Weekly poll: Does the OnePlus 11’s aggressive pricing make it the flagship for you?

OnePlus has officially returned to the single flagship strategy – there’s only the OnePlus 11 this round. Granted, the non-Pro OnePlus 10 never materialized, but removing “pro” from the 11-series flagship’s name makes it official. Well, is this the one and only flagship you want or has the company missed the mark?

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

There’s no mention of a 10-bit panel or Gorilla Glass, but that might just be stuff OnePlus hasn’t listed correctly. No IP rating yet either, we’ll let you know as soon as we know more.

Then the upgrades. There’s of course the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is a major improvement over the original 8 Gen 1 and the 888 that preceded it. And this time it’s paired with faster UFS 4.0 and LPDDR5X. Also, the base configuration available now is 12/256 GB, compared to 8/128 GB.

Cameras are hard to qualify. OnePlus has replaced the 1/1.43″ 48MP IMX789 sensor with a 1/1.56″ 50MP 890 sensor. Again, this is something that needs careful consideration. The ultra-wide camera is a bit of a disappointment as it’s lost the impressive 150° lens and has a medium 115° lens instead.

OnePlus 11 details

Telephoto is also a tough call. The lens has a shorter focal length (48mm) and only offers 2x magnification, compared to 3.3x (77mm). However, it has a fairly large 1/1.56″ 32MP sensor behind it (compared to a smaller 8MP sensor), so it should offer high-quality zoom in the 2x to 4x range. Plus, all the goodies Hasselblad are always on board, assisted by a 13-channel multispectral sensor.

The battery has the same capacity as the 10 Pro, 5,000 mAh, and is 500 mAh larger than the 9 Pro battery. Wired charging has gone up a notch to 100W (up from 80W and 65W in older models), but wireless charging has been removed for some reason. We know some of you don’t use it (either because of efficiency and heat issues, or because you don’t find it more convenient), but it’s still a downgrade.

And while we’re at it, OnePlus has removed the USB 3.1 port that was capable of outputting video and replaced it with a basic USB 2.0 port. The company never developed a desktop mode, so video output had limited utility, but flagships should gain functionality, not lose it.

Anyway, the last thing to mention is the 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 12/256 GB unit. That’s significantly cheaper than the OnePlus 10 Pro, which started at CNY 4,700 for an 8/128 GB unit. The 12/256 configuration Go corresponding was even more expensive. When the 10 Pro went global, the base 8/128GB unit was $900/€900/₹70,000, so the 11 should be less than that.

Aggressive pricing seems to undercut some high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones, present and future. Let’s look at some of them.

There’s the vivo X90 Pro+ at CNY6,500 for a 12/256GB phone. All that extra cash gets you a potentially better LTPO4 display of similar size and resolution, a 1″ main sensor, a 3″ periscope .5x (with a 64MP sensor), a second 50MP 2x tele mod, and a not-so-wide 114° ultra wide camera.The battery is slightly smaller at 4,700mAh, but it has 50W wireless charging in over 80W wired.

The iQOO 11 Pro is a bit more affordable at CNY5,500 for a 12/256GB phone. Like the X90, this one has a 6.78-inch LTPO4 display, although this one has been pushed up 144Hz. The rest of the phone is quite similar to the OnePlus except for the telephoto lens – a base 13MP 2x module. The 4,700mAh battery is extremely fast, hitting 200W on a wire and capable of 50W wireless charging.

vivo X90 Pro+ • vivo iQOO 11 Pro • Xiaomi 13 Pro • Xiaomi Redmi K60 Pro

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

The cheapest option is the Redmi K60 Pro, a 12/256 GB phone will set you back CNY 3,900, just below the OnePlus 11 price. Even though it’s a Redmi, it has a 120 QHD+ display Hz (not LTPO, but it’s 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’s less impressive than the OnePlus – the main 54MP 1/1.49″ camera with OIS is joined by a base 8MP 118° ultrawide and no telephoto.

A few other phones worth mentioning are the Motorola Moto X40 and the nubia Z50. The Moto X40 (12/256 GB) matches the OnePlus at CNY 4,000. It has a 6.7-inch non-LTPO OLED display – only FHD+ resolution but 165Hz refresh rate. 50MP 117° ultrawide.The 12MP 2x telephoto module is pretty basic.Finally, the 4600mAh battery supports 125W wired charging and 15W wireless charging.

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

Motorola Moto X40 • ZTE nubia Red Magic 8 Pro

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

It’s time to vote – if you’re looking for a flagship, is the OnePlus 11 the one you’re looking for or do you think there are better options? If you have any problems with the poll below, you can also vote here.

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