Daily Authority: 💥 Is the old OnePlus back?

🌄 Good morning, Daily Authority readers. I was at the OnePlus 11 global launch event last evening, and boy, was it a packed show! There must have been a thousand folks at the thing. It was probably OnePlus’ only big show this year since there’s no OnePlus 11 Pro on the horizon. Anyhow, I’m going to do a quick wrap of everything OnePlus announced, including what we thought of the OnePlus 11 in our review.

Is the old OnePlus back?

The OnePlus 11 went global yesterday. It’s possibly the only flagship phone OnePlus plans to launch this year, apart from a possible foldable phone the company may have teased at the event. Here’s what Android Authority’s Ryan Haines said about the phone in our review.

The pros

• The OnePlus 11 has an impressive design and premium finish. The Eternal Green color is excellent.
• The alert slider is back after being absent on the OnePlus 10T.
• Already have a OnePlus 10T? Here’s some advice about upgrading to the OnePlus 11.
• Coming back to the OnePlus 11, the company seems to have found the right balance when it comes to waterfall displays.
• The 6.7-inch display is bright and sharp, and the 120Hz variable refresh rate is smooth and drops as low as 1Hz.
• With moderate usage, you can stretch the phone’s usage to close to two days.
• Charging is also plenty fast at 80W in the US and 100W in the rest of the world. It took us about 30 minutes to get a full charge from the former and 25 minutes from the latter.
• Performance results are impressive with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It easily outpaces the OnePlus 10T, which was designed as a performance-first device with its Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset.
• We didn’t notice any stuttering or slowing, even when running graphically-demanding games like Asphalt 9.
• That 50MP primary sensor, for its part, performs very well in bright lighting.
• The most impressive piece of the OnePlus 11’s camera setup is its portrait detection.
• Four years of Android updates and five years of security patches are also a big positive for the OnePlus 11, which now matches Samsung’s industry-leading update commitment.

The cons

• While 80W wired charging is impressive, it comes at the cost of wireless charging, which is missing.
• Further, the OnePlus 11 comes with a USB-A charging block and a USB-A to USB-C cable. That means you’ll quickly run into issues if you have to borrow a friend’s charger and they only have a USB-C option.
• While we didn’t notice any issues with the OnePlus 11’s performance in most day-to-day tasks, it struggled in stress tests.
• The Eternal Green finish looks great but is also a fingerprint and smudge magnet.
• It’s nice to see IP ratings for all OnePlus 11 models and not just ones from specific carriers, but IP64 just isn’t enough.
• The OnePlus 11’s 50MP primary sensor seems to struggle as soon as the clouds come out. Low-light performance is also a real sore point
• The phone’s Hasselblad-branded cameras too often suffer from muted colors and poor low-light performance.

In many ways, the OnePlus 11 is a successful return to what made the brand exciting in the first place. Head over and check out the full review to read our full verdict.

Roundup

🎁 The OnePlus 11 wasn’t the only thing the company announced. It also revealed its first Android tablet, the OnePlus Pad (Android Authority).

📱 There was also the OnePlus 11R, but you won’t be able to buy it everywhere (Android Authority).

🎶 Then there were the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, a pair of truly wireless earbuds that actually look pretty premium (Android Authority).

🤖 Microsoft also had some big news: ChatGPT is now integrated with the Edge browser (Android Authority).

🦾 And CEO Satya Nadella explains why AI can beat Google at search (The Verge).

💰 Meanwhile, did you know how much it costs to make the $899 Pixel 7 Pro? (Android Authority).

🗨️ WhatsApp’s Status feature has received a major update (WhatsApp).

📸 Canon has announced the EOS R8, the most affordable full-frame mirrorless camera (Engadget).

🖌️ Google Search will soon start blurring explicit imagery by default (Android Authority).

❗ Surprise! China’s top Android phones collect way more info (The Register).

Wednesday Wonder

TIL — A football poster in Steven Spielberg-produced horror film Poltergeist says “1988 SUPER BOWL XXII,” which is strange because the movie was released in 1982. What’s even weirder is that in 1988, a day after the Super Bowl, Heather O’Rourke, who portrayed Carol Anne Freeling in the films, passed away during surgery. The presence of the poster and lack of explanation from the filmmakers has led to it becoming part of the infamous “Poltergeist Curse.”

Have a non-spooky day,

Adamya Sharma, Editor