Cameras are amazing (Video slowmotion at 720p 960fps) π
IP68 dust/water resistant
120 Watt Charger
Mediatek Dimensity 9200+ (Claimed to beat Snapdragon 8 Gen 2)
4 generations up to Android 17 Android upgrades and 5 year security support
Obviously It has all the expected sensors and features.
The corners that were cut to get the price down are pretty few IMO:
Gorilla Glass 5 instead of Victus.
Plastic instead of Alu edge.
No Wireless charging
Here (Denmark) the Xiaome 13T Pro is cheaper than One Plus 11, and it beats it in every aspect. It's almost (but not quite) as good as the Samsung S23 Ultra. To me this seems by far the best option in the price range.
The non pro is $100 cheaper, and you get a slightly less powerful SOC, 67 Watt charger instead of 120, less RAM/Storage, although there are ranges for both.
Edit PS
09. Oct. 2023
Just ordered the pro version with 12 GB Ram and 512 MB storage for β¬ 669,- including tax or USD 565,- excluding tax.
I was waiting for our Solar panels to go online, and that was finally finished today.
I originally planned to buy the One Plus 11, but the curved screen and opposing power/volume buttons turned me away from that.
I'm extremely excited as my current phone is a very cheap older budget phone (Moto G9 power). It has served me surprisingly well, considering it was sub $200 including tax.
Maybe, I don't think government officials should use Chinese phones. But for me personally, I don't really think they do much spying on private citizens. What would be the point? In that regard I think Google and Apple are equally big concerns, but unfortunately you either have to live with that, or jailbreak your phone.
I used to do that, using Android AOSP without Google apps. As free as it gets. But honestly I can't be bothered anymore. I wish there was a free option that has full functionality, but there isn't, because the security features in everything official like public services and banking relies on the proprietary security features of either Google or Apple to work.
So unless our government gives a shit about this, I just have to accept the sorry state of lousy security our technology in general is in.
They spy on everything always regardless of the target. You may not know things personally, but you know someone that does and your device gives access to others. It's about being everywhere always.
Again, if our government and intelligence services don't care why should I?
I know one thing for sure, and that is our government (Denmark) allow and cooperate with USA to spy on us, I doubt they voluntarily do the same for China.
I prefer USA over China when it comes to international cooperation, but I don't share the alarmist tendency some have towards Chinese phones. If China had systemic surveillance through phones, I'm sure it would be stopped by EU/USA government and intelligence services.
In short, I don't believe your claim. Whereas Apple/Google are real problems.