We have more OnePlus 11 news to bring you: OnePlus has announced that the flagship phone will actually make its debut on Wednesday, January 4 in China, and official photos of the handset in two different colors have been pushed out as well.
This all comes from Chinese social network Weibo (via Engadget), emphasizing that this is likely to be a launch event that is pretty extensively regionalized. That said, it's going to be the same phone wherever in the world you buy it.
As we previously reported, a global OnePlus launch event has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, where we'll no doubt hear more about international availability and pricing – even if everything else about the phone will already have been revealed.
Specs appeal
OnePlus hasn't been shy about sharing specs, features and promo images for the OnePlus 11 on its Weibo page. In fact there's not going to be a whole lot left to reveal at the official launch events that are coming in January and February.
As expected, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset from Qualcomm will be running the show, while the memory configuration options are going to start from 12GB – that starting point is up from 8GB with the OnePlus 10 Pro that was launched earlier this year.
As for the look of the phone, the official images match the leaked renders that have previously emerged. OnePlus says that it's a "black hole-inspired aesthetic design" (according to Google Translate), with a large rear camera module cut-out.
Analysis: 2023 in phones starts here
If you count the January 4 launch event in China as an official unveiling, the OnePlus 11 is going to be the first flagship phone out of the blocks in 2023. There's some value in being first, but it also means other manufacturers have got longer to refine and develop their handsets before launching them.
According to the latest rumors, we're going to see Samsung reveal the Galaxy S23 family of phones on February 1, which is a Wednesday. There will be three high-end handsets on show: the Galaxy S23, the Galaxy S23 Plus, and the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The Google Pixel 8 is expected to follow along in October, as that's when the Pixel smartphones normally make an appearance. Before that though, we might well see a foldable phone and a mid-range Pixel 7a from Google.
Taking on the Android flagships will be the iPhone 15. If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, we'll see several iPhone 15 models make an appearance at some point during September, and we've already heard that the camera is in line for a substantial upgrade, and that some models in the range could come with solid-state buttons.
