OnePlus 11 Pro: Everything we know so far and what we want to see

Originally, we saw a very regular smartphone release schedule from OnePlus. There was a standard flagship phone in the first half of the year and a “T” upgrade in the second half. At this point, though, things are way more confusing. In 2023, the only sure thing to expect would be the OnePlus 11 Pro, as we’ve seen a new Pro phone every year since the OnePlus 7 Pro back in 2019.

Regardless of the company’s ever-more-confusing portfolio, the OnePlus 11 Pro could end up being one of the better phones from the brand. But what should we expect and what do we want to see? Here’s what we know and our wishlist for the OnePlus 11 Pro.

Will there be a OnePlus 11 Pro?

As we pointed out earlier, OnePlus’ portfolio is very confusing at the moment. The T line skipped the 9 series but could be back for the 10 (according to rumors!), the R and RT series are regional exclusives, and in 2022 we didn’t even see a vanilla model launch alongside the OnePlus 10 Pro.

If we base our guess on what the company has done previously, then it’s very reasonable to expect a OnePlus 11 Pro to launch within the first three months of 2023. However, the company appears to still be finding its footing after its merger with Oppo. It’s possible, then, that OnePlus could revamp its strategy completely in 2023. If that happens, then it’s anyone’s guess as to what the company will do.

For now, we don’t have any confirmation one way or the other. We are assuming the company’s 2023 flagship will be the OnePlus 11 Pro until we hear otherwise.

When will the OnePlus 11 Pro release date be?

• OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro — April 14, 2020
• OnePlus 9, 9 Pro, and 9R — March 23, 2021
• OnePlus 10 Pro (China) — January 11, 2022
• OnePlus 10 Pro (Global) — March 31, 2022

Historically, OnePlus launched its flagship phone each year in either March or April. In 2022, though, the company launched the OnePlus 10 Pro much earlier in January. This launch was only for the Chinese variant of the phone, but it was functionally the same as the one launched for global markets in March 2022.

It is likely we’ll see the company do the same thing in 2023. Until we hear differently, it would be fair to expect a China-only OnePlus 11 Pro release date in January 2023 followed by a global launch in March or April.

Our verdicts: OnePlus 10 Pro review | Second opinion

What features and specs will the OnePlus 11 Pro have?

Usually, we expect companies to keep the features of the current generation and expand on them for the next generation. With the OnePlus 10 Pro, however, OnePlus actually downgraded a few aspects of the phone when compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Therefore, all bets are off — the company could do pretty much anything with the OnePlus 11 Pro.

Design

Up until the OnePlus 8 series, the company had a very deliberate design aesthetic. It changed things up a bit for the OnePlus 9 series and then changed things up again for the OnePlus 10 Pro. The 11 Pro could see the company alter its design ethos once more. Or, it might continue the designs of the 10 series. Hopefully, we’ll get some leaked renders in the coming months.

One thing that won’t be going anywhere is the Hasselblad partnership and, most likely, the Hasselblad logo emblazoned on the back of the phone. OnePlus is putting a lot of emphasis on this three-year partnership which kicked off in 2021 with the OnePlus 9 series. That at least means we’ll get more Hasselblad influence on the OnePlus 11 Pro.

Another design element that’s probably sticking around is the alert slider. Rumors suggest that OnePlus could be doing away with this for all its devices save for the Pro-level models. If this ends up being true, the OnePlus 11 Pro would be safe and still utilize this very popular feature.

Finally, OnePlus’ Pro-level devices have always been large with curved displays. It’s reasonable to assume the 11 Pro would continue this trend.

Specs and features

To guess what might come with the 11 Pro we can look at what OnePlus cared most about with the 10 Pro. You can expect at least a triple-lens camera system on the rear of the 11 Pro, likely with wide, ultrawide, and telephoto lenses. You can expect incredibly fast charging speeds — likely 100W or more with a cable (though this could again be restricted in the US). It’s also reasonable to assume you’ll see one of the highest-quality displays in the industry, wireless charging, and the latest flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

What shouldn’t you expect? You shouldn’t put money on industry-defining camera hardware, as OnePlus has never pushed the limits in that regard. Instead, you should expect good hardware that lines up with the majority of premium phones on the market. You also shouldn’t expect an IP rating on the unlocked model, as OnePlus hasn’t given that any importance over the past year. Based on recent OnePlus flagships, you also shouldn’t expect a microSD card slot, more than 256GB of internal storage, or a headphone jack.

What will the OnePlus 11 Pro price be?

• OnePlus 8 Pro — $899
• OnePlus 9 Pro — $969
• OnePlus 10 Pro — $899

The price of the OnePlus 11 Pro will greatly depend on what the company wants to do with its flagships. If it wants to go all-out and compete in the ultra-premium market against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and the iPhone 13 Pro Max, it could raise the price to over $1,000. If it wants to continue to compete in the premium segment against the likes of the Google Pixel 6 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro, it would need to stick to the same price as the 10 Pro, which was $899 when it launched.

Our money is on OnePlus sticking to the sub-$900 price bracket. We simply don’t see the company trying to compete with phones over the $1,000 mark. As such, it’s safe to expect the OnePlus 11 Pro’s price to be very similar to that of the OnePlus 10 Pro — or possibly even lower.

OnePlus 11 Pro: What we want to see

We’ve already discussed the things you can expect (and not expect) from the OnePlus 11 Pro. Now, though, we want to go over the things we really want to see. We don’t have any evidence to support that OnePlus might deliver these, but we certainly hope it does.

Better camera hardware

One of the biggest disappointments of the OnePlus 10 Pro was how the company actually downgraded the camera hardware compared to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Specifically, the ultrawide lens saw a considerable drop in quality.

Related: OnePlus 10 Pro vs Google Pixel 6 Pro camera shootout

We hope the OnePlus 11 Pro camera hardware is significantly better than the 10 Pro’s. Also, we hope OnePlus drops the “ultra-ultrawide” gimmick of the 10 Pro. A low-quality 150-degree fisheye lens is no replacement for the normal, all-around high-quality sensor users expect.

All variants all at once

In the United States, buyers could grab the OnePlus 10 Pro in April 2022. The phone came in one configuration: 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. In some other countries, there was a 12/256GB model, but the US didn’t see it.

In June, however, OnePlus brought the 12/256GB model to the US. Die-hard OnePlus fans in the US had likely already shelled out for the 8/128GB model because they had no other choice, so the launch of the 12/256GB model may have come as a slap to the face for some buyers.

In 2023, we hope the OnePlus 11 Pro launches in all configurations in all of OnePlus’ territories at the same time to avoid any buyer regret!

A formal IP rating

The OnePlus 10 Pro, however, only had an IP rating in certain situations. The T-Mobile variant, for example, had one, while the unlocked model did not. We hope the OnePlus 11 Pro doesn’t ignore this fundamental aspect of premium flagship smartphones. All premium OnePlus models should have an IP68 rating.

Better, faster, and more stable updates

Back in the day, OnePlus was one of the best companies around when it came to software updates. Recently, though, the company has become known for slow, sporadic, and sometimes wholly unstable updates for its phones.

OnePlus promised its merger with Oppo would fix these problems, but the OnePlus 10 Pro came in quite hot with Oxygen OS 12. We can only hope that the OnePlus 11 Pro gets the software support commitment OnePlus fans expect and deserve — especially if the company is trying to compete against the likes of Samsung and Google.

See also: Which manufacturer updates its phones the fastest?

That’s everything we want to see from the OnePlus 11 Pro. Which features do you hope for most? Be sure to vote in our poll below.