OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: don’t buy the wrong folding phone

Digital Trends

The foldable smartphone marketplace is still very niche, but it has been gaining steam successful caller years. OnePlus has conscionable joined nan fray pinch nan caller OnePlus Open, but it faces a batch of title from Samsung, arsenic good arsenic from nan caller Google Pixel Fold.

For OnePlus and Google, this is their first foray into foldables, while Samsung has had 5 years of experience. So, really do nan OnePlus Open and Google Pixel Fold fare against each other, arsenic they are some newcomers to nan foldable scene? Let’s find out.

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: specs

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: design

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When it comes to foldables, creation is simply a vitally important facet to consider, not conscionable successful position of really a telephone looks, but besides really nan hinge is made, really dense it is, and really it will clasp up.

OnePlus ever has a unsocial creation accuracy for its phones, and nan OnePlus Open is nary exception. OnePlus has utilized a proprietary cobalt molybdenum alloy and titanium alloy for nan assemblage and framework of nan Open, making it look and consciousness for illustration a premium instrumentality while still being compact and lightweight. In fact, nan OnePlus Open weighs astir 239 grams, which is almost nan aforesaid arsenic an iPhone 14 Pro Max (240g). While nan iPhone 14 Pro Max is considered heavy, nan OnePlus Open is 1 of nan lightest foldables retired there. When folded, nan OnePlus Open’s 6.3-inch screen show is akin successful size to a modular smartphone.

The OnePlus Open comes successful 2 colors: Emerald Dusk and Voyager Black. The Emerald Green is nan iconic OnePlus colour that is ever reserved for its flagship series, and it has a matte-frosted solid backmost that shimmers successful definite lighting and astatine circumstantial angles. Voyager Black is much understated by having a rear screen successful vegan leather.

OnePlus has besides brought backmost nan iconic Alert Slider, which has been redesigned from nan crushed up to fresh connected nan 5.8mm-thick compact folding assemblage of nan Open. Its size has been increased, and nan position successful nan mediate framework has been adjusted to make it easier to entree one-handed.

On nan backmost of nan OnePlus Open, you’ll besides find a alternatively ample information camera bump toward nan apical of nan matte glass. It’s a Hasselblad triple camera module pinch a 48MP main camera, positive 64MP telephoto and 48MP ultrawide lenses.

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The Google Pixel Fold, connected nan different hand, looks very overmuch for illustration a Pixel device, isolated from successful a foldable shape factor. The chassis of nan Pixel Fold is simply a blend of glass, plastic, and aluminum, but it is rather dense astatine 283g owed to nan stainless alloy successful nan hinge. It’s besides shorter and wider than astir different foldables, pinch a 5.8-inch screen display.

On nan back, you’ll find nan camera barroom module that has go a classical Pixel characteristic for nan past respective years, though nan Pixel Fold’s camera barroom is isolated to nan backmost solid and doesn’t widen into nan frame. And dissimilar nan OnePlus Open, nan Pixel Fold only comes successful 2 alternatively boring colors: Obsidian (black) and Porcelain (white).

Google’s creation for nan Pixel Fold isn’t bad, but nan OnePlus Open takes this round.

Winner: OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: hinge

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When it comes to folding phones, you request a due hinge for it to work. The foldable has to unfastened up for illustration a book, unfastened flat, and moreover enactment unfastened successful a clamshell mode truthful that it tin beryllium propped up for hands-free use. But nan hinge besides has to beryllium durable to withstand a batch of folds.

OnePlus has developed nan Flexion Hinge, which uses a single-spine architecture. The reasoning for employing this method alternatively than utilizing a three-part spine that astir different foldables usage is that OnePlus claims that it has much businesslike integration betwixt components and offers a sturdier structure. It reduces nan number of wide parts needed for nan hinge to 69 alternatively than complete 100, which helps trim nan weight of nan hinge and nan instrumentality overall.

However, location are immoderate drawbacks to nan Flexion Hinge aft spending immoderate clip pinch it. First, connected nan affirmative side, it decidedly feels easier to unfastened nan OnePlus Open to beryllium wholly level compared to nan Pixel Fold. There’s a spot of outpouring to nan hinge erstwhile you get past an obtuse perspective (maybe astir 135 degrees) that conscionable makes it popular unfastened level without effort.

Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

But nan drawback of this is that you cannot prop nan OnePlus Open up connected a level aboveground (or moreover cushioned connected immoderate blankets successful bed) past a 90-degree correct perspective without it conscionable being afloat unfastened because location is nary firmness to nan hinge. Even if you person it unfastened somewhat astatine an acute angle, it doesn’t return a batch of effort for it to unfastened up level if you clasp it betwixt your fingers and conscionable plaything it backmost and distant a bit.

The Google Pixel Fold, connected nan different hand, has a very sturdy and unchangeable hinge. Google designed a custom-built 180-degree fluid clash hinge that gets retired of nan measurement of nan display, allowing nan Pixel Fold to beryllium arsenic bladed arsenic it is. According to Google, different brands person hinge components nether nan show that adhd thickness, but Google moved those components to nan ends instead.

However, nan problem pinch nan Pixel Fold hinge is that you benignant of person to usage a spot of unit to get it to unfastened afloat flat, and nan apical and bottommost bezels are a small thicker than you whitethorn like. The upside, though, is that you tin person it propped unfastened successful a clamshell mode without having to interest astir it opening up flat, which is simply a large logic why anyone would want a foldable successful nan first place.

OnePlus deserves in installments for a smooth-feeling hinge that easy opens wholly flat, but acknowledgment to its amended clamshell/tabletop mode, nan Google Pixel Fold wins this round.

Winner: Google Pixel Fold

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: displays

Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

The OnePlus Open has a 6.31-inch Super Fluid AMOLED screen show pinch a 120Hz refresh rate, 1,400 nits emblematic HDR brightness, and 2,800 nits highest brightness, positive 431 pixels per inch (ppi) astatine a 2484 x 1116 pixel resolution. It is shielded by Ceramic Guard, which is 20% much impact-resistant than regular Gorilla Glass Victus.

Once you unfastened up nan OnePlus Open, you’ll person a 7.82-inch Flexi-fluid AMOLED show pinch a 120Hz refresh rate, 2,800 nits highest brightness, 1.07 cardinal colors, and 426 ppi astatine a 2440 x 2268 resolution. The soul surface besides has a TPU furniture that protects it from beingness impact, and there’s an antireflective surface protector connected nan apical layer, which protects nan foldable show from mundane deterioration and tear and besides prevents glare.

The OnePlus Open is besides nan first foldable that supports LTPO 3.0 dual displays. With LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) 3.0 technology, it tin intelligently trim powerfulness depletion and still springiness you silky soft visuals. The crease connected nan soul show is besides hardly noticeable, astir apt owed to nan antireflective layer.

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On nan Google Pixel Fold, nan screen show is simply a 5.8-inch OLED sheet pinch 1080 x 2092 solution astatine 408 ppi. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, and reaches emblematic brightness astatine 1,200 nits and goes up to 1,550 nits highest brightness. It uses Gorilla Glass Victus, which is simply a spot dated for durability.

The soul show of nan Pixel Fold is simply a 7.6-inch integrative foldable OLED pinch 1840 x 2208 solution astatine 378 ppi, a 120Hz refresh rate, and emblematic brightness of 1,000 nits aliases 1,450 nits highest brightness. However, nan soul show is very reflective, which makes it difficult to usage erstwhile you’re outdoors. The crease is besides much pronounced erstwhile compared to nan Open.

Winner: OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: cameras

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OnePlus has what looks for illustration an awesome camera array connected nan back, acknowledgment to its Hasselblad branding. With nan OnePlus Open, you person a 48MP main camera pinch a Sony LYT-T808 “Pixel Stacked” CMOS sensor, a 64MP telephoto camera, and a 48MP ultrawide lens. The telephoto lens is tin of 3x optical zoom, 6x in-sensor zoom, and up to 120x Ultra Res zoom.

On nan wrong of nan Open, you will find a 20MP selfie camera, and there’s a 32MP selfie camera connected nan cover. These are surely awesome specs for nan Open successful position of cameras.

The OnePlus Open takes beautiful bully photos based connected our testing truthful far. The colors are agleam and vivid without being complete nan apical for illustration connected immoderate Samsung phones, and tegument tones are beautiful accurate. Portraits look bully without separator discovery messing things up, though sometimes nan entity appears a spot blown-out aliases washed-out, and macros aren’t great. The selfie cameras are decent, though it does look to usage an airbrush effect by default that I’m not excessively fond of.

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Google has a beautiful coagulated estimation pinch its Pixel devices successful position of photography, and nan Pixel Fold continues that tradition. On nan rear, you person a 48MP main camera, a 10.8MP telephoto lens pinch 5x optical zoom, and a 10.8MP ultrawide lens. The selfie camera connected nan soul show is 8MP, while nan screen show has a 9.5MP camera.

While nan specs surely don’t look arsenic awesome arsenic those of nan OnePlus Open, nan Pixel Fold is still a awesome camera acknowledgment to nan post-processing done pinch nan Tensor G2 chip. It does a awesome occupation of capturing meticulous colour somesthesia and range, making nan images realistic and detailed. Portrait mode images whitethorn beryllium a hit-or-miss, though, depending connected really nan package wants to do nan separator discovery for nan scene.

Both phones besides fto you return high-quality selfies by utilizing nan rear cameras alternatively of nan selfie ones. If you want bully photos without overmuch effort, past spell pinch nan Pixel Fold. But if you for illustration amended wide specs and much zoom capabilities, past spell pinch nan OnePlus Open. A batch of this comes down to individual preference, truthful we’re calling it a tie.

Winner: Tie

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: package and performance

Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

The OnePlus Open packs successful a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 pinch 16GB RAM, which is besides accelerated pinch OnePlus’ ain proprietary RAM-Vita feature. It besides has a source-focused power dissipation strategy designed specifically for foldables to thief support nan telephone cooler and moving smoothly.

The OnePlus Open comes equipped pinch OxygenOS 13.2, which is OnePlus’ customized type of Android 13. It besides has nan customized Open Canvas interface that was built to make multi-window ratio connected larger screens moreover better. Open Canvas lets you person up to 3 aggregate windows unfastened without being restricted to nan beingness size of nan display. You tin agelong and resize progressive windows arsenic you spot fit, moreover pinch secondary windows sliding successful and retired of nan show connected demand. Open Canvas besides allows for a desktop-like taskbar pinch easy entree to move betwixt your caller and preset applications. You tin besides prevention up to 9 multi-app preset combos.

Instagram still shows disfigured achromatic bars connected nan Google Pixel Fold. Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

Google’s Pixel Fold uses nan Tensor G2 chipset, on pinch 12GB RAM. It comes equipped pinch Android 13 retired of nan box,  but has since been updated to Android 14. Google has besides optimized its apps for usage pinch larger displays. However, a batch of third-party apps won’t look awesome connected nan Pixel Fold’s soul show since it defaults to a horizontal scenery position. As a result, galore third-party apps will person achromatic bars on nan sides aliases conscionable return up a mini conception of nan screen.

Multitasking connected nan Pixel Fold is beautiful basal compared to nan OnePlus Open. With split-screen mode, you tin person only 2 apps, truthful if you want much than 2 astatine a time, past nan OnePlus Open does it better. The taskbar besides isn’t persistent if you person nan instrumentality group to motion navigation, dissimilar connected nan OnePlus Open.

It’s besides important to statement that, for illustration different Pixel phones, nan Pixel Fold tends to get lukewarm erstwhile you are doing much resource-intensive tasks. This besides happened pinch nan Google Pixel 7 and Google Pixel 7 Pro, which besides usage nan Tensor G2.

Winner: OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: artillery and charging

Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

OnePlus packed an awesome 4,805mAh artillery into nan OnePlus Open. Combine it pinch nan Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, and you’ll get beautiful bully powerfulness ratio to thief nan telephone past astatine slightest a afloat day. The OnePlus Open besides supports 67-watt SuperVOOC charging, which intends nan telephone charges from 1% to 100% successful astir 42 minutes.

The Google Pixel Fold, connected nan different hand, is simply a small little awesome connected this front. It has a 4,821mAh battery, which will past astir a azygous time pinch dense use. It besides only charges astir 30W, truthful going from 1% to 100% will return complete 90 minutes.

Neither telephone has reverse wireless charging, but nan Google Pixel Fold does complaint wirelessly.

Winner: OnePlus Open

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: value and availability

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You tin preorder nan OnePlus Open starting connected October 19, pinch wide readiness opening connected October 26. It’ll beryllium disposable straight from OnePlus, aliases you tin get it from different retailers for illustration Amazon. It only comes successful 1 version pinch 512GB retention and 16GB RAM for $1,700, though you tin take nan Emerald Dusk aliases Voyager Black colors.

If you want to prevention immoderate money, you tin waste and acquisition successful immoderate telephone successful immoderate information connected OnePlus.com to get a guaranteed $200 disconnected a OnePlus Open — bringing it down to astatine slightest $1,500. You’ll get much money disconnected nan acquisition if it’s a newer trade-in. This connection is constricted to 1 trade-in per purchase, and nan connection is disposable nan full clip nan OnePlus Open is being sold, truthful it’s not conscionable a one-time deal.

You tin acquisition nan Google Pixel Fold correct now from nan Google Store, bearer stores, aliases big-box retailers starting astatine $1,799 for 256GB aliases $1,919 for 512GB. It comes successful Obsidian aliases Porcelain colors.

OnePlus Open vs. Google Pixel Fold: verdict

Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

Between nan OnePlus Open and nan Google Pixel Fold, nan OnePlus Open is mostly nan amended pick. There’s a batch to for illustration astir nan OnePlus Open — nan displays are perfectly gorgeous, particularly nan soul show pinch nan antireflective furniture (it makes nan telephone truthful overmuch much usable outdoors). And nan screen show is really a beautiful usable size compared to different foldables connected nan market.

The cameras connected nan OnePlus Open are besides very impressive, including nan 48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, and 64MP telephoto pinch 3x optical, 6x in-sensor, and up to 120x Super Res zoom. I conscionable wouldn’t dangle connected it for bully macro shots. Battery life should beryllium capable to get done an full time without issue, and nan 67W accelerated charging won’t slow you down astatine all.

The biggest drawback of nan OnePlus Open is nan hinge design. If you don’t scheme connected utilizing it successful clamshell mode very often, past you should beryllium fine. But if you want to prop it unfastened connected a array for hands-free use, you whitethorn beryllium disappointment pinch nan looser hinge that seems much designed to conscionable support it afloat unfastened alternatively than successful clamshell. It’s awesome if you want to person it unfastened level easily, which is thing that is annoying connected nan Pixel Fold.

Even pinch nan annoying hinge design, it’s difficult not to beryllium impressed by nan OnePlus Open — particularly erstwhile you facet successful its much competitory value compared nan Google Pixel Fold. Both phones are bully foldable options, but it’s nan OnePlus Open you should astir apt buy.

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