OnePlus 11 Concept boasts Active CryoFlux liquid cooling to improve gaming, charging

OnePlus has officially unveiled the OnePlus 11 Concept at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona today. The striking device, a development of the OnePlus 11 launched earlier this month, features a visible liquid cooling solution that dominates the back of the phone.

The Active CryoFlux system consists of micro pipelines filled with a combination of water, oil and mica powder, illuminated by a light board to create an icy blue wave effect. This is made visible through a glass back, which also features a pattern similar to carbon fibre. The OnePlus 11’s distinctive circular camera bump is also highlighted in blue and features a guilloché pattern inspired by luxury watches.

To circulate the liquid throughout the device, the 11 Concept uses a piezoelectric micro-pump that takes up an area of less than 0.2cm², or 1/20th the size of a conventional impeller pump. The device is said to be able to channel liquid continuously for 20,000 hours, meaning that it it has a lifespan of around two years.

The benefit of the system is a projected reduction in temperatures by up to 2.1°C while gaming, leading to a marginal 3 to 4fps improvement. It also cools the phone by 1.6°C during charging to slash charging times, albeit by only 30 to 45 seconds.

I should point out that these figures were not achieved by the phone in its current state. OnePlus admitted that while the blue liquid looks cool (haha geddit?), it also isn’t the best at dissipating heat. However, the company said it has achieved “hugely encouraging” results when using distilled water. The other drawback of the system is that it forces the phone to be a little thicker than the retail OnePlus 11; battery capacity has also been reduced from 5,000mAh to 4,200mAh.

Otherwise, the 11 Concept is identical to the regular OnePlus 11, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, a 6.7-inch 1440p AMOLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 100W SuperVOOC fast charging and a triple camera setup consisting of a 50MP main camera, a 48MP ultra-wide and a 32MP 2x telephoto, along with a 16MP selfie camera. No Hasselblad branding, however, because that space has been taken up by the “Active CryoFlux” script.

There are currently no plans to build the 11 Concept, but OnePlus says it wants to bring the technology to future devices. Interested in the regular OnePlus 11? You can check out our video review below.

Related reading

• This OnePlus 11 concept phone looks flashier than the Nothing Phone (1)
• Nothing CEO Carl Pei reviews the OnePlus 11, dislikes the Oppo-fied OxygenOS
• OnePlus 11 Malaysia: Everything you need to know
• OnePlus 11: 9 things you need to know, including WiFi 7 support and its IP64 rating
• The OnePlus 11 will be coming to Malaysia this Valentine’s Day
• There won’t be a OnePlus 11 Pro or a OnePlus 11T this year
• OnePlus 11 Malaysia review: I miss the old OnePlus
• OnePlus 11 launched outside of China: same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip and Hasselblad cameras but with a price hike