OnePlus is the latest company to enter the foldable phones space with the OnePlus Open, it’s first foldable phone that combines slim design with a screen that can fold out for a much larger display.
The OnePlus open comes in Emerald Dusk and Voyager Black and has dual 2K 120Hz fluid AMOLED ProXDR displays. The cover screen size is 6.31″ with an aspect ratio of 20:09. With a peak brightness of 2,800 nits, the 120Hz cover screen also boasts a high brightness mode (HBM) of up to 1 400 nits for ultra-bright, smooth, and responsive visuals any time of the day. It’s shielded by Ceramic Guard, purified ceramic crystals that have undergone an ion exchange process that’s up 20% more impact resistant than Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, says OnePlus.
Open the phone up via the hinge to reveal a larger 7.82” main display that boasts an 89.6% screen-to-body ratio. It is fortified by three layers of protection: Ultra-Thin Glass that sits above the flexi OLED, a layer TPU for shielding against physical impact, and an anti-reflection screen protector to reduce everyday wear and tear.
The phone has been certified for reliable folding by an international certification institute in TÜV Rheinland. The patented Flexion Hinge has been put through extreme environmental tests and 1,000,000 test-folds – this amounts to more than 100 folds per day, forecasted to last over 10 years.
In addition, there is a depth-vacuum separating camera sensors and the exterior glass dome. This is accompanied by a light-reflective CD-pattern crafted on the dial, facilitating light-play.
You’ll also find OnePlus’ alert slider, designed to fit the phone’s 5.8mm compact folding body. While the size of the slider increased, its position on the device’s mid-frame has been adjusted, increasing convenience for one-handed operations. The height and width of the module interior have also been reduced by 1.7mm and 1mm respectively in comparison to that of the OnePlus 11, saving up to 42% more space on the device’s interior.
The OnePlus Open is extremely light and compact, weighing just 239g and measuring at 5.8mm when unfolded. Micro-openings of 0.15mm are weaved onto the carbon fiber display support structure. This works in tandem with the 8-axis turn-mechanism and the Flexion “water-drop”-shaped pressure-relieving hinge to keep the crease minimal, even after extensive use.
What about the cameras? The phone has a triple main camera set-up. At the heart of this is a 48MP Sony LYTIA-T808 “Pixel Stacked” primary camera with OIS, complemented by a 64MP periscope telephoto with 6x in-sensor lossless zoom and OIS, and a 48MP ultra-wide angle camera with AutoFocus. The OnePlus Open also comes with two selfie cameras – a 20MP sensor on the main display and a 32MP camera on the cover screen.
The 64MP telephoto camera with OIS provides 3X optical and 6X lossless in-sensor zoom, and also up to 120X Ultra Res Zoom. The periscope zoom construction and custom d-cut made on the lens’ exterior allows for perfect fitting into a device as thin as the OnePlus Open, allows exactly 23% more light into the sensor. Most importantly, this is the largest telephoto sensor ever utilized on a foldable at 1/2-inch, ensuring quality telephoto imaging even in low-light.
OnePlus also leverages its Hasselblad partnership to bring an improved Hasselblad Portrait Mode. This feature works particularly well in low light, working in tandem to deliver DSLR-level depth-tracking, bokeh and flare effects captured by Hasselblad cameras fitted with XCD 3,5/30, 2,8/65 and 2,5/90V lenses.
With support for Dolby Vision video playback for more ultra-immersive entertainment, there’s also a triple spatial speaker set-up. These speakers work in tandem with a proprietary spatial audio algorithm, allowing for three-dimensional sound that comes to users from all directions.
Loaded with the new OxygenOS 13.2, you get multi-window efficiency on a large display with 95% of mainstream apps compatible with the extended screen real estate without forcing weird visual adjustments or resizing.
With Open Canvas, multi-window operations or “split screen” are no longer restricted to the physical size of the display. Active windows can be stretched and resized as desired, with secondary windows sliding in and out of the physical display on demand (rests on virtual screen real estate). This enables you to hop between apps or focus on one in particular. Up to four app-windows can be displayed on the screen at the same time. In addition, up to nine multi-app presets can be saved for instant access.
Open Canvas will also introduce a desktop-like taskbar near the bottom of the expanded main display, providing easy access to recent and preset applications. A “Recent” folder has been introduced on the OnePlus Open’s taskbar for instant access to recent photos, saved images, edited documents, and more. Easily move these items around via a simple drag and drop command, directly into compatible applications like Gmail, apps among the Microsoft 365 suite like OneNote, or even messaging apps like Google Message, Microsoft Teams, and WhatsApp.
At the heart of this device is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform, 16GB oRAM accelerated by OnePlus’s proprietary RAM-Vita software, and 512GB of UFS 4.0 read-only memory (ROM). This is accompanied by a large 4,805mAh battery and 67W SUPERVOOC charging that charges the battery (from 1-100%) in approximately 42 minutes.
The Open also supports Wi-Fi 7 out of the box and dual 5G cellular connectivity for fast and seamless connection.
“The word ‘Open’ not only represents a new folding form factor, but also our openness to explore emerging possibilities that are allowed by bleeding-edge tech-solutions on the market,” says Kinder Liu, President and COO of OnePlus. “The OnePlus Open provides unparalleled hardware, innovative software features and services built around the new form factor, continuing to live up to OnePlus’ Never Settle belief. With the launch of the OnePlus Open, we are thrilled to bring an uncompromising flagship foldable experience to users worldwide. The OnePlus Open is a true flagship that will revolutionize the foldable market.”
The OnePlus Open will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada starting on October 26, with pre-orders beginning October 19. It starts at $2,300 in Canada, but customers can trade in any phone in any condition to receive a minimum $200 credit towards the purchase.