OnePlus 11 just tipped for three huge upgrades — including a ceramic design

An alleged render of the OnePlus 11, in black, on a dark gray background

(Image credit: OnLeaks/SmartPrix)

We’ve already heard that the OnePlus 11 will feature the brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset directly from OnePlus itself, but according to a reliable tipster, that’s just scratching the surface of what we can expect from the company’s next flagship smartphone.

The OnePlus 11 will benefit from three big upgrades, if the reliable leaker Digital Chat Station is to be believed.

OnePlus 11 could get 16GB of RAM

While the OnePlus 10 Pro is hardly underpowered in the RAM department with 12GB of memory, the OnePlus 11 will apparently up this to 16GB. That brings it in line with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (though oddly not the S22 Ultra, which maxes out at 12GB) and indeed the OnePlus 10T.

UFS 4.0: why does it matter?

Also on the table is an upgrade to UFS (Universal Flash Storage) 4.0. That would make the OnePlus 11 one of the first phones to feature it, and it should offer big improvements to both speed and efficiency.

While UFS 3.1 has read and writes speeds of up to 2,100MB/s and 1,200MB/s, UFS 4.0 ups this to 4,200MB/s and 2,800MB/s respectively. Per lane speeds can also hit 23.2Gbps doubling that achieved by its predecessor. You can also expect a 46% improvement in efficiency, meaning battery life will improve.

OnePlus 11 could have a ceramic body

Finally, Digital Chat Station says that the OnePlus 11 will feature a metal frame with a ceramic body. OnePlus isn’t a stranger to this, using it on both 2015’s OnePlus X and a special edition version of last year’s OnePlus 10 Pro.

But note that this last tip is disputed. The well-informed Max Jambor popped up on Twitter to say that the ceramic body isn’t happening after all. Though he did back up the UFS 4.0 claim — which is more important in the greater scheme of things.

UFS 4.0 = yesCeramic = no https://t.co/FW2NAR5hUrNovember 18, 2022

Speaking of Jambor, the leaker also has a very good explanation as to why these premium-sounding updates are heading to the OnePlus 11 rather than the OnePlus 11 Pro: they’re one and the same thanks to a simplifying rebrand.

OnePlus 11 is the OnePlus 11 Pro?

The upcoming OnePlus Pro model is called OnePlus 11.October 17, 2022

While that could lead to confusion in the short term, if ever there was a company in need of a simpler smartphone lineup, it’s OnePlus. In 2022, we didn’t get a basic OnePlus 10, but we did get a OnePlus 10 Pro, a OnePlus 10T, a OnePlus Nord 2T and a OnePlus Nord CE 2.

A streamlined lineup may reduce consumer choice, but it would certainly make things a whole lot less confusing in 2023.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.