Once upon a time, OnePlus’s success was driven by a business model that offered superior hardware specifications at prices that were typically lower than those offered by competitors. Over the course of time, the Chinese business gradually moved further and further away from this pattern on an annual basis, ultimately giving in to the pressure of competing on a dollar-for-dollar basis with other flagship handsets.
Yet, in an unexpected turn of events, it seems as though OnePlus is going to be taking some necessary steps back, beginning with the OnePlus 11. People in the United States can purchase this most recent offering beginning at the price of $699, which is the lowest price that the base model has been for the past three years. Moreover, the “Pro” variant was discontinued, resulting in only one top-tier OnePlus handheld being available. This change appears to be a repercussion of the company’s new relationship with Oppo, which establishes OnePlus as its formal sub-brand in an effort to maintain a net profit margin that is close to zero.
The OnePlus 11 now competes with devices such as the Google Pixel 7 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 in the upper-middle range and lower-premium category, which is a market segment that does not offer a great deal of variety in the United States. But does its hardware live up to the price tag, or does it have more going for it than meets the eye?
Hardware and features
When it comes to screen technology, OnePlus normally doesn’t pull any punches and maintains a position that is quite close to the cutting edge of whatever is currently available. However, similar to the best smartphones offered by the vast majority of other OEMs, this feature is exclusive to the company’s top-tier “Pro” models and is therefore not available on the recently released OnePlus 11. I do not believe that it is reasonable to anticipate hardware on the level of a Pro at the price that it is asking, but how close can it get?
The front panel design that OnePlus has been using for the past four years, which has gentle lateral curves and a corner cut-out for the front-facing camera, is almost exactly the same design that is still being utilized today. I have no problem with recycling designs if it means they may be improved in other places, but unfortunately, that is not the case here. Because the OLED luminescent materials used in the OnePlus 11 and the OnePlus 9 are the same, users should not anticipate any significant gains in peak brightness or display power efficiency from the OnePlus 11. The method by which the display driver adjusts to different frame rates in the content has been modified. This achievement, which the business refers to as “LTPO 3.0,” is something I will discuss in more detail later. This leaves the majority of any potential modifications to be made to the software calibration, which can make or break the viewing experience depending on the amount of light present or whether it is being viewed indoors or outside. Notwithstanding this, we will proceed with the comprehensive display tests that we have been conducting on the OnePlus 11.
One of the most significant benefits that the OnePlus 11 offers in comparison to the somewhat less expensive Google Pixel 7 is that it utilizes a premium flexible OLED display stack, as opposed to the inexpensive rigid one that is present on the Pixel. In conclusion, despite the fact that both phones have inherited the same Samsung Display E4 material set, the OnePlus 11 has better viewing angles and reduced screen reflectance, which results in deeper blacks. A smartphone with a screen of this quality normally has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of at least $700 in the United States, which is the same as what OnePlus is selling.
Brightness and power testing
As was said earlier, the luminescent substance that is used in OnePlus screens has not undergone any changes, which means that the brightness performance of the device will be very similar to that of previous generations. This typically translates to a peak manual brightness of approximately 500 nits for Samsung Display’s E4 OLED and a peak auto-brightness of approximately 800 nits for the display. In order for many smartphones to exceed their nominal peak brightness, the screen brightness will be somewhat increased even when the device is outputting less pixels, as is the case with dark mode apps.
The maximum brightness that OnePlus claims the OnePlus 11 can achieve is 1,300 nits, which is the same number that was used for the company’s last two flagship devices. Nevertheless, this rating is quite deceptive because it does not reflect the typical highest level of brightness that the phone can achieve. It instead provides a description of the maximum luminance of the phones, which is measured when only 1% of the screen is lit up. This is not a realistic circumstance for any user, under any circumstances, and is therefore not provided. In addition, the maximum brightness that the OnePlus 9 Pro could achieve in this environment was only roughly 1,200 nits, indicating that the company overstated the capabilities of its display. Then with the release of the OnePlus 11, the situation became even more dire.
The OnePlus 11 only reaches an absolute max brightness of 850 nits, according to my most recent observations. This falls short of the device’s promised specification by 35% and represents an overall decline when compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro. The Vivid setting, which is preset with the brightest screen on most Android phones, was used for the measurements in this table. While being very identical to the OnePlus 9 Pro in this regard, the full-screen luminance of the OnePlus 11 was only measured at about 740 nits, even though the company advertises that it has 800 nits.
When compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro, the OnePlus 11 does not make use of nearly as much OLED brightness boosting at lower pixel levels. This does not necessarily mean that the OnePlus 11 is not capable of reaching the same levels of brightness. The boost has a detrimental impact on color calibration, and if it is applied in excessive amounts, it might reduce the legibility of photographs and films. It is a common misconception that whites with a higher luminance make content more visible in bright lighting. However, this is not always the case; instead of using whites with higher luminance, images that combine non-boosted whites with lighter mid-tones and shadows are typically easier to read in bright lighting. Unfortunately, this was not what OnePlus had in mind, and the device does not benefit in any way from the increased calibration control offered by its lower boosting other than the fact that it is less bright.
The use of more recent emitters has a number of practical advantages, one of which is that they are more efficient in powering the same amount of screen luminescence. Other advantages include higher peak brightness levels. The screen included in the OnePlus 11 has a power-luminescence footprint that is approximately forty percent greater than the screen found in the Samsung Galaxy S22+, which is one generation ahead. Obviously, the Galaxy S23 series and the iPhone are two examples of far more expensive mobile devices. In spite of this, it is important to point out that other phones, like as the Xiaomi 13 and the Vivo iQOO 11, can be purchased for around to the same amount of money as the OnePlus 11 (at least in some countries), and they use emitters that are comparable to those found in the Samsung Galaxy S22+. A new data point for the Google Pixel 7 Pro has been included in the chart that is located above. This chart also makes use of an SDC E4 OLED (though pushed past its reasonable limits).
Last but not least, in order for the OnePlus 11 to switch into its high-brightness mode, it must first detect a significant amount of ambient light, which is a higher threshold than any other smartphone I’ve tested. To simply detect 40,000 lux, which is equivalent to direct sunlight, the phone needs to have a nit reading of at least 500. To put this into perspective, the Google Pixel 7 and the iPhone 14 Pro only require approximately 6,000 lux to reach above 500 nits, whereas the iPhone needs 30,000 lux to rise above 2,000 nits. The OnePlus 11 requires at least 70,000 lux of illumination in order to perform at its maximum brightness level of 740 nits.
Screen refresh testing
The OnePlus 11 comes with an improved variable refresh driver that the company refers to as “Real LTPO 3.0.” This driver is supposed to be faster and more effective in adjusting the screen refresh rate to match the content that is currently being displayed on the device. Although we did not put the previous year’s version of LTPO, version 2.0, through its paces on the OnePlus 10 Pro, we can say that the upgrade to LTPO version 3.0 has been satisfactory.
The update enables the use of a greater variety of distinct refresh rates, from which an appropriate speed can be selected depending on the activity being displayed on the screen. For instance, regular swipes may continue to render at the full 120 Hz, but slow swipes may only do so at a rate of 40–60 Hz. For many user interface interactions, there is very little visual difference between 90 Hz and 120 Hz, and deploying 90 Hz for simple things like non-flick swipes would grant moderate improvements to autonomy. However, based on what I’ve seen, it appears that there is no granularity between 60 Hz and 120 Hz, where a ton of optimizations could be found. This is unfortunate because there are a lot of opportunities for improvement between these two frequencies.
In spite of this, the OnePlus 11 will still cap its maximum refresh rate in certain media apps (like YouTube, Google Photos, or VLC) at 60 Hz, which may cause the experience as a whole to be a little choppy. Films shot at 24 or 25 frames per second do not have their frames properly synchronized, and the screen refresh rate is left at 30 Hz.
Recently, a number of smartphone manufacturers have made a great fuss about the fact that their displays can idle at a rate of 1 Hz. When compared to 10 Hz, the amount of power that is saved by cellphones using this innovation is insignificant, despite the fact that it is an impressive accomplishment of engineering. In the course of my research, I found that there was no discernible difference in the amount of power consumed by the device when the screen was idling at 1 Hz, 5 Hz, or 10 Hz. All three modes were within the range of error for each other. Without relying on OnePlus’s refresh rate indication, I can affirm that the screen does fall down to 10 Hz; however, the optical spectrum is too crowded for me to state with certainty whether or not it actually goes down to 5 Hz or 1 Hz. I can certify, however, that the screen does go down to 10 Hz.
The OnePlus 11 continues to use a pulse-width modulation (PWM) frequency of 360 Hz, which may be bothersome to customers who are sensitive to OLED flickering. This places it roughly in the middle of the group, but it stands out sufficiently to be noticed. It is lower than the screens on the most recent iPhones, which flicker at 480 Hz, but it is greater than the screens on Samsung devices, which flicker at 240 Hz.
When the brightness is turned down, much as with the vast majority of other high-refresh-rate Android phones, the OnePlus 11 will lock its display’s refresh rate to a constant 120 Hz. This behavior ensures that the flickering that may often be seen as a result of OLEDs changing their refresh rates in response to low-brightness drivers is not observed. Using the phone in the dark will obviously result in a higher amount of overall power usage. This is an unavoidable consequence. In a broader sense, the OnePlus 11 will only reduce its refresh rate to 10 Hz at a system brightness of 40%, 5 Hz above 70%, and 1 Hz above 80%. But, in the mode with the usual 60 Hz refresh rate, the screen can idle down to 30 Hz, which consumes significantly less power than the mode with the 120 Hz refresh rate.
Comparison between OnePlus Buds Pro 2 and Apple AirPods Pro 2
Contrast and tone response testing
The tone response capabilities of a screen are at the very top of my list of priorities for what constitutes an excellent screen. To ensure that the display can be read in a variety of lighting conditions, portable handheld devices like smartphones should have the ability to adjust their brightness levels. The tried-and-true display gamma of 2.2 is sufficient for most phones when used in the typical indoor environments that they are intended for. But, the tone response needs to be adjusted such that it makes up for the decreased screen contrast when the phone is used either outside or in a room that is very dark.
As is the case with the vast majority of other mobile devices, the default 2.2-gamma response works perfectly well in this instance. The standard curve is accurately reproduced in both the Natural and Vivid color modes, and this accuracy extends from low to peak brightness. As a result, the display appears to be in generally excellent condition.
One of the relatively small updates made to the OnePlus 11 is that the default Vivid profile now has a tone control that is more restricted. In the past, the profile would increase the brightness of whites at lower content pixel levels, which looked good on a spec sheet to claim a peak brightness that is theoretically greater. However, this has since been changed. Nevertheless, as we discussed previously, this has a negative impact on the quality of the calibration at increased brightness, which causes the shadows and midtones to look substantially darker than they should. The OnePlus 11 reduces the amount of boost that is applied and, as a result, maintains a 2.2 gamma tone response that is considerably more consistent.
Yet in the end, this compromise is pointless because OnePlus did not make any major calibration choices with it. There are two primary areas in which OnePlus could have shown mindfulness in this situation, and it has not succeeded in achieving either one of them.
The magnitudes of brightness that are available on today’s smartphones, for example, are not sufficient on their own to compete with the sun when used outside. Because of the sun’s veiling glare, the black level of the screen is significantly increased in this scenario, which drastically restricts the amount of brightness that can be utilized from the display. In order for the screen to restore its image, it must first remove the shadows that it cast upon itself. If you don’t do this, they’ll have the appearance of being completely obliterated by the sun.
Unfortunately, OnePlus is not one of the top phone manufacturers that currently do this, which includes Apple, Samsung, Google, and Oppo. It is interesting to note that the OnePlus 9 Pro did exhibit this behavior; however, the business later reversed its decision for reasons that are not fully understood. It is not available on the OnePlus 11, unless you are viewing a photograph in the OnePlus Gallery app that comes preinstalled on the device.
On the other end of the brightness spectrum, low-luminance screen calibrations also require a similar approach due to a lack of accessible dynamic range. This is because low-luminance screens have a smaller range of possible brightness levels. This compression is not due to the sun but rather to our diminished acuity in distinguishing between very dark shades of gray coupled with dim levels of white. While viewing media at night, using the same 2.2-gamma setting results in shadows that are too deep. These shadows need to be lightened so that users are not forced to turn up the display’s brightness in order to be able to make out the details of what they are seeing on the screen. In this regard, OnePlus is headed in the right direction because it places an emphasis on boosting the mid-tones when the phone’s brightness is adjusted to be very close to its minimum setting. Unfortunately, shadows and near-blacks are rendered with an excessive degree of darkness, which results in considerable levels of black clipping.
The OnePlus 11 does have a feature that can automatically reduce the minimum display brightness from its nominal 1.9 nits down to approximately 0.8 nits, but doing so has a further impact on the color quality. This feature is available at least for people who live in areas with a lot of nighttime activity.
Color accuracy and precision testing
To begin, we are aware that the display will have the same maximum color gamut as the OnePlus 9 Pro because it uses an older material set. This is something that we already knew. The OnePlus 11 offers the widest color gamut imaginable, which can be accessed by selecting the “Brilliant” screen color setting. This mode produces the most bright colors conceivable.
The Vivid color mode’s default settings aim for the DCI-P3 primaries with a white point approximately 7200 K, which is significantly cooler than the usual setting. Because this profile does not have any color management, all colors are perceived as sRGB and extended out to P3, which results in a distortion of the colors present in all material. It’s not that I have anything against oversaturated color selections; rather, I just think that they should be implemented in a way that doesn’t mess with the hue of the colors and has the same impact on all of them. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to boost solely red and green colors, which is why the Vivid color mode seen in most phones, including the OnePlus 11, violates both of these criteria. This is my biggest worry with the profile because it’s present in the phone.
The most color-accurate profile is the Natural screen mode, which provides color management for sRGB and DCI-P3 media. The majority of modern smartphones come equipped with color profiles that are more than adequate, which means that chromatic accuracy is no longer much of a concern with these devices. The OnePlus 11 is not an exception, as it possesses colorimetry that is capable of performing its duties. For a viewing environment that serves as a reference, the OnePlus 11’s Natural mode displays an average color error E (ITP) that is less than 3.0, which is considered to be satisfactory. At medium stimulus levels, high-purity reds become oversaturated; nevertheless, this is a relatively small portion of the gamut, and it is quite unlikely that it will be recognized.
Even if the OnePlus 11 is being exposed to bright sunshine, there is no indication that it would increase its color saturation. Such an increase would assist mitigate some of the color compression that is brought on by an increase in glare. It is easy to see why some screens go too far (like the Samsung Galaxy S22), but in these circumstances, the visibility of the screen should be the primary concern.
Even if color accuracy hasn’t been a problem for a very long time in the world of smartphones, color precision has been a challenge ever since OLED technology was first developed. Its absence is a telltale symptom of cheaper, lower-quality display technology with poor linearity, whereas screen calibration can only cure so much of the problem by itself. It makes me delighted to note that the OnePlus 11 does extremely well in this area, as it maintains exact control over its white balance across the entirety of its grayscale and brightness range. On our panel, the amount of tinting that can be measured is little, and when it is set to Natural mode, the white point calibration is really near to 6500 K. The highest color error E (ITP) for white on our panel is just 2.1, so even though things go a little warmer at peak-auto brightness, the difference is not noticeable enough to be considered significant.
How does the OnePlus 11’s display hold up?
To begin, we are aware that the display will have the same maximum color gamut as the OnePlus 9 Pro because it uses an older material set. This is something that we already knew. The OnePlus 11 offers the widest color gamut imaginable, which can be accessed by selecting the “Brilliant” screen color setting. This mode produces the most bright colors conceivable.
The Vivid color mode’s default settings aim for the DCI-P3 primaries with a white point of approximately 7200 K, which is significantly cooler than the usual setting. Because this profile does not have any color management, all colors are perceived as sRGB and extended out to P3, which results in a distortion of the colors present in all material. It’s not that I have anything against oversaturated color selections; rather, I just think that they should be implemented in a way that doesn’t mess with the hue of the colors and has the same impact on all of them. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to boost solely red and green colors, which is why the Vivid color mode seen in most phones, including the OnePlus 11, violates both of these criteria. This is my biggest worry with the profile because it’s present in the phone.
The most color-accurate profile is the Natural screen mode, which provides color management for sRGB and DCI-P3 media. The majority of modern smartphones come equipped with color profiles that are more than adequate, which means that chromatic accuracy is no longer much of a concern with these devices. The OnePlus 11 is not an exception, as it possesses colorimetry that is capable of performing its duties. For a viewing environment that serves as a reference, the OnePlus 11’s Natural mode displays an average color error E (ITP) that is less than 3.0, which is considered to be satisfactory. At medium stimulus levels, high-purity reds become oversaturated; nevertheless, this is a relatively small portion of the gamut, and it is quite unlikely that it will be recognized.
Even if the OnePlus 11 is being exposed to bright sunshine, there is no indication that it would increase its color saturation. Such an increase would assist mitigate some of the color compression that is brought on by an increase in glare. It is easy to see why some screens go too far (like the Samsung Galaxy S22), but in these circumstances, the visibility of the screen should be the primary concern.
Even if color accuracy hasn’t been a problem for a very long time in the world of smartphones, color precision has been a challenge ever since OLED technology was first developed. Its absence is a telltale symptom of cheaper, lower-quality display technology with poor linearity, whereas screen calibration can only cure so much of the problem by itself. It makes me delighted to note that the OnePlus 11 does extremely well in this area, as it maintains exact control over its white balance across the entirety of its grayscale and brightness range. On our panel, the amount of tinting that can be measured is little, and when it is set to Natural mode, the white point calibration is really near to 6500 K. The highest color error E (ITP) for white on our panel is just 2.1, so even though things go a little warmer at peak-auto brightness, the difference is not noticeable enough to be considered significant.
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