The OnePlus 11 is one of the key flagship smartphones we expect to launch in 2023, and we’ve got some fresh information on what this phone could bring when it sees the light of day.
According to a well-known tipster Digital chat station (opens in a new tab) (by Pocket fluff (opens in a new tab)), OnePlus 11 will have a metal frame with a ceramic body, and the RAM will be increased to 16 GB. The OnePlus 10 Pro peaked with 12GB of RAM.
Apparently, another update is also on the way: according to the same source, the OnePlus 11 will be one of the first phones to receive UFS (Universal Flash Storage) 4.0 for internal storage, offering twice the data transfer speed of the current UFS 3.1 technology.
Claim and Counterclaim
These would certainly be interesting and attractive upgrades for a next-gen OnePlus flagship, although we’ve already seen ceramic in the OnePlus X – and in several models from Oppo, the phone maker that has now merged with OnePlus.
As always with this kind of rumor, treat it with caution, even if the source is credible (plans may change and inside information may be wrong). Another tipster who often makes accurate predictions, a technical journalist Max Jambor (opens in a new tab)says the OnePlus 11 won’t actually come with a ceramic body.
Jambor agrees with the UFS 4.0 rumor, though, so it seems OnePlus is looking to pack as much cutting-edge tech as possible into its next high-end product. The phone is expected to hit the market in the first months of 2023.
Analysis: OnePlus in 2023
OnePlus hasn’t been exactly consistent with its phone launches in recent years, what with the global pandemic and the merger with Oppo and everything else going on – and that means we’re not so sure what’s coming in 2023.
In 2022, we had the OnePlus 10 Pro, OnePlus 10T, OnePlus Nord 2T, and OnePlus Nord CE 2. As you can see from this list, the focus was on mid-range phones, with only the OnePlus 10 Pro counting as a true flagship.
There has never been a standard OnePlus 10 for reasons we are not so sure about. Perhaps OnePlus felt the Pro moniker carried more weight, or perhaps it felt its phone launch calendar was already too crowded for this year.
In 2023, things could turn around: we’ll get a OnePlus 11 but not a OnePlus 11 Pro next year, according to our friend Max Jambor, although the “standard” phone will apparently have “pro” components fitted.