OnePlus 11 5G vs OnePlus 10 Pro: What’s the difference?

OnePlus has unveiled an all-new flagship for 2023. Although it’s only in China for now, the phone will be available in global markets in February. And thanks to that earlier China launch, we already have a full list of specifications and details of the device. 

You might be curious to see how much has changed from the OnePlus 10 Pro, or you could be trying to decide whether you should save money and buy the older model rather than the newer one. If that’s the case, we’ll explain all the key differences and similarities right here. 

Design and build

OnePlus 11: 163.1 x 74.1 x 8.53mm – 205gOnePlus 10 Pro: 163 x 73.9 x 8.6mm – 201g Both: Aluminium frame, Gorilla Glass Victus front, Glass backBoth: Black and Green colourways 

Although the design has clearly changed from the OnePlus 10 Pro to the OnePlus 11, there’s still a similarity. Both feature very similar curving on their Gorilla Glass Victus fronts and the aluminium frame also features a very similar shape and design. 

Even size and weight are very similar. OnePlus has shaved a fraction of a millimetre off the thickness but added a minuscule amount of height and width. We can’t imagine that you’d see the size difference clearly with the naked eye. 

It’s on the back where the big change has happened. Rather than having a shiny square platform for its camera system, the OnePlus 11 has a large circular unit and it’s built on a polished stainless steel platform. 

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There’s a slight difference in the colour and finish too. Although both are available in black or green, the green OnePlus 11 has a glossy surface with a diffusing layer underneath, whereas the OnePlus 10 Pro has a soft, matte frosted effect on the exterior. Both black models have a similar frosted but textured finish. 

Display and software

Both: 6.7-inch AMOLED – 1440 x 3216 QHD+ resolution – 525ppi Both: 120Hz adaptive refresh – 1300 nits peak brightness – Dolby Vision supportOnePlus 11: OxygenOS 13 in global marketsOnePlus 10 Pro: OxygenOS 12 (upgrade to OxygenOS 13 available)

OnePlus has kept to something of a regular theme with its displays in recent years, and we don’t expect to see much difference between the 10 Pro and the 11. 

Looking at the spec sheets side-by-side there’s very little to separate the 6.7-inch AMOLED display on the OnePlus 11 from the 6.7-inch AMOLED on the OnePlus 10 Pro. Having the same size and same resolution means the same maximum sharpness and pixel density. 

Both feature the same QuadHD+ 1400 x 3216 resolution, and both have the same brightness levels. You’ll get up to 1300 nits peak brightness on both phones and up to 120Hz refresh rates, with the ability to adapt the refresh rate to suit the content, all the way down to 1Hz. The OnePlus does use a newer version of LTPO technology to make this process more efficient and responsive, but that’ll be hard to see. 

Although the OnePlus 10 Pro launched running OxygenOS 12 based on Android 12, it is upgradeable to the Android 13-based OxygenOS 13 which the OnePlus 11 will launch with in global markets. In China, both phones will run Oppo’s ColorOS, which is – of course – built on the same platform as OxygenOS. 

Performance and battery

OnePlus 11: Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 OnePlus 10 Pro: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1OnePlus 11: 12GB/256GB – 16GB/256GB – 16GB/512GB – LPDDR5X/UFS4.0 OnePlus 10 Pro: 8GB/128GB – 8GB/256GB – 12GB/256GB – 12GB/512GB – LPDDR4/UFS3.1OnePlus 11: 5000mAh battery – 100W SuperVOOC wired chargingOnePlus 10 Pro: 5000mAh battery – 80W SuperVOOC wired charging – 50W wireless charging

In the classic OnePlus style, it’s in performance and speed we see a jump from the OnePlus 10 Pro to OnePlus 11. Storage and RAM variants available usually depend on which region you’re buying the phone in, however, even the lowest tier model OnePlus 11 available features more RAM and double the storage of the lowest OnePlus 10 Pro. 

The minimum RAM is 12GB, compared with 8GB on the entry-level OnePlus 10 Pro, and the lowest storage is upped from 128GB to 256GB. It’s a generous starting position and only climbs from there up to a mega 16GB/512GB offering. 

It’s not just the amount of memory that’s increased either, OnePlus has used faster RAM and faster storage. That should mean even faster performance, especially when you consider the jump from Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 to Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. All-in-all, it should be a speedier, more efficient, and more powerful smartphone. 

As for battery capacity, at 5000mAh, the two feature the same-sized battery. Yet again – to help with fast charging – it’s split into two 2500mAh cells. 

There is a bump in charging speed though. Where the OnePlus 10 Pro had 80W SuperVOOC charging, the OnePlus 11 has 100W, meaning you can half-fill the battery in 10 minutes and fully charge it in 25 minutes. That’s a 7-minute improvement on the full 1-100 per cent charge time. 

OnePlus 10 Pro does have one advantage: wireless charging. It’s equipped with OnePlus and Oppo’s proprietary 50W wireless charging, meaning speedy wireless charging if you have the right charger. 

Cameras

OnePlus 11: 50MP f/1.8 main – 48MP f/2.2 ultrawide – 32MP f/2.0 telephoto 2x zoom OnePlus 10 Pro: 48MP f/1.8 main – 50MP f/2.2 ultrawide – 8MP f/2.4 telephoto 3.3x zoom Both: 8K/24fps video OnePlus 11: 4K/60fpsOnePlus 10 Pro: 4K/120fps OnePlus 11: 16MP selfie cameraOnePlus 10 Pro: 32MP selfie camera

OnePlus has improved the camera system for the OnePlus 11, at least in terms of the quality of sensors on the back. The 50-megapixel primary sensor is larger than its predecessor’s 48-megapixel sensor and sits alongside a new 48-megapixel ultrawide 115-degree camera and a 2x zoom/portrait sensor with a 32-megapixel sensor.

OnePlus 10 Pro comes with a 48-megapixel primary, 50-megapixel ultrawide and a lower resolution 8-megapixel telephoto 3.3x zoom. This zoom lens offers a longer focal length than the zoom on the OnePlus 11, but the end results weren’t all that high quality in our testing. Detail and colour struggled. 

It’s hard to say how this new sensor makeup and processing from the Snapdragon platform will change things, but we suspect what will make the biggest difference to the experience is the telephoto or “portrait” lens. It not only has a much higher resolution sensor but also has a wider aperture which should lead to a better depth effect and low-light performance. 

OnePlus claims that each of these sensors and cameras is to a “flagship” level, so we should hopefully see a more consistent level of performance across all three cameras, rather than having one camera that’s clearly better than the other two like we had with the OnePlus 10 Pro. OnePlus has also added a “13-channel multispectral sensor”, to widen the capture of colours available to make them more accurate in the end product. 

Both make use of Hasselblad’s colour science for processing images, and the camera apps come with preloaded Hasselblad-developed settings and photo modes like XPAN Mode for ultra-narrow panoramic shots and Spot Blur for simulating the bokeh effect of its XCD lenses. 

Price

OnePlus 11: global price not announcedOnePlus 10 Pro: £799 at launch

Since it hasn’t launched outside China yet, we can’t compare like-for-like pricing on the OnePlus 11 and OnePlus 10 Pro. At the time of writing the early-bird pre-order price of the OnePlus 11 in China was set at 3999 Yuan (roughly £480). The OnePlus 10 Pro had a full retail price of around 4799 Yuan (roughly £580), and we expect the OnePlus 11 to be a similar price once the special early-bird pricing is removed. 

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In the UK, the OnePlus 10 Pro launched at near-enough £800, and we’d be surprised if the OnePlus 11 wasn’t close to the same pricing, given the specs and Chinese pricing. 

Conclusion

There are a couple of key improvements we think could enhance the experience of going from the OnePlus 10 Pro to the OnePlus 11, and those are camera and storage. The higher quality 2x zoom – or “portrait” – camera should offer a better experience than the lower resolution 8-megapixel sensor on the previous model. Plus, with double the storage and faster performance, you’ll get a bit more from the OnePlus 11. 

The OnePlus 10 Pro still has an edge in a couple of areas too, like the fact it has wireless charging support where the OnePlus 11 doesn’t. It also has IP68 water and dust resistance in some markets. We’re yet to see if the OnePlus 11 will be the same. 

With that said, the two phones still have a lot of similarities, and if you’re trying to decide whether to buy the older or newer model, we think you’ll still be getting a great phone for the money with the OnePlus 10 Pro, especially now that it’s discounted to a lower price.