An impressive leap.
Excellent scores confirmed by Geekbench: we find similar results on smartphones in 8 Gen 2, while the models of the previous year really drop out.
In terms of 3D, the OnePlus 11 also holds its own against the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Excellent news, however, it must be tempered a little. According to our measurements, the smartphone heats up quite a bit when under heavy load. In addition, its stability score on 3DMark Wild Life is lower than average, no doubt proof that the chip limits its performance to limit heating. Nothing outrageous, however.
Charging and battery: it’s excellent!
The first top-of-the-range Android smartphones at the start of the year are giving us some good surprises… in terms of autonomy. This is also the case with this OnePlus 11, which manages to hold 21:01 in versatile autonomy and 18:35 in video. It’s simply excellent: it thus exceeds by more than 25% the average measurements of versatile autonomy of the smartphones that we have tested over the past 12 months, and even by 28.7% in video. Compare, for example, its versatile autonomy to that of its 2022 ancestor: we gain more than six hours! A performance that it certainly owes to its 5,000 mAh battery, but also to the energy efficiency of the Qualcomm chip. The copy is all the more beautiful as the OnePlus 11 charges at lightning speed, with a full charge in just 27 minutes. Very convenient.
We will go into more detail on the OnePlus 11, in particular on its photo partition and its interface, in a complete test. But one thing is already certain: the performance is there!
