There’s no doubt the cameras on the OnePlus 11 are for a specific type of photographer. Have you heard of Hasselblad cameras? The ones used by both professional magazine photographers and astronauts in space? That’s the look and feel that OnePlus is going for, and you can’t have it any other way with these phones. That’s also because the OnePlus 11 is much larger than competitors in this price range, or even some more expensive devices. It features a 6.7-inch panel, which is much bigger than the 6.1-inch screen on the iPhone 14 or Galaxy S23. That means it’s a bigger phone to hold and manage, but that extra real estate really pays off. When that happens, the OnePlus 11 has fast charging. Very, very fast charging. Faster than whatever phone you own, as long as your phone isn’t also a OnePlus, or another Chinese brand willing to push the envelope on fast charging. In the end, I’d rather have fast charging than wireless charging, if I had to choose. As an avid photographer, I’d rather charge my dead phone for a half hour then go shoot the rest of the day. I have wireless charging in my house and car, but I don’t use it often because I don’t leave my phone sitting in one place.

Those competitors also have smaller, 6.1-inch displays. The OnePlus 11 gives you more screen (and more pixels) for your money, but if you want a smaller display you’ll need to look elsewhere. My DSLR still does a much better job, and OnePlus will only go so far as to call this DSLR-like image quality. In fact, there are a lot of phones that can do more, since the OnePlus range is quite limited. It’s not the brightest screen you can buy, but it makes up for that in contrast and dazzling color. OnePlus also supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ standards for dynamic range. The iPhone 14 has the same color accuracy support, but can’t match the refresh rate, and doesn’t look quite as vibrant. OnePlus says the phone can charge to 50% in 10 minutes, and a full 100% in only 25 minutes. That didn’t pan out in my tests. In 10 minutes I reached between 40-45% charge every time. I was sometimes fully charged in just under 30 minutes, but never 25.The OnePlus 11 simply screams with performance. The fast processor paired with the high-refresh screen make for an amazing experience playing the newest games, editing photos, or even just using the interface.

If you like the idea of getting a flagship smartphone for even less money, the Google Pixel 7 is the only phone that has the OnePlus 11 beat. It doesn't have the big screen (or battery), and it relies on AI for its camera powers. It still saves you more, takes great photos, and looks cool. Staying in charge for longer is effortless with smart battery technology to prevent dead battery cells. As with Samsung phones, it’s worth digging through the settings and features, because the mad scientists at OnePlus and its community have been building out Oxygen OS for years. Though the main interface has been streamlined and simplified, there are some cool things hidden behind the scenes. One feature I especially enjoyed was the ability to use the selfie camera for video while screen recording. This let me take videos of gameplay action with a reaction shot inserted in the corner. I could play my son on Marvel Snap, then send him a video of me reacting gleefully as I pounded his puny cards into the void, HULK SMASH!The OnePlus 11 is rated IP64, which means it can keep out fine dust particles and larger solids, but for water and liquid, it can only handle a direct spray. You can’t dunk it in water, you can’t take it into the bathtub, and you can’t drop it in the toilet. If you take it to the beach, it'll be fine on the sand, but stay away from the waves or the water slide. The bad news is that you bought this phone so that you could join the OnePlus party (or stay in the party), and you’re going to tax the battery hard. There are gaming controls to optimize battery, but also gaming controls to max out performance and drain the battery faster. I played Marvel Snap on this phone and my iPhone 14 Pro and there was no contest between the two. The OnePlus 11 handled all of the flying particles and waves, all of the motion effects, and all of the subtleties of the graphics with ease.