Now that the OnePlus 11 is available to purchase, my mind is already looking ahead to what's next for 2023 — that's just the nature of the job. I like the latest flagship from OnePlus, especially considering its value proposition. But if you know the phone maker, then you're probably wondering if there's a OnePlus 11T on the horizon.
We don't know OnePlus' full plans for the rest of the year, but I do know that the T series has long presented an issue for prospective phone buyers. Starting with the OnePlus 3T all the way back in 2016, the company released two phones a year, roughly six months or so apart.
At first, the T models were supposed to introduce some big changes over the non-T variants. The OnePlus 3T got the Snapdragon 821, which offered more power and efficiency over the OnePlus 3's Snapdragon 820. The OnePlus 5T showed off the 21:9 aspect ratio, offering slimmer bezels than the OnePlus 5. And when the OnePlus 6 introduced an iPhone X-style notch for the front camera, the OnePlus 6T changed it up and brought a teardrop-shaped notch.
But I'm telling you right now we don't need a OnePlus 11T. Here's why.
The problem with the T series
After the OnePlus 6T, the T series stopped providing meaningful upgrades with the OnePlus 9T getting canceled. The most recent entry in this long-running lineup was the OnePlus 10T in 2022, which, like the OnePlus 3T, brought a newer and more powerful chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 — and it dropped the much-beloved alert slider.
I've always thought the T series introduced a sense of purchasing paralysis. You could buy the mainline OnePlus phone at the start of the year, but then the T would come out six months later.
So what that does that mean for 2023, and why do I think that we no longer need the T series? (In fact, I would be glad to see it die.) The lack of a OnePlus 11T would lead to a more streamlined portfolio for OnePlus, something I've asked for before. It be a return to the company's older days, dating back to the OnePlus 2. Remember that despite the lack of a OnePlus 9T, we got the OnePlus 9 to complement the OnePlus 9 Pro.
That's right, we haven't had a single OnePlus flagship in a year since 2015, back when the phone maker was but an upstart underdog with asinine marketing tactics.
I've always thought the T series introduced a sense of purchasing paralysis in some people. You could buy the mainline OnePlus phone at the start of the year, but then the T would come out six months later. Similarly, you could buy the T and the next entry in the primary series would launch early the following year. It created a vicious cycle of FOMO, something you only really saw with Sony's two-flagships-per-year strategy.
OnePlus 11T outlook
I have nothing substantial to back up my thought that maybe OnePlus has finally come around to putting the T series out to pasture. The OnePlus 11 is a good phone, and it's all we need from OnePlus this year. I do not think that a OnePlus 11T would add anything meaningful, especially with the OnePlus 10T to serve an example.
I will almost always encourage a streamlined portfolio that offers products that meet the needs and demands of the target market. OnePlus' recent strategy has created too much noise, so I grew more hopeful when we didn't see a OnePlus 11 Pro. We instead got a single flagship that set out to offer as much as it could as a killer price.
It's time for the T series to lie in its final resting place. It long ago served its purpose and we just don't need it anymore.
