OnePlus has confirmed its next flagship phone, officially called the OnePlus 11 5G, will launch on 7 February 2023.
The company said in a press release the device will be unveiled on that day at an event in New Delhi that will also introduce the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 wireless earbuds.
OnePlus also sent media a teaser image for the event, which is called Cloud 11, that shows the OnePlus 11’s circular camera module for the first time.
The OnePlus 11 will also reintroduce the alert slider, the three-position hardware switch that had been on every flagship OnePlus phone ever made until it was left off 2022’s OnePlus 10T.
At the time, OnePlus said the omission was due to space constraints. The return of the slider will likely be celebrated by OnePlus fans but it’s odd that the company has fully leaned into the fact it’s coming back by producing a festive-themed video that celebrates it.
Hard luck if you bought a OnePlus 10T, apparently, a phone that also did not have the Hasselblad camera branding or software features of the OnePlus 10 Pro.
The video (embedded below) also gives song to the Hasselblad smarts that return with the OnePlus 11:
“We’re thrilled to be revealing these exciting new products that bring a levelled up fast and smooth experience to the market,” said Pete Lau, Senior Vice President and Chief of Product at Oppo and OnePlus.
“The OnePlus 11 5G, the OnePlus Buds Pro 2, and other products are driven by our community co-creation spirit and will be equipped with the most advanced technology to provide a refined experience to our users.”
Beyond promoting the OnePlus 11’s release date and two features found on the OnePlus 10 Pro (and OnePlus 9 Pro, for that matter), the Chinese phone maker did not reveal anything of the upcoming phone’s specs.
Going by the rumours and leaks, the OnePlus 11 will run the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and the usual design and incremental spec updates we come to expect from yearly phone line refreshes.
The teaser image shows the circular camera design on the OnePlus 11, vaguely reminiscent of the round used fleetingly by the company on 2019’s OnePlus 7T.
We’ve enjoyed OnePlus’s recent phones despite the slight confusion of there being a OnePlus 10 Pro and 10T but no regular 10. Today’s announcement of a OnePlus 11 means the company is once again resetting how it names and releases its phones.
As long as the handset is good enough (different enough?) to hold a candle to Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series that is rumoured to launch around the same time in February, then the OnePlus 11 should be in the running to make our list of the best smartphones.
