OnePlus 11 Concept hands-on: Liquid cooling is neat, but does it work?
0Over the past few years, OnePlus has introduced "Concept" phones at tech trade shows, which are phones that showcase cutting-edge technology but which the company is unlikely to ever sell. The OnePlus Concept One featured electrochromic glass that, when not in use, concealed the rear camera at CES 2020. The OnePlus 8T Concept, which had a color-changing back, was available just before CES 2021. The OnePlus 11 Concept will be unveiled at MWC 2023.
OnePlus has no plans to commercially release this device, unlike its previous Concept phones. However, it actually produced a usable model, and we had the opportunity to use it. When we first saw the phone, we couldn't help but chuckle a little to ourselves because it immediately made us think of the Nothing Phone 1. The Glyph, a group of LED lights on the back of that phone that can be used for notifications and other purposes, is a trademarked feature. After OnePlus, which he co-founded, Carl Pei launched Nothing. It's delightfully coincidental that OnePlus would produce a device that looks so similar to Pei's just a year after Pei introduced his own.
But the OnePlus 11 Concept's back is more than just a collection of LED lights. Instead, OnePlus's Active CryoFlux liquid coolant is housed in a number of channels. Fundamentally, this is comparable to the cooling system liquid-cooled gaming PCs employ to prevent internal overheating during prolonged gaming sessions. According to OnePlus, this required two years of development and gave rise to 30 new patents. To add coolant to the phone, OnePlus made the back glass transparent (at least in the middle) and inserted the 0.2cm2 micropumps between it and the body of the device. This means that the phone is only marginally thicker and heavier than the standard OnePlus 11.
A "magnetron-spluttering coating," in which metal is sparingly splattered using an electric field, was also added by OnePlus to further emphasize the phone's high-end appearance. If someone hadn't pointed it out to you, you probably wouldn't even notice the effect, despite the fact that it sounds very fancy. The cooling system is not only located in the middle of the phone's back. Additionally, the rear camera module is encircled by Active CryoFlux. Although it's strange to think that the module is being cooled for no apparent reason, it does create a cool halo effect that gives the phone a very upscale appearance. Before publishing, we contacted OnePlus to inquire about the thinking behind this choice, but we never heard back.
Guilloché etching surrounds the camera's lens area as well. The magnetron-spluttering coating is much less noticeable than this, which is typically used on pricey watches. According to OnePlus, this is the first smartphone to use Guilloché etching.
Two piezoelectric ceramic micropumps are sandwiched between the back glass and the phone's body, giving the OnePlus 11 Concept an overall appearance and feel similar to that of a very, very upscale OnePlus 11. These pumps are attached to tiny liquid channels that contain a coolant, which OnePlus describes as a mixture of oil, water, and mica powder. The liquid circulates around the back of the phone as you use it, assisting in the heat dissipation caused by the internal components of the phone.
According to OnePlus, this system can reduce the phone's temperature by up to 2 points of Celsius in laboratory tests. This might result in a small (3–4 frame) increase in framerates during a demanding gaming session. Similarly, the company asserts that the coolant reduces the phone's temperature by 1.6 degrees Celsius while it is charging. Although it may seem impressive, the overall charging time was only reduced by about 30-45 seconds.