OnePlus shows concept smartphone with liquid cooling
At the MWC, OnePlus will show a special concept version of the OnePlus 11 with liquid cooling. The Active Cryoflux cooling system is said to be able to lower the device’s temperature by 2.1°C while gaming.
The CryoFlux chiller consists of a system of tiny pipes with a membrane in the middle. A ceramic piezoelectric micropump circulates the liquid. According to OnePlus, the system would be made in such a way that it can be built in without a significant increase in weight or thickness compared to a normal phone. That seems to be correct, because compared to the regular OnePlus 11, the concept model does not feel much thicker or heavier. OnePlus says that the vaporchamber that is in regular OnePlus 11 devices for cooling the Snapdragon 8 Gen2 soc is also still in the concept device. The liquid cooler is simply added to it.
According to OnePlus, the cooler could lower a phone’s temperature by 2.1°C while gaming, while reducing the temperature by 1.6°C when charging. For example, the charging time should be reduced by 30 to 45 seconds. OnePlus says it actually wants to release a phone with liquid cooling in the future that should offer the aforementioned benefits, but the concept device shown is mainly made to look beautiful. For example, the shape of the pipes, which you can see on the OnePlus 11 Concept through the transparent glass back, is not optimally efficient, according to an employee at the demo location. In addition, the demo models do not contain real coolant. There is a mix of water, oil and blue dye in the pipes, so you can clearly see bubbles running through the system. If you put your ear to the back, you will hear the pump hiss softly.
The glass back of the OnePlus 11 Concept is extra curved on the sides compared to the regular model, making the metal frame on the side extra thin. The high-gloss coating on the glass is applied by sputter deposition, and a carbon fiber effect is added around the coolant pipes. The camera island, which is also covered by a layer of glass, has a copper plate around the guilloche motif lenses.
OnePlus sometimes shows concept devices at fairs more often. For example, the company presented the OnePlus Concept One at CES 2020 a few years ago, based on the 5g variant of the OnePlus 7T Pro McLaren edition. A concept OnePlus 8T was also presented later. Just like back then, there are no plans to actually release the new concept device.