OnePlus has pulled back the covers on its latest flagship phone, the OnePlus 11 5G, which is set to launch in China on 9 January and arrive in the global market on 7 February. It will be accompanied by the next generation of the company’s ANC-equipped wireless earbuds, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2.
OnePlus 11 5G
OnePlus
Powering the OnePlus 11 5G is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, which should deliver enhancements for both CPU and GPU performance over the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in the OnePlus 10T it succeeds. The phone sports a 6.7-inch 2K A+ fluid AMOLED display running with a 120Hz refresh rate, and also introduces LTPO 3.0 display technology, which will come as good news to those who want longer battery life from their devices.
We saw this feature in 2022 on devices like the Vivo X80 Pro and as the display on the OnePlus 10T was already excellent, the 11 5G could improve on this even further.
As with its predecessor, you’ll be able to choose up to 16GB of RAM for the OnePlus 11 5G, and the company says that there is also an advanced RAM management system for better performance in multi-tasking and gaming scenarios. Always welcome.
Cameras are always a key feature of any modern flagship, and OnePlus’ collaboration with Hasselblad remains in place for the 11 5G. This means that the device will still use the Hasselblad technology found in the 10T, plus have a new 13-channel multi-spectral light-colour identifying sensor, adding versatility to the 11 5G cameras. The main array comprises a 50MP main IMX890 sensor, 48MP ultra-wide IMX581 sensor, and an 32MP portrait IMX709 sensor, which are all significant upgrades over the OnePlus 10T.
Battery life shouldn’t be an issue either, as the OnePlus 11 5G will come with a 5,000mAh cell which can be quickly recharged via the 100W SUPERVOOC charging system.
While the release date has already been confirmed, we still await the pricing. Hopefully it shouldn’t stray too far from the $649/£629/€699/₹44,999 of the OnePlus 10T.
OnePlus Buds Pro 2
OnePlus
Joining the OnePlus 11 5G on launch day will be the company’s next generation of wireless earbuds. The OnePlus Buds Pro 2 features a MelodyBoost dual driver system that was designed with Danish speaker specialists Dynaudio. This features 11mm subwoofers for the lower frequencies, while 6mm tweeter units take care of the majority of the mid and treble parts of the sound. This should help to clarify the frequencies, as we found the single 11mm drivers on the OnePlus Buds Pro could be a bit muddy at times.
OnePlus states that, ‘The dome of the woofer is equipped with a crystal polymer diaphragm and a separate dome and edge design to improve the connection between the low and mid frequencies and the high frequencies’.
The Buds will also benefit from one default EQ and three customised ones – Bold, Serenade, and Bass – so you should be able to find one that suits your preferred focus on frequencies.
Android users will be happy to know that the new buds also offer spatial audio, which promises to deliver immersive tones with wide soundscapes for music and any other audio you like. OnePlus says that the rich stereo sounds available are due to a, ‘self-developed stereo upmixing algorithm’, which handles all of the technical heavy lifting. There’s also real-time head tracking, thanks to a six-axis IMU sensor, that should always keep you in the middle of the aural action.
As you’d expect with the name Pro, these also come with Smart Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) that can dull up to 48dB of sounds from your surrounding environment, so you can block out the world when you want to listen to your music. There’s also ‘Personalized Noise Cancellation’ which analyses your ear canal and checks for leakage (sound that is, not anything else) and delivers the most suitable form of cancellation it thinks you’ll require.
Connection is via Bluetooth 5.3 LE, and the buds can be paired with two devices simultaneously. OnePlus says that, combined with the charging case, you should get up to 39 hours of playback before needing to seek out a power source. This is a healthy increase over the previous generation buds, which could only manage 28 hours.
Again, no prices as yet, so we’ll assume that the new buds will be priced around the same as the ones they replace, which should put them at the £139/$149 mark.
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Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews for Macworld and its sister site Tech Advisor.