OnePlus 11 review: rapid Android with long battery life

The OnePlus 11 is one of the first smartphones with the latest top chip from Qualcomm, which makes it faster and longer lasting but a revamped design of the device has polarised opinion.

The frosted glass back of the black version feels excellent in the hand but a big circular camera module at the top is its standout feature. The phone is well made but is only splash resistant and not rated to be capable of surviving submersion in water like most rivals, which feels a bit cheap.

Battery life is much improved. The 11 lasts about 46 to 48 hours between charges, with the screen actively used for five to six hours in that time and three hours spent on 5G, the rest on wifi. Increasing the screen resolution to its maximum QHD+ had little impact on the battery life.

When the battery finally runs out, it only takes 23 minutes for a full charge with the 100W power adaptor, which is slightly slower than the 10T but not by much. The battery is rated to last at least 1,600 full charge cycles, which is roughly double most rivals and should last for the life of the phone without needing replacement.

The main camera shoots some of the best photos on a OnePlus yet, with good detail and range, but it loses a little sharpness around the edges of the frame and can struggle with colour balance with warmer scenes occasionally looking a little orange.

All three cameras struggle a little in low-light scenarios compared with class leaders. The 16MP selfie cam shoots good-looking, detailed images with reasonable dynamic range, handling poor lighting well.

A macro photography mode uses the ultrawide camera when getting in close and can produce some excellent images. But you have to be precise to keep the image sharp, which is difficult to judge on screen while shooting. Various additional modes generally work well, including a decent portrait mode and novel Xpan panoramic shots.

The OnePlus 11 costs £729 ($699) for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage or £799 ($799) with 16 and 256GB, shipping on 16 February.

For comparison, the Google Pixel 7 costs £599, the Pixel 7 Pro costs £849, the Samsung Galaxy S23+ costs £1,049 and the iPhone 14 Plus costs £949.

The OnePlus 11 is a solid phone offering a lot of performance, battery life and very fast charging for the money but otherwise struggles to stand out in the crowd.

It is well made, feels nice and is narrower than its rivals, so is a little easier to hold despite being a big phone. The screen is great, the fingerprint scanner is responsive and the camera is solid if not class leading. The large circular camera lump on the back is divisive, however.

It lacks wireless charging and only has splash water resistance but on the whole there is little to fault with the 11, making it a decent alternative to big-brand rivals. It is just a little uninspired and with some excellent mid-range phones offering almost as much for far less money, the OnePlus may not be flashy or cheap enough to win outright.