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For quite a few years, OnePlus was the preferred choice of plenty of in-the-know Android diehards. The company was known for building great phones that cost much less than comparable ones from rivals like Samsung while offering unique features like physical alert toggles and pop-up selfie cameras.
By a lot of Android nerds’ accounts, OnePlus lost its way in recent years due to increasingly expensive flagships that eschewed OnePlus’s scrappy underdog origins. But with its latest OnePlus 11 and a growing portfolio of low-end and midrange devices, OnePlus phones are starting to look more appealing again.
The company might not offer the same number of devices as Samsung, but it does maintain previous-generation devices for a while after making a new generation available, which can muddy the waters when shopping for an upgrade. To help you out, here are our top recommendations for OnePlus phones.
Its design might be a little divisive, but the OnePlus 11 is the company’s best phone in years. It combines top-shelf specs, incredible battery life, and a competent camera system, all for a starting price of $700. It’s still got OnePlus’s crazy-fast wired charging at 80 watts (that’s in the US; it charges at 100 watts internationally), plus it marks the return of another fan-favorite feature in the alert slider, which is conspicuously absent on 2022’s OnePlus 10T.
Camera performance isn’t quite what you’ll get out of flagships from competitors like Samsung or Google. As fast as the OnePlus 11’s wired charging is, that’s the only way to top up — and not a great look, considering most other options around this price point offer wireless charging. Still, it’s a great pick if you’re looking for a flagship-tier experience for a little less. The OnePlus 11 is guaranteed security updates until 2028, too, so you shouldn’t have any trouble making it last for years.
- SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Display: 6.7″ 1440p OLED, 120Hz
- RAM: 8GB, 16GB
- Storage: 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: 5,000mAh
- Operating System: Oxygen OS 13, Android 13
- Front camera: 16MP f/2.4
- Rear cameras: 50MP f/1.8 primary, 48MP f/2.2 ultrawide (115˚), 32MP f/2.0 telephoto with 2x optical zoom
- Colors: Titan Black, Emerald Green
- Charging: 80W (US), 100W (international)
- IP Rating: IP64
- Price: From $700
- Great specs for the price
- Two-day battery life, easy
- Crazy fast wired charging
- Inconsistent camera performance
- No wireless charging
- OxygenOS is a mixed bag
The Nord N20 5G goes for $299 at retail, but with a Snapdragon 695 chipset and six gigs of RAM, it performs better than most phones in its price range. It’s got killer battery life, too: in our review, we saw 10 hours of screen time across three days on a single charge. With an IP52 rating, it can survive some rain, and it charges at up to 33 watts.
It’s made of plastic, its cameras are in line with what you’d expect from a budget phone, and its software isn’t up to date — it’s on Android 12, and probably won’t see Android 13. It’s set to get bi-monthly security patches until April 2025, though, so you’ll be covered where it matters. Officially, the phone is only fully compatible with T-Mobile — it’s not certified for 5G on AT&T or any service at all on Verizon. But if you’re on T-Mobile (or AT&T, if you don’t care about 5G), the N20 is a fantastic option.
- Brand: OnePlus
- SoC: Snapdragon 695
- Display: 6.43″ 1080×2400 (20:9) OLED 60Hz
- RAM: 6GB RAM
- Storage: 128GB (UFS 2.2), microSD expandable
- Battery: 4500mAh
- Ports: 1x USB Type-C, 1x 3.5mm headphone jack
- Operating System: OyxgenOS based on Android 12
- Front camera: 16MP f/2.4
- Rear cameras: 64MP f/1.79 Primary, 2MP f/2.4 Macro, 2MP f/2.4 Monochrome
- Connectivity: 5G (Sub-6GHz), LTE, Wi-Fi (dual-band, up to ac), Bluetooth 5.1, NFC
- Dimensions: 159.9 x 73.2 x 7.5 mm, 173g
- Colors: “Blue Smoke”
- Charging: 33W SuperVOOC
- IP Rating: IP 52
- Price: $300
- Excellent battery life
- Good screen
- 33W charging is very fast for a budget phone
- Middling cameras
- Plastic body
- Only one speaker
The OnePlus 10 Pro didn’t wow us at its introductory price of $900, but it’s a much stronger value on sale. The phone’s got excellent hardware quality with a very cool texture on the back panel and a camera bump molded from ceramic. It’s also got a fantastic 120Hz display, long-lasting battery life, and super-fast 65-watt charging (in the US — it’s even faster in other markets at 80 watts).
For the $600 you can get it for lately, there’s plenty to like about the OnePlus 10 Pro. Its middling update commitment — Android version updates into 2025 and security patches one year longer — is also easier to swallow at a lower price.
- SoC: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
- Display: 6.7″ 3216×1440, 120Hz (LTPO)
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 128GB
- Battery: 5,000mAh
- Ports: USB Type-C (3.1 Gen1)
- Operating System: Oxygen OS 13/Android 13
- Front camera: 32MP (fixed-focus IMX615)
- Rear cameras: 48MP f/1.8 primary, 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide; 8MP f/2.4 telephoto
- Connectivity: Sub-6GHz 5G (no mmWave), Up to Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
- Dimensions: 163 × 73.9 × 8.55 mm
- Colors: Volcanic Black and Emerald Forest
- Weight: 201 g
- Charging: 65W wired (in the US, 80W in other markets); 50W wireless
- IP Rating: No (unlocked); IP68 (T-Mobile)
- Price: $799
- Excellent display
- All-day-and-then-some battery life
- Strong performance
- No rated water resistance on the unlocked model
- Camera performance is hit-or-miss
- Update prospects aren’t great
The OnePlus Nord 300 5G is a fine, cheap option for those on T-Mobile. The phone costs about $230 when purchased from the carrier outright, but it’s also regularly available for free on contract promotions.
As you’d expect for a price just north of $200, the N300 isn’t a powerhouse. For instance, it’s got crummy cameras, inconsistent performance, and a 720p LCD. But that display is 90Hz, and the phone has features that aren’t always guaranteed at such a low price point — like a fingerprint sensor and NFC for contactless payments, plus 33W wired charging with its bundled charger.
It launched with Android 12, but it’s slated to get Android 13 at some point, plus security patches into 2024. That’s not impressive these days, even for a cheap phone. But if you need something affordable for a year or two, and you’re on T-Mobile (or subsidiary Metro), the N300 is a decent selection.
- SoC: MediaTek Dimensity 810
- Display: 720p 90Hz IPS LCD
- RAM: 4GB LPDDR4x
- Storage: 64GB
- Battery: 5,000 mAh
- Operating System: Oxygen OS based on Android 12
- Front camera: 16MP f/2.0
- Rear cameras: 48MP f/1.8 primary, 2MP f/2.4 depth
- Dimensions: 163.8 x 75.1 x 7.99mm
- Colors: Midnight Jade
- Weight: 190g
- Charging: 33W SUPERVOOC Fast Charging
- IP Rating: n/a
- Price: $228
- Micro SD card support: Yes, up to 1TB
- Affordable
- Long battery life and reasonably quick charging
- Unique design
- Inconsistent performance
- 720p display
- Only available from T-Mobile
The OnePlus 10T is an interesting device. With a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, it’s actually faster than the more expensive OnePlus 10 Pro. It also features much faster wired charging at a crazy-quick 125W (in the US — it can reach 150 watts internationally). But its cameras are a marked downgrade from the 10 Pro, with lower-end hardware and no Hasselblad-branded color science. It’ll get Android updates through August 2025 and security patches a year longer, which should be enough for most people — but it still lags behind much of the competition. It also misses out on wireless charging; worst of all, it doesn’t have OnePlus’s characteristic alert slider.
With its curious mix of upgrades and downgrades, OnePlus calls the 10T the company’s “performance flagship.” If you’re in the market for a fast phone with a nice screen and don’t want to spend four figures on it, the OnePlus 10T is a fine pick — especially at a discount, which it often is lately.
- SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
- Display: 6.7″ 1080p OLED, 120Hz
- RAM: 8GB, 16GB
- Storage: 128GB, 256GB
- Battery: 4,800mAh
- Operating System: Oxygen OS 12.1, Android 12
- Front camera: 16MP f/2.4
- Rear cameras: 50MP f/1.8 primary, 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 2MP f/2.4 macro
- Colors: Moonstone Black, Jade Green
- Charging: 125W (US), 150W (international)
- Price: From $650
- Very fast performance
- Very fast charging
- Reasonably priced
- No alert slider
- Fingerprint sensor a bit too low
- Limited software support
The best OnePlus phone for you
While OnePlus is no longer the flagship-killing underdog we all used to love, it still has a number of devices at various price points. The recent OnePlus 11 starts at $700 and offers flagship-tier components and performance — plus that beloved OnePlus calling card, the alert slider. It doesn’t have the best cameras you can get or some convenient features like wireless charging, but it’s a fine pick.
The OnePlus 10 Pro and OnePlus Nord N20 also have many of the traits we loved about OnePlus’s best phones in the past. Each has snappy performance relative to its price tier, above-average build quality, and a superb screen. (Even at 60Hz, the N20’s 1080p OLED display is better than what you’ll find in many similarly priced phones, plus it’s currently one of our picks for the best 5G phones.) If you’re set on OnePlus, there’s a lot to like about each.
If you can catch a sale, OnePlus’s budget flagship, the OnePlus 10T, is a good option with a high-quality display and fast performance. On the other hand, the OnePlus Nord N300 5G is a really affordable pick for T-Mobile subscribers at $228 (or frequently free with some contract commitment or other). Just don’t expect too much of it; performance is merely okay, even for a cheap device.
If you’re open to options from other manufacturers, there are so many amazing Android phones you can get right now — or, if you’re on a budget, there’s a whole separate market featuring some great budget phones.
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