It's the start of a new year, and that means new devices from some of the top brands in mobile. One of those companies getting in on the action early is OnePlus. Not only are we getting a new smartphone in the OnePlus 11, but we're also getting new OnePlus Bud Pro 2 earbuds and the OnePlus Pad tablet.

In addition to getting hands-on time with the OnePlus 11 and the other new devices, XDA was fortunate enough to get some one-on-one time with some of the members of OnePlus, including Spenser Blank, head of PR and communications in North America, Head of Product Strategy Xiaolu Hou, and Head of Brand and Marketing Emily Dai. We discussed the future of OnePlus, why it has no plans to release a Pro model anytime soon, and how it'll break away from the other best phones on the market from the likes of Samsung and Google.

Many of our questions were answered with the help of a translator. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

OnePlus-4-Watermarked

Chris Wedel, Mobile Section Editor: It’s been reported that there is no plan for a “Pro” device this year. What is the reason for the shift when many other brands are offering multiple devices in a launch?

Xiaolu Hou: So, to answer your question, actually, I've got three points to support my answer. The first thing is OnePlus has been bridging the premium products, delivering a fast and smooth experience at an affordable price. We know that the user doesn't really care about the name of the product. What they really care about is the experience that a product can deliver and its final price. The second point, if you take a look, you will find that it is already equipped with the best chipset in the market, which is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and also the flagship level for the graphic experience and the modern elegant design with the premium texture. It also means it is the Pro model of the OnePlus 11 series.

The other thing I want to mention is you can also find the really important feature that is the third generation of the Hasselblad camera for mobile. The third reason I would like to explain to you, although the specification is a pro-level, the price of the OnePlus 11 will still be in the range of the number series. They will find it really affordable and also accessible.

How the Hasselblad collaboration has evolved, if at all? What is Hasselblad doing to “improve” OnePlus cameras?

Hou: OK, to answer a question, we'd like to mention one thing. By collaborating with Hasselblad, we are building a great product with enhancements found in every part. We share a similar goal, and our collaboration has definitely improved the great quality. Previously, OnePlus products were mainly focused on high performance and also the fastest and smoothest experience. As for the imaging, we can do a lot of improvements. So that's why by collaborating with Hasselblad, we can also introduce new products, such as OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 10, by providing a professional experience for imaging. We have weighed the feedback and remarkable preference from our consumers.

And for the OnePlus 11, you can see we bring two things to the market. One is natural color calibration with Hasselblad. The other thing is the Hasselblad portrait mode. With those two things, we'd like to provide a professional-like experience in terms of imaging. So you can see the collaboration with Hasselblad has made great progress. Whether in the product, or the experience that is fast and smooth, all of these things will definitely help us to win advantage points.

OnePlus-11-2-Watermarked

We know that the user doesn't really care about the name of the product. What they really care about is the experience that a product can deliver and its final price.

Natural color calibration with Hasselblad has always been a focus during our collaboration. For the OnePlus 11, we continue this effort and even intensify it. So that's why, in the natural color calibration with Hasselblad, you will find a lot of amazing things and experiences. We also introduced one more piece of hardware — the 13-channel multi-spectral sensor for light color identification — and this has been applied perfectly in the Hasselblad portrait mode and also the natural color calibration.

Let's talk about the Hasselblad portrait mode, and speaking about this part, we have made significant updates. First, we introduced an IMX709 image sensor. By introducing this technology will also combine them with Hasselblad XCD, we've made great improvements. This leads to improved texture and also color expression. Hasselblad camera has been fitted with XCD 30mm and 65mm lenses. This means we will provide almost DSLR-like information.

OnePlus recently announced expanded device updates with five years of security updates and four years of major Android updates for selected devices. Can you expand on what devices are included in that? Will the Nord line be part of it?

Hou: I'm very happy to say that OnePlus 11 will be the first OnePlus smartphone to receive four generations of Oxygen OS and five years of security updates. As for other new products to come that are at a flagship level, they will also enjoy similar updates.

oneplus-11-review-xda-45344t09985
DO NOT USE, EMBARGO UNTIL FEB 7, 10:15AM ET

So why we made such an important decision is because after we did a market survey and reached out to our customers, we realized, although we have been supported by amazing and strong hardware, our software updates have always been a focus and concern of our users. Especially, we realized that some other competitor companies around the market, such as Apple and Samsung, are always improving their software updates. So that's why there's no reason why we don't follow suit. Although this means we have to invest heavily in those kinds of parts, but we're very ready to make this decision.

The foldable market in the U.S. is easily dominated by Samsung, with no real option outside of it. Oppo has a few foldable options already in its portfolio in eastern markets. What is OnePlus’ plan for folding phones?

Hou: Well, actually, since 2019, OnePlus began to introduce a lot of new series. If you check out these new series, you realize our products not only cover the affordable range but also find other ranges being covered at the same time, especially in the oversized market. So that's why our purpose is to make sure all the users who are willing to try out the OnePlus product will definitely feel those amazing products, services, and also premium quality. In the future, we will also introduce more products to cover wider ranges to continue to provide the best service plus premium quality.

How has officially "merging" with Oppo affected brand marketing and perception? Particularly in regions where Oppo is available, how does OnePlus try to keep its identity and not appear as just another sub-brand?

Emily Dai: The integration with Oppo has been for 1.5 years, and as for the market perception, that is going to be quite particular and quite unique for the branding, marketing, and also some operation for those kinds of parts, where we'll continue to maintain its independence. But for some parts, we can use more resources for Oppo to continue to support and improve the quality and integration.

For things like customer service, R&D, and also for the Oppo Research Institute, for those parts, we can better improve quality and service. They are very welcome, willing, and open to more in-depth integration if the quality is ensured to improve. Now, the product planning team is also quite independent for OnePlus. So that's why we can make sure the product hits the market, it will be quite differentiated as opposed to Oppo.

In recent years, the western markets have become dominated by Samsung and Apple, with Google starting to pick up more of that space. In the past, OnePlus had great success with its flagship devices, but more recently, the Nord line has seemed to be more of the focus in the U.S. How does OnePlus plan to be more competitive in this space with the OnePlus 11?

Hou: Since OnePlus 10T, we focused on performance a lot to guarantee our basic promises, such as fast and smooth. The other thing you can see is we made a lot of improvements for faster charging. We want to make sure all those kinds of services are guaranteed and promised to users. Besides, you can find that we try to integrate resources with Oppo a lot to deliver those kinds of intentions. Apart from the performance, we also try to make other enhancements in areas such as imaging. In the future, definitely the focus to improve our competitiveness is to start with performance. But of course, for the flagship and other products, the focus is not just on performance, as imaging will become another important focus and emphasis.

One other bit of information and why we need to focus on performance is because, after our market study and some discussion with our users, we realized that 90% of the function of the cell phone needs to be supported by high performance, such as qualitative imaging, the startup function, or rebooting the cell phone. So that's why you should always focus on high performance.

oneplus 11 screen

Spenser Blank: The reason why we are not going to have a Pro version is that, especially in North America, we are coming out with much more aggressive marketing this year, and we're really heading on the story about going back to our roots. What does that mean? We used to have just one good product so as not to confuse the consumer. Especially when we have Samsung and Apple, who are coming up with a base model, and they're basically doing that ladder effect, right? For $50 more, you get the Pro, and then for $100 more, you get the Pro Xax, right? We are coming out with just one product, and we're making it the best we can. You don't need to have a Pro name for it to be a pro device. This device is also going to be undercutting our competitors in terms of pricing. So I want to make note of that because we are really addressing this product some of the pain points that consumers face here in North America with our other competitors.

We are coming out with just one product, and we're making it the best we can.

Also, want to say that, in terms of getting our name out there, we definitely will have much more aggressive marketing this year. Our partnership with T-Mobile is very important still, and the prepaid market in the U.S. is continuing to grow. Our Nord series is super important for us to continue to grow our business... We will continue to really rely on our T-Mobile partnership to grow our Nord portfolio and to get our name out there among the prepaid market, which is continuing to grow year over year. This year and going forward in terms of our product portfolio as well as some of our marketing initiatives, that you'll kind of see rolling out over the coming months.

Is there a concern that without a Pro/Ultra/Max label, it will put the OnePlus 11 at a disadvantage from a mind-share standpoint with customers shopping for a new smartphone?

Blank: I think to talk about in general, I think you really have to rely on the T-Mobile reps to know what's the best product for the customer that walks into the door. You know that requires us as a business to make sure that we are working with T-Mobile for all of our devices, including the Nord lineup, to make sure that they understand why this device is different than other competitors and why they should choose this device. But I think you really do have to rely on some component of the customer service rep in the store to be able to really evaluate what the customer is hoping to get.

One of the things that we hope for as this device starts to roll out is the pricing of the OnePlus 11, that they will hopefully be able to say you can get the S23 Ultra, which is 50-55% more, or you can get something very similar that even may have better photo quality, much better performance at 50% less than what the Samsung or Google Pixel is going to be offering you.


oneplus-11-review-xda-453ss44t09991

OnePlus seems to have big plans for the brand moving forward with a renewed focus on what originally raised it to the point the company is at now. By offering excellent hardware and impressive performance at lower prices than many of the other heavy hitters in the space. Hopefully, the increased attention to imaging and software will catch up to the hardware to offer further compelling devices for users.

OnePlus 11
OnePlus 11

The OnePlus 11 is the company's return to form, offering an almost-flagship experience at a lower price point than what Samsung charges.