Hey OnePlus, that’s not how you charge in 2023

Ryan Haines/Android Authority

OnePlus and charging are like peanut butter and jelly – they just feel good together. From distinctive red cables to outlandish names like Warp Charge and SuperVOOC, it’s hard to have one without the other. Even budget-friendly Nord devices get faster charging speeds than competitors from Google, Apple, and Samsung. Of course, those high standards also mean that every time OnePlus gets a charging foot out of line, some eyebrows are raised. Well, raise our eyebrows because the OnePlus 11’s charging strategy doesn’t make sense right now.

There is a charger but…

Ryan Haines/Android Authority

We applaud OnePlus for continuing to include a charger with its devices long after other brands have let it out to pasture with the headphone jack. Sometimes it’s a pretty good charger, too – I still carry the 160W USB-C block that came with the OnePlus 10T everywhere I go. So it wasn’t a surprise to find a charger included with the OnePlus 11, but what did surprise was the type of connection. USB A In the year 2023. Complete with a USB-A to USB-C cable.

OnePlus has of course offered an explanation for its decision, but it makes less sense the more you think about it. As explained to us, the OnePlus 11 comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable and a USB-A charger, because if you’re in a hotel and forget your charger, the built-in sockets are more USB-A -Connectors as USB-C. Sure, it means you can charge your phone in a pinch, but it ignores the fact that a standard USB-A port doesn’t have the hardware to support 80W (or 100W) charging on your OnePlus 11 to support. You still need your included block for fast charging, no matter the type of outlet.

What good is a hotel’s USB-A port if your OnePlus 11 is crawling to the finish?

The explanation makes even less sense when you look at the chargers from the last OnePlus launches. USB-C has been the standard since the OnePlus 8T, at least at flagship level. Why should the need for a USB-A port in a hotel only now become a major statement? OnePlus even offered a deep dive into the OnePlus 10T’s charging capabilities, touting its Power Delivery support and universal 150W charging speed, while this about-face was presumably already planned.

Where has wireless charging gone?

Speaking of confusing about-faces, you won’t find the OnePlus 11 among the best wireless charging phones anymore. This function is also gone. Admittedly, OnePlus wasn’t the quickest to adopt wireless charging. It didn’t appear until 2020 when it landed on the OnePlus 8 Pro along with a USB-C charger. Wireless charging then spread to the entire OnePlus 9 series before picking up speed – literally – on the OnePlus 10 Pro. Now it’s gone. Technically, it followed the alert slider out the door on the OnePlus 10T, but unlike the slider, wireless charging hasn’t come back.

If OnePlus simply never installed wireless charging, we’d probably wonder why not, but offering it and then removing it from later flagship generations is utterly odd. The brand offered an explanation shortly after the USB-A and hotel excuse, saying that the team at OnePlus felt the wired charging speeds were fast enough that most people wouldn’t miss wireless charging. To an extent, that makes sense, given that the OnePlus 11 can be charged in moments, but it ignores other features consumers rely on, like reverse wireless charging or the convenience of placing your phone on a charging pad your car

OnePlus felt that fast wired charging means users won’t miss slow Wi-Fi, but it forgets about convenience.

Even stranger, the new OnePlus Buds 2 Pro that launched alongside the OnePlus 11 support wireless charging. They offer solid battery life, but if they’re drained and you don’t have a charger and outlet, you’re out of luck. At least no luck if you have the OnePlus 11. Instead, you’d either have to have a second phone that doubles as a dedicated power bank, or carry a charger and cable with you at all times and hope for one nearby.

Speed isn’t everything

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

So we’re perfectly clear, OnePlus and charging speeds are still peanut butter and jelly. The OnePlus 11 flashes back to a full cell and barely breaks a sweat. But there’s more to a good, reliable USB setup than just charging.

USB standards also rule when it comes to data transfer, and the OnePlus 11 still comes with USB 2.0, which was introduced back in 2000. The outdated standard means that the OnePlus 11 (like every OnePlus flagship before it) can only transfer data at a faster speed of 480 Mbps, while competitors like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra can transfer files 10 times faster with USB 3.2. No, you might not notice if you’re just sending a few photos to your laptop, but 8K video files will make you wait a little longer.

OnePlus’ charging might be the bunny, but its data transfer speeds are still the tortoise.

Even if your hotel room might (emphasis on possibly) have a USB-A port, there’s no guarantee your laptop will. Apple led the charge by removing everything but the USB-C ports from its line of MacBooks, and several Windows players followed suit. Sure, the MacBook Pro has recaptured some of its lost ports, but rivals like the Dell XPS 13 and HP Specter x360 haven’t turned around anytime soon. You’ll either have to carry around another USB-C cable to swap files back and forth, or settle for transferring everything over the cloud.

If you only want the OnePlus 11 for its raw charging speeds, you’ve got more power (literally). It sprints back to a full charge, asking you to ignore its other charging quirks and USB shortcomings. It ignores its recent past and attempts to return to industry standards that are no longer the norm. Regardless of the number of excuses OnePlus offers, there’s simply no good way to understand the current approach to charging.

What do you think? Is the loading speed good enough or should brands go for well-rounded features instead? Let us know in the poll below.