OnePlus Open review: an excellent foldable, with a catch

1 month ago

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk successful hand.

OnePlus Open

MSRP $1,700.00

“The OnePlus Open is simply a awesome caller foldable, and it costs little than you'd expect.”

Pros

Great compact and lightweight size
Powerful cameras
Beautiful screens
Anti-glare soul display
Opens level easily
67W accelerated charging
Intuitive multitasking

Cons

Hinge isn't patient enough
Large camera bump
Macro and 120x Super Res are not great

Folding phones person been astir for respective years now, but they haven’t rather acheived mainstream popularity. The marketplace was besides mostly dominated by 1 marque (Samsung), astatine slightest successful nan U.S., but that’s changed successful caller months. The latest institution to motorboat a foldable this twelvemonth is OnePlus pinch nan caller OnePlus Open.

While OnePlus is simply a smaller marque erstwhile you comparison it to nan likes of Apple, Samsung, and moreover Google, it still makes immoderate very tin devices. We sewage nan OnePlus 11 astatine nan opening of nan twelvemonth and past nan brand’s first tablet, nan OnePlus Pad. And now we person OnePlus’ first foldable phone, nan OnePlus Open.

For nan astir part, this is simply a really coagulated foldable, but it does person 1 annoying small quirk.

OnePlus Open: design

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk laying level connected a actual bench.

Like different OnePlus products, nan OnePlus Open has a very elegant and business design, which is 1 of nan ways nan marque stands retired from nan crowd. There are 2 colors for nan OnePlus Open: Emerald Dusk and Voyager Black. For this review, we were sent nan Emerald Dusk version.

The backmost of nan OnePlus Open has a matte-frosted solid that feels incredibly bully to nan touch. It’s soft and silky, though it is beautiful easy to get fingerprints and smudges each complete it. The Emerald Dusk colour reminds maine of nan Midnight Green connected Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro, but nan colour shifts and shimmers depending connected nan perspective and lighting successful which it’s viewed. Regardless, it’s a very bully shadiness of greenish that you don’t typically see. If you opt for Voyager Black, it has a rear screen of vegan leather instead.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing closeup of camera.

The backmost is besides wherever you’ll find nan alternatively ample information camera bump, complete pinch Hasselblad branding. It’s a spot excessively big, successful my opinion, and adds a spot of weight to this half, making it a small top-heavy erstwhile utilizing it successful clamshell mode. This leads to different problem, but I’ll get to that successful nan adjacent section.

The OnePlus Open feels incredibly bully to nan touch.

Most foldables are rather heavy, and nan shape facet affects nan usage of nan screen display. But OnePlus seems to person a bully equilibrium pinch nan Open, arsenic nan screen show is only 6.3 inches. That intends utilizing nan screen show feels for illustration a emblematic smartphone, which is thing you won’t rather find pinch nan Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5’s gangly and constrictive screen display.

OnePlus besides made nan Open 1 of nan lightest foldables around. This is because OnePlus uses a proprietary cobalt molybdenum alloy and titanium alloy alternatively than stainless alloy for illustration astir different devices successful nan category. The OnePlus Open weighs only 239 grams, which is astir nan weight of an iPhone 14 Pro Max (240g). heavier competitors see nan Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 weighs astatine 253g and nan Google Pixel Fold astatine 283g. Since it’s lightweight, nan OnePlus Open is simply a spot easier to usage for extended periods of time, particularly pinch 1 manus connected nan screen screen.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing Alert Slider.

OnePlus brought backmost nan Alert Slider pinch nan OnePlus Open, and you tin find it connected nan apical half (or near half erstwhile open) of nan phone. The Alert Slider has been redesigned from nan crushed up pinch nan Open successful bid to make it fresh connected nan 5.8mm compact folding body. If you’ve utilized a OnePlus instrumentality pinch nan Alert Slider before, you whitethorn announcement that nan fastener size has been increased, and nan mediate framework position has been adjusted for amended one-handed operation.

This is really my first clip experiencing nan Alert Slider, and it feels awesome erstwhile you usage it. I really for illustration really overmuch easier nan Alert Slider is to usage erstwhile compared to nan modular mute/silent toggle that’s connected nan iPhone 15 and anterior models — chiefly since you tin easy maneuver it pinch 1 hand.

On nan bottommost half (or correct half erstwhile open) of nan OnePlus Open, you person nan measurement rocker and powerfulness button/fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor has been reasonably meticulous and fast, pinch nary problems.

OnePlus Open: Flexion Hinge

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing Flexion Hinge opinionated up.

For nan OnePlus Open, OnePlus designed nan Flexion Hinge. It’s built astir a single-spine architecture, which OnePlus says allows for amended integration betwixt components and makes it much sturdy compared to nan three-part spine that different foldables use. The Flexion Hinge reduces nan wide number of parts to 69 compared to nan 100-plus successful competing foldables, making nan hinge and wide instrumentality much lightweight.

While each that sounds awesome connected paper, I recovered nan OnePlus Open’s hinge to consciousness a spot looser than different foldables, specified arsenic nan Google Pixel Fold. In fact, erstwhile you get past what would beryllium an obtuse perspective (maybe 135 degrees) erstwhile opening nan device, it benignant of conscionable springs into nan afloat unfastened 180-degree position pinch small to nary unit needed. There isn’t a batch of stiffness successful nan hinge to let it to enactment unfastened astatine immoderate perspective you want, and that’s a problem.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk successful shelter mode showing flexion hinge.

I’m not judge if this is because nan Flexion Hinge creation has less parts progressive successful nan build, aliases possibly it’s because of nan immense camera bump making that half a spot top-heavy. But if you’re trying to usage nan OnePlus Open successful clamshell mode past 90 degrees for viewing (say, if you’re sitting down pinch a array aliases aboveground that is little than oculus level, etc.), past you mightiness person to woody pinch perpetually adjusting nan viewing perspective because it’ll conscionable outpouring unfastened level without overmuch force.

But connected nan different hand, nan Flexion Hinge allows nan OnePlus Open to unfastened up wholly level without overmuch effort. This is nan other of nan Pixel Fold, wherever you person to use immoderate unit to make it unfastened afloat flat, which is ever a spot nerve-racking.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk unfastened pinch surface dimmed astatine an perspective to spot crease.

Speaking of being afloat open, acknowledgment to nan antireflective soul display, nan crease is hardly noticeable erstwhile you’re looking astatine it head-on. You tin still consciousness it erstwhile you tally your fingers crossed nan mediate of nan soul display, but if a visible crease would beryllium nan bane of your existence, past I’m happy to study that it’s very minimal connected nan OnePlus Open. You tin spot it erstwhile you’re viewing it from nan side, but that’s not really you would typically usage it anyway.

If only nan hinge could beryllium patient capable to support it unfastened astatine an obtuse viewing angle, it’d beryllium a virtually cleanable hinge design.

OnePlus Open: screens

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk unfastened showing soul show flat.

Now, let’s get to nan displays. After all, speech from nan hinge, nan displays tin make aliases break a foldable.

The screen show of nan OnePlus Open is simply a 6.31-inch Super Fluid AMOLED pinch LTPO 3.0. You get a 2484 x 1116 pixel solution astatine 431 pixels per inch (ppi) and an facet ratio of 20:09. The move refresh complaint ranges from 10Hz to 120Hz, and it reaches 1,400 nits HDR brightness aliases 2,800 nits highest outdoor brightness — 400 nits brighter than nan Google Pixel 8 Pro.

The soul show is simply a much quadrate 7.82-inch Flexi-fluid AMOLED pinch LTPO 3.0 sheet show that has a 2440 x 2268 solution astatine 426 ppi. The move refresh complaint ranges from 1Hz to 120Hz, and it besides has nan aforesaid 1,400/2,800 nits brightness levels arsenic nan screen display.

The OnePlus Open screen show besides uses an exclusive Ceramic Guard coating, making it 20% much impact-resistant than nan Corning Glass Victus we spot connected galore smartphones today. For nan main soul display, location is simply a furniture of Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG) and a TPU furniture that protects nan Flexi-fluid show from beingness impact. Lastly, an antireflective surface protector is connected nan apical layer, which not only protects nan surface from deterioration and tear, but besides prevents glare. I besides judge nan antireflective furniture helps minimize nan crease visibility.

OnePlus Open and Google Pixel Fold screen screens.

With foldables, I thin to mostly usage them folded, truthful nan screen show acts arsenic my main surface unless I request much abstraction for multitasking aliases different tasks that do amended pinch a larger surface (photo editing, for example). I recovered nan screen show connected nan OnePlus Open to beryllium beautiful — it gets incredibly bright, nan colors are rich | and vivid, and nan matter is crisp and crisp. The move 120Hz refresh complaint makes scrolling soft and rather fast.

I besides genuinely admit nan size of nan screen display. My rumor pinch nan Galaxy Z Fold bid has ever been nan awkward gangly and constrictive screen screen, which makes it difficult for maine to usage because I person problem pinch nan cramped keyboard compared to a modular telephone size. The OnePlus Open is simply a bully mediate crushed betwixt nan Galaxy Z Fold 5 and nan Pixel Fold, which is wider and shorter. It feels for illustration nan Open’s screen show is much akin to a modern solid slab phone, which makes it easier for maine to use.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk unfastened showing app switcher.

The soul show is besides gorgeous. Even pinch nan antireflective layer, nan colors look agleam and saturated, matter is sharp, and scrolling is soft pinch nan 120Hz refresh rate. I besides really bask having nan antireflective display, arsenic it is simply a large thief pinch utilizing it unfolded outdoors successful agleam sunlight.

This was an rumor pinch nan Google Pixel Fold, truthful it’s awesome to spot nan OnePlus Open trim that glare connected nan soul display. Just beryllium warned — it tends to beryllium a fingerprint magnet, truthful you whitethorn request to swipe it constantly.

OnePlus Open: capacity and software

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing astir strategy connected soul display.

Inside nan OnePlus Open, you person Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, on pinch an Adreno 740 GPU, 16GB RAM, and 512GB storage. It besides ships pinch OxygenOS 13.2, which is OnePlus’ civilization OS based connected Android 13.

One of nan cardinal features of OxygenOS 13.2 is Open Canvas. This is simply a caller measurement to multitask pinch nan OnePlus Open, and it was designed from scratch pinch nan nonsubjective of expanding mundane productivity pinch multi-window ratio connected a larger screen.

Thanks to Open Canvas, erstwhile you do multi-window operations aliases usage split-screen mode, it isn’t restricted to conscionable nan beingness size of nan show you’re on. You tin take to agelong and resize progressive windows arsenic needed, pinch nan secondary model sliding successful and retired of nan canvas connected demand.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk unfastened to soul show showing Open Canvas pinch 2 divided surface and a floating window.

The OnePlus Open besides supports up to 3 app windows being displayed connected nan surface astatine erstwhile (in either divided surface aliases floating), successful some vertical aliases horizontal orientation. These tin besides beryllium freely moved astir and resized to your preferences. And if you person apps paired together, you tin prevention up to 9 of them, redeeming you from nan hassle of having to do it each time.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing divided surface pinch Chrome and Gmail connected soul display.

OxygenOS 13.2’s Open Canvas besides adds a desktop-like taskbar astatine nan bottommost of nan screen. This is simply a persistent taskbar, truthful it won’t vanish aft a fewer moments, moreover pinch gesture-based strategy navigation. In nan taskbar, you tin easy get to caller and preset applications.

I recovered nan Open Canvas multitasking interface beautiful intuitive and straightforward to use. There are ocular indicators to thief you spot wherever you tin drawback and resize windows, and nan persistent taskbar provides speedy entree to your astir utilized apps, arsenic good arsenic each apps and recents.

With nan Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and 16GB RAM, nan OnePlus Open has a ton of power. In my testing period, I did not acquisition immoderate issues pinch nan capacity — I had a bunch of apps unfastened astatine nan aforesaid clip and each of them were operating fine, pinch nary stuttering erstwhile switching apps aliases utilizing divided surface and floating windows.

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk unfastened connected soul show showing RAM Expansion feature.

I person mostly utilized nan OnePlus Open for my emblematic tasks, which see checking societal media, activity messages, and individual and activity emails, managing my schedule, streaming Disney+ and music, taking photos, and playing immoderate Diablo Immortal. I moreover utilized nan OnePlus Open to create a integer invitation for my daughter’s upcoming day statement without breaking a sweat. The telephone tin get a small lukewarm erstwhile moving much resource-intensive apps and games, but it ne'er sewage to nan constituent wherever it was uncomfortable to hold.

The OnePlus Open has a ton of power.

There is besides a characteristic connected nan OnePlus Open that lets you grow nan disposable RAM connected nan device. With nan RAM Expansion option, arsenic agelong arsenic you person capable retention abstraction available, you tin usage a portion of that retention abstraction to grow nan RAM. By default, nan mounting is on, and it expands nan RAM by 4GB. But you tin alteration that to 8GB aliases 12GB aliases move it disconnected if you don’t want it.

With nan Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and astatine slightest 16GB RAM, nan OnePlus Open should decidedly person nary problem handling immoderate you want to propulsion astatine it. And pinch nan Open Canvas feature, multitasking and productivity are easier than ever.

On nan package side, nan OnePlus Open will person 4 awesome Android type upgrades, arsenic good arsenic 5 years of information updates. Combined pinch nan build quality, this foldable should past you a bully agelong while.

OnePlus Open: cameras

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing camera bump.

The OnePlus Open comes pinch an awesome triple-lens Hasselblad camera array connected nan rear of nan phone. The main camera is simply a 48MP Sony LYTIA-T808 “Pixel Stacked” sensor, nan ultrawide is 48MP, and nan 64MP telephoto camera is tin of 3x optical, 6x in-sensor zoom, and up to 120x Ultra Res zoom.

Since this is simply a folding phone, location are besides 2 selfie cameras connected nan screen show and nan soul display. The screen show selfie camera is simply a much awesome 32MP, while nan soul show is simply a 20MP camera. The OnePlus Open is tin of taking selfies pinch nan rear cameras arsenic well, if you truthful choose.

So acold successful my testing, nan OnePlus Open gets beautiful awesome photos, which isn’t astonishing fixed nan specs. Colors look agleam and vibrant, but ne'er oversaturated (like what I’ve knowledgeable pinch Samsung phones). Images person a bully magnitude of detail, tegument tones look accurate, and there’s small shutter lag, truthful it’s beautiful bully for capturing action shots. I was capable to seizure immoderate photos of my girl successful a plaything without it being conscionable a blur, truthful that unsocial was impressive.

Portrait mode photos tin beryllium successful 1x, 2x, aliases 3x zoom, and successful my tests, I had nary existent issues pinch nan separator detection. The portraits travel retired looking bully pinch natural-looking bokeh successful nan inheritance that isn’t overdone. Selfies besides travel retired beautiful nice, though I did announcement a spot of a beautifying airbrush effect astatine first. This tin beryllium turned disconnected if you prefer. Lowlight images besides travel retired good enough, fixed nan ample sensors successful nan Hasselblad camera.

The OnePlus Open is besides tin of macro shots, but nan results for these were a spot of a mixed bag. Sometimes I thought it was focused capable for nan macro shot, only for it to move retired that it wasn’t, truthful nan consequence is simply a spot blurry and retired of focus. Other times it was clear and sharp. I’ve honestly recovered it difficult to hit nan iPhone 15 Pro for macros.

One point that I do want to constituent retired is nan 120x Super Res zoom. I tried it out, and nan results were unspeakable — it conscionable looks for illustration a bad watercolor painting. It’s besides insanely difficult to beryllium precise pinch it unless you usage a tripod because your manus is perpetually moving, moreover if it doesn’t look for illustration it. So while it’s thing that OnePlus tin opportunity nan telephone has, it really isn’t worthy using.

For nan astir part, nan cameras connected nan OnePlus Open are impressive. Images person bully colour equilibrium and details, and it’s easy to get bully action shots. But don’t expect unthinkable macros aliases usable 120x zoom shots.

OnePlus Open: artillery and charging

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk showing Battery position connected screen display.

Inside nan OnePlus Open is simply a 4,805mAh battery, which is simply a spot much than what Samsung offers successful nan Galaxy Z Fold 5 (4,400mAh), but connected par pinch nan Google Pixel Fold (4,821mAh). OnePlus claims that nan artillery should past much than 1 time of emblematic usage connected a azygous charge, and successful my testing, that proves to beryllium true.

I spent a batch of clip connected my OnePlus Open watching Disney+ shows, and that didn’t moreover make overmuch of a dent pinch an hr of continuous watching — nan artillery dropped little than 10% successful that time. I was besides connected Diablo Immortal for astir 30 minutes, and nan artillery only dropped a fewer percent points, though I did not person nan graphical settings amped up, arsenic they remained connected nan default. If you set nan capacity of immoderate games, it will impact nan artillery life more.

Even if you don’t get nan advertised much than 1 time of use, nan OnePlus Open supports up to 67-watt charging speeds pinch its SuoerVOOC fast-charging technology. That intends you tin spell from 1% to 100% artillery successful little than an hr — 42 minutes, to beryllium precise.

You tin spell from 1% to 100% artillery successful little than an hr — 42 minutes, to beryllium precise.

While nan OnePlus Open has a large, all-day artillery that supports immoderate beautiful accelerated charging speeds, don’t expect to popular this connected a wireless charger. It does not support wireless charging aliases reverse wired/wireless charging, unfortunately, which is simply a shame considering nan value tag.

If you want afloat wireless and reverse wireless, nan Galaxy Z Fold 5 offers that. While nan Google Pixel Fold whitethorn not person Battery Share, it does support wireless charging, though only astatine 7.5W.

OnePlus Open: value and availability

The OnePlus Open is disposable to preorder starting connected October 19, pinch nationalist readiness connected October 26. You tin bid it straight from OnePlus’ website aliases from retailers for illustration Amazon. It will costs $1,700 for either nan Emerald Dusk aliases Voyager Black colorways, and it only comes pinch 16GB RAM/512GB storage.

The value is an absorbing one, arsenic it is $100 cheaper than nan competition. Both nan Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Google Pixel Fold commencement astatine $1,800 retail, and some of those person guidelines models that person little retention and RAM. But that’s not all.

OnePlus is moving a trade-in connection that will fto you waste and acquisition successful any telephone successful any information to get a minimum discount of $200 — knocking nan OnePlus Open down to astatine slightest $1,500. Depending connected nan telephone you trade-in, you could get up to a $1,000 discount. This promotion will tally passim nan OnePlus Open’s full merchandise life rhythm and isn’t conscionable a limited-time preorder promotion.

OnePlus Open: verdict

OnePlus Open successful Emerald Dusk leaning against pole.

For OnePlus’ first effort astatine a foldable, nan OnePlus Open is simply a coagulated device. It’s a awesome size erstwhile folded and unfolded, and it’s decidedly 1 of nan astir lightweight foldables connected nan marketplace acknowledgment to nan materials used, which see titanium. If you’ve been bothered by nan dense weight of foldables successful general, nan OnePlus Open whitethorn alteration your mind.

The displays connected nan OnePlus Open are excellent, and some look awesome successful use. The 6.31-inch screen show is akin to a modular smartphone size, making it very usable without immoderate compromises. And pinch nan antireflective furniture connected nan soul display, it’s overmuch much usable than different foldables, specified arsenic nan Google Pixel Fold pinch its super-reflective soul display. This antireflective furniture besides helps trim nan visibility of nan crease arsenic well.

And nan wide creation of nan OnePlus Open is decidedly eye-catching. Emerald Dusk is simply a beautiful greenish colour that shimmers nicely, and nan Hasselblad camera array makes nan telephone guidelines retired from nan crowd. Plus, nan Hasselblad camera takes immoderate awesome photos, and location is small to nary shutter lag pinch nan Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 spot and 16GB RAM, truthful nan OnePlus Open is simply a very bully action if you want a foldable pinch bully cameras.

The OnePlus Open whitethorn alteration your mind astir foldables.

The Flexion Hinge is, however, a double-edged sword. The champion portion astir it is that it allows nan OnePlus Open to easy unfastened level without having to usage a batch of force, for illustration connected nan Pixel Fold. But connected nan different hand, it is simply a spot annoying to usage nan Open successful clamshell mode astatine immoderate perspective supra 130 degrees aliases so. That’s because a flimsy bump aliases push connected that apical half will make it afloat outpouring open, astatine slightest from my experience. It’s difficult to usage if you want to watch videos by propping it up successful clamshell mode, though nan replacement is to usage it successful shelter mode pinch nan screen display.

While nan OnePlus Open has a fewer quirks, it’s a very coagulated prime for a foldable telephone overall. Plus, nan artillery life should past you a small complete a afloat day, and nan 67W charging speeds dress up for nan deficiency of wireless charging. It’s besides $100 cheaper than different competitors, which is thing to deliberation astir if you’re successful nan marketplace for a foldable.

The marketplace for folding phones is heating up much than ever, and nan OnePlus Open is an highly invited summation to it.